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June 6, 2026 95 mins
Kenny (Jims's brother) and Adam (Jim’s son) fill in today as Jim has some responsibilities at the Pasadena Rodeo Picnic. They look at some email questions about water leaking through a slab, a French drain, installing James Hardie siding, a hole in the wall, attic insulation, and more. Kenny and Adam continue in the second hour with more email and caller questions on their home improvement issues.
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Texas Home Improvement is on the air with your host
Jim Dot.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I really appreciate you Shall really helped me to know
what to do and what not to do. You are
a very logical man.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
You or you are so correct, So thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm petting on my back forward drinking a beer in
your honor. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Call now with all your home improvement questions at seven
one three two one two five eight seven four. That's
seven one three, two one two by me seven four.
Texas Home Improvement brought to you by Ready Seal Stain
and see the USA Insulation wall fum insulation for existing homes,
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(00:41):
Foundation Repair, plumbing and air conditioning when you want the
best called Due West, Citadel Security Smart Home Business Security Solutions,
Rhino Shield Paint a House, Shield a Home, Southern front Door,
making first impressions every time. Guardian roof Systems residential and
commercial roofing Experts, Texas Remodel Team, James Hardy Sighting the

(01:04):
best sighting on the planet. And Southern Water Solutions Healthier
Cleaner water and now.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Broadcasting live from the Dunton Ranch heires Jim.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
Hey, welcome to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton, Jim
Dutton's brother. We're actually in Pasadena today at the Pasadena
Livestock Showing Rodeo Membership Committee picnic, getting things kicked off
for the year coming up of the rodeo for them.
And Jim's the president of the Pasadena Rodeo Association right now,

(01:42):
so he's actually out here, but he's working on things
with the rodeo. And I'm here on the radio with
Adam Dutton, Jim's middle son, to answer your questions and
try to help you out with any questions you may have.
So if you have any questions, give us a call
at seven one three two one two five eight seven four.

(02:03):
That's seven one three two one two five eight seven four,
and we're gonna do our best to answer things for you.
And Jim may pop it in and out on on
here possibly depending on what's going on with with with
the rodeo, uh picnic, but uh, you know, Adam's here
to help you out and and uh you know he's
helped out before on the on the show.

Speaker 6 (02:23):
Yeah, yeah, and you've been on it as well. And
I when whenever I fill in. I always like to
give a little bit of a background so people don't
know they're just calling some chump fits doesn't know anything.

Speaker 5 (02:34):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (02:34):
I myself uh been working with my dad for the
last twenty five years. I'm working dust, but I also
help them with THCHI. I've helped him with the repairs
on several different houses he's done through THCHI. Uh. Season
four of his show was actually my house and me
doing the work at my house doing a remodel.

Speaker 5 (02:54):
Uh. Oh yeah, I remember that one real well. We
had some good audio on that. Oh projacked.

Speaker 6 (03:00):
I've I tend to say things a little bit. And
that's where he the bumper where it used to be. Oh,
my toe, my big toe, That's that's where he broke
his big toe.

Speaker 5 (03:11):
Yeah. Those big rocks on your fireplace.

Speaker 6 (03:14):
Yes, but yeah, I've I've been in this industry for
quite a while and oftentimes all these projects he talks
about doing and getting done, the fact of the matter
is I'm the guy actually building them. And then you yourself, Kenny,
You've been in construction just as long as he has.

Speaker 5 (03:33):
Yeah, yep, we you know, we grew up doing construction
with my dad and grew up into the business. You know,
you know, been in business since nineteen seventy eight, so
so you know, we've been doing it for basically forty
eight years. And me and Jim Moore in high school
at that time, but we were working for him on
the weekends and at night a lot of times, and
then redoing houses for them on the side on rent

(03:56):
houses that my dad had, and actually going through high school.
You know, something that kind of schools went away from
for a period of time or getting back into was
the technical trades. I actually went through building trades and
stuff through the Pasaden Independent School District, which was a
real good program and I learned a lot in there.

Speaker 6 (04:14):
Yeah, well, I guess they know a little bit about
us now, so we could probably start getting into some
of these questions here that we have on email. This
one's actually from Jay in Spring and I thought this
was kind of an interesting question. This is for my neighbors.

(04:34):
An elderly couple has issues with water leaking through a
slab into a sunken living room. The dirt was cleared
and suspected area groundwater filled the void. There is no
water leaks detected, no foul smell. As a sewage leak.
Would they're having trouble finding the right person to help,

(04:57):
willing or unable. So I feel like this one kind
of falls in our wheelhouse for the type of work
we do.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
Yeah, this is actually a fairly common issue we run into,
particularly up in the Spring area, I think is where
you said this was, yes, and some of the homes
that were built, and a lot of them were built
in the sixties and seventies, and the ground level on
the outside of some of the homes up there is
very near the surface level of the slab on the

(05:26):
interior of the home, and those step down areas are
sometimes at or below ground level of the outside. And
you know, the interesting thing about water is it seeks
its own level. So when we get these downpours of
rain and sets, that water migrates in the soils and
then ends up showing up inside the slab on these
because the actual concrete is water permeable. You know, people

(05:49):
talk about a vapor barrier. When they put a slab down,
they put plastic down poly down below where the slabs poured.
But back then they didn't tape the joints or any thing,
and it was just laid out there. And sometimes it
deteriorates over time and moisture has a tendency to wink
through the slab. And what I've seen is it can
happen from a plumbing leak, but the majority of time

(06:10):
it's drainage issues around the structure, and particularly in spring,
where they have a mix of soils, there will be
some sandy silts, some sands, and then some clay area.
So the water gets into the sand areas where's a
lot of void ratio between the granules and the water
can migrate through that, and then you'll have a layer
of clay down below that. So the water's transferring fairly

(06:31):
rapidly in the shallow soils and can show up through
the slab. And I've seen somewhere you can put French
strains around it, surface drains and French strains around it
and take care of some of that water before it
gets on and under the slab and shows up through
a slab. But I've seen others where you know it's
just playing fill in the slab on the interior part

(06:53):
there and raise that up to the level of the
rest of the home. And it can be handled both ways,
either way or both ways.

Speaker 6 (07:01):
Yeah, either way you could give do us to call
on that issue.

Speaker 5 (07:05):
Yeah, Yeah, And we're real familiar with them, you know,
we can look at it and see what the breast
approach is because in spring, in particular, on some of
the older homes are run into where the slab on
the inside part of those sunken rooms is thin, and
it's just real hard to keep a little bit of
moisture from showing up through them. And I've done somewhere.
We've put actually underslab drainage systems in there and kept

(07:26):
water out on bigger commercial and condominiums, apartment complexes where
we've tunneled under stuff and pumped the water out that
way and set something down there. But on a residential
that way, Normally we would handle it on the perimeter
where it's less expensive and sometimes have to fill in
with concrete on the inside and handle it that way.

Speaker 6 (07:49):
Yeah. And the reality of it is, oftentimes it's hard
to find what the source of that water is once
it's in the soil. It's moving through the soils, and
you're not always going to find where that's coming from, right,
doing that drainage or taking those steps just to keep
it from being fur Their issues within the home is
really what you end up doing. Yes, uh, if you

(08:13):
want to give it the dust phone.

Speaker 5 (08:14):
Numbers, Yeah, yeah, you can give us a call at
do West Services that we're at seven one three four
seven three seven one five six at seven one three
four seven three seven one five six. And whether it's
a plumbing issue or or or a drainage issue or
a foundation issue, which this can be a combination of
all three of it, we could take a look at

(08:35):
it and and let you know what our opinion is
on it. It doesn't cost anything to do that.

Speaker 6 (08:39):
Yeah. Now, if you have any of you questions and
want to ask us live on the air or give
us a call at seven one three two one two
five eight seven four. And the meantime, I actually have
another email question from here. It's from Camal in Houston
and he says, Hello, Jim, I just noticed a vertical

(09:01):
crack in the wall on the front corner of my house.
Is this serious damage? And should I get the foundation
inspection done?

Speaker 5 (09:11):
Well, anytime you're noticing a crack and they're probably a
good idea to get someone to take a look at
it just to be sure. And I don't know whether
his vertical crack is in the corner of the sheet
rock on this particular house, or if it's near the
corner on brick on the outside of the house. I know,
sometimes it matters how old the home is when we
see stuff like this. But for instance, homes that were

(09:33):
built in the late seventies early eighties, a lot of
times had these offset corners of brick that'll have squares
sticking out, and then next square is in set in
and the next set of four bricks is set outward
what it's called them corner scones, and they got kind
of a cold joint to the right side of them
where all the brick line up. And it's common to
get cracked that shows up on that. And it isn't

(09:54):
necessarily foundation movement. Expansion and contraction can cause it. And
it's pretty near the corner on the inside of the house,
and and it's in the tape joint. I'd you know,
sometimes framing movement can cause it, Sometimes foundation movement can
cause it. Sometimes it's a combination of both. But it's
a good idea to get someone in there to get
a look at it to see for sure which it is.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, And and.

Speaker 5 (10:19):
I would say, if it's if if that's the only
thing you're seeing, it's probably not a huge issue. It's
probably something you know, even if it's foundation movement and
maybe something you know, say you're in a heavy based
clay like in the Houston area, you know, going from
over in the Sugarland area Missouri City Stafford over to
you know, along forty five along bet Way eight, all
over through Pasadena and and up through the east Side

(10:41):
up to I ten. We're in a heavy based clay
and usually watering works real well. If so something minor,
we may recommend moisture maintenance around it. Possibly there's trees there,
we may recommend some root areas put in between. And
it doesn't necessarily need foundation repair even if it has
some minor movement.

