Jim Live from the Fort Worth Home and Garden Show

Jim helps callers helps callers with mysterious smells, leaky air ducts, and much more in the first hour. Then Brian Clinger of USA Insulation joins Jim to talk a bit about breathable and foam insulation. In the second hour of the show Jim continues on the phone lines helping with removing white mineral spots off brick, foundation leveling, watering in the Texas heat, and much more.

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 pros.
And I'm really glad I could talkto you where you are the smartest

(00:20):
guy no, and I mean there. Call Jim now with all your home
improvement questions at seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. That's
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. Texas Home Improvement brought
to you by DWO S Services Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and air Conditioning,
Texas Remodel Team Windows, the officialwindow company of Texas Home Improvement. American

(00:42):
Standards, Comfort what you like it. James Hardy Sighting the best sighting on
the planet. USA Insulation Wall,foam insulation for existing homes, ready seal
stain and seiler floor in the core, Sunburst shutters where beauty meets energy efficiency.
Guardian Roof Systems, Resident Chilling,Commercial rooping Specialist, Woodland's Water Restoration,

(01:03):
your hometown solution for property damage andvictors remodeling in Construction Party Plank specialists
and now broadcast do live from theDutton Wrench. Here's Jim Hey. Welcome
to Texas Home Improvement, your totalhome improvement source. Any home improvement question

(01:30):
you have, feel free to pickup phone, give me a call,
and I'll see what I can doto help you out. Seven one three
two one two five eight seven fouris the number two call at seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. And again, any home improvement
question, whether you're doing yourself,thinking about a project, got a contractor
out there, whatever you got going, feel free to pick up the phone,

(01:53):
give me a call and let's talkabout it here on Texas Home Improvement.
Now you're gonna hear a little backgroundnoise today because I'm actually up in
fort Worth at the fort Worth Homeand Garden Show. But don't let that
stop you a bit. Pick upthe phone, give me a call and
we'll talk some home improvement. Ofcourse, you can also check out our
website t hipro dot com. There'sall kinds of helpful information there, links

(02:19):
to the people you hear me talkabout. There's questions and answers and just
a wealth of information when you goto thhipro dot com. One of the
things you'll find is what I'm talkingabout companies I don't typically give their web
addresses because you'll find them at thi pro dot com as well as to
ask Jim button Spot to sign upfor our newsletter that goes out every other

(02:43):
week. It's just a great placeto go to get information. But it's
time to take calls and answer questions. So seven one three two one two
five eight seven four and I'll seewhat I can do to help you out.
Let's head to clear Lake and Leo. This is Jim. How can
I help you? Hey, Jim, I've got a two story house built

(03:06):
in twenty fourteen. I have aproject to do put more storage space into
the house. So we cut intothe drywall under these stairs to get more
storage area. And while working onthe project, we had notice while we
were while we were walking around andhaving a wheeled stool on the lab,

(03:27):
we noticed a lot of concrete stuffand it seemed like the surface was getting
worn away a little bit. Sowe were wondering if there was some kind
of product that we could do tostabilize it surface a little bit better cut
down on the dust and it's onthe concrete itself. Yes, I was

(03:52):
a little little loss on where thedust is coming from. Was it coming
from the work you were doing,or you think it is coming off the
concrete itself. We're thinking it comingoff the concrete. We're seeing the surface
finish get a little corn up,and we're seeing more aggregate get exposed.

(04:12):
Okay, Well, they they theydo make seilers that you can put over
the concrete. I guess one ofmy questions is is gonna be is this
area you're gonna stay exposed or areyou gonna put some type of flooring over
it? Or is it just gonnabe open like this the whole time?

(04:34):
It's gonna be hidden away storage.So if you can stay concrete, if
if if it doesn't need to becovered over, okay, so yeah,
if it's gonna if it's gonna bewhere you're just putting storage on it.
What I would use is a aconcrete or masonry seiler on it, and

(04:59):
you can actually and put a clearcoat over the top of it, and
that would actually seal it and giveyou a nice smooth, slick finish to
make it easy to sweep and stuffwhenever you do need to do something like
that. But it'll also protect theconcrete from uh scraping off and turning to

(05:23):
dust that way. Well, that'sgood. Do you have any recommended products
for that? Actually? Yes,Quick Creek makes a really good concrete sealer
and and I think a lot oftimes you can even find that at the
box stores. And then as asfar as a coating to put on,

(05:47):
you're just gonna be I don't havea particular brand on that that I use,
but you'll just look for a concreteuh clear coat. That sounds great.
Thank you, Leo, You takecare, okay, you two.

(06:13):
Thank you, Jim, and againour number 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. We're gonna
head to West Houston and Frank,welcome to Texas Home Improvement. How can

(06:33):
I help you? Hi, Jim, thanks for taking my call. I
have a problem well with the hurricaneseason coming up, and I'm just wondering
you. He had talked before abouta system that you could put around a
house or maybe a building that wouldkind of keep the water from coming in

(06:56):
if you had a you know aproblem with that to keep from flooding.
And you just talk about it.We have now your reign, so sure,
no point talking about epic. Ijust kind of want to get prepared
for it if we have it.Okay. I think the product that you're

(07:16):
talking about is a product called floodSafe and basically they put it around the
house. It's buried in the groundand yeah, as the waters come in,
a door will open it and thisfloats up with the water to protect
the home. And yeah, youmentioned yes, flood Safe. Okay,

(07:36):
do you have a number for them? Are they local? Actually I'm out
at this the home show. Ohwait a minute, I might have that
with me. Let me let metake a quick look here and I do
great. Uh, I'm sorry,and I said flood Safe. It's it's

(08:01):
there's two companies. Flood Frame andtheir number is two eight one seven two
six eight two five one. Andthen the other company is flood Frame.
Now I'm sorry, flood Safe andtheir number is two one oho nine two

(08:22):
o one eight seven two. Theyboth are there for doing floodproofing. They
just attack it a little bit differentway that I actually like the flood frame
one better because it floats up withthe floodwaters where the the the floods safe

(08:43):
one is some coatings and stuff thatthey put on and seal everything up.
Well, I have a building actuallyit's a commercial building that the water comes
in one side of it. AndI was just because of the driveways higher
than the actual uh concrete uh uhfoundation, and I was wondering if that

(09:11):
might work on that on the youknow, try to keep the water from
coming in that. You said theflood flood plan is a better product possibly,
Well, well yeah, but that'sthat one. That's one that goes
all the way around. I thinkfor what you're looking for, the flood
safe would actually be better. Okay, it's just from that your portion a

(09:35):
problem take care of. And thatwas a two one, yes, sir,
yep, I'll call me. It'sa two ten nine two zero seven
eight seven two nine two one eightseven two not one eight seven two one
sevent two. Okay, Well,thank you very much. I really appreciate

(09:56):
your advice and thanks for all youdo for us out here. Thank you
very much. You have a greatweekend and you too, sir. Thank
you, bye bye and again ournumber seven one three two one two five
eight seven four that's seven one three, two one two five eight seven four

(10:20):
Again any home improvement question you have, Judy, welcome to Texas home improvement.
How can I help you? Oh? Hi, thank you so much.
So we have a high filty ninetyHi it's a brick house. Oh
Judy, I can barely hear youin the background. Hold on, is

(10:41):
that better a little bit? Isthis better? Is this better? Oh?
That's much better? Go ahead,yes, ma'am. Okay, great,
thank you. Okay, so I'mgetting some feedback. I'm so sorry.

