November 29, 2025 • 44 mins
# Weekend at Home with Gary Sullivan: Mastering Home Maintenance
Are your home drains getting the attention they deserve? In this eye-opening episode, Gary Sullivan dives into the often-overlooked aspects of home maintenance that could save you thousands in repairs. From checking outdoor drainage systems to proper disposal usage with septic tanks, Gary shares practical wisdom that goes beyond the typical DIY advice.
The episode highlights the critical importance of inspecting external drains, especially after heavy rainfall. As Gary warns, misaligned pipes can create a dangerous cycle where water returns to your foundation instead of draining away properly. His personal experience discovering his own misaligned drainage pipe serves as a cautionary tale for homeowners everywhere.
## Timestamps and Key Takeaways:
**3:15** - Outdoor Drain Maintenance: Why checking external drainage systems after rainfall is crucial for preventing foundation damage
**7:40** - Dust Problems: How dirty ductwork and deteriorating insulation can create persistent dust issues in your home
**14:30** - Caulking Secrets: A caller shares his 40-year caulking technique using thin masking tape for perfect lines
**19:45** - Sink Refinishing Options: Alternatives to replacing porcelain sinks when dealing with granite countertops
**24:20** - Well Water Blockages: Troubleshooting slow water flow in washing machines with well water systems
**28:10** - Garbage Disposals with Septic Systems: The truth about which models work best and proper usage techniques
**31:30** - Winter Humidity Control: Why maintaining proper indoor humidity levels affects both comfort and home maintenance
Whether you're dealing with persistent dust, clogged drains, or wondering about the right disposal for your septic system, this episode delivers practical solutions from Gary's decades of experience. Don't miss his insights on maintaining proper humidity levels as winter approaches - your comfort and your home's structural integrity may depend on it!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
All right, welcome to the Weekend at Home with Gary Selvin. Say,
I was brought to you by Roto Ruter and Rotor
Ruter is you're plumbing and water cleanup. And I'll bet
you they were busy yesterday. They fixed clogged rains, leaky faucets,
running toilets, water heaters, garbage disposals, some pumps, water softeners,
(00:53):
pretty much anything has to do with plumbing. You can
make an appointment online or you can give them a
call at eight under get roto rotrouter dot com. We
thank them for their sponsorship and we open up the
phone lines to you if you've got a question regarding
your home. It is eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. When the person was talking about maintenance
(01:15):
on drains, you don't want to talk about the enzyme cleaner,
and then talked about the vinegar and baking. So those
are all good, reliable kind of minimize the gunk, you
know in the vanity drain. The only surefire away I
feel to get rid of those things is snake it
or remove the clock. Sometimes easier said than done, but
(01:38):
certainly maintenance helps minimize clocks. And then when you think
about it, think about the other drains, outdoor drains, and
where I live the last week we had a lot
of rain, and did you happen to just walk out
(01:59):
and just check the outdoor dreams? Talking to drain pipes,
I'm talking the underground French drain. Maybe that carries the
water away from the swale between two houses and empties
it out in the front or in the back of
the house. You may not even have one. You may
have one if you have a sump pump. How about
(02:21):
that discharge drain last spring after a winter, was out
there and was just checking outdoor dreams and we had
a little bit of a drought before we had the
winter last year, and we have a lot of clay soil,
(02:43):
and sure enough it didn't line up. So here's what happens.
I mean, you know, you got to catch those things.
And I'm telling myself that you got to catch those things,
and maybe it just happened. I don't know, but you know,
if you don't catch those things, that some pump is collecting.
(03:04):
The water's being funneled into that pit inside your home.
The pump is activated, it's pumping the water to the
outside of the house through a one inch PVC pipe
or two inch or whatever, and then into a four
inch underground pipe and taking it away from the foundation.
If it's not lined up, You're right, it's exactly what happens.
(03:29):
The water just gets pumped right next to the pipe.
It's not carrying it away from the house. Then it
kind of fills up some pump faster and it does
it again, and it does it again, and it does
it again, and you're going nowhere and eventually, you know,
wear and tear on the pump, water on the foundation
not going to have a good ending. So we're always focused.
(03:53):
It seems like garbage disposal, vanity drain. We never talked
about the drains on the outside of the house. So
if you get a chance, just take a look. As
I always say, I don't you know, I have people
say I don't know what I'm looking for. Well, if
it doesn't look right, it's a good chance it's not.
And trust me on this one. It didn't look right
(04:16):
because the pipe wasn't going into the pipe it was
supposed to go Ansel Welcome, Hi Gary, Hello, Hi, Yes, sir, Hi.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Having problems with dust in my house. I've had the
events all cleaned out. I've went to a more of
a paper furnace filter and i just can't give rid
of this dust and I'm looking to maybe get him
to add onto the furnace or something to you know,
have given this dut.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Do you have any idea? I mean, were you doing
any construction or where is this any idea?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
No? Okay, no, no, that just been like that forever
for the longest time. That's one of the reasons we
went had the events trained out, which kind of maybe
you know, get some of the some of the dust
out of there.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Okay, Now they did more than the events. They did
the whole pipe system. The duck worked. Okay, yes, yes,
And I'm going to ask you a weird question. Did
they really clean it out? I mean, well, I know
(05:33):
that's a weird question, but I've just seen some weird
stuff with duck cleaning. I've talked about this before. It's
not the first time I've ever talked about it. And
I'm a trustworthy person. I'm assuming they clean the pipes,
but you know, sometimes that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Well, I mean I was here when they did it,
and actually all they did was was pretty much like
blow air through and vacuum. They didn't run anything through
the lines or anything, so I kind of thought that
at the initially it wasn't done very well.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, I don't know. Usually when there is a you know,
when you're dusting your home two and three times a
week and there's always a film on the coffee table
or something, I would say, most of the time, it's
just dirty ductwork. Now, okay, we'll leave that off to
(06:32):
the side and I'll talk about some other things. It
could be. So one of the things holds a house. Okay,
so it's not real. So what type of insulation do
you have in the addict?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You know, uh, just a blown in I really haven't.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Been up there so much to keep keep this, keep
this in the back of your head. In the eighties
and in the nineties, one of the not primary types
of insulation, but a popular installation with cellulose paper, and
paper settles and paper disintegrates and some and if you
(07:21):
happen to have air duck lines in an attic, some do,
some don't, and you don't necessarily need that, but if
you did, and those joints aren't real tight, it'll suck
up that paper and it'll be kind enough to distribute
it all over your house all the time. If there
is no duck work in there, it can drop and
(07:42):
start finding its way out of the attic through can
lights and a ceiling and just places like that. So
keep that in mind and even take a look at