Speaker 6 (10:56):
Yeah. Now, once again were we both work at duous,
So right now the questions I'm going to go through
are kind of pretending more to the things that we
really specialize in day to day. So this question is
from Lewis. He says, Hello, Jim, I have a French

(11:17):
strain around the house covered with rever rock. I recently
had a sidewalk in front of the house. It's forty
six inches between the foundation and the stone walkway. I
ran at one inch socer hose down the middle of that.
Also in the back the front strain has a four
inch perforated drain pipe the full distance. Do you think

(11:38):
running a soaker through the perforated pipe would work?

Speaker 5 (11:41):
Appreciate any suggestions, Ken, I would not be a big
fan of running that Sulfer system inside the French drain system.
You know, we talk about watering for the soils around
the house to avoid having foundation issues, and the idea
with the water and is to try to keep the
moisture content and the soilt stable. So when we're not

(12:03):
getting much rainfall, you'll pick up your water and we'll
get a lot of rainfall. You can cut back some
on the watering. And if it's running through the French
drain system, you're not going to be able to monitor
how the soils really are reacting very easily, So I
would probably recommend keeping them separate and go into a
little more detail on that after freak.

Speaker 6 (12:21):
Yeah, and if you have a questions give us call
that seven one three and the two one two five
eight seventy more gain feedback in a bit.

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(12:51):
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(13:13):
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(14:06):
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Speaker 6 (14:16):
A foundation problem.

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Speaker 5 (14:35):
UH.

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(14:57):
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Speaker 1 (15:39):
Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dutton.

Speaker 5 (15:45):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement again. I'm Kenny Dutton,
not Jim Dutton. Jim Dutton's actually here, but we're at
Pasadena right now at the Pasadena Livestock Show on Rodeo
Membership Committee picnic where they Jim's the president cident of
the Pasadena Rodeo Association right now and they're actually announcing
their lineup today for who they're gonna have. H has

(16:08):
entertainment at the Rodeo UH this coming year. And if
you do have any questions about the Pasadena Rodeo, you
can actually look him up at Pasadena Rodeo dot com
and the lineup should be uh for their entertainment be
posted today on it and show you all the great
entertainment that they're going to have. And it's it's been

(16:28):
growing out here. Has been been a lot of fun
working with them over the years. But uh, you know
Jim is here, he's not with us on the air.
It's actually Adam Dutton with me. I'm Jim Dutton's brother,
Kenny Dutton, and Adam Dutton is his middle son. And
Adam actually went to school for engineering is A is

(16:48):
A is a engineering engineering training. Getting ready to take
your actual PE license test, aren't you?

Speaker 6 (16:54):
Yeah, I got a degree in civil engineering and yeah
I'm working towards taking the PEE test as well. So
little bit of a background in engineering, heavier background in
actually making things happen.

Speaker 5 (17:08):
Yep up. But if you have any structural questions or
construction questions in general home improvement questions, feel free to
give us a call. The number is seven to one
three two one two five eight seven four and we'll
be glad to help you out. And we were talking
a little bit of a little while ago on a
question on the French train and they were talking about

(17:30):
watering and stuff, and we kind of hit the brake
and kind of had to cut it off a little bit.
But you know, one of the things I always like
to talk about when someone says French drain you know,
when we hear that term come in on a phone
call in our office or even when we're in front
of a homeowner. A lot of times people call any
drainage system a French train, and there is a difference.

Speaker 6 (17:51):
Yeah, after they say friends train, I have a few
more questions. I always have to ask to make sure
it's an actual friend's trainer, not just a surface train system.

Speaker 5 (18:00):
Yes, And to us, the difference in the industry is
a French train typically for US is designed to capture
your subsurface water that's traveling in the soil, get that
into a system and drain it out. Now, we live,
you know, primarily in the metropolitan uson Ara is pretty flat. Yes,

(18:21):
so when we put in a French train here, there's
many times where we have to sump it all to
an area and put a sump pump down there and
get it pumped out. Because French train systems are typically
subsurface and we're down in the soil of good ways already,
so it's not uncommon to have to put in pumps
to pump pump out on a French train system. I

(18:41):
think the particular question that this one came from was
in Washington, where they have some undulation of the soil,
some slopes and stuff, so that may be something more
where they're handling water that's coming, you know, on slopes
towards the structure or something in you're capturing, you might
not need to do something with that. But to me,
the French drain actually you catch subsurface water, and I

(19:04):
think it mentioned they have river rock on it coming
all the way up, which I usually don't recommend because
now you're mixing the surface water into the subsurface drainage
system and you can be injecting water at the same
time into the soil as you're trying to get it
out exactly. So I'll usually recommend, you know, you seal
over the French drain with the clay based soil, keep

(19:24):
your rock and stuff in the permeable system to pump
out the subsurface water, and then use collection areas and
sculpt the soil to get into an area drains on
the surface water and handle it in a separate system.

Speaker 6 (19:38):
Yeah, And while we're on the subject of drainage, both
you and I probably look at the weather cycles a
little bit closer than your normal person on the day
to day. We recognize this summer, they're kind of saying
it's going to be another dry summer, just like it
has been the last couple of years. But after the
end of the summer it is going to start raining

(19:58):
again and gonna be a lot wetter. So a lot
of people are going to be looking at these drainage
systems a lot closer than they've had to the last
couple of years. And it's important to know that there's
a drain system is not a drainage system, Like, not
all two systems are gonna be the same. Not two
quotes that you get to have a drainage system installed

(20:20):
is going to be the same. I always like to
kind of caution people away from using just the black
corrugated pipe that has the ridges on the inside that
cat sure dirt and get clogged over time. It's really
thin all the grades much faster. Having dug up several
of those systems, if it's been in there for five

(20:42):
to ten years, it's already starting to fall apart. It
just you can break it.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
And that five year point was a magic number, you
know that I always see when I go out and
look at one that's been in the ground five years
of that thin corrugated flexi pipe in there, it's usually
egg shaped or sometimes even collapsed inward. And even if
it hasn't done that, the soil movement in this area
can be so volatile. It's got so many waves in it.

(21:05):
It's not draining out properly anyways. And there's so many
companies out here that that maybe uh, you know a landscaper, uh,
but particularly lawnmowing service companies that come in and do
drainage and uh, it doesn't actually have the flow out
to get the water out to the street like they
need to anyways, because it's it's so flat and uh,

(21:27):
by time you put a little bit of misshape or
or or a little bit of soil movement into a
corrugated pipe, it's not draining out anymore and you're actually
ponding water.

Speaker 6 (21:36):
Yeah, So if you have any questions, go free to
give us a call at seven to one three two,
one two five eight seven four. And it sounds like
we have another break coming up. So we'll be right back.

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(22:21):
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Speaker 5 (22:43):
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(23:07):
a data It's the Chicken Range. Here's Jim Dutton on
Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 5 (23:15):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton, Jim
Dutton's brother. I'm here helping out while we're at the
Passing Livestock Showing Rodeo Committee picnic. And uh, I'm here
with Adam Dutton. He's Jim Dutton's middle son and trying
to cover things on the radio form while Jim's out
here working around with the Rodeo Association. So you're gonna

(23:38):
hear a lot of background noise. But Jim's the president
of the association, so he's he's kind of tied up
on that stuff and just kind of coming over and
looking over our shoulder every now and then. But we're
trying to do our best to answer any questions that
you have. So if you do have any questions, give
us a call at seven one three, two one two
five eight, seven to four and Adam and I will

(23:59):
do our best to get you covered on answering the questions.

Speaker 6 (24:05):
Yeah, and you know, every time I come to one
of these Pasadena Rodeo events, I see him running around
more than I've ever seen him running before.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a it's amazing when he gets
out here. How how you see how how he can
really move because when when it's at the office or
something on a project, he's either standing there or sitting
there telling someone what to do.

Speaker 6 (24:30):
Yeah. Yeah, And uh, if you want tickets to the
Pasadena Rodeo, go to Pasadena Rodeo dot com.

Speaker 5 (24:38):
Yeah, you can also look up the entertainment lineup, which
it's just came out today, just a few minutes ago.
And I believe they're supposed to have it up on
their site as they announced it here. I should be
up on their site by now where you can go
on there and see what the entertainment is for each night.
And they have a real good lineup this year.

Speaker 6 (24:57):
Yeah, sounds good. Well, well that let's get back to
home improvement. And I got another email question for you.
So it's Rick in Deer Park. He says, pretty simple question.
It says, who do you use to installed James Hardy Siding.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
James Hardy Siding. Yes, you know, I just went through
a project where I had to remove a bunch of
the old particle board siding on a on a on
a home. This was up in Livingston and Victor's Exterior
took care of care of that for me. And if
if you have to have something installed, you know you
can you can give Victors a call at eight three

(25:36):
two two four three nine seven, And uh, you know
they've been through all the hard classes and and they're
very familiar with everything that needs to be done and
then the new requirements on things and and anything new
coming out. Uh, you know they can help you out
with but they do a lot of remodeling and construction
and and they can help you out with that definitely.

Speaker 6 (25:58):
Yeah, and let's let's be on honest. Who you choose
to install your James Hardy siding is going to make
a huge difference on what warranty you get from the
manufacturer as well.

Speaker 5 (26:07):
Yeah, if it's not installed properly, that's not a manufacturer's
problem and that's not something that they should warrant. But uh,
you know, Victor is definitely knowledgeable on what it takes
to do it and you know his and there again
it's a family business there you know, he's got family
members in there, and they get out get to know
what to do on it and get it done. And
and you know, they get the people on the job
site get it done. And they're not one of those

(26:29):
that show up late in the afternoon and leave early
in the uh, you know, leave early in the evening
on it. They'll they'll be out there get the projects
start to finish, in and out kind of like what
we do where they're all day long when we do
a project. So Victors is that way also.

Speaker 6 (26:44):
Yeah, And I really do like that James Hardy product
as well. I had it installed on my house.

Speaker 5 (26:49):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (26:50):
I believe you have some on your house as well.

Speaker 5 (26:52):
Yeah. I just did the one in Livingston that were
there a project we're redoing, and and the one that
I have at the house we're gonna be doing my
own home this coming year on it.