(11:01):
So our house was built in nineteenfifty five. We rebuilt the bathroom
under the bathroom stink though there's beena peculiar smell. It's it's not an
animal. It doesn't smell musty.It almost smells like tar. And other
than tearing out the whole back woodof the cabinet and going into the wall,

(11:24):
I wondered if you might suggest anything. We've scrubbed it out. My
husband took the brace things from thetip to the wall, you know,
kind of remove those and coked allaround there. But I smell it more
than anyone. But it is notgoing away, and I was hoping you
might have a suggestion I don't knowwhat would be making a tar type smell

(11:54):
like that. I can tell youthough, when stuff gets underneath the cabinet.
You know, the cabinet is raisedup off the floor, typically three
four inches. Stuff will get betweenthe floor and the bottom of the cabinet
and that's a lot of times wherewe start getting those odors from. What
you can do is you can getone of these little cameras that are on

(12:18):
the end of a like a littlewire that you can just drill a hole,
stick it in there, and it'sgot lights on it where it can
see what's going on around there,and I think you'll be able to see
what's causing the problem. I'm gonnaput you on hold, Judy, because
I gotta take a quick break andI can come back to you. Let's
talk about Sunburst shutters. You know, this is the best selling plantation shutter

(12:43):
in America, And if you're lookingfor shutters for your home, you need
to take a look at sunburst shutters. Now. They give you the rich
look of fine wood shutters without woodsinherent problems. It's made of Pollywood,
and Pollywood is guaranteed and ever warp, crack, chip or peel and it
also insulates up to seventy percent moreefficiently than wood shutters. So if you're

(13:05):
looking for shutters for your home,you owe it to yourself to take a
look at Sunburse shutters. You cancall seven one three eight nine six eighty
one fifty and they do have designconsultants who can work with you to make
sure you get that perfect look andfit for your home. Again seven one
three eight nine six eighty one fiftyfor Sunburs shutters, or just go to

(13:28):
th chi pro dot com and clickon the link to Sunburse Shutters. That's
should Yeah. Oh, let's talkair condition You know, if you're having
an air conditioning problem, you needa company you can trust, So why
would you not call my company?Due West air Conditioning. We can service
virtually any make and model out there, and if you're looking for some new

(13:50):
systems, we got some great optionsfor you from top of the line to
medium and financing to support all allof the work we do. So again,
if you need air conditioning, youneed a great company. You need
due West air Conditioning at seven onethree four seven five zero zero zero four

(14:11):
at seven one three four seven fivezero zero zero four or like all the
sponsors on Texas Home Improvements. Youcan go to th hi pro dot com
and click on the link for dueWest air Conditioning and you'll find we've got
the other Due West companies, DustPlumbing and Dust Foundation Repair there as well.

(14:35):
Some places put up with dishonest,corrupt contractors. Don't try that.
Here. Here's more with Jim doton Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome
back to Texas Home Improvement. Sevenone three two one two five eight seven

(14:56):
four. Again any home improvement questionyou have seven one three two one two
five eight seven four. When weleft, I was talking with Judy,
and Judy are you there still?I am? Thank you? Can you
tell me a little bit more?I'm sorry about that? That's okay.
Yeah. A lot of a lotof different companies make them. You can,

(15:22):
like I said, stop at HomeDepot or Lows and they'll have them.
They started anywhere from twenty bucks onup, and basically you just have
to drill a hole the size ofabout a pencil and pass that camera through
and it'll have a lighted end onit, and a lot of them have
their own little screen so you cansee what's in there, or it can

(15:46):
hook up to your phone to seewhat's behind the wall. But they're very
handy for looking in the wall orunderneath that cabinet without having to be destructive,
silent and what is what would Iask for a home deep power lows?

(16:07):
Oh? Like uh camera that ye? Uh yeah, you're you're I
don't know what they call I can'tremember what they call them. I'll just
explain what I'm trying to do andgo from there. Yeah, they'll they'll

(16:30):
know what you're talking about because they'llthey have several different brands that they carry.
Great. Thank you so much.That's most helpful. I really appreciate
it. You take care of Judy. You two have a great day.
Thanks I and again our number sevenone three two one two five eight seven

(16:56):
four. That's seven one three twoone two five four. We're going to
head to Buffalo. Warren. Howare you today? I'm doing good.
Thanks for taking to college, Jim. We have a house. We have
a house in Houston that is builtaround nineteen eighty. It had metal ducks

(17:19):
and we replaced the air conditioner witha train about roughly four or five years
ago. My wife is saying itfears like we're getting a lot more dust
in the house. The original ductingwas was metal, and then the when
the new train got put in,they used some of the new flexible to

(17:41):
the I just wondered if you hadany ideas of what that might be,
well, if you had originally metalduct My guess is this house dates back
to something in the sixties. Itcould be everything was. The only thing

(18:03):
that was replaced was just the afew flexible ones. Most of it is
still the original metal. Okay,Well, a house it dates back to
sixties is likely to have some cellulosetype insulation, and the cellulose as it

(18:23):
ages and you're in the right agecategory, it starts turning to dust and
it will sift through where the lightfixtures attached, where the AC ducks come
through, and it becomes a problemkeeping a house dust free with it.
So what you end up needing todo is go in with caulking, like

(18:48):
take the light fixtures down and sealwhere the can is in the s to
the sheet rock, and do thesame with all all the air conditioning ducks.
Any place where the sheet rock ispenetrated. You want to use calking
to seal everything up to minimize thedust that's coming into the home, and

(19:11):
in some cases they use that sameinsulation in the walls as well, and
so you can get it through plugsand stuff in the wall also. Okay,
well that's good information. So whatabout is it costly efficient to take
the old insulation out and replace itor is that more work necessary? No,

(19:37):
you actually can do that, andin a lot of cases when the
cellulo starts degrading too much, thatis what people end up doing. They've
got regular vacuum trucks now that cantake it out and then they'll put new
insulation in. But I would verifyfirst that it is the cellulose type insulation
you have now. As far asthe duck work, that also can have

(20:02):
some leaks if they you know,tied into that old metal duck work and
didn't didn't get it tight or aroundthe boots or something. And the new
flex duck can even just have ahole in it. So you'll definitely want
to check the ducks before doing anything. But the other place is the metal
duck work where it's joint together.It the joints can start leaking and they

(20:29):
make a pooky. It's just reallya sealer that you can put over the
joints to seal it up, andyour your HVAC contractor should be able to
check all that out. I'm gonnagive you one tip. I would not
change out the metal duck work asmuch as possible, keep it because the

(20:49):
air flows through that better than itdoes the new duck work. And you
know it can be insulated to workbetter, but it's definitely a better duck
system than the new flex stuck.And with that, I gotta let you
go because I gotta take a breakfor news, traffic and weather. Seven

(21:10):
one three, two, one twofive eight seven four. Let's talk James
Hardy siding. You know, thebest siding on the planet is James Hardy
siding because it's cement based. It'snot gonna rot, is not gonna catch
fire, bugs aren't gonna eat it. You know, it's just once it's
in, it's done. Now.You do want to make sure it's installed

(21:30):
properly. But when it comes tosiding, you don't want a siding that
you gotta put up time and timeagain. You don't want a siding that's
you know you're gonna have to painttime and time again. I've never seen
siding whole paint better than James HardySiding does. So if you're looking for
a once and done I want youto go to thhi pro dot com and

(21:52):
click on the link to James HardySiding and just be amazed at how gorgeous
your home could be. Welcome tothe Dutton Ranch where dishonest contractors get taken
to the train station. Here's moreTexas Home Improvement with Jim Dutkay. Welcome

(22:17):
back to Texas Home Improvement. Yourtotal home improvement source seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.And I don't want to have to take
you to the train station, solet's make sure if you're gonna be a
contractor in Texas, you're doing itright again. Seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. Inthe home improvement question you have feel free

(22:41):
to pick up the phone and giveme a call. You're gonna hear a
little background noise. I am infort Worth at the fort Worth Home and
Garden Show. And actually one ofour sponsors is here at the fort Worth
Home and Garden Show as well,and it's USA Installation. And Ryan,
how are you today? I'm doinggood, Jim, how are you?