the duckwork down in your basement. Just make sure the
seams are tight, or maybe put some aluminum tape around
(08:05):
all the seams. Kind of look for some openings, some joints,
some holes. You might be surprised what you see.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah. I can only see a little bit of those
duck works because the base and it's finished. Oh okay,
I'll get you much. Yeah, what I have seen though,
it looks like appears to have been taped up.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Pretty pretty good, pretty good good. When was when when
did you have the duck work clean? Lass? I mean
when you said, yeah, I've been a couple of years ago. Okay,
do you did they cleaned the improvement? Yeah? Did they
clean the cold air return? Also?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Uh? No?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Okay, that's probably as important or more important than the
other duck work, And they always not always, but there's
some companies that are going out there, I clean your
ducks for ninety nine dollars, and they come out you
want the cold air returns. No, No, that's cold air
return that you know what a lot of people do,
or they'll charge you more. Cold air returns are important
(09:09):
because that's bringing the air from the house back down
to the furnace. Right, Okay, so you know you might
think about having nose clean and also having those other
duckwork just inspected. They can run a camera down there,
a good duck working company can. Yeah, I mean they
can put a camera and they can show you the
inside of that duck work and they should do it
(09:32):
after that.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, this guy showed up at a van. Yeah, you know,
didn't have didn't have big equipment, So I probably just
got the wrong person.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I think that could. And really
the filtering is going to help you a little, but
it's not going to help you you know. Okay, if
it's an overrating, do you find your filters dirty all
the time?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, if I've changed over to the was it eight
MERV I guess or yeah, whatever it is, it's it's
more of an april filter versus that screeny stuff, right,
and yeah, I man a don a month, it's it's
pretty dark.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, and a pleated filter like AMRV rated eight filter
should last you three months and if it's filling up
in a month, yeah, that's that's kind of telling me
that a lot of the cold air returns and duckwork
is dirty.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Okay, okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I'd probably get somebody out there and look at it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, ok I will. I appreciate it. Okay, thanks Gary.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
All right, you bet, thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
Let's take a little break. We come back. We got
Mike and Emily. If you'd like to join us, please do.
It's eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five.
You're at home with Gary Soliva.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
If you don't have a list of things to do
around the house, Gary will find something for you. At
one eight hundred eight three talk. You're at home with Gary.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Elevator, Gary Solvent. Here for the Xalar pump Company. Salar
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dot com. Hey homeowners, I ever wish you had a
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(13:16):
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and ideas well. You're at home with Gary Solvin taking
(13:38):
it through this holiday weekend. Happy to have you. Our
phone number if you'd like to join us, is eight
hundred eight two three eight two five five. Of course,
we're talking about our biggest investment of our lifetime. It's
our home and maintaining it. How important that is? All Right,
back to the phones we go. We got Mike, Mike welcome.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I'm going to call your album please getting getting that
group out of your showers and all of that business.
When you got to change your cocking. I've done that.
And here's how it works. You go and you buy
(14:19):
a sixty two degree, got to be sixty two. I
found sixty two wood carving knife. Not not, not one
of those change the blade handle knife. Those things well,
you can't even buy them with sharp blades anymore, So
(14:42):
forget that. Okay, A sixty two degree wood carving knife
will rake that stuff out of there in a heartbeat.
And I did my shower because it got found old
and rungey and all of that business. And I read,
(15:04):
I did my shower, getting all of it out of there,
inside and out, all the way down to the floor
in the bathroom, all of it within an hour, got
all that stuff out. Okay. Now that's that's the first
solving a wood carving knife. All right. Oh, you're gonna
(15:27):
love it. You're gonna do that, and you're gonna wonder
why in the world I never thought of that before.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So you think this is gonna be better in my
little plastic cock removing knife.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
You, I'm telling you one should do this. You're going
to make a plaster cast of me and you're gonna
have it put up in your front room. You're gonna
light candles to it. Anyways, and a kidd but that
(15:58):
isn't the full secret.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Here, all right, Well lay it on me.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
My cocking in my house that I am living and
I built this house has lasted for forty.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Years, all right, forty.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Years and it looks just like I put it in
forty years. You tell me anybody that you know that
has cocking has lasted in their house like that.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Well, what's the name of it, Mike? You got to share.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
I'm sharing. Here's what you do. Once you get a
little bit of deep trio needs to be cleaned up. Okay,
you to go to any go to home depot. They
made two kinds of masking tape. They make that blue
stuff you want to use that, do not use the
(17:00):
blue coughting date. They make really thin version of masking tape.
You buy the thinness stuff you can find. You tape
it off. Now, that takes a little while, but I
had I had good experience doing that. Building milk tankers.
(17:23):
We used to have to do a lot of cocking. Okay,
building milk tankers, brand new ones, right, because I was
a well learned fabricator. So anyway, the what you do
is you tape it off and then you get your cocking.
You you know, you run your cocking line and all
(17:44):
that business, and you get your precious thumb. If the
thumb is the best tool you've got, you can press
that down in there and drive it in there, and
you know that you've gotten enough cocking down in that
(18:05):
hole that it ain't ever going anywhere. But here's the secret.
Please remember this. The minute, the minute you get that
section dog cock in, you pull the tape immediately. You
don't let the cocking go off. To pull it immediately,
(18:29):
and you will have the prettiest, most accurate, wonderful cocking
you've ever seen in your life. And here is it.
Here is the go around with it. Okay, you know
how wives have honeydews. We all know that. My wife
(18:51):
comes in and she says, you got to recock the bathroom.
I said, well, what are you talking about? Well, that
cocking is getting dirty. Oh okay, let me think about it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I was kind of getting we're getting into it, man.
Actually he's right on the masking tape. That's always that's
a technique more than a product. But all right, Well,
will Emily sit tight? I promise you'll be up first.
We'll continue your break with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give
him a call at what eight hundred and eighty two
three Talk you're at home with Gary.
