December 13, 2025 • 41 mins
In this hour of Home with Gary Sullivan, Gary dives into the importance of water control around the home. He's joined by James Barrett from the Anderson Gutter Company, who shares the benefits of six-inch seamless gutters and the dangers of ignoring underground drainage. They discuss the importance of inspecting and maintaining gutters, downspouts, and underground pipes to prevent costly repairs. Gary also shares his expertise on protecting granite countertops and the pros and cons of using roof sealers. This episode is a must-listen for homeowners looking to protect their properties from water damage.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, Uh, welcome to our number four and good afternoon.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan. As you look outside, Yes,
the snow has reached us, say, said noon or one o'clock.
They kind of got that spot on. So we'll see
how they do they being the weather folks.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, for a change, they got it right.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
How they well, I think they've they've gotten a lot better.
I think they've done already. I missed the last one,
but a.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Little bit missed it a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, this one looks like it could be a serious snow.
It's certainly picking up as we go, so, uh, we'll
talk about that, and uh, we'll also take your calls
if you would like to grab a line, I'd love
to chat with you. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. In the bottom of the hour.
We're going to talk about something I talk about a lot,
(00:46):
and we're going to talk about drainage around the house.
And we're gonna learn a little bit about that and
how important it is. And I know you already know
how important it is. It's you know, the number one
enemy is uh water. So we're going to talk about
underground draining systems. We're gonna talk about six inch seamless gutters.
(01:11):
Notice I said six inch. Notice I've been moving. I
always say when I started doing this show, gutters are
like four, and then they were five, and five is
pretty standard right now. But we're gonna talk about six
inch seamless gutters, and uh we'll chat a little bit
about that and learn a little bit as we go.
(01:32):
So in the meantime, your calls eight hundred and eighty
two three eight two five five, James, welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
You.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yes, fine, hewell you.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
I'm doing well, favorite one, You're my favorite one. I'm
having a little bit of Chinese I had left from
last night, and I'm wrapping the Christmas package giving. I
always enjoy listening to you, But I'm home Pennsylvania, Pittsburg.
I'm down Jacksonville border visit with a winner. But I'm
a true American. You have my America saying there's snow
on the roofs, but there's one hell of firing a boiler.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
There you go, And uh, well, we'll let him rap is.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I'm not sure where that was going, but he's going.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, we'll let him wrap his presence for a while.
So if you'd like to grab a line, go ahead
and do just that. And I was chatting about how
important it is to UH work you know, the property
around your home with trainage. And we'll have that discussion
at the at the bottom of the hour. In the meantime,
(02:36):
I've got some checklist of things to do. We were talking
a little bit about grouting, and that brings up another
issue too. Yes, he had issues with the grouting in
his UH shower area. Do you have grouting issues in
your home? In other words, maybe cracked grouting, maybe missing grouting,
maybe dirty grouting. And I want to talk in terms
(03:02):
of what you can do about dirty grouting. And I
know there's all kinds of cleaners out there, but you know,
sometimes those stains just are not going to come out.
And one of the things I found years ago is
to the stain is rarely, rarely below the surface of
(03:24):
that grouting. So if you take a dremal tool with
one of those pyramidal stones and just run it over
the surf of the surface of the ground, you remove
a microscopic amount of that ground on the surface, but
you'll get back to it's natural color really quick. And
that's if you've tried all the other cleaners to remove
(03:46):
that stain out of that grouting. But once you have
done that, that grouting again is well, it's it's less
waterproof then it was. There was probably a ceiler in there.
The dirt got in there. It's probably got in from mopping,
quite honestly. That's their shoes and it stains the ground.
(04:10):
But if you get rid of that stain mechanically and
then come back with a grout ceiler, man, I'll tell
you what it'll look great. Now if that stains heavier,
and I'll give you this as an option. If that
stains heavier and you do just kind of go over
it with a stone, you're not really getting anywhere and
you don't really taking off, you know, a whole lot
(04:32):
of grout. But there is grout paints, and if you're
just looking for regular standard, whiter beige grout, you can
probably find this grout paint at the local hardware store.
It looks like I always say liquid shoe polish, comes
in a bottle, has the little sponge pad at the top,
(04:56):
and you can just go right down the grout line,
take a cloth, wipe off the excess on the sides
of the tie, and man, you're in business. If the
stain is gone, you can get that same size, same
type of bottle. You don't have to color it. You
(05:17):
can just put a clear sealer on it. In fact,
there's even some ground seilers. And it's really important that
you do keep it sealed because when we clean floors,
and it depends on the type of cleaners you're using
in different things, but using an old mopping bucket or
something that dirty water penetrates in stains that ground. So
I wouldn't recommend that, but once you clean it up
(05:41):
and get it sealed or paint it, you can get
a lot of longevity out of that. And we'd be
happy to talk to you also about cleaners. Another thing
we talked about and I definitely want to get this
into since we're kind of into that holiday season, and
that is if you've got granite countertops, I get answer
(06:05):
the question a lot. I need to seal that, And
you know, the real true answer is maybe there's not
a real rule of thumb that you have to. There
is different granites with different levels of porosity. Some are,
(06:25):
you know, going to allow water to seep into it minimally,
Others are a little more thirsty, others resistant, So I
would do a little test, especially this time of year.
You get colored drinks, you get wine, you get oils.
You got a lot of activity going on around those
(06:46):
granite countertops. And if you get it on to the
granite countertop and it penetrates into the granite, you could
have a big issue. And you know, you know as
well as I do. Those granite countertops are not inexpensive,
so we want to protect them. So take a teaspoon
and just put a little doll up of water in
(07:08):
that teaspoon and turn it over, and there's a good
chance it'll look you'll pour that onto the granite countertop
and it'll look like a a bubble of water on
a newly waxed car. And then just watch that for
(07:28):
about a minute. And if you can see, you can
usually see it. You can see if some of that
is soaked into the granite or not. It'll be pretty obvious.
And in the volume of the water we'll dissipate too,
not all of it, but some of it. And if
that's happening, you need to seal the granite. If it's
(07:51):
not happening, don't worry about it. And there's all kinds
of sealers out there too. You get into some categories
where they're sprays. I mean, you're gonna have to clean
it and then you're gonna have to spray a granite
sealer on there and rub it in or I've even
seen some granite sealer WAPs. I've wipes. I've seen granite
(08:12):
sealer cleaners and wipes in one. But get some protection
on that if it's needed. If it's needed. And also,
as we spend more time in the kitchen over the
next four weeks, then maybe we have for the last
four months, take a look at your countertops. Maybe you've
(08:37):
been well kind of look at them and thinking, boy,
they're really looking dated. But I haven't got five grand
for new granite countertops. I kind of want to let
you know once again, I've talked about this a couple
of times, and every time I do, I have somebody
stop me and say, you know, I use that product
and it is so easy. And I've also used that product, Gary,
(09:01):
and I thought it might last five years, and you
were right. It lasts much longer than that. And that
is the dice coatings products for countertops. If you have
an older fie for mic a countertop, don't paint it.