(23:02):
I'm doing wonderful. I'm gonna turnthat mic just a hair a bit closer
to it. There we go,Thank you very much. And uh,
look, we talk a lot aboutinsulation on the show, and I get
a lot of calls from people.You know that the weather cycles are a
little bit different in Houston than theyare in North Texas and other parts of

(23:26):
the country in that we run alot of humidity, oh tons of humidity
and Texas, you got that right. And you know with the insulation,
I'm always telling people I love foamingthe walls, but I want breathable in
the attic, so typically gonna uselike a fiberglass too. And I have
a hard time getting people understand sometimes, well, our forty eight is our

(23:49):
forty eight. It don't matter whattype of insulation you're using exactly, It
doesn't matter with the attic you wantedto breathe, especially in Houston where you've
got that human you need to getthat ear moving above that insulation on the
floor of the attic. Fiberglasses withthe way we go, because it actually
you can add, like you said, the R value higher and higher depending

(24:11):
on where we're at, and theother solution or the other option is to
also foam your walls, your exteriorwalls, right, that's where you get
the benefit of having that insulation ofthe exterior walls, keeping that cooler in
or during the summer the heat inand not having escape through your exterior walls.
They're about fifty eight percent of what'sactually exposed to the elements. So

(24:34):
the walls are a big factor withAC and heating well. And my reasoning
for keeping the foaming the walls isinch for inch, it's going to give
you the highest R value. Yes, that you're going to get right because
with the two by four two bysix, there's so much room that you
can put in. Fiberglass can goso thick in that two by four,

(24:56):
or with injection foam it's open clothcell and that's where you're getting the highest
OUR value you can get in yourexterior whiles. Keeping the heat from passing
through the brick into the sheathing,into that cavity once it's filled up with
injection foam, that stops that heatpenetrating into the wall through the sheet rock
and then your ace. He's justrunning constantly trying to keep up. Now,

(25:18):
USA Insulation, you guys specialize inretrofitting the walls. Yes, yes,
So if your house is already builtthis way, we do it from
the outside of the house so we'renot damaging the sheet rock, and we
actually go through if it's a heartyboard, where youmove the hardy board and
go through the sheathing into those cavitiesall around the house. If it's brick,

(25:41):
we actually go through the mortar andgo directly into that cavity. We
always scope to see exactly how farapart the studs are. Hang on.
My last caller, she was askingwhat that camera, Well, it's a
scope, that's it. Yeah,I appreciate it. Brian. You're welcome,
You're welcome. Yeah, we haveto look inside because sometimes builders put

(26:03):
I've crossed stud We want to getabove and below that to get that entire
cavity sealed up and to see what'sin there before we start filling it up
and foaming in. And the foamtakes about three to seven minutes to cure,
and then it solidifies and hardens withintwenty four hours and it becomes a
part of the structure of the house. But it's not like spray foam.
It's not sticking to the sheathing orsticking to the sheet. Rocket's a solid

(26:26):
piece that seals up that cavity well. And not only does it seal the
cavity and help with the R value, but it's going to stop that window
in altration. Yes, the windthat comes through your your plates, your
electrical plates, switches underneath, andit seals all that up around your windows
and makes it. The best wayto say, it's like an e glue

(26:48):
over your home. Once it's done, it keeps the cool air in and
the heat outside, or vice versa. During the winter, we want to
keep the heat in and the coldoutside. Also, it also helps with
that annoying neighbor that's a car mechanicor or a motorcycle repairment or whatever.
Yeah, that's kind of like theicing of the cake. It does give
you a sound deadening up to eightyeight times the sound deadening through the walls,

(27:14):
so it actually captures the sound.And we have a lot of our
customers say the first night they sleepbetter than ever because it's quiet in the
house. Yeah, you don't heartraffic outside. Now, my parents had
their house done in the past withthe foam insulation like this, and you
could literally feel the difference in thehouse as they were doing the different rooms

(27:37):
exactly as the room gets done,you begin to feel that it keeps that
temperature and you're like, oh,wow, this is what I want.
This is how I want the houseto be. So, yeah, it's
instantaneous. It's not something you haveto wait for. The other part,
which is the main part, isthat it reduces that your energy consumption.
And most of our customers are gettingin between forty and forty seven percent reduction

(28:00):
electricity usage because that ears not seepingout anymore. So what kind of timeframe
are we talking about to do aproject like this? Okay, So,
depending on the size of the house, we always give ourselves two days because
it's a slow process as we gothrough each cavity looking and then filling it
up, then sealing it back up. So two days on the average,

(28:22):
sometimes three, depending how big thehouse is. Okay, And and we're
running about five to seven days out. We've got our trucks running all the
time, so we were trying tokeep up with what's going on in Houston
right now with the heat, butwe're able to keep up with it.
So if somebody's wanting to call you, yeah, I'm going to get in
touch with you. You call threefour six two nine seven twenty eight hundred.

(28:47):
It's a free estimate. We comeout, we do an energy rating
of your house and then sit downand decide what may be the best for
you. This is just an oddquestion, but you know a lot of
people have town homes and condominiums andstuff, and with the sound deadening,
can that be used between the units? Very yes, we do a lot

(29:10):
of town homes, especially the onesthat are on the end or the ones
in the middle. We can dothe common wall between the two town homes
and that's going to stop that noisecoming back and forth from the other two
homes next to you. So yeah, and because it's a great fire retard
that helps as well. Yeah,Class one fire rated, so it does
slow down the burn. And actuallythey'd add structure to your home. So

(29:30):
yeah, town homes, condominiums,we do that quite a bit. Okay,
Well again, what's the phone numberif somebody wants to call you three
four six two nine seven twenty eighthundred and give us a call and be
happy to schedule appointment to come byand look at your house. Brian,
I appreciate it, and look forwardto talking to you again. All right,
you take care, all right,take it easy again. If you've

(29:52):
got a home improvement question. Sevenone three two one two five eight seven
four. That's seven one three,two one two five eight se four.
Let's talk about Texas Remodel Team.You know, this is your complete home
remodeling company. And if you're lookingto upgrade in twenty twenty three, call
the Texas Remodel Team. Texas RemodelTeam can create truly spacious areas for you,

(30:18):
whether it's inside or outdoors. Andthese guys they handle it all.
They can do the design, theconstruction, you know, the whole nine
yards for you. So again,if you're looking to upgrade your home,
take a look at Texas Remodel Team. But let me also tell you about
their great window division. All theydo is specialize in window. This team,

(30:41):
they come in, they put inthe new windows for you, and
they got several different brands that youcan choose from. So call Texas Remodel
Team today at two eight one sixone two fifty nine ninety one. That's
two eight one six one two fiftynine ninety one. Hey, if you're
having a found foundation problem, don'tyou think you should call a company you

(31:03):
can trust. Well, you listento me, you take my advice on
other things. Why would you notcall my company to take care of your
foundation problems? You can call thebest when you call due West. That's
seven one three four seven three sevenone five six. Welcome to Texas Summer,

(31:25):
the only state where you get condensationon your butt from the hot water
in the toilet bowl. Here's JimDot Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome
back to Texas Home Improvement. Yourtotal home Improvement source seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.Let's head back into the calls. We're