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(21:33):
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(22:16):
All right, you're at home with Gary Sullivan as we
take your cause regarding a little home improvement. It's eight
hundred and eighty two three eight two five five and
as promised, Emily.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Welcome, Thanks Gary, How are you doing fine? Good? I
want to give a shout out to Roto Ruter who
helped me out Wednesday. Was to my dad's house in
under an hour after I clogged his sink.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
So thanks to Ruder excellent. Love to hear that.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Yeah, I have a question about my kitchen sink. My
house is about twenty five years old. I have a
porcelain enameled cast iron sink that could use replacement. But
I also have granite countertops and every sink I have
found does not fit, and they've told me they need
to cut my countertops, which I don't want to do that.
So I've looked into this company that says they can
(23:06):
paint the enamel sinks, and that that's supposed that I'm
a little concerned about that. Not sure that's the right
way to go.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You know, depending what company that is. Painting enamel sinks
is a challenge. I mean, there's do it yourself products.
Quite honestly, I hesitate to recommend they're a POxy or
a hyacrylic resince. And the problem is it needs a
it really needs a really really really really good primer
(23:39):
and most of those particular products and the do it
yourself for is probably not going to apply that properly.
You're going to try and get it done faster, and
they're difficult.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Yeah, I'm definitely not going to do it.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So there's also that also falls into category. Some of
the people that do rubs, sinks, countertops, tile in a bathroom,
some are really good and some are you know, Okay,
the one that I have used and the one I've
(24:13):
probably recommended for ten years is a franchise. It's out
of Denver, and it is it's really good. It's called
Miracle Method. And I'm not one to sit and you know,
here's the bad ones, here's the good ones. Because I
don't know, I've had experience with that one. I've had
(24:36):
two tubs done, and I've had a counter top done,
and I had a couple of sink bowls done that
was probably eight to ten years ago, and they did
a really good job. It wasn't porcelain, but the tubs were.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So you know, this company that I reached out to,
they told me it's a lifetime warranty. Honestly, I don't
My husband's been helping out with it, so I'm not
even sure the name of the company. But and I
have to get a specific brand of paint, and it's
(25:19):
a two day like a two day.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Process, right that makes sense? Okay, So who gets the paint?
Do they have the.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Paint they're getting? Yes, they're getting the paint, but it
had to be I had to select a color from
a specific brand.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yep, you know what i'd do. Since I don't know
who that company is, Emily, I would really you know,
I can vouch for the one company. Why don't you
get quotes on both of them, but I can tell
you the one I'm talking about. This process is very
very very much the same, Okay, So it would be
(25:55):
interesting though, just to get to quote. You might even
learn something that you can share with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
so yeah, it's a usually Thank goodness, the dawn of
a really heavy duty acrylic resins. I think the one
they used on mine. Again, I said it was about
(26:16):
eight ten years ago. I think it was a solvent
based so it smelled. There was an odor to it.
I don't know if they even use acrylics, and they
may still use that same method. I don't know, but
dargan and it sure held up good. And the guy
was telling me at that point, you know, they had
this one proprietary primer that was really their claim to fame.
(26:40):
You know, the appealing just really wasn't an issue. But
you know, for a project like that, I think i'd
get two quotes on just you know, see how each
company responds to get into you, how reliable they are,
what you learn and what the price is, and you
can make a decision from there. It's a great warranty.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
I just worry about they're dropping a knife and the
sink and having a having a ding. But I guess
you know what point it's not supposed to do that, right.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, don't do that. That's my favorite line. But don't
do that, quite honestly, though, if you have a cast
iron porcelain sink and you drop a knife in it,
you run the risk of chipping it too, right, so right, yeah,
don't do that.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
Okay, but this is a thing, so I will follow
through and see what other Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
That's again quote, and I think that's a great option
the two quotes, and also a great option of keeping
what you have.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
Yeah, all right, well, thanks for your help.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
All right, you're quite welcome. Thank you, bye bye. All right,
and you got the phone number, grab a line. We're
talking about your home and Kevin welcome.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
Oh yeah, Garry. Question about a have a speed Queen
washing machine, probably about twelve years old and run on
a well water system. So the hot water for warm
setting runs just fine. But anytime you try to run
(28:09):
on cold water or gets the rent cycle, which is
obviously drawn in the cold, it's the water is barely
spitting out of the machine. Is it as simple as
you think a hose issue or somewhere in the mechanism
of the washing machine. Obviously, I'm guessing there's a blockage
with you know, as experience build up on my other
(28:31):
faucets in the house with well water system.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Well, that's a million dollar questions. So we've got to
do a little, you know, just discount what we can before.
And you know, if we've checked the hose and we
check the aer rator and we check the valve, then
you're going to know it's in the machine. And at
that point I'll probably you know, be over my pay category.
(28:56):
But I think what I would do Kevin first is
just disconnect the cold hose and let's open up that valve.
Have a bucket obviously, open up that valve, and let's
see what kind of volume we're getting and what kind
of pressure we're getting. That would be step one. If
(29:19):
we're getting decent pressure and volume out of that, I
would look inside that hose, and there's probably a washer
with a filter in it, and a lot of times
those filters just get clogged up. And then it could
be as simple as just pulling out that washer with
(29:39):
that screen. If it looks clean, I would work my
way down the hose. I would check the other side
of the hose, see if it has a screen, and
a washer probably does. Check that. After everything looks good,
you know, we'd get a bucket again, take that hose,
put it right in, turn it on, and see if
(30:01):
we're getting volume out of that hose, and if we're not,
my guess is you are going to get volume out
of that hose because you've checked everything from the valve
through the hose. In fact, you can check that first
if you want and work it in reverse, but once
it gets inside the appliance, I'm not real sure.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Sure that sounds great.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
Yeah, I didn't realize that there's a hose, there's an
actual screen, and I would probably bet money that that
is clawed, because I've experienced that with some other thought.
That's where I take off the fitting on the end
and then there's a screen in there and that's clogged,
and got to clean that out to get the water though,
sure more freely.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Again, yeah, I agree, especially with well water, that is
a prime culprit.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
Yeah, joys of well water.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yep, very good. Get that try, good luck.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
All right, you're quite welcome. Take care. One other thing
another caveat to add to that too, is you know,
one of the things that's often ignored in our homes
wash machine hoses. And boy, if you've got a wash
machine up on the first floor or even on the
top floor, that's a hose you don't want to break. Now.
(31:19):
A lot of them are stainless steel. They're all called burstproof.