That's not really going to work. You know, I'm talking
(09:22):
about with regular enamel paint. It's gonna chip, it's gonna
be a mess. If you want to make it look
like I call a Coreyon that speckled, maybe even a
little bit like a quartz to a degree. They have
a Spreadstone countertop kit. It's a primer, it's a finish,
(09:43):
it's a seiler. You can do it in a weekend
with an hour here, an hour here, an hour here,
an hour here, in an hour here, with two or
three hours of rest in between. If you can paint
a wall, you can do your countertops. Comes. The roller
comes with a standing sponge. All works, easy to do.
(10:05):
They also have one that looks like marble. They have
one that looks like granted. Go to their website after
you get through the holidays and you've determined that, yes,
you're really going to do something about the countertops. You're
not going to replace him, You're gonna coat him with
(10:28):
a spreadstone type product, and take a look at the
videos that they have the application. I feel pretty certain
you'll feel like you can do it. And that's actually
how I found this product, and it's probably been thirty
years ago or twenty five years ago that I first
found this product in a little paint store and used it,
(10:48):
and it's very good. Now he's added different products, and
they too are very good. My sister sister used one.
I think she used a marble one, and she couldn't
say enough great things about But take a look at
the video and maybe that's something you want to do
and save a little money at the same time. All right,
(11:09):
her phone numbers eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. And the snow is cranking up pretty good
right now. And we'll continue with your calls right here
in fifty five krs the talk station. All right, back
at it we go at home with Gary Salivan, taking
you through another weekend. And yes, it's time. As I
(11:30):
look outside, might be time to look for the snowshovel
if you haven't done that yet. And I wonder how
busy the hardware stores are right now with snowshovels, salt
ice melters and all that. Hey, do be careful what
you're going to use on the sidewalk. I know I
say that a lot, but done this show and been
(11:50):
in the business for a long time, and I can
tell you that the year you have a bad snowy
winter comes springtime, we'll have more questions regarding concrete repair
than any other time. And one of the products that
(12:13):
is probably most commonly used to melt snow is rock salt,
and right now thirty degrees rock salt will do a
great job to melt the snow, but I'll tell you
that residue will lay on that concrete and as that
snow slowly melts, it is a very salty brine solution
(12:39):
which is very corrosive, which will penetrate into the concrete
and which will cause it to spall, which is the
surface pops off. So I'd try and stay away from that.
And if the temperature continues to fall, which it's supposed to,
that salt will become in active and then it'll just
(13:01):
lay there. And then when the you know, snow melt
melts just because mother nature or whatever, it's just it
just does a lot of damage. So use a maynsium chloride,
probably the safest calcium chloride. Second, and then if you
use a mixture of salt and calcium chloride, that's better
(13:24):
than straight salt, but it's still got solved in there,
so be careful what you use. All right, let's get
to the phones. Will go to Gary, Gary. Welcome, Hi Gary.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yes, sir, I know you're not in the insurance, but
you talk about insurance. Say, and I have a problem
with our landlord. We've been here twenty two years and
thirdbuardy to sell the house. Sensus pay far, we'll probably
end up buying it. But they told me they have
to put in the roof on this house, even though
(13:57):
it's like a three year roof and it doesn't seem bad.
But their insurance companies telling them that they have to
replace the roof every twenty years. Have you ever heard
anything like that.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Um, well, they have to replace the roof every twenty years, or.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
What happens they lose their policy.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
So then the roof won't be warranted at all, is it?
Speaker 3 (14:24):
It's probably thirty. I've looked at it, and I've had
other people look at it, so called professionals. It's just
trying to put a roof on. And they come out
and say, well, it's not really that bad because you
had a lot of tree coverage, which means the sun's
not getting to it, and we haven't had any hail damage.
And if slightly hailed in one area where the tree's
(14:45):
not covering, but I mean it's it's not or popcork.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Well, each insurance company can make their own rules. Have
I heard of that? Exactly? No, not on a thirty
year roof, like twenty years, you've got to replace her,
We can't cover it. But as I was saying when
I was talking with Beth, it's a betting game and
anybody can put the odds any insurance company. You know,
there's some insurance companies that are still covering roofs. Okay,
(15:11):
there's a lot of them that are moving to the
you know, you know, if it's five years old, you
know that type of system, you're going to get less
than full coverage, et cetera, et cetera. Most of them
are moving in that direction. But there's still insurance companies
that cover one hundred percent on roofs, and they cover,
(15:32):
you know, depending on whether the shingle matches. I forget
what Beth called that she goes after ten years, that
goes away. So you just got to read the policy.
And I think the right now the cafeteria plan is
wide Gary. So no, I haven't heard about that one,
but I know roofs are in the you know, the
(15:54):
the eye sight of a lot of a lot of
insurance companies, and you really got to know what you're buying.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Right And to me, it's like you're talking about mainstenance. Well,
in this sense, they want you to maintain the roof
quicker because it's going to go out in thirty years.
Let's say it's a third year roof, but they're telling
them replace it in twenty years. Well, it's good amazance
is if I replaced the roof very twenty years. Well,
and we will tell you I had a great roof.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
It was a thirty year composite shingle. I replaced it
in twenty three years. Nobody told me to. It just
looked like it needed replacing.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Well, this really doesn't need to be replaced, but they're
telling they have to have the loser pelicy. And I
think it's because we're in the Saint Louis metro area
and we had a lot of tornado and hail damage
this last year or two with all the starts coming through.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Sure, I'm sure that comes into play. Remember, regardless what
anybody says, Carrie, it's a betting game. Okay, I mean
you know risk reward and it comes on both both
parties and checking into I talk about a product or
we've had calls about a product called roof Max where
(17:14):
these shingles are not what the shingles that you and
I grew up with. I mean they're thinner, there's not
as much asphalt there. I mean they're totally different.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And you just thirty pound roof or something.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, yeah, I mean those days are gone. Okay, So
the shingles aren't as good and stout as they once were,
and it loses its granular protection faster. And this roof
Max has a product where it sprays on and you
can get an extra five years. And people say, well
(17:48):
does it work? And I say, yes, it does. Do that.
Somebody asked me, well, was insurance going to cover that?
I don't know, I asked. I forget who I asked.
It might have been the roof Max people had a
conversation this week and I asked them and they go, well, yes,
(18:08):
some will, some won't. We've had multiple people that went
to the roofing company afterwards said this is what I used.
Do I get an extended warranty? They said yeah, a
few times we've got that done. So even that's not
black and white, but it's in the uh, the sightings
of roofing companies. So whether it needs to replace it
(18:30):
sounds to me like, you know, their rule might be
at thirty twenty years. If you don't replace it, we
don't cover and.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
This just could though I assume the roof max advertisement.