(31:45):
gonna go out to Katie and Kyle. This is Jim. How can I
help you? Hello, Jim,I've got a forty three year old home
here that is a post tension cableslab. My question is I'm I'm looking
to build a deck or a bigpatio up against that slab, and my

(32:10):
concern is access to those cable pockets. Should I even be worried about it?
After this many years the age ofthe heaven, not at all?
Now, nothing to worry about itall. You go ahead and put your
deck or or patio or whatever upto it. Now, what I would

(32:34):
tell you is, if your pocketsare not covered over with the you know,
ceilant inside of them, in otherwords, it's not smooth with the
surface of the concrete, I wouldfix that first. But as long as
you know they they've got the concretematerial in them and and everything, and

(32:55):
you know, all you're doing isjust seeing where the circles are. Yeah,
you can cover that with no problem. Okay. I just wasn't sure
whether I really, after this longperiod of time, needed access to those
in case the cable was to fail. But my reasoning is if it hadn't

(33:16):
failed yet, if it does,it may not be worth repairing. Or
I just don't know. Yeah,And and honestly, ninety nine point nine
percent of the houses never ever haveto access those those those little pockets for
the cables. So I wouldn't loseany sleep over it at all, my

(33:40):
defiancer, I appreciate the advice.You bet take care you as well.
And again our number seven one three, two, one two, five,
eight seven four haven't won that oldHe was in the early years of the

(34:00):
cables, and back in that time, the post tension cables have gone through
a lot of changes, over theyears. I mean, originally they put
them real close together. Then theystarted spacing the mount and by spacing the
mout they got those cables at onepoint where they were, you know,
eight feet apart, six eight feet. Then they brought them back down to

(34:22):
about four again. But the otherthing that they did was in the early
years, they started making the beamson the foundation real shallow, and they
corrected that and went back to twodeeper beams. Now what they do is
you've got rebar in there as wellas the cables, because it's it's all

(34:45):
in order to hold it together whenthe concrete cracks, and all concrete does
crack by nature, you know,the cables do a wonderful job as far
as holding concrete together when it cracks. And I've never had any issues with
that. Where people run into aproblem is and I was afraid that's where

(35:07):
he was going to be going isIn the early years, it was sold
that if you ever had a foundationissue, you could simply open up those
pockets, tension the cable, andlift the foundation back up. And that
was never the case. But originallyit was sold to a lot of people
that way, and it didn't makea whole heck of a lot of sense.

(35:28):
But you know the other difference betweena post tension cable that way and
a rebar slab is a rebar slabtends to be stiffer and move as a
unit, where the post tension cableshave flexibility to them and your structure on
top with the sheet rock doesn't.But I would never not buy a house

(35:53):
because of the post tension cable.But if I was building new construction,
I would build with a conventional rebarkslab. Just my two cents in on
that. Anyways, if you've gota question seven one three two one two
five eight seven four against seven onethree, two one two five eight seven

(36:14):
four any home improvement question you have, feel free to pick up the phone,
give me a call, and I'llsee what I can do to help
you out here on Texas Home Improvement, your total home improvement source. Just
got an email thirty seven minutes agofrom Carol and Baytown. I've been watering
around the foundation when I water myplants, but I'm wondering how often and

(36:38):
how much we should be watering thefoundation since it is staying so hot.
I have a two story, thirtythree year old house. Look if you
haven't started watering the foundation yet,you are already way behind the curve.
You need to start water and immediately. It needs a little bit of water

(36:59):
daily. Typically, I'll tell youto put a soaker hose around the foundation
and turn it on for fifteen minutestwice a day. The key thing is
to put a pressure regulator on itthat brings the city pressure down. You
know, if city pressure comes inbetween fifty and eighty psi, you want

(37:20):
to regulate it down to about fifteento twenty psi and you'll be much better
off because that balances it where youget the same amount of water at the
beginning of the hose as you dothe end of the hose, where if
you let city pressure run it,you're only gonna get you get a lot
of water at the beginning of thehose and hardly nothing at the end.

(37:40):
So if you need some detail wateringinstructions, you can go to thhipro dot
com and when you go through ourvideos, we do have watering videos there
to show you exactly how to properlywater your foundation. We're gonna take a
quick break when we come back Lanain Granberry. You're gonna be up next

(38:01):
here on Texas Home Improvement seven one, three, two one two five eight
seven four ah. USA Insulation,we had them on a few minutes ago.

(38:28):
If you are looking to reinsulate yourhome, or if you live in
a really old home anywan i'd sayreally old. I mean if you're live
in a home from the sixties orearlier, you have no insulation in the
walls, call USA Insulation. Ifyou've got a house that is built in
the seventies like mine, you've gotR eleven in the wall, call USA
Insulation. You know, if youhave that R eleven, they can come

(38:51):
in put in their non expansive foaminsulation. It'll encapsulate the insulation you have,
and it'll take that R eleven andincrease it up to like an R
twenty five. You're not gonna getthat with fiberglass or any other type of
insulation in the wall cavity other thanfoam. So again USA Insulation three four

(39:14):
six, two nine seven twenty eighthundred. That's three four six, two
nine seven twenty eight hundred, Orjust go to thhipro dot com and click
on the link to USA Insulation.We all live in a part of the
country that we know disaster is goingto happen sooner or later. We're gonna
have a hurricane, We're gonna havea tropical storm. We're gonna flood,

(39:36):
We're gonna have massive rains or worse, we're gonna have a fire or mold
problem because of our humidity and such. Woodlands Water Restoration, No, they're
not a water conservative thing. Itis restoring your home back after these incidents
happen. They deal with the insuranceand they take care of you. Two

(39:58):
eight, one, five, seven, six, eighty four fifty nine for
Woodlands Water Restoration. The only statewhere you eat halloweenos to cool your mouth
off. Welcome to Texas Summer.Here's more with Jim Dutton on Texas home
improvements. Hey, welcome back toTexas How improvements seven one three, two

(40:21):
one two five eight seven four.Let's head to Granberry and Lena. This
at Jim. How can I helpyou? Hi, Kim? I am
going to call USA Insulation have themcome out. My question is I have
a mobile home that's twenty four feetwide by forty eight feet long and it's

(40:44):
about, I don't know, thirtynine years old. I understand that there's
not very much space between the thewell. There's no attic. I don't
know if it's only two feet spaceup top or four feet, but I'm
looking to get something put in therewhen they have to redo the roof due

(41:07):
to hail. But if I hadthe walls done with the foam product,
would that be like too much goingon? Or No? In the in
the attic, you would want touse a fiberglass type product, something that's
breathable. But in the walls theycould do the foam and that would help

(41:30):
tremendously on that. Okay, becausewe rewrapped this mubble home a few years
back with hearty board. Okay,so my question that I'm curious, does
that hearty board it seems to melike it would hold heat a long time?
Is that? Is that true?No, it doesn't it because it's
so thin, it doesn't hold itmuch at all. Oh okay, And

(41:55):
with that, I want to haveto let you go because I am totally
out of time for this hour ofTexas Home Improvement. But feel free to
call us back, and we gotanother hour of Texas Home Improvement to go.
Let's talk about American standard air mychoice and air conditioners and American Standard
is nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction, so

(42:20):
it's a lot of other people's choicesystem as well. You can take care
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it meets the ever changing Texas weatherhead on. So keep your home
cool and humidity free or be readyfor a little heat when you need it.
Invest wisely and invest in the homecomfort system that will last you a

(42:45):
long, long time comfort the wayyou like it. American Standard Air dot
com. And you know, whenyou're looking for an air conditioning system,
you want one that's gonna last.I mean there's a lot of different manufacturers
out there, some last longer thanothers, summer quieters and others. When
you want a great one, youwant American Standard. This is probably gonna