They're gonna last you a lot longer than just the
old plane rubber hose. But I'll tell you what, it
certainly pays to give it at a good lookover, and
a rubber hose really should be replaced about every three
to four years. Like I said, a burstproof you probably
get ten years worth of life out, but periodically check
(31:39):
and always think maintenance. Eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. That is our phone number, Walt. You'll
be up first and you're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
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Thirteen minutes before the top of they are at home
(34:30):
with Gary Sullivan talking about your home projects, maintenance, repair,
did your house survive? Let's talk about it. It's eight
hundred eighty two three eight two five five.
Speaker 7 (34:40):
Walt Welcome, Hey, Gary gets Walt from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
I'm a longtime listener, and they used to carry you
on the air here until they turned into a sports format.
But I get you on iHeart every weekend. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
Thanks.
Speaker 7 (35:00):
I wanted to once and for all solve this problem
about garbage disposals with septic systems. Okay, to me, it
seems like a good idea because you're grinding up that
food or you know whatever's in there, and and it's
going into the septic tank in a more liquefied, already
(35:22):
pre digested state, you know where, which is the same
thing you do with the city. The stuff still goes
down the drain and ends up ultimately in a sewer
sewer plant. So I've always thought that a garbage disposal
should be good for septic tanks, but but I keep
hearing the opposite. What do you think, Well.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
I think the first thing you got to do is
you got to get the right type of disposal. A
lot of people don't realize there are I don't know
how you would talk about them, maybe extra high grind
septic or high grind disposals versus a standards disposal. So
(36:06):
what you're really looking for, I think you're fine as
long as you get the septic safe biocharge models. And
that's the key. I mean, it just makes it even
a finer grind if you will, So that would be
my advice on it. I think you're fine as long
as you have the right disposal. I don't think I
(36:29):
would use and there are they don't say there, you
know what, I don't even know if the other ones
say not for use with septic tanks. I don't know
the answer to that, you know, whether it says it
on the box. But I do know there are specific
disposals for septic systems.
Speaker 7 (36:47):
Okay, I didn't realize that. It just seemed to me
that grinding it is better than having a full piece.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Of you, no question, no question about that, no question
about that.
Speaker 7 (36:59):
Yeah, I have to check because I didn't realize they
actually had ones that are made for septic tanks or
we're ones that are that satan that don't don't use
for septic tanks.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Yeah, so I know Syncarrator, I know they definitely make one.
I'm trying to think what the name of eco something
or But go to the Syncarator scept Or Disposal Systems
and I'm sure you'll find the high ground septic safe
biocharge model.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
Okay, great, I'll look into it that way, and so
you see what I can find.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Yeah, a little higher horse power they have on that
particular one too. So that's what I do. Well, I
think you'll be.
Speaker 7 (37:43):
Fine then okay, great, thanks Gary, all right.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
You bet, thank you, take care bye bye. And of
course we always and you know, decept or, I keep
calling the disposal of the septic system the disposal. Think
about and we preached about this two weeks going into
the holiday. We talked about not over using it, not
(38:10):
abusing it, be mindful what you're putting in there. And
there may be some people right now that are listening
that didn't hear those shows and had a problem a
couple of days ago. Because disposals are really used to
rinse plates. It's not really designed to peel twenty potatoes
(38:35):
and put the potato skins down on disposal or cram
rice and beans and celery fibrous materials. That's not what
it's designed. It's not designed for that. It's designed to
clean the plates off period. In fact, at our house,
what we'll do is we will literally, you know, scrape
(38:58):
the food to the trash can and then rinse the
plate and the disposer sink. We have a small sink
with the disposal. That's the way it's really supposed to
be used with a septic system. You're right, you don't
want to put the more you can grind, it's better
off you are. I mean, in a way, you could
look at that for anything from a standpoint of just
(39:22):
having a better flow, a higher horsepower, a more efficient grind.
That's why when old, when disposals get old, you can
kind of hear they're old. You can kind of hear
they're laboring a little bit when they're using them or
when you're using them. And that's the time you got
(39:43):
to think about replacing them. Because there's plates that are
just grinding things up. It's a challenge. So especially you know,
again if you have a septic system, that's even a
better idea to have that a high grind and a
more efficient disposal. All right, have you noticed, I mean
(40:05):
the temperature has I look at the weather map right now,
a lot of cold temperatures, a lot of snow and
stuff like that. And that means the furnace is running.
When the furnace is running in your home, the air
is going to be dryer. I think you probably have
figured that out. But how dry? And we talk about
(40:26):
this a lot because it means so much when it
comes to the maintenance of their home. Just like when
we're talking outside, we always talk about, you know, when
the drought and checking your pipes lining up. I know
it sounds silly, but that's or even the soft's pulling apart.
You got the house is moving and expanding and contracting
all the time. That's why we use calwking right, is
(40:50):
to fill up some of those areas keeping a weather tight.
But inside our homes it's drying out now. The furnace
is dry warm air. Remember in the summertime, I said, ah,
make sure that that fan you know, on the furnace,
make sure that in the summertime it's on auto. It
(41:12):
just turns on when air conditionings on. In wintertime, I say,
go ahead and move that air if you want it,
you know, more balanced temperature. And if you have a humidifier,
it can be throwing moisture into the air. Because your
humidity level in your home, and it doesn't have to
(41:36):
be exactly this, but ideally, when it's thirty two degrees outside,
your indoor humidity should be thirty five percent. I ain't
checked mine this morning, but my nose told me it
was drier than it should be. This morning, which I
put on my list, check humidifier and if you haven't
(42:00):
the fire on the furnace, did you change did you
turn the water on? Yes? I did. Did you flip
the damper to winter? Yes I did, good man, I did.
But it's dry. It feels dry, and I'm gonna check
and see exactly where my home humidity is. Maybe it's
(42:21):
just me, but you know, when it starts getting cold
out at furnace starts running more, it's naturally going to
become dry in your home. And entertainment's always dry. And
then back in the day when our homes were even
not very weather stripped and h you know, you put
a teapot on top of a wood stove and introduce moisture.
(42:45):
Wood burning makes it even more dry. And we factor
all those things in. But you know, from a standpoint
of comfort, and you can do this on an experiment
yourself in the winter time. You know, if you're around
thirty five forty percent and you got your thermostat sets
sixty eight, it's it's fairly comfortable. And I know we
(43:05):
all said our temperature differently, but in our house, that's
that's pretty that's pretty comfortable. That's where we kind of
like it. But if all of a sudden, you wake
up and your home humidity is twenty five percent or less,
that's sixty eight feels a lot colder, and we either
got to raise that humidity, or we raise the thermostat,
(43:27):
or we're going to be uncomfortable either any of the above.