Speaker 6 (27:03):
Yeah, And particularly in kind of that Deer Park and
Pasadena area, I see a lot of vinyl siding that
they have on houses, and the Hardy is just a
much better product product for the climate that we're living
in down here, that old vinyl siding that can actually
collect condensation behind it and cause issues with the structure.

(27:26):
I've looked at a building about two weeks ago that
had that vinyl siding and they thought it was a
foundation issue because the double doors weren't working. But I
was looking at it and you could see that header
was starting to sag and they had the vinyl siding
on it, and you could see the water dripping down
from behind that vinyl siding. So the James Hardy siding

(27:47):
is just a great product because it doesn't have any
of those problems. It is a concrete based product, which
concrete is poor, so it allows that moisture to get
out from behind it.

Speaker 5 (27:57):
Yeah, yep, but let's a structure breathe and uh you know,
so that's good for the wood product that that's back
behind because you definitely don't want a moisture issue and
there not only can it cause rock, but how do
we build a boat boat? You know, put moisture in
the lumber and warp it. And that's exactly what happens
if you have moisture issues.

Speaker 6 (28:14):
Yeah, okay, Well go to another email question here. It's
from a jack and he's in Freeport, Texas. So he
has a brown spot along the ceiling of the wall
corner when I wipe it off. There's a small hole there.
House is five years old. Now, I kind of suspect

(28:37):
I know what the problem is. But you you're grinning
like it.

Speaker 5 (28:42):
You do too. I'm grinning like something I've seen happen
before on a house we had. Yeah, Typically, if it's
a real small spot and you can wipe it off,
you need to look real close. If it has a
little hole like that, chances are there's some type of
h in infestation of insects in there that may be
wood eating and uh, you know they're they're eating through

(29:04):
and you know the key to it is it wipes
off and there's a small hole, you know, if it
Sometimes you get a brown spot from moisture inside of
you know, the structural envelope and it gets in the
sheet rock and it could turn to a brown spot,
but you're not gonna wipe that off. And if you've
got some humidity in the house and the nails can
sometimes cause a brown spot where the nail heads will

(29:25):
rust and that'll show up to this sheet rock. But
you're not gonna wipe that off either. The fact that
they are able to wipe it off and there's a
small hole there tells me it's most likely some top
of insects, possibly termites, and it's something you better get
a pest control person out there to get a look
at and make sure you don't have an issue. And
and if you do, get it taken care of, the
earlier the better.

Speaker 6 (29:45):
Yeah. Definitely and not something you want to see on
a five year old structure. Oh, most definitely not U
And I would highly suggest walking around the parameter looking
at where that dirt level is in relation to the
top of the concrete of the foundation in uh, because
if it's too high, that just gives an access point
for all of those type of insects and things to

(30:06):
gain access. Or if you even see a trailer a
mound where it's going up to get to those whee
poles around the perimeter, it get that taken care of. Yeah,
but yeah, I would definitely be leaning towards it is
most likely termites as well.

Speaker 5 (30:21):
Yeah, and if you have any other questions, please give
us a call. You know, we're here live to take
your calls at seven one three, two one two five
eight seven four. Texas Home Improvement and Gym's here. He's
running around taking care of stuff, but he's definitely here,
and and me and Adam both grew up in the
construction industry and and uh pretty much been around everything

(30:44):
that du West has built. And you know, we got
a good background and knowledge ourselves on things. So if
you have any questions, give us a call at seven
one three, two one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 6 (30:56):
We'll be back after this break.

Speaker 7 (31:02):
You know, Southern Water Solutions can help you with all
your water needs. And let's face it, we need help
with our water needs because it used to be the
water coming into our homes was great, but nowadays the
pipe system's not working so well. And I'm not talking
about in your house. I'm talking about from the city
or you're using well water and it has to be filtered,

(31:24):
and so does the water coming into your house. And
more so the chemicals that the cities use now it's
just off the chart. Well, Southern Water Solutions will come in.
They'll test the water and design a filtration system, a softener,
reverse osmosis, whatever it takes to get the water up

(31:45):
to the standards that you should have in your home.
So call Southern Water Solutions at eight three two five
nine three thirty nine ninety three. That's eight three two, five, nine,
three thirty nine ninety three and let them come out
test the water and help you out.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
Put an end to those high energy bills with USA Insulation,
a non expansive wall foam insulation designed for existing homes
called four zero nine three one six ninety nine fifty seven.
Or go to tchipro dot com and find out.

Speaker 7 (32:19):
More sunburst shutters. I love my sunburst shutters.

Speaker 5 (32:22):
One.

Speaker 7 (32:23):
They're made of Hollywood, so they're guaranteed to never warp, crack, chip,
or peel. I've had mine for I don't know fifteen
give or take years now, and they look as good
as the day they were put in. I seen them
as as old as twenty seven years old.

Speaker 5 (32:36):
Same thing.

Speaker 7 (32:38):
Once you get sunburn shutters, you are done and they
are beautiful to transform the look of any room in
your house. Seven one three four six two eighty eight hundred.
That's seven one three four six two eighty eight hundred.
Diagonal cracks in your.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Walls or doors are sticking.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
It could be a.

Speaker 7 (32:55):
Foundation problem called du Wes Foundation pair keeping homes in
Texas on a solid found since nineteen seventy eight seven
one three four seven three seven one five six dudash
West dot com. Southern Front Doors. They have some beautiful doors.
Whether it's a metal door, you want an iron door, uh,

(33:16):
maybe a wooden door, fiberglass door. Southern Front Doors has
them all. In fact, I was on their website with
my wife, Uh gosh, last Sunday, I guess maybe it
was Monday. We were looking at doors because we're gonna
have some doors put into our home and we're gonna
get them from Southern Front Doors because they do such

(33:37):
a beautiful job of the installation. They got gorgeous doors,
and if it's a wooden door, they actually finish it
and put the glass in and then finish on the
door in their own shop. Southern Front Doors two eight
one eight nine zero fifty eight sixty two eight one
eight nine zero fifty eight sixty.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Joe was looking for Texas home improvement from authentic Texas
companies and people, But Joe did not go to thchipro
dot com. Don't be a Joe without that, Jim Dutton, Mojoe,
go to thchipro dot com. Here's more Texas home improvement
with Jim Dutton.

Speaker 5 (34:25):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton. Jim
Dutton's brother, and we're at the Pasadena Live Star Show
and Rodeo Membership Committee picnic. And Jim Dutton's the president
of the Rodeo Association now, so he's out here working
doing his job with the Pasadena Rodeo. And I'm trying

(34:45):
my best to try to take here and answer some
calls here. And I've got Adam Dutton, Jim's middle son,
working with me over here, trying to keep us lined
out on stuff and answer some questions. He's actually a
train engineer. That's what you went to school for civil engineering, yes,
and and uh working on soon taking your PE test
to be a licensed engineer. And your brother's a licensed engineer.

(35:10):
So we've got two engineers in the family, uh and
in the company to help help with things. And and
uh you you actually handle a lot of our commercial
and uh industrial type uh work that that we do
in the business.

Speaker 6 (35:25):
Yeah, lately it feels like I've been dealing with like
a lot of schools and more municipal tight projects. But yeah,
I deal with a lot of our commercial stuff nowadays.
But that doesn't mean I haven't worked on the residential side.
I probably had twenty years working on the residential side
before I got moved up to that commercial sector.

Speaker 5 (35:44):
So yep, yep, and and uh, you know, I'm gonna
hear a lot of background noise with us because we're
at the membership committee or picnic for the Pasadena the
Live Start Show and Rodeo, and apologize for the background noise.
It may be a little little hard and distracting, but
we're gonna do our best to keep on track and
answer some questions. But if you know, I'd really like

(36:06):
them to let people know about the Pasadena Rodeo. If
you have any questions or want to buy tickets on it,
you can go to Pasadena Rodeo dot com. And their
entertainment lineup just came out and really the they do
the rodeo around mid September and they've got the dates
on on on the website there and all the entertainment
that they're gonna gonna have this year, which is a

(36:27):
real nice line up. You know, people like Aaron Watson
and Jake Bush and Hudson Westbrook, Braxton Keith, you know,
the Midland and Shane Smith and the Saints and and
a whole bunch of others that uh, you know, each
night that you can buy tickets for and and get
some down close entertainment. I Mean, one thing I've always

(36:48):
liked about the Pasadena Rodeo is when when you're watching
the rodeo, I mean, you can get seats that are
right down there on the edge. You're right in the
action with it.

Speaker 6 (36:57):
Even the quote unquote those bleeds here, you're you're closer
than you're ever gonna get it. A lot of the
other rodeos, you.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
Know, we've we've got suites where we can sit up
in or sit down in the bleachers. And I've always always,
you know, any rodeo I go to, I like to
be in the bleachers, right down as close as I
can get, because it's just a fully different experience.

Speaker 6 (37:17):
You like it when the bulls are jumping around and
you start getting dirt sprayed in your face, don't you.

Speaker 5 (37:22):
Yeah? And and the thrill of wondering if they're gonna
be jumping over the over the bar and ending up
in there. I mean, uh, you know, kind of been
a little bit of a thrill seeker most of my
life on different things. I mean, both of you and
me were in the Marine Corps and combat veterans and stuff.
So we're used to a little adrenaline flowing exactly.

Speaker 6 (37:40):
You got to keep things lively.

Speaker 5 (37:42):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (37:43):
So since we're here to do home improvement, though, I
feel like we should probably get back to these email questions. Yeah,
we have in front of us. This one's about attic insulation,
and it's kJ in Houston, says Hi Jim. My question
relates to replacing our existing twenty five year old fiberglass

(38:03):
roll insulation. If we're in place with a hybrid higher
grade fiberglass role, what grade of insallation should we install?
Is blown in a good option and which option is
more cost effective? Love your show now? For me, I

(38:24):
definitely think yeah, increasing the grade of your fiberglass insulation
is pretty good for your home's efficiency. Now, whenever you're
doing that, keep in mind a lot of times if
you're already having degrading issues of that old fiberglass insulation,
I would definitely highly re recommend first removing all that

(38:46):
old stuff because as it degrades, it starts turning into dust,
and while it might not really mess with the efficiency
of your new insulation, it will start to affect the
cleanliness of your home in the long term.