I thought that's the answer. It is true, this roof
actually to spray on now get probably get another five
years out of it at least.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, So one of the things you might check is
you know whether they will cover it then, right, and
they may or may not. And the person I was
talking to say, they may not even give you an
answer until it's applied.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
So I think the big dramas the landlord lives in
Florida and they're being dictated by whoever they have, and
we're all the way up here in the Saint Louis area. Sure,
and it's just a matter of conversation with somebody. Yeah,
but they're being dictated too, and I feel like they
have to and everybody listened. The roof says it's actually
pretty good shape because it's introtective by the trees, you know,
(19:31):
as far as heat and.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Of course, we all know the amount of storm damages
we've had all across the country, and you know, all
that factors in too. You know, if I'm an insurance company,
I'm factoring that in. Also look back over twenty years
of some roofers that maybe weren't the most scrupulous roofers
in the world. And I've seen it happen with my
(19:55):
own eyes where maybe that roof had hailed damage, but
I don't know why the inspector was up there with
a with a ballpeen hammer, you know, and that happened.
I've seen it happen, So you know, the playing field,
I guess, and I don't know what to think about it.
I guess the way I think about it is you're
(20:17):
buying insurance, and that's the game they're playing right now,
So you know, shop for your insurance if that's a
big concern, or you know, or you play the game
I mean.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Games.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Though.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
My trauma is I want to buy the house now,
and they're down there and they just the clear blue
got a roof out here who said, you know, we'll
be out there for ten thousand dollars and replace it,
And I think, what do you know about these people?
They don't know nothing about the people they were going
to come out. Last week was really the middle of winter.
I don't know how they're going.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
To ever do a roof here.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
The most prom but it comes spring though. I got
to call you about electric lawn wars. I know you
wanted to That's what I call it, and I never
could get to it. Yep and yep, and I have
to call you on the spring.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Well, they're great, great, sounds good. Anyway, that sounds good, Gary,
Thank you much for the call. I appreciate it. All right,
Well continue you're at home with Gary Salvan right here
on fifty five KRC, the talk station. All Right, welcome
aboard at Home with Gary Sullivan. It's uh, kind of
slowed up just a little bit, not much, it's anyway,
(21:27):
it's snowing. Hooray, hooray. Looks like Christmas.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
What fun.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Oh yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That's called about the snow man.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Gary. Yeah. I think one thing everybody knows, especially listeners
to this show, and I've used this phrase probably for
the last forty years, is your number one enemy in
your home is water, water, water, water. And we talk
about a weekend and week out, and we're still talking
about it, because that's how important it is. The healthy
(21:56):
your home is really dependent on how well you control
the water on around your home or even on your home.
And James Barrett is joining us. He is with the
Anderson Gutter Company and he's going to help us out. James,
welcome that home with Gary Salvan. How you doing, I'm
doing wonderful. I guess you see it. You see it
(22:19):
every day, don't you, James. I mean, water does tremendous
damage around our homes.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Yeah, exterior wise, water, especially this time of year, can
be a monster if just one thing is wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Sure, sure, you know I started preaching, I guess the
first of October, the leaves are gonna fall, the leaves
have fallen, got to get those gutters cleaned out, and
I almost feel it becomes redundant. Then I'll go to
my daughter's house and I'll be looking out the upstairs
wind and the gutters are filled with stuff. So yeah,
(23:00):
how I mean that is so that's vitally important. And
when we had the insurance broke around, we were talking
about how maintenance is really coming into play in insurance claims,
Like stuff happens. It's one thing if your house gets
struck by lightning. It's another thing that you never cleaned
out your gutters and the softs are rotting, and you
(23:21):
get animals in the attic, or the water's spilling on
the foundation and the basement's leaking. And I'm sure you
run into this issue too. Is gutter sizes. I mean,
I've been in this industry for my whole life, and
gutter sizes have changed. And I know you're doing six
(23:43):
inch seamless gutters.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Now, yeah, we do six in seamless gutters. Then on site,
I would say that maintenance is of course, you should
probably do it once or twice a year at minimum,
just to make sure it especially if you don't have
a good guard up there. But size makes a huge
difference between just five which your standard, and six inch gutters.
(24:07):
You're talking about a forty percent increase in waterflow between
just that one inch size.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Different James in your business Anderson Gutter Company, do they
call you because the gutters are in a state of disrepair,
they're falling off the house, or gee, these gutters I
have just aren't getting the job done anymore.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
You know, we get a mix of boats. We get
some that are past the point where they should have
called us, of course, But we get a lot of
homeowners that are a little knowledgeable and know that it's
you know, a pretty much a four point system between
your underground drainage, your downspouts, your gutters, and your ventilation,
and they just want it done right, and so they
(24:49):
give us a call to make sure that all those
are functioning properly so that don't have one hidden monster
out of those four that causes it, like the giant
ice spickles you see.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Right right, Hey, let's educate people about gutters in general too.
I know you do seamless and tell everybody why seamless
is important.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Well, seamless gutters are you know, continuous across the house,
far less lead points for water to be able to
escape that gutter system, less fasteners to hold it on
it's bean as one unit and then hung together, and
you know it allows a continuous flow of water to
(25:34):
be able to be pitched properly into those down spouts.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah, so what is the pitch? Is it quarter inch
ten feet? Or am I wrong?
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Yeah? It's right about that. I mean some of you
have to start a little bit higher or lower on
a facial board, but yeah, about a quarter inch per
ten feet.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Okay, and how about the gauge of the these are aluminum?
I assume yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Aluminum twenty four gage aluminum bent. You know, we have
a gutter machine that we come out with a truck
to bend on site for your home, made from sheets
of gutter aluminum on site and then equipped with three
by four down spouts which are larger than the two
(26:21):
by three that you have on your home. Typically.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
I'm gonna tell you about my problem in a minute.
Everybody's got a problem with gutters. Man. What type of
brackets do you use?
Speaker 5 (26:35):
So we use hidden hangers that so that they don't
you don't see them kind of popped up. We don't
use gutter spikes that run through the gutter that you
would see in an older gutter. We use hidden hangers
that fasten to the facier board to hang the gutters.
We also now have a really nice product that we
(26:55):
use which when we install a new six inch gutter,
if they get a treck scutter guard, it's a continuous
hanger system. So the guard goes on first, making it
very sturdy, secure system so that no hangers on that sure.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Nice. So you talked about the points in the gutter.
When you talked about a larger down spout, is the
larger down spout there because the gutter's bigger and there's
more flow.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Exactly. Making a bigger gutter with the same sized down spouts,
of course, would do us no good. But allowing more
water to off the roof and sit in your gutter,
we need the larger down spout to be able to
expel the volume of water that you're going to get
with a six inch gutter, and it makes a huge difference,
like I said, forty increase on the amount of volume
(27:48):
you can get off the roof.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
So when we get down to the bottom, this is
where my problem is. It can be resolved. But it's
an issue right now. It's a minute issue which will
become a bigger issue. We all know that, and that
is with the soil. I guess it's the reason for
it. It's the soil. It's very clay in our area. We
(28:11):
have a very wet spring, we have a drought, and
then we have a wet winter, and we got all
this movement and sometimes that downspout doesn't perfectly line up
with a pipe that's going under the ground. You see
that often, Yeah, we do see that.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
We use what's called an underground cap, but we call
the you know underground the hidden Monster because people just
don't know what's under there. The most ignored part of
the underground drainage is they don't know where it goes,
or if it's clear, if it's collapsed.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
We when we install new gutters, we do use an
underground cap to completely connect those so there shouldn't be
a gap between them. But we also have a four
K camera that we use to put down up to
one hundred and twenty feet to map out your underground line,
your drain lines and make sure everything's going where it
needs to be and it's not broken. And we sell
(29:05):
that just as a service, so if a homeowner every
wants it mapped out, they can get that too.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Sure, well, that's that's good. How long is a pipe
like that that goes underground usually last? And is it
usually the corrugated or is it the PVC.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
Well, we would hope it's not corrugated, but sometimes they are.