But you need action, all right. I'd love to talk
to you about your home project or an issue you're
having around your home. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. We'll continue with your calls. You're
at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Home Improvement one O one with Gary Sullivan every weekend.
Classes begin at one eight hundred and eight two three tall.
You're at Home with Gary Sullivan
All right, welcome to the Weekend at Home with Gary Selvin. Say,
I was brought to you by Roto Ruter and Rotor
Ruter is you're plumbing and water cleanup. And I'll bet
you they were busy yesterday. They fixed clogged rains, leaky faucets,
running toilets, water heaters, garbage disposals, some pumps, water softeners,
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phone lines to you if you've got a question regarding
your home. It is eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. When the person was talking about maintenance
(01:15):
on drains, you don't want to talk about the enzyme cleaner,
and then talked about the vinegar and baking. So those
are all good, reliable kind of minimize the gunk, you
know in the vanity drain. The only surefire away I
feel to get rid of those things is snake it
or remove the clock. Sometimes easier said than done, but
(01:38):
certainly maintenance helps minimize clocks. And then when you think
about it, think about the other drains, outdoor drains, and
where I live the last week we had a lot
of rain, and did you happen to just walk out
(01:59):
and just check the outdoor dreams? Talking to drain pipes,
I'm talking the underground French drain. Maybe that carries the
water away from the swale between two houses and empties
it out in the front or in the back of
the house. You may not even have one. You may
have one if you have a sump pump. How about
(02:21):
that discharge drain last spring after a winter, was out
there and was just checking outdoor dreams and we had
a little bit of a drought before we had the
winter last year, and we have a lot of clay soil,
(02:43):
and sure enough it didn't line up. So here's what happens.
I mean, you know, you got to catch those things.
And I'm telling myself that you got to catch those things,
and maybe it just happened. I don't know, but you know,
if you don't catch those things, that some pump is collecting.
(03:04):
The water's being funneled into that pit inside your home.
The pump is activated, it's pumping the water to the
outside of the house through a one inch PVC pipe
or two inch or whatever, and then into a four
inch underground pipe and taking it away from the foundation.
If it's not lined up, You're right, it's exactly what happens.
(03:29):
The water just gets pumped right next to the pipe.
It's not carrying it away from the house. Then it
kind of fills up some pump faster and it does
it again, and it does it again, and it does
it again, and you're going nowhere and eventually, you know,
wear and tear on the pump, water on the foundation
not going to have a good ending. So we're always focused.
(03:53):
It seems like garbage disposal, vanity drain. We never talked
about the drains on the outside of the house. So
if you get a chance, just take a look. As
I always say, I don't you know, I have people
say I don't know what I'm looking for. Well, if
it doesn't look right, it's a good chance it's not.
And trust me on this one. It didn't look right
(04:16):
because the pipe wasn't going into the pipe it was
supposed to go Ansel Welcome, Hi Gary, Hello, Hi, Yes, sir, Hi.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Having problems with dust in my house. I've had the
events all cleaned out. I've went to a more of
a paper furnace filter and i just can't give rid
of this dust and I'm looking to maybe get him
to add onto the furnace or something to you know,
have given this dut.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Do you have any idea? I mean, were you doing
any construction or where is this any idea?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
No? Okay, no, no, that just been like that forever
for the longest time. That's one of the reasons we
went had the events trained out, which kind of maybe
you know, get some of the some of the dust
out of there.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Okay, Now they did more than the events. They did
the whole pipe system. The duck worked. Okay, yes, yes,
And I'm going to ask you a weird question. Did
they really clean it out? I mean, well, I know
(05:33):
that's a weird question, but I've just seen some weird
stuff with duck cleaning. I've talked about this before. It's
not the first time I've ever talked about it. And
I'm a trustworthy person. I'm assuming they clean the pipes,
but you know, sometimes that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Well, I mean I was here when they did it,
and actually all they did was was pretty much like
blow air through and vacuum. They didn't run anything through
the lines or anything, so I kind of thought that
at the initially it wasn't done very well.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, I don't know. Usually when there is a you know,
when you're dusting your home two and three times a
week and there's always a film on the coffee table
or something, I would say, most of the time, it's
just dirty ductwork. Now, okay, we'll leave that off to
(06:32):
the side and I'll talk about some other things. It
could be. So one of the things holds a house. Okay,
so it's not real. So what type of insulation do
you have in the addict?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You know, uh, just a blown in I really haven't.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Been up there so much to keep keep this, keep
this in the back of your head. In the eighties
and in the nineties, one of the not primary types
of insulation, but a popular installation with cellulose paper, and
paper settles and paper disintegrates and some and if you
(07:21):
happen to have air duck lines in an attic, some do,
some don't, and you don't necessarily need that, but if
you did, and those joints aren't real tight, it'll suck
up that paper and it'll be kind enough to distribute
it all over your house all the time. If there
is no duck work in there, it can drop and
(07:42):
start finding its way out of the attic through can
lights and a ceiling and just places like that. So
keep that in mind and even take a look at
the duckwork down in your basement. Just make sure the
seams are tight, or maybe put some aluminum tape around
(08:05):
all the seams. Kind of look for some openings, some joints,
some holes. You might be surprised what you see.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah. I can only see a little bit of those
duck works because the base and it's finished. Oh okay,
I'll get you much. Yeah, what I have seen though,
it looks like appears to have been taped up.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Pretty pretty good, pretty good good. When was when when
did you have the duck work clean? Lass? I mean
when you said, yeah, I've been a couple of years ago. Okay,
do you did they cleaned the improvement? Yeah? Did they
clean the cold air return? Also?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Uh? No?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Okay, that's probably as important or more important than the
other duck work, And they always not always, but there's
some companies that are going out there, I clean your
ducks for ninety nine dollars, and they come out you
want the cold air returns. No, No, that's cold air
return that you know what a lot of people do,
or they'll charge you more. Cold air returns are important
(09:09):
because that's bringing the air from the house back down
to the furnace. Right, Okay, so you know you might
think about having nose clean and also having those other
duckwork just inspected. They can run a camera down there,
a good duck working company can. Yeah, I mean they
can put a camera and they can show you the
inside of that duck work and they should do it
(09:32):
after that.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, this guy showed up at a van. Yeah, you know,
didn't have didn't have big equipment, So I probably just
got the wrong person.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I think that could. And really
the filtering is going to help you a little, but
it's not going to help you you know. Okay, if
it's an overrating, do you find your filters dirty all
the time?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, if I've changed over to the was it eight
MERV I guess or yeah, whatever it is, it's it's
more of an april filter versus that screeny stuff, right,
and yeah, I man a don a month, it's it's
pretty dark.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, and a pleated filter like AMRV rated eight filter
should last you three months and if it's filling up
in a month, yeah, that's that's kind of telling me
that a lot of the cold air returns and duckwork
is dirty.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Okay, okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I'd probably get somebody out there and look at it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, ok I will. I appreciate it. Okay, thanks Gary.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
All right, you bet, thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
Let's take a little break. We come back. We got
Mike and Emily. If you'd like to join us, please do.