(43:07):
sound a little strange to you.Texas Home Improvement is on the air with
your host Jim Doctor. What Ineed to know? You always give me
the way to go great observation.You got to be on the radio.
Well this might be the answer tomy prayers. And I'm really glad I
could talk to you. You areyou are the smartest guy no, and

(43:28):
I made there tall. Jim Nowwith all your home improvement questions at seven
one three, two one two fiveeight seven four. That's seven one three,
two one two five eight seven fourTexas Home Improvement brought to you by
twos Services Plumbing, Foundation, repairand air Conditioning, Texas Remodeled Team Windows,
the official window company of Texas HomeImprovement. American Standard Comfort the way

(43:50):
you like it. James Hardy Sighting, the best sighting on the planet.
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Residential and commercial rooping Specialists, Woodland'sWater Restoration, your hometown solution for

(44:10):
property damage and fixtures, Remodeling andconstruction, Party plank Specialists. And now
broadcasting live from the Dutton Ranch Peers, Jim dot Hey, Welcome back to
Texas Home Improvements. Your total homeimprovement source seven one three, two one

(44:34):
two five eight seven. For anyhome improvement question, just feel free to
pick up the phone, give mea call and we'll talk about it here
on Texas Home Improvement. Seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
And of course don't forget about thewebsite t hipro dot com. It's
there's a resource to help you outtwenty four seven. So again that's th

(44:57):
hi pro dot com. While you'rethere, make sure you sign up for
our newsletter that goes out every otherweek. It doesn't cost you anything.
And there's the ask Jim button thereso that you can send an email questions.
Uh, that's well, like Isaid, th chipro dot com.
All right, let's see here,we're gonna head to Titusville, Florida,

(45:21):
DC. How can I help you? Oh there, Jim, I just
recently had my little screen porch coveredand insulated. This is the old type
of the ribs in the ceiling orthe roof, and they covered it up
and they did a great job.But there's leaked. They got a gutter

(45:42):
that runs along the back of itand it's gots. It leads through at
the connection of the roof and thegutter. Can I just cank that back
over or what? Yes? Andin fact you would want to do that
because the gutters. What you'll findis the front of the gutter is higher
than the back of the gutter,and so yeah, you'll definitely want to

(46:06):
cock that up. But the otherthing is, in order for it to
be leaking back that way, eitherthe gutter is undersized or has a restriction
in at someplace like a downspout,maybe has a partial clog or something that's
allowing the gutter to fill up withwater, because it shouldn't be leaking if

(46:27):
if it's all running right. Oh, well, is it's well over thirty
forty years old? I'm sure.I mean it's yeah, it's an olden
but I mean I put that insulationthat made a big difference on the back
porch. But also the way thesepeople design this porch, go figure this
out engineering wise, and I'm anengineer, is they tilted. I've got

(46:47):
a pull that's on on the farcorner by my pull, and you know
how they make the pools where theyare slanting a weight, didn't concrete slanting.
The slanted away right the pull itself, so it drains off and they
got that little cheap drain that goesin between the house and the and the
screen porch. Well, they theyset it up where it drained toward the

(47:09):
pole instead of away from the pullinto my yard. So I had a
gutter put across the back of thehouse and had it tilted, were drained
towards the screen porch along the pool, and then had it a pipe put
in from the edge of it intothat side part of the of the roof

(47:30):
that was like you know, overhangand not being used, and I had
that draining in there and it's beengreat. And so when it goes down
the downspout and I got a littlescreen on it so it catches all the
garbage on it, but it's screwed. I got a tube that or not
a tube, but an extension orthe gutter to sit there or the downspout
that goes into my pul aso fueledmy pull background. Ah, yeah,

(47:52):
there you go. So but Ican't imagine, but yeah, I just
want to know because I want tosaw in their reins. Get on the
inside of the gutter. It didhave some water dripping down, and I
thought it was just a simple cockingand I just wanted to check it.
So do I calk it from thebottom side or do I have to get

(48:13):
on the top and cawk it onthe top as well? If it's possible,
it'll do better if you do itfrom the top. If you if
you can get to it. Oh, I can get to it. It's
just amount of putting a lot ofup against it. So okay, all
right, well great, that's allI need to know. I appreciate your
time. Thank you for the chuck. You bet you take care. Thank
you, sir bug and again sevenone three two one two five eight seven

(48:40):
four going ahead to Katie and skip. Welcome to seven forty ktr chuck.
Can I help you? I betthe every hard work store and done everything
they've told me, and I gotthis white sprinkler would hit the brick,
rip my red brick. I finallyturned a sprinkler away from the wall.
But I've got a lot of littlewhite spots all over the brick. And
I've done everything they told me,and I still got him. Yep,

(49:06):
you got mineral deposits is what you'vegot, and it it gets into the
pores of the brick, and soit is tough to try to get do
anything that gets that stuff off.Uh gotta suggestion. What do you have
for brick? Is going to bemy first question. I'm sorry, Well,

(49:29):
what do you have for brick?Is it the you know, the
soft Mexican brick or is it enactme hard brick? I have no idea,
but but my house is gone twothousand and two. They'll help you.
It does, actually, because that'stypically gonna be a harder brick.
Is it a dark color brick?Not really dark, but it's a red.

(49:52):
It's a redd. It's kind oflike a Spain red. Okay,
Well, typically what you're dealing withis going to be the mineral deposits.
What if they had what if theyhad you put on there to try to
take it off? A city deal, Chloris, CLR, you name it.

(50:15):
I've tried at all. They fireyou to call a restoration company them
come out and clean for you.I say, hell, I don't want
to pay a fortune to have themcome on do that. Yeah, and
I don't think they'll take it offeither. Oh I'm gonna tell you.
Yeah, I'm gonna tell you rightnow. If CLR and some of those
other acid based products didn't take itoff, it's in the pores and it's

(50:36):
not coming off. Okay, Sodon't worry you no, nope, Oh
okay, buddy, appreciate it,you bet, you take care of Yeah,
A brick is not solid or hardlike glass. And think of it.
This way, we get mineral depositson glass that we can't clean off

(51:00):
when he gets into those pores ofthe brick. If it's been there for
a while, it's just plain notgoing to come off. Alrighty again seven
one three, two one two fiveeight seven four Pat in Conro, how
are you today? I'm doing well, thank you. I'm still working on
an old house. I'm disappearing.Bean house got one hundred and fifty six

(51:22):
feet of of perimeter, and I'mgoing to put a skirt on it.
If you've got solid roll limitum forskirting with no ventilation? How much ventilation
do I need for every For everyone hundred and fifty square foot of space

(51:44):
you have underneath there, you wantone square foot of ventilation. No,
that's not very much. It doesn'tsound like a lot, but it does
add up to quite a bit.What are you going to start it with?
I think I'm going to skirt it, skirt it with metal. It's

(52:05):
all sand and my extended my roofsout six feet all the way around,
so I don't get any moisture upagainst the house. It's gonna stay drying.
I'm seven to six years old.That metal will last longer than our
left and uh, I know it'sI would thought at first, I've just
use hardy board. But I'm doingthis all by myself, and hardy board's
kind of hard to work with byyourself, even if you cut it into

(52:29):
sections. So I think I'm justgonna take some metal reasoning, uh and
cut it in the house is avery grade, so I'll just set it,
uh the links that I need andthen they make the metal soft it
ye that I'll run every every sooften, uh, and set that in
and be done with it. Okay, it normally, And then renown was

(52:53):
asking, is normally what I wouldtell somebody to use, is a h
the hardy off at material. Yeah, because it's already perforated and it'll give
you all the ventilation you need andit comes in different with so that you
can usually match what you need heightwise. Yeah. I considered that.