Typically it's pvceds like a schedule thirty five pipe is
what we use. Sometimes it's a little bit less. So
when it comes to auguring of course you wouldn't be
able to do it with a with a corrugated pipe,
but it's got a nice PDC pipe. You can get
(29:42):
it augured out if there's a clog. I would always
recommend to make sure you're using at least you know,
Schedule forty, Schedule thirty five PBC pipe your underground drain lines.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Yeah, unfortunately my underground drain line off the down spout
is corrugated. And then I also have an underground French
and I think it's Schedule forty and it's twenty five
years old. So yeah, at what point do you start panicking? James?
Speaker 5 (30:11):
So I would recommend to have it canned of course,
going to French train, make sure everything's looking good. As
long as you're TVC underground, you might be okay above ground.
The the core gated is always easy to change. It's
a not a hard change at all. But I would
start there. Always start to cam, have somebody, you know,
(30:34):
you can send an inspector and someone to inspect it out,
but they're going to be staring at your ground, right
there's not a lot that they can tell with the camera.
They can run those diagram make sure they'll know exactly
where it's broke or clogged, be able to help you
fix one spot instead of telling you need everything replaced.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what I tell people all
the time with especially when I'm talking about chimneys, and
all of a sudden they tell you need a new liner,
and that's thousand dollars? Did they show you pictures? They
and most most good quality companies if there's a service,
even you know furnace tune ups. Now you know I
(31:12):
had an issue with one and they can show you
where the problems are now and no different than what
you're talking about with the underground. And I'll be honest
with you if I was you know, somebody that had
an issue, and we'll say, with an underground drain, why
wouldn't you find somebody with a camera spar I'm happy
(31:34):
to hear that you folks do that because it's it's
critically important. I mean, you're right, a lot of people
have no idea where that's taking that water. They don't
know whether it's going backwards or forward.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Yeah, we had one recently that had an issue and
they had a very long front yard going and it
went all the way out to the curb and they
had gotten really large quote from a couple of companies
that came out to replace it. All the way out
to the curb, and we were in the camera and
they had a clog that was about five feet from
(32:10):
the curb that you could we could augur from the
opposite side, you know, coming from the curb in and
within ten minutes our guy had them fixed up. And
they only paid the price of the can because it
included that service of checking for clogs and in auger
if needed. So it saved her probably close to you know,
(32:31):
fifteen or twenty thousand dollars just to know the knowledge.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
All right, that's a that's that's that's a huge savings.
I mean, it's yeah. And again going back to the
original phrase when I started, you know, water is your
number one enemy, and that's so true, and it's critically
important really that we control all of that water because
(32:58):
I can't tell you how many people I touch with
leaky basements. I tell them, a leaky basement has what
I call the killer g's and it's grading ground water
and gutters. And yes, you know, all of a sudden,
you talk about having abasement waterproof because you haven't maintained
(33:18):
the water control on the outside of your house. You
can be talking twenty thirty dollars.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Yes, yeah, I would always recommend a customers start from
you know, the underground system up of course, but it
leads all the way to your ventilation. You know of
your home can factor into if you're going to have
these problems or not. But uh, the water from the
roof as far away from the house as you can.
(33:47):
You can, of course waterproof your your basement, but you
don't even want the water to be.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
There to begin with, right, right, that's say far away
from the home as you can well.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Plus plus not only that, if you have a lot
of water that's running, maybe it's not running into your basement,
but the water vapors getting into your basement, and then
you can have high humidity. And if you have high humidity,
you can have mold. So it kind of goes on
and on and on. So if folks are how does
(34:18):
how do you guys work at Anderson Gutter Company. They're
listening to conversation right now, and I'm not trying to
worry people. I'm trying to bring in experts where we
can say this might be something you want to inspect.
How does this work? I call you, you give estimates? Do
you educate when you're there? Tell me the whole process.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
Yeah, we get free estimates. I mean, of course, if
you know you want gutters and it's just time to
get new gutters, and you do want to get that
six head seamless gutter with three by four downspouts and
maybe some new guards, you can just call us and
we'll take care of it. If you're having a ventilation issue,
or you're just seeing giant icicles, or your gutters are overflowing,
(35:00):
you can call us and we'll set you up for
an inspection or a gutter cleaning. At that time, we
take photos. I could see my guys photos while they're
on site to be able to diagnose and get you
an estimate for whatever you may need. But we'll come out.
We'll do a full inspection of not only the gutters,
but the underground drainage, your ventilation, and your downspouts and
(35:22):
gutter line, just to make sure that we can give
you the proper answers and the proper estimate, because we
want you to not call us back for a separate first.
We could have missed when we were there.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I know gutters, I said this already, but gutters have
changed a lot. What is the lifespan of gutters? I've
never really given that any.
Speaker 5 (35:43):
Thought, So we typically, I mean, we give a five
year labor warranty, but I would say twenty five years,
twenty five to thirty years you should get out of
a really good gutter system. And of course that's like
when you should change it. A lot of people go
way past that line and they would probably be just fine.
(36:08):
But in good concerence, I'd say probably twenty five years
thirty years would be the good lifespan of a set
of gutters. By then we're gonna have, you know, seven
inch gutters.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Sure, I hear, James. How do they get a hold
of the Anderson Gutter Company?
Speaker 5 (36:24):
So you could call us at five one three six
six seven nine zero zero zero or Anderson Gutter Company
dot com.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Very good in the website.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
Andersony Gutter Company dot com.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
That is the website. Okay, gotcha. Hey, it's been a pleasure.
Thank you so much. I'm sure you'll get some gutter calls,
especially if it keeps snowing.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
YEP, I appreciate it. If you need anything else.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Let me know, all right, we'll do James, thank you.
All right, we'll take a little break kind of come
back and wrap up a snowy saturday. It looks like
it has slowed down a little bit where I I
met and covered the sidewalks. Streets look fine so far.
So uh we'll find out real fast here when one
o'clock gets here. All right, we'll continue at home with
(37:11):
Gary Salvan right here on fifty five k SE Detox station.
All right. Uh back at it, of course. Uh. The
holidays and Christmas and New Year's right around the corner,
and uh, you might be looking at gift ideas. It's
been a long time since I really talked about there's
a lot of really really, if you get into power
(37:33):
tools and things, Uh, there's so many. I was even
telling a group of people the other day, if you
there's some really innovative tools out there that are now
battery operated. I mean, you know you gotta you gotta
have your toys, I mean tools. Sorry, Uh, that's just
(37:54):
a rule, right, every project requires a new toy I
mean tool. But so check those out. Really, there's a
lot of multipurpose tools out and the price on power
tools that are battery operate. I think have gotten a
lot less expensive. So maybe you put off and maybe
(38:16):
you haven't been doing much work around houses or whatever,
and you think you always wanted us such and such.