Speaker 5 (39:01):
And I think he mentioned that, you know, his fiberglass
the existing and it's rolled fiberglass. The you know, fiberglass
is not going to deteriorate like the old ground up
newspaper insulation. Now, my house was built in the seventies
and the insulation that's in it is basically a ground
up newspaper that does deteriorating. Really, it turned to dust.

(39:22):
And you know, I added insulation in my home. I
added it over the top of it years ago, and
what a difference it made in the house. Now. I
did a radiant barrier also in the home, which made
a huge difference too, but just adding insulation on top
of that that fully deteriorated insulation I had. You know,
originally when my insulation was put in in the seventies,
when it was built, it probably went the full depth

(39:45):
of the eight by tens and eight or two by
tens and two by twelve, so that I have a
ceiling joist. And now it was compressed down to where
it was only about three inches of insulation up there,
and they came in and put the blowing in fiberglass
over it, and the house was so much more comfortable.
And blown in insulation is probably about the least expensive
way if you're having someone else do it to have

(40:06):
it put in, And if you've got existing fiberglass insulation,
I probably would just go over that with the new insulation.
But if you have the old cellulose ground up newspaper insulation,
my recommendation would be vacuum. Have them vacuum that out
and then put in the new fiberglass insulation. But whether
it's blown in or the bats put in, either one

(40:27):
of them's real good. It's probably more cost effective with
the blown in though the contractors doing it for you.

Speaker 6 (40:32):
Yeah, And kind of the advantage of the blown in
is you don't have to have guys crawling all the
way through that it just stretch it out and put
it in place. They can literally blow it into the
corner and get get the our value that you need everywhere.

Speaker 5 (40:46):
Yeah, And another thing that I've seen with that versus
the roll in. You know, if you have issues in
the future where you got to reach a plumbing pipe
or something that's down in insulation have blown in, you
pull it back, fix what you're doing, you know, and
you pull it back with the rake, fix what you do,
and push it right back into place. The bats. Depending
on how they're in there can sometimes be an issue.

Speaker 6 (41:07):
Yeah, man, sounds like we're going to a break, so
we'll be right back.

Speaker 7 (41:12):
Let's talk about Rhino Shield.

Speaker 5 (41:14):
Now.

Speaker 7 (41:15):
You know he was just talking about painting brick Rhino shield,
and you know we played the interview a minute ago.
This is a product that you can use on brick,
and a lot of times the reason people don't want
to paint brick is because paint peels off. I hate
paint on brick. But Rhino Shield I don't have to

(41:35):
worry about that. It's breatheable and so if moisture gets
into the brick, instead of the paint blistering off, the
moisture is able to evaporate through the coating. Because that's
what rhino shield is, is a coating, and that would
take care of that problem for you. They can put
it on brick obviously, wood and James Hardy siding, metal,

(41:58):
I mean, you name it, Rhino Shield has a product
to put on it. So if you're looking to upgrade
the look of your home and you want a twenty
five year warranty, that's a lot you need to take
a look at Rhinoshield In Austin. It's eight five five
Rhino TX. That's eight five five Rhino TX. Let's head

(42:19):
over to Fort Worth and Gary.

Speaker 5 (42:21):
Thank you, Jim. On your head there.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Ready Seal. I've got some garage doors.

Speaker 5 (42:25):
I put it on about two years ago.

Speaker 8 (42:27):
It works great.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
The Ready Seal looks just as good as it did today.

Speaker 5 (42:30):
I put it on.

Speaker 6 (42:31):
Ready Seal.

Speaker 7 (42:32):
You know, spray it on, roll it on, brush it on.
You don't have to worry about laps or streaks, runs,
any of that stuff because of the way it soaks
deep down into the wood fibers.

Speaker 5 (42:40):
It takes care of all of it.

Speaker 7 (42:41):
And it's available everywhere.

Speaker 6 (42:43):
But find a store.

Speaker 5 (42:44):
Nearest to you.

Speaker 7 (42:45):
Go to Readyseal dot com. James Hardy Siding the best
siding on the planet. And if you're looking for siding
for your home, your business, your deer stands, it doesn't matter.
You need to take a look at James Hardy Siding.
It's cement based so it doesn't deteriorate, it doesn't catch fire,
bugs aren't gonna eat it. It's just there and it
holds paint better than wood ever thought about. That's why

(43:08):
they say the best siding on the planet. James hardy siding. Hey,
if you're having a foundation problem and you want to
get it looked at, call my company du West Foundation
Repair and we'll come out. We draw the house up,
we take elevations, we mark all the trees, and you know,
half the time, you don't need foundation repair, you need
preventative maintenance and that will take care of your problem.

(43:31):
But whether it's full blown foundation repeer preventative maintenance, you
want the best, you call due West seven one three
four seven three seven one five six.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
You were listening to Texas Home Improvement with Jim Ditton.
If you are a source for all things home improvement,
that says big ass Texas.

Speaker 9 (43:51):
Here it's Jimmy Dyton.

Speaker 5 (43:56):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton and
I'm here with Adam Dutton, Jim's middle son. I'm Jim's brother,
and we're at the Pasadena Livestart Show on Rodeo Membership
Committee picnic today and Jim is here, but he's not
on the air right now. He's out walking around taking things,
taking care of things with the Rodeo since he's president

(44:18):
of it right now. So me and Adam are in
here trying to do our best to keep us on
track on the radio and answer a few questions. And
I know we've got some callers on hold right now.
We'll probably have which a short, short segment here, so
we're gonna wait till till we come through the break
and then we'll pick up and we'll start with Terry
after the break. But if you have any questions, give

(44:40):
us a call and we'll we're glad to try to
answer him here on Texas Home Improvement. Call us at
seven one three two one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 6 (44:51):
Yeah, and this is really quite the event that we're
at right now. They got all kinds of music going.
He's had all kinds of presentation that Jim's been doing,
so it's quite a lively thing.

Speaker 5 (45:03):
I get a kick out of them calling it a
picnic here and we're inside and air conditioning.

Speaker 6 (45:08):
Yeah, I was coming expecting to be all hot and
sweaty outside and in the rain, and this this is
quite nice.

Speaker 5 (45:16):
Yeah, Yeah, they did, they did. They do this every
year and it's it's you know, we've been coming to
it for many years and but they do have it inside,
which which I like the air conditioning. I've I've kind
of grown accustomed to that in the past few years.

Speaker 6 (45:28):
Yeah. Yeah, and uh, if you're wanting to get tickets
to the Pasadena Rodeo or even see who the music
lineup is, you can go to Pasadena Rodeo dot com.
And they just announced the lineup probably twenty minutes ago.
And I don't I'm not sure if it's showing online.

(45:49):
If if it's not showing yet, it's gonna be showing.

Speaker 5 (45:51):
Yeah, the original plan was as soon as I announced that,
they were popping it up on on on the website.
So hopefully it is Terry.

Speaker 6 (45:57):
We just didn't want to not give you the time
that you needed to ask your question, so we're going
to get to you right after the top of the hour.
But if you have questions, give us call that seven
one three two one two seven eight seven four and
when we get back we'll be answering your questions.

Speaker 7 (46:18):
Let's talk about Texas Remodel Team though. If you are
looking at remodeling your home and you live up on
the north side of town, you need to call Texas
Remodel Team. These guys do beautiful work. Whether it's an
outdoor kitchen, you're looking at remodeling an indoor kitchen. Maybe
you want a new master suite, you call Texas Remodel
Team at two eight one three nine nine forty sixty two.

(46:40):
That's two eight one three nine nine forty sixty two.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
There's a huge difference between a reactive and a proactive
security system. Here's Justin Owen's of Citadel Security.

Speaker 3 (46:51):
Your traditional system, they're reacting after they're in the building.
Proactive deters them before they enter the fence lines. They're
near the property boundary. So when a person as detectives,
the loudspeakers say you need to leave, and then we'll
have a live person connect into the camera and see
what's going on to the dispatch law enforcement. Proactive is
the way of the future.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
Go to thhipro dot com and click the link to
Citadel Security. Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement
and owner of d West Foundation Repair.

Speaker 7 (47:19):
The heat is on and this is the time of
year that will absolutely reach havoc on your foundation if
you're not watering twice a day. So if you're noticing
cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, this
is the time to call my company do West Foundation
Repair and let one of our experts take a look
at your homes foundation so we can save you thousands
in the long run. Call seven one three four, seven

(47:39):
three seven one five six online at dudash weest dot com.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
Texas Home Improvement is on the end with your host Jim.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
Dot I really appreciate you show really helps me to
know what to do and what not to do. You
are a very logical man.

Speaker 5 (47:58):
You are.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
You are so correct, So thanks, thank you very much.
I'm putting on my back forward and drinking a beer
and your honor. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Call now with all your home improvement questions at seven
one three two one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 6 (48:09):
That's seven one three, two one two.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Five eighty seven four Texas Home Improvement brought to you
by Ready, Seal, Stain and Seal USA Insulation Wall foam
insulation for existing homes, Sunburst shutters. Where beauty meets energy efficiency.
Do West Services Foundation Repair, plumbing and air conditioning when
you want the best called due West, Citadel Security, Smart

(48:32):
Home Business Security Solutions, Rhino Shield Paint a House, shield
a whole Southern front door, making first impressions every time.
Guardian Roof Systems Residential and Commercial Roofing Experts, Texas Remodel Team,
James Hardy Sighting the best sighting on the planet, and
Southern Water Solutions Healthier cleaner water.