(53:15):
In fact, I talked to youabout it before. Yeah, but I've
got some I have some variantesting great, and it goes anywhere for twelve.
Yet this awful hardywood doesn't come intwenty four that I've been able to find.
And then I wanted to bury ita couple of inches. So I

(53:42):
think this is just the ease forme to do it by myself. I'm
probably oh yeah, and like yousaid, you can you can just put
those uh soffit vents into onto themetal and it'll it'll work just fine.
Yeah, I'm thinking that's I thinkthat's what it comes to paint. And
so I'll have to mess with that. Yep. Anyway, and all right,

(54:06):
that's what I'll do. I'm aguy that I hear my own.
I hear myself on your radio allthe time with ergy Keep product. So
anyway, I'm still waiting on myroyalty checks. Well, anyway, you'll
you'll probably have your your skirting finishbefore the royalty check gets there. Well,

(54:31):
I don't know. I'm pretty clow. I'll take care of pat okay,
huh and again our number seven onethree two one two five eight seven
four. That's seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. And
I'll see what I can do tohelp you out here on Texas ow Improvement.

(54:54):
I'll tell you what we'll do.Another one here Roland in Alvin.
How can I help you? Oh? How are you doing? I've wondered.
I've got some posts left over froma house. I was living in
Houston and they were building a houseacross the street and they put this house

(55:14):
on stilts. And these posts weretwelve by twelves and they drove them into
the ground. I don't know howdeep they went, but they went pretty
deep and they were sticking up.Oh, I guess eight feet ten feet,
and they cut the tops off tomake everything level. I've got the
tops of these things and they werethey were painted with creatos. They're great.

(55:36):
Well, I'm gonna put a porchin in front of my house and
I've got eight of these posts,and I'm wondering how deep I need to
go to support the posts to supportthe porch. I'm thinking twelve inches on
top of concrete would be sufficient.And the porch is just gonna be a

(56:00):
wooden porch right right right, basicallyjust a deck with the root. Yeah.
Uh, you know, if ifyou can go down, uh,
the deeper you go, the better. But if you at least go down,
say two plus feet, and Itypically try to go three when I'm

(56:21):
doing a deck, but anything inthat range will be just fine. Well,
when you're doing a deck and yougo down three feet, aren't you
usually using four by fours or sixby sixes, Yes, sir, I
mean so, I don't know.I'm just thinking twelve by twelve means that
it's much wider. It doesn't reallyneed to go down so deep. It's

(56:43):
got the it's got the width forthe for the base as support. Well,
that's that's part of it, youknow, as I get the two
feet, I get that as afeet it's going to be better. But
it's it's more than it's more thanthe than the The reason for it is
the moisture change in our soils.As the soils dry out, they shrink,

(57:07):
and so the deeper you go,the less likely you are to have
that problem. Now, that problemis typically on the top five to seven
foot, so even at three feetyou're still going to have some of that
issue. Because you're gonna have atwelve by twelve base, you're more likely
to have a little movement with themoisture change than you are with a four

(57:28):
by four. I got you,I got you. It's like, I
guess the same difference of that widertires and narrow tires on a wet road,
the white tires slip yep. Okay, okay, I get it.
I wish somebody could have told methat I've been trying to find this answer.

(57:49):
Nobody can tell me well, andnobody's in the foundation business like I
am. Yeah, yeah, that'svery true. Well, thank you so
much, welcome you have a greatday, you too, Bye bye bye,
and again our number seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four,
and I'll see what I can doto help you out here on Texas

(58:13):
whole Improvement. You know, aminute ago we were talking about some skirting
and I suggested James Hardy siding becauseon their soft materials, they've got a
continuous perforated softic material and it doescome in in different widths. But if
you're looking for a way to putsoft it's up on your house to have

(58:36):
continuous ventilation for your attic and belike I did, I used James Hardy
siding. Now all my siding onmy house is James Hardy siding and my
trim and everything else. And thereason for it is once it's up there,
I never have to worry about itagain. It's you know, cement
based, so it doesn't rot.Bugs aren't going to eat it. It's

(58:58):
not going to deteriorate over time.I holds paint better than any siding I've
ever seen, and it just planelooks gorgeous. So it gives your house
some great curb appeal. You're lookingfor a permanent siding, you're looking for
James Hardy Siding. Go to thhiprodot com and click on the link for
James Hardy Siding. All right,so you've been thinking about getting some replacement

(59:22):
windows, let me tell you whoto call. Texas Remodel Team. Sounds
like a remodeling company, but theygot a whole division that does nothing but
replacement windows for you. And becausethey're part of Texas Remodel Team, if
there's some rotten wood or something aroundthe window, hey they got access to
the right people to get that fixedfor you as well. Now, Texas

(59:45):
Remodel Team has a four point ninestars out of five on Google Review and
an eight plus rating with the BBB. They're gonna take great care of you
as well as give you some excellentwindows. Two eight one six two fifty
nine ninety one. That's two eightone six one two fifty nine ninety one

(01:00:06):
for Texas Remodeled Team. Texas theonly state where a seatbelt. Welcole makes
a pretty good Brandon ironow. Clickin our ticket. This is Texas Home

(01:00:29):
Improvement with Jim Dutton. Hey,welcome back to Texas Home Improvements. Seven
one three, two one two fiveeight seven four and again any home improvement
question you have, Let's head downto Baytown and marry. This is Jim.
How can I help you? Hello? Jim? Hey, how are

(01:00:53):
you today? Okay? Pretty good, great show. I got a quick
question. Ask you about my garageor where the sensors are below? Can
I remove those and keep them?It? Just cut them out and well
my garage door still work. Probablynot. The reason why I'm asking is

(01:01:14):
I'm having a problem with it whereright now the garage store will come down
halfway, it'll stop and I'll goback up. Other times what it does.
It'll come start coming down, it'llgo maybe a foot or two foot,
it stops and it goes back up. So that's why it's like the
sensors is being tripped. It is, and probably what's causing it is your

(01:01:39):
door probably needs just some servicing.As a age, the rollers need to
be serviced, the tracks need tobe serviced because it'll start shaking real bad,
and when it shakes, it canthrow those sensors out and and it
just messes it up. And youknow, for like eighty bucks, they'll

(01:02:00):
come out, adjust the doors,clean everything up, and get them going
again like they should. Okay,I think what you just hit it there,
because when it does come down,when it is working, it does
shake. So yeah, like you'resaying, you mean the tracks need to
be adjusted or maybe got an extrabracket or two on the track itself.

(01:02:22):
Now, I probably worked for yearsthe way it was, so it's usually
just a matter of just resecuring everything, adjusting and lubricating everything. Okay,
and then I didn't notice one otheritems. Then I'll let you go.
When the door is coming down,if you're looking on the right hand side
the top track, where normally whenyou're going down it kind of expands out

(01:02:45):
and then it goes back when itgoes down to the straight of the track.
So it could be the problem rightthere too. Yep. Yeah,
So yeah, the fact that thesensors are going off indicators a bigger problem
that needs to be addressed. Okay. And I hear people saying that you
could clean your outside depressor by runninga water hose and clean the vents on

(01:03:08):
it. Do you do that normallywhen the air condition is running or when
it's off it truthfully doesn't really matter. You can do it either way.
The outside unit is made to beout in the rain, and it runs
in the rain and stuff all thetime. So yeah, it's fine,
okay, okay, you have agreat shot. Thank you. I appreciate

(01:03:30):
your help. Thank you, bythank you very much. You take care
and again seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. We're getting
ready to take a break for news, traffic and weather here on Texas Home
Improvements seven forty ktrh and then we'llbe back with more. Let's see who's

(01:03:50):
up next. It's gonna be Craig, then John and whoever else calls seven
one three two one two five eightseven four for more EXAs Home Improvement.