It's eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five.
You're at home with Gary Soliva.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
If you don't have a list of things to do
around the house, Gary will find something for you. At
one eight hundred eight three talk. You're at home with Gary.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Elevator, Gary Solvent. Here for the Xalar pump Company. Salar
leads the way in some pumps and battery backup systems
(11:24):
with continuous innovation. Now you can see the light with
their LED plug illuminating zalor green when the power is present.
You no longer have to wonder if your some pump
hass power. The plug is always illuminated when power is present.
Check it out today on the popular Zlar Model sixty
three and M fifty three. Go to Zlar pumps dot
com the located factory certified installer in your area zalorpumps
(11:48):
dot com. Hey homeowners, I ever wish you had a
plumbing expert right in your pocket. It's Gary Sulvin for
Roto Ruter Plumbing and water clean up. Let me introduce
you to the Rotor Ruter Mobile App, your ultimate plumbing
comp access DIY videos, frequently ask questions, and exclusive offers.
You can also track your service history and schedule appointments
(12:09):
all in one place. Now, don't wait. Download the Rotor
Router Mobile App today from the App Store, Google Play
or from rotoreruter dot com. Hey Gary Salvin here. I
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(12:32):
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I talk about a lot of products that can make
your life easier, and I use and love tair Mender.
(12:54):
It repairs tears and all types of clothing, fabrics, leather,
even buttons. It's time to get those holiday decorations out
and it's one product you got to have around your home.
In fact, listeners tell me tear menders of must have
for all their holiday decoration repairs, know so gifts, holiday
crafts and stocking stuffers. Tear Menders available. What's your local
hardware store Amazon? Or find a store at tear mender
(13:16):
dot com and find more great make doing men's solutions
and ideas well. You're at home with Gary Solvin taking
(13:38):
it through this holiday weekend. Happy to have you. Our
phone number if you'd like to join us, is eight
hundred eight two three eight two five five. Of course,
we're talking about our biggest investment of our lifetime. It's
our home and maintaining it. How important that is? All Right,
back to the phones we go. We got Mike, Mike welcome.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I'm going to call your album please getting getting that
group out of your showers and all of that business.
When you got to change your cocking. I've done that.
And here's how it works. You go and you buy
(14:19):
a sixty two degree, got to be sixty two. I
found sixty two wood carving knife. Not not, not one
of those change the blade handle knife. Those things well,
you can't even buy them with sharp blades anymore, So
(14:42):
forget that. Okay, A sixty two degree wood carving knife
will rake that stuff out of there in a heartbeat.
And I did my shower because it got found old
and rungey and all of that business. And I read,
(15:04):
I did my shower, getting all of it out of there,
inside and out, all the way down to the floor
in the bathroom, all of it within an hour, got
all that stuff out. Okay. Now that's that's the first
solving a wood carving knife. All right. Oh, you're gonna
(15:27):
love it. You're gonna do that, and you're gonna wonder
why in the world I never thought of that before.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So you think this is gonna be better in my
little plastic cock removing knife.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
You, I'm telling you one should do this. You're going
to make a plaster cast of me and you're gonna
have it put up in your front room. You're gonna
light candles to it. Anyways, and a kidd but that
(15:58):
isn't the full secret.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Here, all right, Well lay it on me.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
My cocking in my house that I am living and
I built this house has lasted for forty.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Years, all right, forty.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Years and it looks just like I put it in
forty years. You tell me anybody that you know that
has cocking has lasted in their house like that.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Well, what's the name of it, Mike? You got to share.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
I'm sharing. Here's what you do. Once you get a
little bit of deep trio needs to be cleaned up. Okay,
you to go to any go to home depot. They
made two kinds of masking tape. They make that blue
stuff you want to use that, do not use the
(17:00):
blue coughting date. They make really thin version of masking tape.
You buy the thinness stuff you can find. You tape
it off. Now, that takes a little while, but I
had I had good experience doing that. Building milk tankers.
(17:23):
We used to have to do a lot of cocking. Okay,
building milk tankers, brand new ones, right, because I was
a well learned fabricator. So anyway, the what you do
is you tape it off and then you get your cocking.
You you know, you run your cocking line and all
(17:44):
that business, and you get your precious thumb. If the
thumb is the best tool you've got, you can press
that down in there and drive it in there, and
you know that you've gotten enough cocking down in that
(18:05):
hole that it ain't ever going anywhere. But here's the secret.
Please remember this. The minute, the minute you get that
section dog cock in, you pull the tape immediately. You
don't let the cocking go off. To pull it immediately,
(18:29):
and you will have the prettiest, most accurate, wonderful cocking
you've ever seen in your life. And here is it.
Here is the go around with it. Okay, you know
how wives have honeydews. We all know that. My wife
(18:51):
comes in and she says, you got to recock the bathroom.
I said, well, what are you talking about? Well, that
cocking is getting dirty. Oh okay, let me think about it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I was kind of getting we're getting into it, man.
Actually he's right on the masking tape. That's always that's
a technique more than a product. But all right, Well,
will Emily sit tight? I promise you'll be up first.
We'll continue your break with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give
him a call at what eight hundred and eighty two
three Talk you're at home with Gary.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
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(22:16):
All right, you're at home with Gary Sullivan as we
take your cause regarding a little home improvement. It's eight
hundred and eighty two three eight two five five and
as promised, Emily.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Welcome, Thanks Gary, How are you doing fine? Good? I
want to give a shout out to Roto Ruter who
helped me out Wednesday. Was to my dad's house in
under an hour after I clogged his sink.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
So thanks to Ruder excellent. Love to hear that.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Yeah, I have a question about my kitchen sink. My
house is about twenty five years old. I have a
porcelain enameled cast iron sink that could use replacement. But
I also have granite countertops and every sink I have
found does not fit, and they've told me they need
to cut my countertops, which I don't want to do that.