Speaker 4 (48:54):
And now broadcasting live from the Dutton Ranch.

Speaker 5 (49:00):
It's Jim Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I am
not Jim Dutton. I am Kenny Dutton, Jim Dutton's brother,
and I'm here with Adam Dutton, who's Jim Dutton's middle son,
and Jim is here on site. But we're at the
Pasadena Livestock Showing Rodeo Membership Committee picnic, and although the

(49:24):
weather has been kind of bad this weekend, it's an
indoor event with their conditioning. We're at the Pasadena Rodeo
grounds and in Campbell Hall, so we're sitting comfortable in here,
but you're gonna hear background noise as as we're doing this.
But we're gonna do our best to answer your questions
and uh, you know, keep things rolling for Jim while
he takes care of things with the Rodeo Association. Since

(49:44):
he's president, he's gotta gotta stay busy out there, and
we're gonna we're gonna take care of things online and
on the air. For him here.

Speaker 6 (49:52):
Yeah, and since since we're here to be talking about
home improvement, I feel like this email question is probably
pretty fitting for you and me to be answering. Anyways,
So we got Mike from Houston. He says, Jim, I
have a home that is forty years old, foundations repair

(50:13):
fourteen years ago. I replaced the carpet in one bedroom
a year ago, and there was mold or mildew underneath
the carpet slash pad all over the concrete going back
with a floating wood floor. Now I have two other
carpeted rooms that smell like mold and mildew and very
musty all the time. I'm assuming they have molder mildew

(50:36):
under the carpet and pad as well. How can I
fix this problem? And he paints for the floors to
stop this wedding from retaining moisture. I have noticed that
Broad's floor has moisture on it quite often. Any suggestions
is greatly appreciated.

Speaker 5 (50:54):
You know, Actually this is a very common issue. And
all we get in a lot into our office where
they're moisture issues coming through a slab, and there's several
things that can cause it. You know, sometimes it's as
simple as air conditioning imbalance that can cause humidity in
a structure, can cause things like this. But the fact
that it's showing up in the garage tells me there's

(51:15):
probably moisture under that slab. And you know, they did
foundation repair on it fourteen years ago. The house is
probably sitting up on some underpinning. The soils, you know,
consolidate over the years and go down and you can
get moisture traveling under the home and it can show
up through the slab. And I don't think the floor covering,

(51:36):
you know, is necessarily something that's going to fix what's
going on with it. You've got to treat the problem
from the source, and that's the moisture under the structure.
You know. The carpet is actually probably one of the
better products to have down because it will usually breathe
and allow your air conditioner to suck some of that
moisture out of the home. But you know what's changed

(51:56):
a little bit in the past, you know, thirty years,
is that the padding that we're using under the carpet
now is more sealed than what the old paddings where
the old patterns used to breathe more and that commodity
could travel up through the carpet into the air conditioner
out of the home. Now, we got kind of a
sealed padding down there that keeps a moisture down below it.

(52:17):
So that's what they saw when they pulled the carpet back.
And when you do a laminate following or a wood flooring,
and a lot of times the flooring company's going to
come into moisture tests on the slab and make a
determination we need a vapor barrier down here. And if
it says, you know, the high moisture content, we need
a vapor barrier, you still haven't fixed the problem. Yeah,
moisture is still under there. In fact, it just pushes

(52:39):
it towards where the walls are or that vapor barrier
is not that they're putting below the flooring, and you
can have that commodity show up in the base or
actually the sial plates on the home and cause deterioration
with the wood there because that's the only place that
has to evaporate out now at this point. So it's
important to check. The drainage to me, has been always
the number one cause drainage around the home where you're

(53:01):
not getting good positive drainage and runoff. Weather cycles have changed,
and a lot of the downpours of rain we're getting
now we're a lot heavier than what they used to be.
And when we get these heavy downpours of rain, if
it's not flowing out well in your yard and it's
pawning up near the structure or just real flat and
works its way under, it can show up through the
slab and you need to need to get the drainage treated.

(53:25):
Have someone coming out there take a look. Do I
have drainage issues? What's it take to treat that? Uch
plumbing can sometimes cause the issues, so it's it's good
to get the plumbing tested on an older home in particular,
make sure there's no issues with that introducing moisture. But
that's typically not as widespread as what this sounds like
it would be.

Speaker 6 (53:45):
Yeah, yeah, And I do want to make it clear
on this particular case because they mentioned the fact that
they get it in the garage as well, I definitely
would lean more towards it's a drainage issue rather than
a condensation issue. But just to kind of talk about
it a little bit more, Some houses in the area
after they get that foundation repair work or get that

(54:07):
void space created, you're allowing air to travel underneath the house,
which in terms of what we look at day to
day foundation repair wise, we want that gap so the
soils can move up and down freely and not cause
you to have the same problem again in terms of
the environmental impact, So the what's happening within the air

(54:30):
conditioned space within your home. If you start getting some
warm air underneath the home and it starts eating up
that slab, that temperature difference between that concrete and that
air conditioned air will cause it to start releasing condensation.
So I oftentimes get called out to stuff as well
that it's simply just a committity issue within the house.

(54:54):
So at that point, oftentimes I'd recommend, hey, we need
to check the AC system, maybe get some humidifiers in
here to help reduce that moisture content within the house itself.
Hot air can hold more moisture than cooler That's why
you're getting that condensation happening between the imbalance between those two.

(55:15):
But like I said, in this case, a garage space
which is typically not air conditioned, it's gonna be that
warmer temperature just like the outside or what would be
in that void space, I would definitely be suspecting more
of a drainage type solution.

Speaker 5 (55:32):
Yeah. And when you were talking about the humidity issues
in the house and taking care of air conditioning wise,
sometimes I know my parents had a house years ago
that they put in new air conditioners in the home
and after that they started having moisture issues in the
house in brand new AC units and they just weren't
sized properly in the home, So it built up humidity

(55:54):
enough in the home that my mother had paintings hanging
on the wall and pictures and you literally saw the
colors of the paint things running down the walls after
the new aces put in. And this was this was
by you know, another company that had done AC for years,
But it was just a size balance issue between actually
what the manufacturer of the air conditioner recommended was wrong.

Speaker 6 (56:18):
Yeah, And typically what you see happening with that size
and balances in a case where it's oversized for the
house of the AC systems capable of doing a lot
more than what you actually have going on, it causes
the system to run less frequently, and because it's running
less frequently, it's not pulling that moisture out of the
air and you end up with that condensation and the

(56:41):
humidity trapped inside your house.

Speaker 5 (56:43):
Yep. And that's why it's real important. You know, AC
contractors have learned a lot in the path that was
like thirty thirty five years ago when that happened, and
you know, the AC manufacturers have learned a lot in
our area too, So things have changed since then and
that's typically not much of an issue, but it's something
that definitely your your company needs to be aware of
when you're when you're looking at AC, whoever you're you're

(57:05):
having look at that is familiar with how to take
care of it.

Speaker 6 (57:09):
Yeah, definitely. Now onto the next question. I got a
question from Carol in Levon, Texas. She says, we have
an in ground pool over twenty years old of gunny
concrete construction. It holds about sixteen thousand gallons. We would

(57:30):
like to remove this pool. We have easy access to
the yard. Can you recommend a contractor or what kind
of contractor we would contact to have this done? Any
idea of ballpark price to have this done? So, now
this one, I'd say there's not a whole lot of

(57:51):
contractors that necessarily do this on a day to day basis,
because it's not a super common item to have to
deal with. Now, I myself if I've had to personally
deal with a very similar situation. When I bought my house,
the pool was already filled in by somebody else, but
it was filled in improperly, which is almost just as
bad as having a stagnant pool in your backyard. And

(58:16):
what I had ended up happening is that old pool
was still there and all the moisture would get trapped
and it was basically a swamp in my backyard. We'd
get all kinds of mosquitoes. The ground was super soft
in that area. It was a real problem. So what
we ended up having to do was actually dig up

(58:39):
that old pool and to properly backfill it once we
had uncovered it. You have to break that concrete. You
don't necessarily have to remove it completely, but you got
to get it to where the moisture flows through where
that concrete was, and so do that, you have to
have larger equipment with the problem. Will be an excavator

(59:00):
with the Jackhamer attachment on the end of it to
be able to punch a bunch of holes and make
those cracks so water can flow through. You need to
collapse the sides a bit so that you're not getting
it's not sitting too high, so it's an issue for
growing grass or anything, and then you can start putting
the dirt back. Now, with that, whenever you're putting that

(59:22):
dirt back, you really want to look at what soils
are around that pool as well.

Speaker 5 (59:27):
And that's something people don't realize. You know, the type
of soil that you backfill with isn't all the same.
And even what you know, sometimes engineer spec out a
select fill that's a mixture of maybe clay and sand,
but it needs to be the right backfill for that
particular project so that you're not pausing another moisture problem.

Speaker 6 (59:44):
Yeah, and what happens is something that's more porous, like
a real sandy type soil, it's gonna end up holding
that water there where. If you have a bunch of
clay around it, then you're keeping that pool there essentially.
And if you do the opposite, you might just put
a giant blob the moisture trying to leave your house
can't get past.

Speaker 5 (01:00:03):
Yep, And with that we're gonna have to take a
quick break. But if you have any questions call us
seven one three two one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 7 (01:00:14):
You know, Citadel's Security Services can help you with all
your security services needs. And unlike other companies that are
just there to tell you, hey, your place just got
broken into. Uh would you like us to call the police? No,
their stuff is proactive.

Speaker 5 (01:00:31):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (01:00:32):
It literally can see that somebody's out there and talk
to them and say, uh, you're in an unauthorized area.
The police have been called and get rid of these people.
That's what type of service you want. And they can
notify you and you can see on the camera who's there.
I mean these cameras that they use, you can even

(01:00:54):
zoom in.

Speaker 6 (01:00:55):
It's great.