You might put that on your gift list. They're more affordable.
Another thing is, you know, we used to talk a
lot about what goes in a regular you know, if
(38:36):
you're going to give a new homeowner a toolbox, and
I knew we probably don't need to repeat that unless
somebody wants to know exactly what my opinion is. But
you know, your basic tools can certainly go in there.
But here's here's one. Here's one I like, and I
used to use it all the time. If most homeowners young,
(38:59):
medium and older will tackle projects around the house, especially painting,
and I've said that many many times. And one of
the things that used to and still drives me crazy
is when a homeowner is going to tackle a painting
job and plastic drop cloths. Okay, that's what drives me crazy.
(39:24):
Plastic drop cloths. I know you can get them for
a buck two bucks. They're as thin as what the
old dry cleaning bags are. They're dangerous. You trip over them,
they slide on carpet. They're they're they're not durable, and
you will throw them away. Get somebody as a gift,
(39:49):
a good especially if they're young too, where they're gonna,
you know, paint a lot of rooms through the course
of their life. Get them a good canvas drop cloth.
Like a painter uses canvas on both signs interlayer of
plastic which never comes into play. It's it's like a
(40:11):
it's like the thickness of a bedspread. If you will.
It's manageable and you can use it your lifetime. And
I literally I've done a lot of painting over the
years and I've literally used or had a canvas uh
uh drop cloth. I bet forty years. Got every color
(40:34):
of paint you can imagine on that drop cloth. But
it served me well. And if it wasn't for splattered paint,
it'd be brand new. And I'm serious about that. So
that's a good gift idea. Got somebody that does some
painting or just got a home, I would recommend that.
Danny Boy, thank you very much. It was a fun
and busy day. Don't forget to check out the podcast.
(40:56):
We'll have two each hour, plus our special guests today
that's on the iHeart app. It's at Home with Gary Sullivan.
If you miss the one on insurance, that's a good one.
Take a listen and then look at your policy. All right,
good Lord willing, Danny and I will both be back
tomorrow for more At Home with Gary Sullivan.
All right, Uh, welcome to our number four and good afternoon.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan. As you look outside, Yes,
the snow has reached us, say, said noon or one o'clock.
They kind of got that spot on. So we'll see
how they do they being the weather folks.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, for a change, they got it right.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
How they well, I think they've they've gotten a lot better.
I think they've done already. I missed the last one,
but a.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Little bit missed it a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, this one looks like it could be a serious snow.
It's certainly picking up as we go, so, uh, we'll
talk about that, and uh, we'll also take your calls
if you would like to grab a line, I'd love
to chat with you. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. In the bottom of the hour.
We're going to talk about something I talk about a lot,
(00:46):
and we're going to talk about drainage around the house.
And we're gonna learn a little bit about that and
how important it is. And I know you already know
how important it is. It's you know, the number one
enemy is uh water. So we're going to talk about
underground draining systems. We're gonna talk about six inch seamless gutters.
(01:11):
Notice I said six inch. Notice I've been moving. I
always say when I started doing this show, gutters are
like four, and then they were five, and five is
pretty standard right now. But we're gonna talk about six
inch seamless gutters, and uh we'll chat a little bit
about that and learn a little bit as we go.
(01:32):
So in the meantime, your calls eight hundred and eighty
two three eight two five five, James, welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
You.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yes, fine, hewell you.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
I'm doing well, favorite one, You're my favorite one. I'm
having a little bit of Chinese I had left from
last night, and I'm wrapping the Christmas package giving. I
always enjoy listening to you, But I'm home Pennsylvania, Pittsburg.
I'm down Jacksonville border visit with a winner. But I'm
a true American. You have my America saying there's snow
on the roofs, but there's one hell of firing a boiler.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
There you go, And uh, well, we'll let him rap is.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I'm not sure where that was going, but he's going.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, we'll let him wrap his presence for a while.
So if you'd like to grab a line, go ahead
and do just that. And I was chatting about how
important it is to UH work you know, the property
around your home with trainage. And we'll have that discussion
at the at the bottom of the hour. In the meantime,
(02:36):
I've got some checklist of things to do. We were talking
a little bit about grouting, and that brings up another
issue too. Yes, he had issues with the grouting in
his UH shower area. Do you have grouting issues in
your home? In other words, maybe cracked grouting, maybe missing grouting,
maybe dirty grouting. And I want to talk in terms
(03:02):
of what you can do about dirty grouting. And I
know there's all kinds of cleaners out there, but you know,
sometimes those stains just are not going to come out.
And one of the things I found years ago is
to the stain is rarely, rarely below the surface of
(03:24):
that grouting. So if you take a dremal tool with
one of those pyramidal stones and just run it over
the surf of the surface of the ground, you remove
a microscopic amount of that ground on the surface, but
you'll get back to it's natural color really quick. And
that's if you've tried all the other cleaners to remove
(03:46):
that stain out of that grouting. But once you have
done that, that grouting again is well, it's it's less
waterproof then it was. There was probably a ceiler in there.
The dirt got in there. It's probably got in from mopping,
quite honestly. That's their shoes and it stains the ground.
(04:10):
But if you get rid of that stain mechanically and
then come back with a grout ceiler, man, I'll tell
you what it'll look great. Now if that stains heavier,
and I'll give you this as an option. If that
stains heavier and you do just kind of go over
it with a stone, you're not really getting anywhere and
you don't really taking off, you know, a whole lot
(04:32):
of grout. But there is grout paints, and if you're
just looking for regular standard, whiter beige grout, you can
probably find this grout paint at the local hardware store.
It looks like I always say liquid shoe polish, comes
in a bottle, has the little sponge pad at the top,
(04:56):
and you can just go right down the grout line,
take a cloth, wipe off the excess on the sides
of the tie, and man, you're in business. If the
stain is gone, you can get that same size, same
type of bottle. You don't have to color it. You
(05:17):
can just put a clear sealer on it. In fact,
there's even some ground seilers. And it's really important that
you do keep it sealed because when we clean floors,
and it depends on the type of cleaners you're using
in different things, but using an old mopping bucket or
something that dirty water penetrates in stains that ground. So
I wouldn't recommend that, but once you clean it up
(05:41):
and get it sealed or paint it, you can get
a lot of longevity out of that. And we'd be
happy to talk to you also about cleaners. Another thing
we talked about and I definitely want to get this
into since we're kind of into that holiday season, and
that is if you've got granite countertops, I get answer
(06:05):
the question a lot. I need to seal that, And
you know, the real true answer is maybe there's not
a real rule of thumb that you have to. There
is different granites with different levels of porosity. Some are,
(06:25):
you know, going to allow water to seep into it minimally,
Others are a little more thirsty, others resistant, So I
would do a little test, especially this time of year.
You get colored drinks, you get wine, you get oils.