So I've looked into this company that says they can
(23:06):
paint the enamel sinks, and that that's supposed that I'm
a little concerned about that. Not sure that's the right
way to go.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You know, depending what company that is. Painting enamel sinks
is a challenge. I mean, there's do it yourself products.
Quite honestly, I hesitate to recommend they're a POxy or
a hyacrylic resince. And the problem is it needs a
it really needs a really really really really good primer
(23:39):
and most of those particular products and the do it
yourself for is probably not going to apply that properly.
You're going to try and get it done faster, and
they're difficult.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Yeah, I'm definitely not going to do it.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So there's also that also falls into category. Some of
the people that do rubs, sinks, countertops, tile in a bathroom,
some are really good and some are you know, Okay,
the one that I have used and the one I've
(24:13):
probably recommended for ten years is a franchise. It's out
of Denver, and it is it's really good. It's called
Miracle Method. And I'm not one to sit and you know,
here's the bad ones, here's the good ones. Because I
don't know, I've had experience with that one. I've had
(24:36):
two tubs done, and I've had a counter top done,
and I had a couple of sink bowls done that
was probably eight to ten years ago, and they did
a really good job. It wasn't porcelain, but the tubs were.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So you know, this company that I reached out to,
they told me it's a lifetime warranty. Honestly, I don't
My husband's been helping out with it, so I'm not
even sure the name of the company. But and I
have to get a specific brand of paint, and it's
(25:19):
a two day like a two day.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Process, right that makes sense? Okay, So who gets the paint?
Do they have the.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Paint they're getting? Yes, they're getting the paint, but it
had to be I had to select a color from
a specific brand.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yep, you know what i'd do. Since I don't know
who that company is, Emily, I would really you know,
I can vouch for the one company. Why don't you
get quotes on both of them, but I can tell
you the one I'm talking about. This process is very
very very much the same, Okay, So it would be
(25:55):
interesting though, just to get to quote. You might even
learn something that you can share with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
so yeah, it's a usually Thank goodness, the dawn of
a really heavy duty acrylic resins. I think the one
they used on mine. Again, I said it was about
(26:16):
eight ten years ago. I think it was a solvent
based so it smelled. There was an odor to it.
I don't know if they even use acrylics, and they
may still use that same method. I don't know, but
dargan and it sure held up good. And the guy
was telling me at that point, you know, they had
this one proprietary primer that was really their claim to fame.
(26:40):
You know, the appealing just really wasn't an issue. But
you know, for a project like that, I think i'd
get two quotes on just you know, see how each
company responds to get into you, how reliable they are,
what you learn and what the price is, and you
can make a decision from there. It's a great warranty.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
I just worry about they're dropping a knife and the
sink and having a having a ding. But I guess
you know what point it's not supposed to do that, right.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, don't do that. That's my favorite line. But don't
do that, quite honestly, though, if you have a cast
iron porcelain sink and you drop a knife in it,
you run the risk of chipping it too, right, so right, yeah,
don't do that.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
Okay, but this is a thing, so I will follow
through and see what other Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
That's again quote, and I think that's a great option
the two quotes, and also a great option of keeping
what you have.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
Yeah, all right, well, thanks for your help.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
All right, you're quite welcome. Thank you, bye bye. All right,
and you got the phone number, grab a line. We're
talking about your home and Kevin welcome.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
Oh yeah, Garry. Question about a have a speed Queen
washing machine, probably about twelve years old and run on
a well water system. So the hot water for warm
setting runs just fine. But anytime you try to run
(28:09):
on cold water or gets the rent cycle, which is
obviously drawn in the cold, it's the water is barely
spitting out of the machine. Is it as simple as
you think a hose issue or somewhere in the mechanism
of the washing machine. Obviously, I'm guessing there's a blockage
with you know, as experience build up on my other
(28:31):
faucets in the house with well water system.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Well, that's a million dollar questions. So we've got to
do a little, you know, just discount what we can before.
And you know, if we've checked the hose and we
check the aer rator and we check the valve, then
you're going to know it's in the machine. And at
that point I'll probably you know, be over my pay category.
(28:56):
But I think what I would do Kevin first is
just disconnect the cold hose and let's open up that valve.
Have a bucket obviously, open up that valve, and let's
see what kind of volume we're getting and what kind
of pressure we're getting. That would be step one. If
(29:19):
we're getting decent pressure and volume out of that, I
would look inside that hose, and there's probably a washer
with a filter in it, and a lot of times
those filters just get clogged up. And then it could
be as simple as just pulling out that washer with
(29:39):
that screen. If it looks clean, I would work my
way down the hose. I would check the other side
of the hose, see if it has a screen, and
a washer probably does. Check that. After everything looks good,
you know, we'd get a bucket again, take that hose,
put it right in, turn it on, and see if
(30:01):
we're getting volume out of that hose, and if we're not,
my guess is you are going to get volume out
of that hose because you've checked everything from the valve
through the hose. In fact, you can check that first
if you want and work it in reverse, but once
it gets inside the appliance, I'm not real sure.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Sure that sounds great.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
Yeah, I didn't realize that there's a hose, there's an
actual screen, and I would probably bet money that that
is clawed, because I've experienced that with some other thought.
That's where I take off the fitting on the end
and then there's a screen in there and that's clogged,
and got to clean that out to get the water though,
sure more freely.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Again, yeah, I agree, especially with well water, that is
a prime culprit.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
Yeah, joys of well water.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yep, very good. Get that try, good luck.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
All right, you're quite welcome. Take care. One other thing
another caveat to add to that too, is you know,
one of the things that's often ignored in our homes
wash machine hoses. And boy, if you've got a wash
machine up on the first floor or even on the
top floor, that's a hose you don't want to break. Now.
(31:19):
A lot of them are stainless steel. They're all called burstproof.
They're gonna last you a lot longer than just the
old plane rubber hose. But I'll tell you what, it
certainly pays to give it at a good lookover, and
a rubber hose really should be replaced about every three
to four years. Like I said, a burstproof you probably
get ten years worth of life out, but periodically check
(31:39):
and always think maintenance. Eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. That is our phone number, Walt. You'll
be up first and you're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
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Thirteen minutes before the top of they are at home
(34:30):
with Gary Sullivan talking about your home projects, maintenance, repair,
did your house survive? Let's talk about it. It's eight
hundred eighty two three eight two five five.