Speaker 5 (01:00:56):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (01:00:56):
So if you're having a place that needs secure, let's
face it. Uh you've heard me talk about it. My
office was broken into. I called Citadel Security Services to
upgrade the systems. You need to keep an upgraded system.
Call Citadel Security Services at seven one three nine two

(01:01:16):
two nineteen zero one. That's seven one three nine two
two nineteen oh one and get a system that will
protect you, not just notify you. Got diagonal cracks in.

Speaker 5 (01:01:30):
Your walls or doors that are sticking.

Speaker 7 (01:01:32):
It could be a foundation problem called dou Wes Foundation
pair keeping homes in Texas on a solid foundation since
nineteen seventy eight seven one three four seven three seven
one five six dudash West dot com. Southern Water Solutions.
You know they can take care of all your water needs.
They test the water first and then they design a
system based on the water that's coming into your home.

(01:01:54):
And it doesn't matter if it's city water or well water,
they can work on it for you. It's so Other
Water Solutions eight three two five nine three thirty nine
ninety three. That's eight three two five nine three thirty
nine ninety three.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
Put an end to those high energy bills with USA Insulation,
a non expansive wall boom insulation designed for existing homes
called four zero nine three oh one six ninety nine
fifty seven. Or go to thhipro dot com and find
out more.

Speaker 7 (01:02:26):
You know, Sunburn Shutters will come out with a design
consultant to help you get that perfect look and fit
for your home. When it comes to shutters, and you
know we're talking plantation style shutters that are inside the home,
so when the weather turns really hot, really cold, whatever,
you can close them up. It creates a dead air

(01:02:48):
space to help with energy bills. But more so than that,
they look gorgeous because they're made of Pollywood that's guaranteed
to never warp, crack, chip, or peel, and it's a
lifetime guarantee. So again, if you're looking for something to
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at Sunburst shutters. Seven one three four six two eighty

(01:03:12):
eight hundred. That's seven one three four six two eighty
eight hundred.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
Recently on Texas Home Improvement, a startling revelation as Jim
Dunton took what we thought was a routine call to
the show.

Speaker 6 (01:03:27):
Ah Mary Joe and Waxahatchie.

Speaker 7 (01:03:30):
Where wax a Hatchie?

Speaker 6 (01:03:32):
Where wax a Hatchie? Where wax a Hatchie?

Speaker 7 (01:03:36):
Welcome to Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 10 (01:03:38):
Well, now, Jim, you have to say walks Ahatchie, not
wax a Hatchie.

Speaker 7 (01:03:43):
You want to know the honest truth what I'm a Yankee.

Speaker 9 (01:03:51):
That's bad.

Speaker 7 (01:03:53):
I've only lived in Texas for about forty five years now,
So what can I say?

Speaker 10 (01:03:58):
Well, we shall appreciate all the information that you give out,
so we'll bypass the fact that you're a Yankee.

Speaker 1 (01:04:04):
Per Okay, we're going to stop right there while we're ahead.
Here's more with Jim Dotton on Texas help Improvement.

Speaker 6 (01:04:16):
He's I am to keep you know, he might be
a Yankee, but I'm a native born Texan, that's true.

Speaker 5 (01:04:25):
You know, before the break, we were talking a little
bit about the soil, were removing a pool and back billing,
and and that's something we're well capable of doing as
a company.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:04:35):
You know, we've we've done several of them, and we've
talked about the soil when we when we backfill it. Actually, uh,
you know, I did a project down in Beaumont that
was a heavy bassed play and we dug some pretty
good sized tunnels that you could you could walk in
and you could actually drive equipment down in underneath the hospital.

(01:04:58):
And uh, engineer had specked out some backfill for that
that was more of a structural fill, and the structure
was sitting on a heavy based clay and the slow
nature was too lean, too much sand in it. And
I had recommended to him that, you know, we don't
want to use that because we're literally gonna make a
pond or a river down under that structure with that

(01:05:20):
much sand. It's just gonna hold the water in between
all the sand granules flood avoid ratio in that backfill.
And the engineer wanted it for structural reasons, and I
had to explain to him, Look, we put piling underneath
here this this hospital is sitting up on our underpinning.
I don't care about the structural load of the shallow
soils anymore. We want our piling holding it. And we

(01:05:42):
want to use the natural clays in this area to
put down there so that we're not making a pond
under the hospital. And he understood it at that point.
But in a backyard it's kind of the same thing.
We don't want to use too Lena filled for the
area where it's gonna hold a lot of water in
where we backfill. And some times, even if you get
a good seal of a pill, if you're in an

(01:06:03):
area where the water transfers through the soil easily, you're
making a dam up close to the structure if you
use the wrong fill. So, uh, you know, that's something
we look at when we're when we're bidding a project,
and and it's sort of a pull removal. It's something
we're able to do and and Uh, it's something you
can give our office a call at seven one three
four seven three seven to one five six. And if

(01:06:26):
you have any home improvement calls or questions today, you
can give us a call at seven one three two
one two five eight seven four. You know, Texas Home Improvement.
We're here to answer your questions and and try to
try to take care of any issues that you have
or questions that you have on anything. You're gonna hear
a lot of background here, noise here with the with

(01:06:46):
the rodeo picnic that we're that we're at with passing
a rodeo, but we're we're gonna be on the air
to answer your questions here.

Speaker 6 (01:06:54):
Yeah, and so since we're talking about, uh, the home improvement,
Actually do have another question for you. This one's kind
of interesting. It's from David. He says, good morning, Jim,
hope you're looking forward to a good summer. I have
an issue with a sulfur smell coming from my shower

(01:07:14):
drain when water is running. I have snaked the drain
and noticed a small amount of active mold on the
backside of the drain cover, which I did clean nothing
when actually running the snake, though I've also tried chlorox
and the vinegar and nothing seems to get rid of
the smell. Again, it seems to be activated by water

(01:07:36):
thoughts before I call your plumbers. Thanks David.

Speaker 5 (01:07:40):
Yeah, that's something we do get calls in her office
about it periodically. Get you know, I find it associated
a lot of times when they're when they're running water
in the shower, because that water is running through the
air a lot and you're taking a hot showers building
up that steam. But we see it from hot water heaters.
Yet often if it's an older high water heater, that

(01:08:01):
anoids in the in the water heater may be deteriorated
and no longer taking that that sulfur smell out of
the water from from being actually in the water heater
there and the and the bacterias and sets. You you
can smell that coming coming through when you take a
shower more than when you're running the sink. Yes, And
you know, another common issue sometimes is with showers that

(01:08:21):
are say tile that's that's going bad, the grout lines
are going bad and holding moisture behind them that can
make that smell fell up also, And I don't know
what type of shower this was, but it's a more
common issue in showers than it is at the sink,
just because you've got that air, you.

Speaker 6 (01:08:36):
Know, so much more opportunity for that smell to be released, exactly.

Speaker 5 (01:08:42):
But you know, definitely check the anoids in the in
the water heater to see if they need replacing, and
and replace them. If it's an older water heater, that
can sometimes be problematic.

Speaker 6 (01:08:52):
Yes, yeah, And I actually happen to know that David.
He's somebody that I don't know why he wouldn't just
call my dad's cell phone number because he has that
even but he does have a tanked water heater, and
I wouldn't be surprised if it's an older one because
he's been in that house for quite some time.

Speaker 1 (01:09:11):
You know.

Speaker 5 (01:09:12):
Yeah, we haven't seen that with the tankless eaters because
they're not they're not ponding the water and I'm holding
the water such a such a large volume of water.

Speaker 6 (01:09:18):
In here all the time, exactly. So if you do
have any questions, feel free to give us a call
at seven to one three two one two five eight
seven four. And now I have a question. Ope, sounds
like we actually need to go to another break, so
we'll be back.

Speaker 7 (01:09:56):
Look, if you're having air conditioning problems, call a company
you can trust. Called to West air Conditioning my company
at seven one three four seven three seven one five six.
We can come out get that system going again. And
you know, if you want to look at a new system,
we're more happy to help you with that as well.
But most of the time you don't need a new system.

(01:10:17):
And if somebody's trying to tell you, oh, your system's
eleven years old, it's out of warranty, it's time for new.
One warranty has nothing to do with getting a new
air conditioning system. You know what does what is it
going to take to fix it? An air conditioning system
should last you fifteen to twenty years. Let's make sure
we don't get them premature again. Seven one three four

(01:10:40):
seven three seven one five six.

Speaker 1 (01:10:45):
Get your home improvement to the next level. You do
have a level, don't you. You know that thing with
the weird green water and the bubble. You are listening
to Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dottles.

Speaker 5 (01:11:03):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton, Jim
Dutton's brother, and I'm here with Adam Dutton, his son
and we're kind of trying to take care of things
on the radio show for Jim while he's out working
at the pasting the list talk show in Rodeo Membership
Committee Picnic. They actually announced all their lineup for their
entertainment a little earlier, and he's taking care of things

(01:11:25):
out here since he's president of the association right now,
and we're on the radio to answer any calls that
you may have. You can give us a call at
seven one three two one two five eight seven form.
We're glad to help you out with any home improvement
project or questions you may have in construction in general.

Speaker 6 (01:11:43):
Yeah, and you know that bumper that just brought everything
in was talking about the little bubble in the level,
and it made me think, you know, we really should
talk about kind of the industry that we work in,
and for us, that's actually quite an important tool for
what we do day to day within foundation repair. Oftentimes,

(01:12:09):
whenever we're looking at a structure, we're just looking at
it at a very specific time. We don't necessarily know
how level the house was built day one, or how
it's moved over the years, and with different remodels having
happened and things of that nature oftentimes, and we do it.

(01:12:30):
We go in and take elevation readings of what the
floor is doing so we can see slope trends throughout
the house. But the reality is is that level with
the little bubble can actually tell us a lot more
of what's actually moving and what direction it's actually moving
in versus those elevation readings.