(01:04:15):
You know, American Standard is mychoice and air conditioners. I've been using
them since nineteen ninety nine. Andif you are looking for a great air
conditioning system, I highly recommend youtake a look at American Standard as well.
It's nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

(01:04:36):
Take care of your family all yearlong with American Standard now American Standard technology.
It meets the ever change in Texasweather head on. So you can
keep your home cool and humidity freeor be ready for a little heat when
you need it. Invest wisely andinvest in the home comfort system that'll last

(01:04:56):
you a long, long time.Comfort the way you like it. American
Standard Air dot com. And whenyou're taking a look at American Standard Air,
you know, make sure you lookat the dual speed and variable speed
systems that gives you the ultimate comfortin humidity control. Welcome to Dutton Ranch.

(01:05:20):
That's Dutton, Jim Dutton. Herehe is Smith Moore on Texas Home
Improvement. Hey, welcome back toTexas Home Improvements. Seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four. It's head to Bay City. Craig.

(01:05:43):
This Jim. How can I helpyou? Hello, Jim, I
am adding a bedroom to my housetwenty four sixteen. It's an elevated house
off of the ground about ten feetBay City area on the Bay. The
wind's constantly moving, So the questionis I'll have two by twelve joist at

(01:06:08):
the floor and work construction. Ihave run across some two and a quarter
inch stick of rigid insulation board phoneboards. So what I was thinking was
I was going to take the twoand a quarter and put it underneath the
subfloor and then put our thirty underneaththat and then put the lid on there.
Is that a good idea? No? Nope. I am getting tons

(01:06:32):
of people calling since building Code startedhaving people put that insulation underneath. It's
rotting out the undersides, and it'scausing your boards inside the home, your
your floors and sub floors and everythingto warp. When when you put that

(01:06:56):
enclosure on the bottom of the twoby twelves, it's trapping too much humidity
in there. Well, that's whyI was concerned about. I'm glad I
talked to you. I was.I wasn't sure I wanted to do it,
But so just go with regular badinsulation and be done with it.
I wouldn't I wouldn't put any insulationin there, to be honest with you.
I'd leave it open and let itbreathe. Now, if you want

(01:07:18):
to put some insulation of some kind, use a spray foam or you know,
you got those boards you were justtalking about those phone boards. You
could cut those and put them inthere. But I wouldn't put the UH
cover over the bottom because that's wherepeople are running into problems, oh making

(01:07:41):
it like not letting them. Sothe air movement isn't It doesn't help out
there then because it's sealed off anyway, sealed off and so the air movement's
not doing any good where If youleave it open, the air movement actually
helps you. So if you wantedto use that, you know you you
mentioned those two inch phone boards.If you want to put those there,

(01:08:02):
that would be fine. Let's leaveit at that. Yep. Interesting,
appreciate time, sir. You bettake care. And this goes for cross
based homes as well. They've gottabreathe. Don't put fiberglass in there.
It holds moisture against the wood andcauses it to rot. If you're gonna

(01:08:25):
insist on using some type of insulation, you can use a spray foam closed
cell so it doesn't take on anymoisture. Again, if you've got a
question seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four headed back to
Connor John, Welcome to Texas.Yeah, I want to apologize. I

(01:08:45):
don't know if I take your thinkup of speaker or not. Can you
hear me, I can. Okay. So when my house was built,
the builder, after the foundation wasprepped, Doug b and he put about
a foot in half of irregular peedgravel and compacted it and then built the

(01:09:06):
rebar on top of top of thatand forwards the foundation. I've never heard
of anybody talking about that before.Have you ever heard that? Not in
Texas other parts of the country.All right, Well, the reason they
so they don't do that down herethe moisture because you now have a tract

(01:09:29):
that's gonna allow the moisture to collectand travel. Yeah, what what he
did was he put French drains andall the corners of the house for the
peak, he said, wight andkeep the expansion and contraction from being so
that. Yeah, what he's doingis he yeah, he's created a low

(01:09:49):
spot then for the moisture to toaccumution. As long as he's got the
slope going right into you know,the catch patients to pump it out right,
you shouldn't have any problems now thesoils you have in Conro though,
is this in an area where yougot the clay or is it an area
where it's all sandy? It's uh, it was it was sandy. We

(01:10:14):
had to bring in an almost likethree foot of uh sandy long and compacted
it in there. Okay, Andare your beams down into the original soil
then, or is it in thefill? Uh? No, the the
quay was put in the original soil. We we backfilled it and compacted it.

(01:10:41):
Right. But I'm saying I haven'thad any tru What I'm asking is,
did your beams, the foundation beamsgo all the way down to the
original undisturbed soil. No, thethe the rocks put in there and compacted
with a vibrator, and then heput the rebarn on top of that important

(01:11:03):
toward the concrete. Okay. Youare subject to movement then, because no
matter how well you pack the soil, when it is back filth that way,
you're supposed to go all the waydown to the original soil with your
footings for the foundation, because nomatter how well you pack it, it

(01:11:24):
is gonna it's gonna settle some Well. I guess, I guess I've been
lucky. You haven't been thereby there'sI haven't had any problems. Maybe I
won't have any more. You've beenthere how long? Fifteen years? Okay?
Then? Yeah, you're you're youshould be doing. Okay, Well,

(01:11:45):
what the third he told me washe took me over to a railroad
track and said, when they buildany tracks, they put rock uneath this
so you don't get expansion and contraction. And but what you're saying is that
the water still could pond. Yeah, and he's dead wrong. That's not
why they put rock under the railroadtracks. They put the rock under the
railroad tracks because if you notice,it spreads out wider than the tracks are,

(01:12:09):
and it gives the railroad tracks awider base in order to sit on.
Okay, all right, well Isure appreciate the info. You bet,
you take care, right, Yeah, that's and it absorbs the vibration

(01:12:29):
of the trains going over and stuff. Where if you put the railroad tracks,
you know, down, say ona concrete pad down on the soil,
think about how it does where theroad crossings are. Those areas have
to be rebuilt periodically because of thevibration and the movement that we get into
the into the soils. So butyou know, I understand what they did

(01:12:54):
with this foundation by putting the gravelin the bottom and then catching the moist
year they're basically keeping the water fromwicking into the soil with the ups and
downs, but underneath where the gravelis is still subject to that, you
know. But you know, mosthomes don't see a problem until there's somewhere

(01:13:15):
between fifteen and eighteen years old.So anyways, if you've got a question,
seven one three, two one twofive eight seven four, and I'll
see what I can do to helpyou out. When we come back,
we'll be going to Marvin and Angletonnext here on Texas Home Improvement. And
again seven one three, two onetwo, five, eight seven fours the

(01:13:39):
number to call. Let's talk aboutplantations shutters. You know. Sunburnt shutters
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(01:14:04):
shutters are guaranteed not to chip,crack, warp, or split, But
everything at Sunburst Shutters is designed tolast longer, look better, and outperform
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(01:14:26):
shutters, call the book an appointment. They have design consultations so you can
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(01:14:47):
Conditioning the company to call for allyour air conditioning needs. Whether it's just
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it doesn't matter. Du West airConditioning can help you out. And you
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else put in an air conditioning system, and yeah, I got it real

(01:15:08):
cheap, but it's not working right. The installation can make all the difference
in the world. And if youtrust me to answer how they did it
wrong, why would you not usemy guys to put it in right to
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three four seven five zero zero zerofour to all you folks who like to