You got a lot of activity going on around those
(06:46):
granite countertops. And if you get it on to the
granite countertop and it penetrates into the granite, you could
have a big issue. And you know, you know as
well as I do. Those granite countertops are not inexpensive,
so we want to protect them. So take a teaspoon
and just put a little doll up of water in
(07:08):
that teaspoon and turn it over, and there's a good
chance it'll look you'll pour that onto the granite countertop
and it'll look like a a bubble of water on
a newly waxed car. And then just watch that for
(07:28):
about a minute. And if you can see, you can
usually see it. You can see if some of that
is soaked into the granite or not. It'll be pretty obvious.
And in the volume of the water we'll dissipate too,
not all of it, but some of it. And if
that's happening, you need to seal the granite. If it's
(07:51):
not happening, don't worry about it. And there's all kinds
of sealers out there too. You get into some categories
where they're sprays. I mean, you're gonna have to clean
it and then you're gonna have to spray a granite
sealer on there and rub it in or I've even
seen some granite sealer WAPs. I've wipes. I've seen granite
(08:12):
sealer cleaners and wipes in one. But get some protection
on that if it's needed. If it's needed. And also,
as we spend more time in the kitchen over the
next four weeks, then maybe we have for the last
four months, take a look at your countertops. Maybe you've
(08:37):
been well kind of look at them and thinking, boy,
they're really looking dated. But I haven't got five grand
for new granite countertops. I kind of want to let
you know once again, I've talked about this a couple
of times, and every time I do, I have somebody
stop me and say, you know, I use that product
and it is so easy. And I've also used that product, Gary,
(09:01):
and I thought it might last five years, and you
were right. It lasts much longer than that. And that
is the dice coatings products for countertops. If you have
an older fie for mic a countertop, don't paint it.
That's not really going to work. You know, I'm talking
(09:22):
about with regular enamel paint. It's gonna chip, it's gonna
be a mess. If you want to make it look
like I call a Coreyon that speckled, maybe even a
little bit like a quartz to a degree. They have
a Spreadstone countertop kit. It's a primer, it's a finish,
(09:43):
it's a seiler. You can do it in a weekend
with an hour here, an hour here, an hour here,
an hour here, in an hour here, with two or
three hours of rest in between. If you can paint
a wall, you can do your countertops. Comes. The roller
comes with a standing sponge. All works, easy to do.
(10:05):
They also have one that looks like marble. They have
one that looks like granted. Go to their website after
you get through the holidays and you've determined that, yes,
you're really going to do something about the countertops. You're
not going to replace him, You're gonna coat him with
(10:28):
a spreadstone type product, and take a look at the
videos that they have the application. I feel pretty certain
you'll feel like you can do it. And that's actually
how I found this product, and it's probably been thirty
years ago or twenty five years ago that I first
found this product in a little paint store and used it,
(10:48):
and it's very good. Now he's added different products, and
they too are very good. My sister sister used one.
I think she used a marble one, and she couldn't
say enough great things about But take a look at
the video and maybe that's something you want to do
and save a little money at the same time. All right,
(11:09):
her phone numbers eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. And the snow is cranking up pretty good
right now. And we'll continue with your calls right here
in fifty five krs the talk station. All right, back
at it we go at home with Gary Salivan, taking
you through another weekend. And yes, it's time. As I
(11:30):
look outside, might be time to look for the snowshovel
if you haven't done that yet. And I wonder how
busy the hardware stores are right now with snowshovels, salt
ice melters and all that. Hey, do be careful what
you're going to use on the sidewalk. I know I
say that a lot, but done this show and been
(11:50):
in the business for a long time, and I can
tell you that the year you have a bad snowy
winter comes springtime, we'll have more questions regarding concrete repair
than any other time. And one of the products that
(12:13):
is probably most commonly used to melt snow is rock salt,
and right now thirty degrees rock salt will do a
great job to melt the snow, but I'll tell you
that residue will lay on that concrete and as that
snow slowly melts, it is a very salty brine solution
(12:39):
which is very corrosive, which will penetrate into the concrete
and which will cause it to spall, which is the
surface pops off. So I'd try and stay away from that.
And if the temperature continues to fall, which it's supposed to,
that salt will become in active and then it'll just
(13:01):
lay there. And then when the you know, snow melt
melts just because mother nature or whatever, it's just it
just does a lot of damage. So use a maynsium chloride,
probably the safest calcium chloride. Second, and then if you
use a mixture of salt and calcium chloride, that's better
(13:24):
than straight salt, but it's still got solved in there,
so be careful what you use. All right, let's get
to the phones. Will go to Gary, Gary. Welcome, Hi Gary.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yes, sir, I know you're not in the insurance, but
you talk about insurance. Say, and I have a problem
with our landlord. We've been here twenty two years and
thirdbuardy to sell the house. Sensus pay far, we'll probably
end up buying it. But they told me they have
to put in the roof on this house, even though
(13:57):
it's like a three year roof and it doesn't seem bad.
But their insurance companies telling them that they have to
replace the roof every twenty years. Have you ever heard
anything like that.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Um, well, they have to replace the roof every twenty years, or.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
What happens they lose their policy.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
So then the roof won't be warranted at all, is it?
Speaker 3 (14:24):
It's probably thirty. I've looked at it, and I've had
other people look at it, so called professionals. It's just
trying to put a roof on. And they come out
and say, well, it's not really that bad because you
had a lot of tree coverage, which means the sun's
not getting to it, and we haven't had any hail damage.
And if slightly hailed in one area where the tree's
(14:45):
not covering, but I mean it's it's not or popcork.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Well, each insurance company can make their own rules. Have
I heard of that? Exactly? No, not on a thirty
year roof, like twenty years, you've got to replace her,
We can't cover it. But as I was saying when
I was talking with Beth, it's a betting game and
anybody can put the odds any insurance company. You know,
there's some insurance companies that are still covering roofs. Okay,
(15:11):
there's a lot of them that are moving to the
you know, you know, if it's five years old, you
know that type of system, you're going to get less
than full coverage, et cetera, et cetera. Most of them
are moving in that direction. But there's still insurance companies
that cover one hundred percent on roofs, and they cover,
(15:32):
you know, depending on whether the shingle matches. I forget
what Beth called that she goes after ten years, that
goes away. So you just got to read the policy.
And I think the right now the cafeteria plan is
wide Gary. So no, I haven't heard about that one,
but I know roofs are in the you know, the
(15:54):
the eye sight of a lot of a lot of
insurance companies, and you really got to know what you're buying.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Right And to me, it's like you're talking about mainstenance. Well,
in this sense, they want you to maintain the roof
quicker because it's going to go out in thirty years.