Speaker 5 (01:12:49):
Yeah. You know, when a concrete slab, in particular, when
it's put down, I mean it is what it is
to day. It's poured and there's no slab that's poor
perfectly leveled. A lot of times when I'm talking with
the homeowner, I'll talk about a home I had built
in the nineties and it was an echine a quarter
out of level. Today, they poured the slab and I
used to use it when I talked at the functions

(01:13:11):
with engineers about foundation movement, and I'd bring up these
elevation readings and what does this slab need and they'd
all say, you know, perimeter needs underpinning to bring it
back up to match the interior. And the reality was
there wasn't poored level, it doesn't doesn't need foundation repair.
And when when we as foundation repair contractors and estimators
come and look at existing structure, and we can take

(01:13:33):
elevation readings on it and it can show slopes, but
that doesn't mean it's movement. And and we we like
to use that four foot level. Some people call it
a carpenter level, some people call it a spirit level.
But we take that four foot level. Mind's made out
of wood. I'm old school. I like the old old
wooden level still. But we use that to check the

(01:13:55):
framing the windows, the doors, and the countertops and and
things like that to see trends in the structure, to
see if something's.

Speaker 6 (01:14:02):
Moved or not exactly. Now we we actually have a collar.
We got Robert and Tom Ball. So Robert, how can
we help you today?

Speaker 11 (01:14:16):
Oh? I mean somebody they enclosure at my patio. It's
Lincoln underneath the.

Speaker 6 (01:14:23):
Gasket, so kind of where the wall meets the you.

Speaker 11 (01:14:33):
Know, was a sidewall. Kid, Well, it's coming underneath there
into the into the enclosure.

Speaker 5 (01:14:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:14:43):
Well, I would say my first inclination would actually be
to look at the drainage, because the water shouldn't be
getting high enough to where it could come into.

Speaker 11 (01:14:53):
That game righted rought up against it, you know, splashing
us up against it.

Speaker 6 (01:14:59):
Mm hmm. Yeah. And do you got puddling on the
outside of it at all or is it just that
the water is splashing up and getting into that area?

Speaker 11 (01:15:11):
Yeah? Can you give me a name of a company.

Speaker 6 (01:15:17):
So who who I would probably call if it if
it's more of water intrusion from the water heating, the
wall would actually be Victor's exteriors and you can reach
them at eight three two two four three nine nine
nine seven.

Speaker 11 (01:15:35):
A three two.

Speaker 6 (01:15:39):
Four or two four three nine nine four two four
three nine nine nine seven, and that's Victor's exteriors and
they they should be A two four three nine nine

(01:16:00):
heaven that's correct.

Speaker 11 (01:16:04):
Okay, Well, thank you, Jim.

Speaker 5 (01:16:09):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:16:12):
Now we have another caller. We have Paula in Alvin.

Speaker 3 (01:16:19):
Paula, Yeah, I have.

Speaker 9 (01:16:22):
There's a small drain. It's about maybe six inches from
the ground, and it's on the side of the house
and it's by the back door, which the back door
inside the back door is the water heater.

Speaker 8 (01:16:35):
And because there's while I have.

Speaker 9 (01:16:40):
No sheet right from four feet down, I can kind
of tell where it goes, you know, by looking up
in the attic, looking up in the space and I'm
pretty sure it's for my water heater. And it's been
like a little slow drip for a couple of years.

Speaker 5 (01:16:53):
Okay. And how long have you been in the house?

Speaker 9 (01:16:58):
Fifty something years?

Speaker 5 (01:16:59):
Okay, so you're familiar with it.

Speaker 8 (01:17:01):
Then it's nineteen seventy two.

Speaker 5 (01:17:04):
Oh good, people move around so much. I always have
to ask that. But it's not something where you normally
saw dripping before.

Speaker 9 (01:17:11):
Correct, the house was built in nineteen seventy one.

Speaker 5 (01:17:16):
Yeah, and uh, it's dripping from by the eve part
there comes to the line that comes down right there.

Speaker 9 (01:17:24):
It's not under the eve. It's six inches from the ground.

Speaker 2 (01:17:29):
It's way low.

Speaker 5 (01:17:32):
Yeah. The pipe itself comes sticking out from the side
of the house.

Speaker 8 (01:17:36):
And then it's oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
I'm sorry.

Speaker 5 (01:17:39):
Yes, and it's it's not like an.

Speaker 8 (01:17:41):
Air conducer drain that's up hoot.

Speaker 5 (01:17:43):
It's still low, right, But sometimes they will put those
down like that. And sometimes it can be tied to
a water heater. Sometimes it can be tied to an AC.

Speaker 9 (01:17:52):
It's not the AC because the AC hadn't been.

Speaker 5 (01:17:54):
Running, okay. And sometimes it can be tied to a
water heater drain pan also, and water heater can can
leak some and and and come out through that. Now,
in diameter wise, how big a pipe is this?

Speaker 1 (01:18:09):
Uh?

Speaker 9 (01:18:09):
If you make a circle with your fingers and it's metal.

Speaker 5 (01:18:14):
Scalvinists and it you know, if it's in the bathroom area.

Speaker 9 (01:18:21):
No, it's on the outside, just outside the back door.
I've thought about calling Jim for a couple of months now,
and since it was kind of slow, I thought I
could get an easy so I call you all.

Speaker 6 (01:18:34):
Yeah, yeah, and I would suspect probably a water heater
and it could be the pressure relief valve on that
water heater. They do tend to start to drift and that.

Speaker 2 (01:18:45):
Could be what the been there since the nineties.

Speaker 6 (01:18:49):
Yeah, and that that would give me more of a
reason to get that checked out.

Speaker 5 (01:18:55):
But yeah, it's it's something that what's that?

Speaker 9 (01:18:59):
What I mean? Is it something that's gonna blow? Do
I need to turn the water heater off?

Speaker 5 (01:19:04):
Usually not. Usually it's a it's an issue with the
as it gets old of the pressure relief valve can
go bad the majority of the time. That's what it is.
But you can have a plumber come out and take
a look at it and let you know. But if
it's an older water heater. Sometimes it's not. It's not
good to put a lot of money into an old
water heater.

Speaker 2 (01:19:24):
Oh yeah, I get that now.

Speaker 6 (01:19:26):
We actually went over the break, so I think we
need to go to a commercial now and we'll be
right back.

Speaker 7 (01:19:35):
Let's talk about Southern front doors because if you are
looking for a door for your front of your home,
the back of your home, the side door for the garage,
it doesn't matter. Southern front Doors can help you. And
they got beautiful doors to choose from. Whether it's a
wooden door like I had put in the townhouse, or

(01:19:56):
a steel door, a fiberglass door, they can at them all.
In fact, if you go to our website thchipro dot com,
you can pick on Southern front Doors and start scrolling
through and see how gorgeous their doors are. Or go
up to their showroom. They got over one hundred and
eighty doors on display at their showroom. It's Southern front

(01:20:17):
Doors where they come out and do the install with
their own people. It's not subdoubt. Two eight one eight
nine zero fifty eight sixty. That's two eight one eight
nine zero fifty eight sixty for Southern front doors.

Speaker 1 (01:20:33):
Put an end to those high energy bills. With USA Insulation,
a non expansive wall fome insulation designed for existing homes.
Call four zero nine three one six ninety nine fifty
seven or go to thchipro dot com and find out more.

Speaker 7 (01:20:49):
Guardianroof Systems. You know, if you're looking for a roofing
contractor for a residential or commercial, Guardianroof Systems can help
you out. I've used their services for both and they
did a beautiful job. Now does that mean you got
to have a new roof. No, they can do repairs,

(01:21:10):
they can do a new roof. They can do what
your home needs or your place of business. So call
Guardian roof Systems for all your roofing needs. Two eight
one four zero seven seventy two eighty. That's two eight
one four zero seven seventy two eighty. Diagonal cracks in
your walls or doors are sticking, It could be a

(01:21:30):
foundation problem. Called do West Foundation repair keeping homes in
Texas on a solid foundation since nineteen seventy eight seven
one three four seven three seven one five six dudash
West dot com. You know, if you're on the north
side of town and you're thinking about doing some remodeling
or maybe installing an outdoor kitchen, a gazebo or anything
like that. Texas Remodel Team, you need to call them up.

(01:21:54):
They'll come sit down with you, find out what you're
wanting to do. They'll start putting together based on what
your assme four. And then you guys can sit down
and start ironing out exactly what you want done, start
picking the colors and the flooring, the hardwaares everything. It's
Texas Remodel Team two eight one three nine nine forty

(01:22:15):
sixty two two eight one three nine nine forty sixty two.

Speaker 1 (01:22:29):
There ain't nothing he don't know about home improvement. Stinking
smart are like here's Jim Dutton on Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 5 (01:22:38):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton,
Jim Dutton's brother, and I'm here with with Adam Dutton
Jim Son answering questions for you on Texas Home Improvement.
You can give us a call at seven one three
two one two five eight seven four if you have
any questions. But we're out at the pastiling Lockstock Showing
Rodeo Membership Committee picnic today. So there are a lot

(01:23:00):
of background in the ways and Jim is actually here,
but he's president of the association and running around taking
care of things on their end. So we're trying to
hold up the fort here on the air.

Speaker 6 (01:23:09):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, since since we're at it already, we
might as well get another email question. So this one
is from Frank. He says, I have installed a foundation
watering system as described on your online video. I discovered
that I have a leaking anti sciph and valve. I

(01:23:32):
need to replace it. But I've also found out that
they are not related rated for constant pressure, which is
what you would have if you leave the system in place.
Do you have any recommendations for this situation?