Speaker 7 (34:40):
Walt Welcome, Hey, Gary gets Walt from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
I'm a longtime listener, and they used to carry you
on the air here until they turned into a sports format.
But I get you on iHeart every weekend. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
Thanks.
Speaker 7 (35:00):
I wanted to once and for all solve this problem
about garbage disposals with septic systems. Okay, to me, it
seems like a good idea because you're grinding up that
food or you know whatever's in there, and and it's
going into the septic tank in a more liquefied, already
(35:22):
pre digested state, you know where, which is the same
thing you do with the city. The stuff still goes
down the drain and ends up ultimately in a sewer
sewer plant. So I've always thought that a garbage disposal
should be good for septic tanks, but but I keep
hearing the opposite. What do you think, Well.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
I think the first thing you got to do is
you got to get the right type of disposal. A
lot of people don't realize there are I don't know
how you would talk about them, maybe extra high grind
septic or high grind disposals versus a standards disposal. So
(36:06):
what you're really looking for, I think you're fine as
long as you get the septic safe biocharge models. And
that's the key. I mean, it just makes it even
a finer grind if you will, So that would be
my advice on it. I think you're fine as long
as you have the right disposal. I don't think I
(36:29):
would use and there are they don't say there, you
know what, I don't even know if the other ones
say not for use with septic tanks. I don't know
the answer to that, you know, whether it says it
on the box. But I do know there are specific
disposals for septic systems.
Speaker 7 (36:47):
Okay, I didn't realize that. It just seemed to me
that grinding it is better than having a full piece.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Of you, no question, no question about that, no question
about that.
Speaker 7 (36:59):
Yeah, I have to check because I didn't realize they
actually had ones that are made for septic tanks or
we're ones that are that satan that don't don't use
for septic tanks.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Yeah, so I know Syncarrator, I know they definitely make one.
I'm trying to think what the name of eco something
or But go to the Syncarator scept Or Disposal Systems
and I'm sure you'll find the high ground septic safe
biocharge model.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
Okay, great, I'll look into it that way, and so
you see what I can find.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Yeah, a little higher horse power they have on that
particular one too. So that's what I do. Well, I
think you'll be.
Speaker 7 (37:43):
Fine then okay, great, thanks Gary, all right.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
You bet, thank you, take care bye bye. And of
course we always and you know, decept or, I keep
calling the disposal of the septic system the disposal. Think
about and we preached about this two weeks going into
the holiday. We talked about not over using it, not
(38:10):
abusing it, be mindful what you're putting in there. And
there may be some people right now that are listening
that didn't hear those shows and had a problem a
couple of days ago. Because disposals are really used to
rinse plates. It's not really designed to peel twenty potatoes
(38:35):
and put the potato skins down on disposal or cram
rice and beans and celery fibrous materials. That's not what
it's designed. It's not designed for that. It's designed to
clean the plates off period. In fact, at our house,
what we'll do is we will literally, you know, scrape
(38:58):
the food to the trash can and then rinse the
plate and the disposer sink. We have a small sink
with the disposal. That's the way it's really supposed to
be used with a septic system. You're right, you don't
want to put the more you can grind, it's better
off you are. I mean, in a way, you could
look at that for anything from a standpoint of just
(39:22):
having a better flow, a higher horsepower, a more efficient grind.
That's why when old, when disposals get old, you can
kind of hear they're old. You can kind of hear
they're laboring a little bit when they're using them or
when you're using them. And that's the time you got
(39:43):
to think about replacing them. Because there's plates that are
just grinding things up. It's a challenge. So especially you know,
again if you have a septic system, that's even a
better idea to have that a high grind and a
more efficient disposal. All right, have you noticed, I mean
(40:05):
the temperature has I look at the weather map right now,
a lot of cold temperatures, a lot of snow and
stuff like that. And that means the furnace is running.
When the furnace is running in your home, the air
is going to be dryer. I think you probably have
figured that out. But how dry? And we talk about
(40:26):
this a lot because it means so much when it
comes to the maintenance of their home. Just like when
we're talking outside, we always talk about, you know, when
the drought and checking your pipes lining up. I know
it sounds silly, but that's or even the soft's pulling apart.
You got the house is moving and expanding and contracting
all the time. That's why we use calwking right, is
(40:50):
to fill up some of those areas keeping a weather tight.
But inside our homes it's drying out now. The furnace
is dry warm air. Remember in the summertime, I said, ah,
make sure that that fan you know, on the furnace,
make sure that in the summertime it's on auto. It
(41:12):
just turns on when air conditionings on. In wintertime, I say,
go ahead and move that air if you want it,
you know, more balanced temperature. And if you have a humidifier,
it can be throwing moisture into the air. Because your
humidity level in your home, and it doesn't have to
(41:36):
be exactly this, but ideally, when it's thirty two degrees outside,
your indoor humidity should be thirty five percent. I ain't
checked mine this morning, but my nose told me it
was drier than it should be. This morning, which I
put on my list, check humidifier and if you haven't
(42:00):
the fire on the furnace, did you change did you
turn the water on? Yes? I did. Did you flip
the damper to winter? Yes I did, good man, I did.
But it's dry. It feels dry, and I'm gonna check
and see exactly where my home humidity is. Maybe it's
(42:21):
just me, but you know, when it starts getting cold
out at furnace starts running more, it's naturally going to
become dry in your home. And entertainment's always dry. And
then back in the day when our homes were even
not very weather stripped and h you know, you put
a teapot on top of a wood stove and introduce moisture.
(42:45):
Wood burning makes it even more dry. And we factor
all those things in. But you know, from a standpoint
of comfort, and you can do this on an experiment
yourself in the winter time. You know, if you're around
thirty five forty percent and you got your thermostat sets
sixty eight, it's it's fairly comfortable. And I know we
(43:05):
all said our temperature differently, but in our house, that's
that's pretty that's pretty comfortable. That's where we kind of
like it. But if all of a sudden, you wake
up and your home humidity is twenty five percent or less,
that's sixty eight feels a lot colder, and we either
got to raise that humidity, or we raise the thermostat,
(43:27):
or we're going to be uncomfortable either any of the above.
But you need action, all right. I'd love to talk
to you about your home project or an issue you're
having around your home. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. We'll continue with your calls. You're
at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
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Classes begin at one eight hundred and eight two three tall.
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