Let's say it's a third year roof, but they're telling
them replace it in twenty years. Well, it's good amazance
is if I replaced the roof very twenty years. Well,
and we will tell you I had a great roof.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
It was a thirty year composite shingle. I replaced it
in twenty three years. Nobody told me to. It just
looked like it needed replacing.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Well, this really doesn't need to be replaced, but they're
telling they have to have the loser pelicy. And I
think it's because we're in the Saint Louis metro area
and we had a lot of tornado and hail damage
this last year or two with all the starts coming through.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Sure, I'm sure that comes into play. Remember, regardless what
anybody says, Carrie, it's a betting game. Okay, I mean
you know risk reward and it comes on both both
parties and checking into I talk about a product or
we've had calls about a product called roof Max where
(17:14):
these shingles are not what the shingles that you and
I grew up with. I mean they're thinner, there's not
as much asphalt there. I mean they're totally different.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And you just thirty pound roof or something.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, yeah, I mean those days are gone. Okay, So
the shingles aren't as good and stout as they once were,
and it loses its granular protection faster. And this roof
Max has a product where it sprays on and you
can get an extra five years. And people say, well
(17:48):
does it work? And I say, yes, it does. Do that.
Somebody asked me, well, was insurance going to cover that?
I don't know, I asked. I forget who I asked.
It might have been the roof Max people had a
conversation this week and I asked them and they go, well, yes,
(18:08):
some will, some won't. We've had multiple people that went
to the roofing company afterwards said this is what I used.
Do I get an extended warranty? They said yeah, a
few times we've got that done. So even that's not
black and white, but it's in the uh, the sightings
of roofing companies. So whether it needs to replace it
(18:30):
sounds to me like, you know, their rule might be
at thirty twenty years. If you don't replace it, we
don't cover and.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
This just could though I assume the roof max advertisement.
I thought that's the answer. It is true, this roof
actually to spray on now get probably get another five
years out of it at least.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, So one of the things you might check is
you know whether they will cover it then, right, and
they may or may not. And the person I was
talking to say, they may not even give you an
answer until it's applied.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
So I think the big dramas the landlord lives in
Florida and they're being dictated by whoever they have, and
we're all the way up here in the Saint Louis area. Sure,
and it's just a matter of conversation with somebody. Yeah,
but they're being dictated too, and I feel like they
have to and everybody listened. The roof says it's actually
pretty good shape because it's introtective by the trees, you know,
(19:31):
as far as heat and.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Of course, we all know the amount of storm damages
we've had all across the country, and you know, all
that factors in too. You know, if I'm an insurance company,
I'm factoring that in. Also look back over twenty years
of some roofers that maybe weren't the most scrupulous roofers
in the world. And I've seen it happen with my
(19:55):
own eyes where maybe that roof had hailed damage, but
I don't know why the inspector was up there with
a with a ballpeen hammer, you know, and that happened.
I've seen it happen, So you know, the playing field,
I guess, and I don't know what to think about it.
I guess the way I think about it is you're
(20:17):
buying insurance, and that's the game they're playing right now,
So you know, shop for your insurance if that's a
big concern, or you know, or you play the game
I mean.
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Games.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Though.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
My trauma is I want to buy the house now,
and they're down there and they just the clear blue
got a roof out here who said, you know, we'll
be out there for ten thousand dollars and replace it,
And I think, what do you know about these people?
They don't know nothing about the people they were going
to come out. Last week was really the middle of winter.
I don't know how they're going.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
To ever do a roof here.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
The most prom but it comes spring though. I got
to call you about electric lawn wars. I know you
wanted to That's what I call it, and I never
could get to it. Yep and yep, and I have
to call you on the spring.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Well, they're great, great, sounds good. Anyway, that sounds good, Gary,
Thank you much for the call. I appreciate it. All right,
Well continue you're at home with Gary Salvan right here
on fifty five KRC, the talk station. All Right, welcome
aboard at Home with Gary Sullivan. It's uh, kind of
slowed up just a little bit, not much, it's anyway,
(21:27):
it's snowing. Hooray, hooray. Looks like Christmas.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
What fun.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Oh yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That's called about the snow man.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Gary. Yeah. I think one thing everybody knows, especially listeners
to this show, and I've used this phrase probably for
the last forty years, is your number one enemy in
your home is water, water, water, water. And we talk
about a weekend and week out, and we're still talking
about it, because that's how important it is. The healthy
(21:56):
your home is really dependent on how well you control
the water on around your home or even on your home.
And James Barrett is joining us. He is with the
Anderson Gutter Company and he's going to help us out. James,
welcome that home with Gary Salvan. How you doing, I'm
doing wonderful. I guess you see it. You see it
(22:19):
every day, don't you, James. I mean, water does tremendous
damage around our homes.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Yeah, exterior wise, water, especially this time of year, can
be a monster if just one thing is wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Sure, sure, you know I started preaching, I guess the
first of October, the leaves are gonna fall, the leaves
have fallen, got to get those gutters cleaned out, and
I almost feel it becomes redundant. Then I'll go to
my daughter's house and I'll be looking out the upstairs
wind and the gutters are filled with stuff. So yeah,
(23:00):
how I mean that is so that's vitally important. And
when we had the insurance broke around, we were talking
about how maintenance is really coming into play in insurance claims,
Like stuff happens. It's one thing if your house gets
struck by lightning. It's another thing that you never cleaned
out your gutters and the softs are rotting, and you
(23:21):
get animals in the attic, or the water's spilling on
the foundation and the basement's leaking. And I'm sure you
run into this issue too. Is gutter sizes. I mean,
I've been in this industry for my whole life, and
gutter sizes have changed. And I know you're doing six
(23:43):
inch seamless gutters.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Now, yeah, we do six in seamless gutters. Then on site,
I would say that maintenance is of course, you should
probably do it once or twice a year at minimum,
just to make sure it especially if you don't have
a good guard up there. But size makes a huge
difference between just five which your standard, and six inch gutters.
(24:07):
You're talking about a forty percent increase in waterflow between
just that one inch size.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Different James in your business Anderson Gutter Company, do they
call you because the gutters are in a state of disrepair,
they're falling off the house, or gee, these gutters I
have just aren't getting the job done anymore.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
You know, we get a mix of boats. We get
some that are past the point where they should have
called us, of course, But we get a lot of
homeowners that are a little knowledgeable and know that it's
you know, a pretty much a four point system between
your underground drainage, your downspouts, your gutters, and your ventilation,
and they just want it done right, and so they
(24:49):
give us a call to make sure that all those
are functioning properly so that don't have one hidden monster
out of those four that causes it, like the giant
ice spickles you see.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Right right, Hey, let's educate people about gutters in general too.
I know you do seamless and tell everybody why seamless
is important.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Well, seamless gutters are you know, continuous across the house,
far less lead points for water to be able to
escape that gutter system, less fasteners to hold it on
it's bean as one unit and then hung together, and
you know it allows a continuous flow of water to
(25:34):
be able to be pitched properly into those down spouts.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah, so what is the pitch? Is it quarter inch
ten feet? Or am I wrong?
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Yeah? It's right about that. I mean some of you
have to start a little bit higher or lower on
a facial board, but yeah, about a quarter inch per
ten feet.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Okay, and how about the gauge of the these are aluminum?
I assume yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Aluminum twenty four gage aluminum bent. You know, we have
a gutter machine that we come out with a truck
to bend on site for your home, made from sheets
of gutter aluminum on site and then equipped with three
by four down spouts which are larger than the two
(26:21):
by three that you have on your home. Typically.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
I'm gonna tell you about my problem in a minute.