Speaker 5 (01:23:47):
Yeah, the and what he's probably talking about is on
the hose bib, the brass fitting that goes up at
the end of the hose bib there. That's it's a
vacuum breaker and pretty much by code. Now, when you
have a home, inspect that they're gonna want these on
there when the home cells and when the homes built
and such. But those things have a tendency to leak
over a period of time. They don't last too long,

(01:24:10):
particularly if you're in an area with hard water, because
you get deposits and stuff in it, and the little
float with the valve in there that that releases the
pressure gets debris on there and then tends to leak
a little bit. But the common thing with them also though,
is when the water kicks onto your irrigation system or
kicks back off, it's common to release a little bit

(01:24:31):
of water then. So sometimes it's it's just as something
as simple as that, But usually it just needs replacing
on a regular basis, and they're put on there. It's
just a hose bib fitting. Really. It screws on there,
but it's got a little set screw and if that
set screw is rusted or they cut it off, then
it's a little bit more issue trying to get it off.
But it's just a matter of changing out that. You Know.

(01:24:52):
What I've found over the years is they make a
poly one that's that's not the brass and it's not
as if you pull on it with a hose or something.
But it tended to last longer for us and didn't
build up the debris in it with the hard water deposit,
so it tended to work better for us on the
irrigation side. And if you're putting in a drip irrigation system.

(01:25:15):
If you bind your stuff at a box store or
at an irrigation supply place, they typically carry them in
the area where the irrigation stuff is, and the poly
ones tend to hold up longer than the brass ones
do for us.

Speaker 6 (01:25:30):
Yeah, and I think some of the stuff to also
keep in mind with that is there are some external
factories as well that can cause it to go out
give out a little bit faster. So if you've got
like a higher water pressure to your home, that's gonna
cause that to wear out a bit faster, or if

(01:25:51):
you're in an area that has hard water, that could
cause that valve to give out a little bit faster.
So I have the same issue at my house and
I just change it out as needed. I pretty much
always have one of those valves on hand. But if
there's things that you can do to make it last longer,
those would be my first two places I would start with.

Speaker 5 (01:26:13):
Looking yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:26:18):
Here here is another email question. It's from shut It
says my mom's sidewalk is slightly leaning from her house
all the way to the street. Also where it meets
the street has sunk several inches. I'd guess four inches.

(01:26:38):
My question is is it better to replace the whole
length or have it raised.

Speaker 5 (01:26:44):
Yeah, and that's a question we get a lot in
our office because that has to do with soil movement,
which we deal with a lot on flatwork. This way,
in a sidewalk where driveways four inches of concrete just
sitting on the surface soils, it tends to move more
than the foundation of the home or the street which
is built down lower into the into the ground takes
a little longer, and it's a little slower movement on

(01:27:05):
the deeper foundations. You know. It is something that normally,
if the concrete's in good shape, it can be something
pumped in underneath it, either a polyurethane or a sementatious
material like mud jacking can be done on it. The
mud jacking, you gotta deal a thrill. A two inch
hole through it tends to show more. With the polyurethane,

(01:27:25):
it's a little quicker in and out and more like
a five eighth diameter hole that that doesn't show as much.
And and you can you can pump a polyurethane in there,
which is basically a foam mixture. It's it's like uh,
you know, a catalyst and a resident that go together,
and and it expands in the u when it's pumped
in underneath it and expands and just raises that concrete

(01:27:46):
back up into place. And that usually on many of
the jobs, it's about half the cost of replacing the concrete.
But if the concrete's cracked up a lot, you know,
it's it's probably better to replace it at that point.
But if it's the good shape, you know, for half
the cost or sometimes less, you can actually pump it up. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:28:05):
Yeah, And it's important to note of what causes that.
Besides the moister content of the soil being more effective
of that location, there's other things that like a tree root,
if it's pushing that sidewalk up yea, that those polyuurthine
injections or the mud jacking, they can't lower that sidewalk

(01:28:26):
back down. You can only go up with it. So
if it's something that is getting pushed up that's causing
that lean or making a hump somewhere, then really your
only good solution is to replace it at that point
as well.

Speaker 5 (01:28:38):
Ye.

Speaker 6 (01:28:40):
Or if you've got like a settlement issue where previously
a trench was dug for drainage or something. The poly
euurthane injections will help that, but a new concrete with
better reinforcement within it may span across that so it
doesn't become an issue again in the future.

Speaker 5 (01:28:58):
Yeah, some of the sidewalks here ago, they didn't tie
the sections together when they set them, and they tended
to move even more.

Speaker 6 (01:29:06):
Well. That music means we're on to another break, so
we'll be back right after this.

Speaker 7 (01:29:21):
Let's see USA Insulation. Look, if you're wanting to make
your house more energy efficient, make it quieter, make it
more comfortable, you need to talk to the folks at
USA Insulation. You know, if you take a house that
was built yesterday and has the standard R thirteen fiberglass
insulation in the walls, they can inject this non expansive

(01:29:44):
foam that will encapsulate that insulation, seal all the air gaps,
and give you an R value up and around are
twenty and that's gonna help with the energy bills. It's
going to help reduce the noise from outside by eighty percent.
It's just going to make the house all around more
energy efficient and comfortable. That's what they do at USA Insulation.

(01:30:07):
Now take that same scenario on a house that was
built in nineteen sixty, has no insulation in the walls.
They can still inject this foam insulation in that's going
to raise your value up to around probably an R
twenty four because it doesn't have the fiberglass in there.
But still going to reduce the noise, still going to

(01:30:27):
seal up all the air gaps, and they don't have
to tear the walls out to do it. They just
drill some small holes, inject a tube in there, and
put the insulation USA Insulation four zero nine three one
six ninety nine fifty seven.

Speaker 1 (01:30:44):
When Jim Dotton, Texas Home Improvement recommends a company, he
won't steer you wrong, like du West Services.

Speaker 8 (01:30:50):
I had your phenomenal company out regarding a foundation watering system,
and so tired of ludgingly those miserable so Coro, this
is that keep getting destroyed. It's just a nightmare. So anyway,
I had Jacob out from your company do West, and
he was phenomenal and you run a tip top organization.

(01:31:12):
He was dressed beautifully, the truck he drove.

Speaker 9 (01:31:15):
Up and was perfect.

Speaker 8 (01:31:17):
I mean, you just have made yourself a wonderful company.
I can't thank you enough. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:31:23):
Do West Services Foundation Repair, Total Plumbing and air Conditioning
called seven one three four seven three seven one five six.
That's seven one three four, seven three seven one five
six online at do Dashwest dot com. That's du Dashwest
dot com. Do West Services.

Speaker 7 (01:31:44):
Citadel Security Services. You know they can take care of
all the security needs around your home or business. Now
I use them on my business and I tell you
I love the service. The cameras are second to none.
You consume. Men, you can.

Speaker 8 (01:32:01):
Uh talk back.

Speaker 7 (01:32:03):
To people if need be, and it's proactive. It's letting
you know that somebody is where they shouldn't be before
they ever get in and start stealing stuff. And that's
where that talkback mode really comes in handy because you
can say, hey, I see you're trying to get into
my truck. Get the heck out, the police are on

(01:32:23):
the way. I mean, it really can make a huge
difference for you. So if you're looking for somebody who
can take care of securing your properties, Citadel Security Services
seven one three nine two two nineteen oh one. That's
seven one three nine two two nineteen oh one.

Speaker 1 (01:32:45):
We're back to Texas Home Improvement. Home improvement advice, tips
and information for you and your mama. Here's Jim Dotty.

Speaker 5 (01:33:00):
Well, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. I'm Kenny Dutton
in for Jim Dutton with Adam Dutton's Jim's son, and
and we were kind of filling in for him today,
trying to answer a few questions and uh, you know,
take care of any issues anybody had and and uh
go over try to try to, uh you know, fill
in for Jim as best we could. I want to

(01:33:21):
apologize we're not the radio pros that that means, but
uh we did our best and really appreciate it everyone listening.
And Jim will be back next week to answer questions,
take care of calls, and and uh you know, he
was busy today with the Pasadena Livestock Showing Rodeo, and
if you do want tickets, and it's something he's heavily

(01:33:43):
involved with since he's the president, But if you want
tickets for for the Pasadena Rodeo, which which happens mid September,
it's a Pasadena Rodeo dot com and you can see
the full lineup of entertainment and they got some real
good name brands coming in for for their entertainment this year.
And it's one of those rodeos where you're right down
there sitting with the action. So it's really one of

(01:34:04):
my favorite rodeos to go to.

Speaker 6 (01:34:06):
Oh yeah, it's always a great time. Every time I've
come out here and watched the rodeo. You're close enough
you no matter where you're at, you're getting pelted with
dirt and.

Speaker 5 (01:34:16):
Yeah time yep, and and the bleacher seats. It's just
a real fun experience. If you ever get the chance
to come out, you know, you know, passing a rodeo
dot com, you can you can see the lineup and
see the see the the tickets that are available, and
it's good for the whole family. And it's good entertainment.
And they got a carnival and a cookoff that goes
with it. But appreciate everybody. Listen and Texas Home Improvement

(01:34:38):
and uh, we'll be back next week to answer your questions.

Speaker 1 (01:34:42):
Here's Jim Dutton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner
of Due West Foundation Repair.

Speaker 7 (01:34:48):
The heat is on and this is the time of
year that will absolutely read havoc on your foundation. If
you're not watering twice a day. So if you're noticing
cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, this
is the time to call my company, do we foundation
repair and let one of our experts take a look
at your homes foundation so we can save you thousands
in the long run. Call seven one three four seven

(01:35:08):
three seven one five six online at dudash west dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:35:12):
There's a huge difference between a reactive and a proactive
security system. Here's justin Owens of Citadel Security.

Speaker 3 (01:35:20):
Your traditional system, they're reactive after they're in the building.
Proactive deters them before they enter the fence lines or
near the property boundary. So when person is detected, to
the loudspeakers say you need to leave, and then we'll
have a live person connect into the camera and see
what's going on to the dispatch law enforcement. Proactive is
the way of the future.

Speaker 1 (01:35:38):
Go to thchipro dot com and click the link to
Citadel Security
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