(01:15:33):
vent on social media, shut upand vent your at it. It's probably
one hundred and fifty degrees in that. We're back to Texas Home Improvement with
Jilly Duck. Hey, welcome backto Texas Home Improvement. You're total home
improvement sore is seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. And

(01:15:58):
I'll see what I can do tohelp ye out here on Texas Home Improvement.
As said, let's head out toAngleton and Marvin. How can I
help you today? Yes? Oruh got a manufactured home the intake so
their AC unit. I had aman do some work for me here recently,
and he said, I could cutthat off or seal that up on

(01:16:20):
the intake the falls the house breezeenough and I really don't need to be
getting all that hot air coming throughthere. They would make my AC more
efficient. True or false spends onhow the house was put together. Uh.
They typically don't put those air freshair intakes in unless they use foam

(01:16:41):
insulation to seal the whole house up. Well, the house is uh twenty
four years old, okay, Uhwe got we put windows in here right
after the freeze. Yeah, butI mean, you know, coming and
going. He was saying that,because you know, all you're doing basically

(01:17:05):
is getting all the sucking in allthe hot air to go into the su
would I would just curious to bewell, when those when those events are
working properly, you're you're only suckingin air periodically, maximum is fifteen minutes
per hour typically, and and thenit closes up anyways when they're installed properly.

(01:17:31):
And so if it was built withit in there, like I said,
even twenty four years ago, ifit was a house that wasn't sealed
up tight, they didn't put themin. They started putting them in when
they started sealing the houses up tootight. Because if you don't bring in
fresh air when a house is sealedup, it'll start actually molding and well

(01:17:54):
doing inside. So honestly, Iwould leave it the way it is.
I leave it off. Yeah,yeah, I just you know, he
said, I could just you know, go ahead. Uh it's a flex
line. You know it's called it'sgot the roof lets. Yep. Uh
yeah, okay, okay, Ijust just wanted to check said, okay,

(01:18:16):
not a problem, you take care, yes, and I will.
I will say this a lot ofair conditioning. Guys who are old school,
Uh, they don't understand why thosefans are there, and in their
mind, it's bringing in hot airthat the system's got to cool off and
doesn't make a lot of sense todo it, but it does. You

(01:18:41):
need that fresh air in order tokeep the home from getting sick home syndrome.
And and honestly, it's one ofthe things I've I've had against ceiling
the homes up completely because if thatelectric flapper goes out, because it does
have a mechanical flapper that opens andcloses, if that goes out, you

(01:19:02):
can now still get sick home syndrome. And so it's still an issue anyway.
It's just just my two cents.What I prefer is foam in the
walls, what seals everything up,fiberglass or something breathable in the attic so
the house can still breathe and thenI don't need to have a fresh air
intake that way, And the reasonI use other type of insulation in the

(01:19:27):
attic a breathable type. Our fortyeight is our forty eight. I don't
care if you're using foam and sealingit up tight, or if you're using
fiberglass and it's breathable. It's stillin our forty eight insulation. Anyways,
you get a question seven one three, two one two five eight seven four,
and I'll see what I can doto help you out here on Texas

(01:19:49):
Home Improvement. Let me jump intoa quick email question. This comes from
my hometown of Pasadena, and it'sEdwin saying I watched your YouTube on do
it yourself foundation watering. One question, my driveway slopes down slightly from the
house to the street. What willor will that downward slope increase the pressure

(01:20:15):
on the socer hose along the drivewayand pull more water there and by extension
less around the house. No,because the way these socer hoses work is
the whole thing fills with water andbasically pressurizes it, and if you use
the pressure regulator on it, you'llget even water dispersal. And in the

(01:20:40):
instructions, we say use a fifteento twenty pound pressure regulator, drop that
city pressure down to that and it'llbalance it out where you'll be just fine.
So now I wouldn't lose any sleepover that at all. With that,
we're getting ready to take a quickbreak here, just a reminder t
hipro dot com. It's there's aresource to help you out twenty four seven.

(01:21:04):
So if you're looking for information duringthe week, or if you're looking
for the web address of somebody youheard me talking about, always start at
t hi pro dot com and you'llbe rest assured that you're getting the right
connection to the right company. Soagain, it's ti pro dot com.

(01:21:27):
I'm gonna take a quick break.We'll be back with more Texas home improvement.
You know, far and away,the best product for staining a fence,

(01:21:49):
a deck, or any outdoor woodsurface is Ready Seal Stain and Sealer.
Now Ready Seal is a wood stainingsealer and one that you can add
color and seal a wood from moyin one easy step and combining the stain
and sealer eliminates extra cost, savestime duringing application, and produces a high
end quality finish every time. Stainand seal with no cracking, chipping,

(01:22:14):
flaking or peeling and already seal wood. Stain and sealers penetrate deep into the
wood fibers, moisturizing the wood withwaterproofing oils, and creating a flexible barrier
that keeps the moisture out. Plusit's goofproof. I mean, this is
the simplest to it yourself project you'llever find. No runs, laps,
or streaks. Ever. It canbe sprayed on, rolled on, or

(01:22:36):
brushed on, and it's gonna lastyears longer than comparable products. Now.
Ready Seal is a Texas based familybusiness, and you can find it in
the box stores, in the lumberyards, and hardware stores just virtually.
Any place that's selling building materials typicallycarries Ready Seal. But to find a

(01:22:56):
location nearest you just go to readyseal dot com. Well, let's talk
about USA insulation. I mean,we were talking about foam insulation a minute
ago on the house. It wasup on stilts or even across space house.
And you've heard me say for yearsI don't like in capsulate in the
whole house because of the breathability.Like we were just talking about having to

(01:23:19):
bring in fresh air and everything.Well, USA insulation, though, they
understand that process. What they useis foam in the walls and fiberglass in
the attic, so the house isbreathable and you can insulate and get the
best our values possible. Because inchFrench, you can't beat foam insulation.

(01:23:42):
So when you're looking to insulate yourhome, and I should say reinsulate your
home, you need to call USAInsulation and talk with them about their proprietary
non expansive foam. They can injectinto your walls and make your house more
energy efficient wieter and give you agreat fire rating for it as well.

(01:24:03):
Three four six two nine seven twentyeight hundred. That's three four six two
nine seven twenty eight hundred for usA Insulation. If somebody tells you you

(01:24:27):
can't do it, tell him tokiss your crew bar. This is Texas
Hold Improvement with Jim Dutton. Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement.
Just a quick reminder, I haven'tmentioned the passing livestock show on Rodeo,
but the kickoff dance is next Saturday, and the Rodeo itself, well,

(01:24:47):
I shouldn't say Rodeo. The paradefor the Rodeo will be September ninth.
The cookoff is the weekend of thefifteenth, and then the following weekend Rodeo
self starts. You want to learnabout the entertainment lineup and more information about
all the Rodeo events, go toPasadena Rodeo dot com. With that being

(01:25:10):
said, we are completely out oftime today, but I do want to
invite you to join me again tomorrowfor more Texas home improvement starting at two
o'clock right here on seven forty ktrh. When disaster strikes, you know you

(01:25:33):
got to have a company you cantrust to come in and take care of
it and help you with your insurancecompany. Because let's be real here,
the insurance company's job is to savethe insurance company money. Woodlands Water Restorations
SHOB is to get you the moneyyou deserve to put your house back together.
Whether it's water damage, fire,mold, flood, it doesn't matter.

(01:25:57):
Woodlands Water Restoration will help you outand they got a great team of
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Now you can get in touch withWoodlands Water Restoration at two eight one
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