Everybody's got a problem with gutters. Man. What type of
brackets do you use?
Speaker 5 (26:35):
So we use hidden hangers that so that they don't
you don't see them kind of popped up. We don't
use gutter spikes that run through the gutter that you
would see in an older gutter. We use hidden hangers
that fasten to the facier board to hang the gutters.
We also now have a really nice product that we
(26:55):
use which when we install a new six inch gutter,
if they get a treck scutter guard, it's a continuous
hanger system. So the guard goes on first, making it
very sturdy, secure system so that no hangers on that sure.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Nice. So you talked about the points in the gutter.
When you talked about a larger down spout, is the
larger down spout there because the gutter's bigger and there's
more flow.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Exactly. Making a bigger gutter with the same sized down spouts,
of course, would do us no good. But allowing more
water to off the roof and sit in your gutter,
we need the larger down spout to be able to
expel the volume of water that you're going to get
with a six inch gutter, and it makes a huge difference,
like I said, forty increase on the amount of volume
(27:48):
you can get off the roof.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
So when we get down to the bottom, this is
where my problem is. It can be resolved. But it's
an issue right now. It's a minute issue which will
become a bigger issue. We all know that, and that
is with the soil. I guess it's the reason for
it. It's the soil. It's very clay in our area. We
(28:11):
have a very wet spring, we have a drought, and
then we have a wet winter, and we got all
this movement and sometimes that downspout doesn't perfectly line up
with a pipe that's going under the ground. You see
that often, Yeah, we do see that.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
We use what's called an underground cap, but we call
the you know underground the hidden Monster because people just
don't know what's under there. The most ignored part of
the underground drainage is they don't know where it goes,
or if it's clear, if it's collapsed.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
We when we install new gutters, we do use an
underground cap to completely connect those so there shouldn't be
a gap between them. But we also have a four
K camera that we use to put down up to
one hundred and twenty feet to map out your underground line,
your drain lines and make sure everything's going where it
needs to be and it's not broken. And we sell
(29:05):
that just as a service, so if a homeowner every
wants it mapped out, they can get that too.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Sure, well, that's that's good. How long is a pipe
like that that goes underground usually last? And is it
usually the corrugated or is it the PVC.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
Well, we would hope it's not corrugated, but sometimes they are.
Typically it's pvceds like a schedule thirty five pipe is
what we use. Sometimes it's a little bit less. So
when it comes to auguring of course you wouldn't be
able to do it with a with a corrugated pipe,
but it's got a nice PDC pipe. You can get
(29:42):
it augured out if there's a clog. I would always
recommend to make sure you're using at least you know,
Schedule forty, Schedule thirty five PBC pipe your underground drain lines.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Yeah, unfortunately my underground drain line off the down spout
is corrugated. And then I also have an underground French
and I think it's Schedule forty and it's twenty five
years old. So yeah, at what point do you start panicking? James?
Speaker 5 (30:11):
So I would recommend to have it canned of course,
going to French train, make sure everything's looking good. As
long as you're TVC underground, you might be okay above ground.
The the core gated is always easy to change. It's
a not a hard change at all. But I would
start there. Always start to cam, have somebody, you know,
(30:34):
you can send an inspector and someone to inspect it out,
but they're going to be staring at your ground, right
there's not a lot that they can tell with the camera.
They can run those diagram make sure they'll know exactly
where it's broke or clogged, be able to help you
fix one spot instead of telling you need everything replaced.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what I tell people all
the time with especially when I'm talking about chimneys, and
all of a sudden they tell you need a new liner,
and that's thousand dollars? Did they show you pictures? They
and most most good quality companies if there's a service,
even you know furnace tune ups. Now you know I
(31:12):
had an issue with one and they can show you
where the problems are now and no different than what
you're talking about with the underground. And I'll be honest
with you if I was you know, somebody that had
an issue, and we'll say, with an underground drain, why
wouldn't you find somebody with a camera spar I'm happy
(31:34):
to hear that you folks do that because it's it's
critically important. I mean, you're right, a lot of people
have no idea where that's taking that water. They don't
know whether it's going backwards or forward.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Yeah, we had one recently that had an issue and
they had a very long front yard going and it
went all the way out to the curb and they
had gotten really large quote from a couple of companies
that came out to replace it. All the way out
to the curb, and we were in the camera and
they had a clog that was about five feet from
(32:10):
the curb that you could we could augur from the
opposite side, you know, coming from the curb in and
within ten minutes our guy had them fixed up. And
they only paid the price of the can because it
included that service of checking for clogs and in auger
if needed. So it saved her probably close to you know,
(32:31):
fifteen or twenty thousand dollars just to know the knowledge.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
All right, that's a that's that's that's a huge savings.
I mean, it's yeah. And again going back to the
original phrase when I started, you know, water is your
number one enemy, and that's so true, and it's critically
important really that we control all of that water because
(32:58):
I can't tell you how many people I touch with
leaky basements. I tell them, a leaky basement has what
I call the killer g's and it's grading ground water
and gutters. And yes, you know, all of a sudden,
you talk about having abasement waterproof because you haven't maintained
(33:18):
the water control on the outside of your house. You
can be talking twenty thirty dollars.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Yes, yeah, I would always recommend a customers start from
you know, the underground system up of course, but it
leads all the way to your ventilation. You know of
your home can factor into if you're going to have
these problems or not. But uh, the water from the
roof as far away from the house as you can.
(33:47):
You can, of course waterproof your your basement, but you
don't even want the water to be.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
There to begin with, right, right, that's say far away
from the home as you can well.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Plus plus not only that, if you have a lot
of water that's running, maybe it's not running into your basement,
but the water vapors getting into your basement, and then
you can have high humidity. And if you have high humidity,
you can have mold. So it kind of goes on
and on and on. So if folks are how does
(34:18):
how do you guys work at Anderson Gutter Company. They're
listening to conversation right now, and I'm not trying to
worry people. I'm trying to bring in experts where we
can say this might be something you want to inspect.
How does this work? I call you, you give estimates? Do
you educate when you're there? Tell me the whole process.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
Yeah, we get free estimates. I mean, of course, if
you know you want gutters and it's just time to
get new gutters, and you do want to get that
six head seamless gutter with three by four downspouts and
maybe some new guards, you can just call us and
we'll take care of it. If you're having a ventilation issue,
or you're just seeing giant icicles, or your gutters are overflowing,
(35:00):
you can call us and we'll set you up for
an inspection or a gutter cleaning. At that time, we
take photos. I could see my guys photos while they're
on site to be able to diagnose and get you
an estimate for whatever you may need. But we'll come out.
We'll do a full inspection of not only the gutters,
but the underground drainage, your ventilation, and your downspouts and
(35:22):
gutter line, just to make sure that we can give
you the proper answers and the proper estimate, because we
want you to not call us back for a separate first.
We could have missed when we were there.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I know gutters, I said this already, but gutters have
changed a lot. What is the lifespan of gutters? I've
never really given that any.
Speaker 5 (35:43):
Thought, So we typically, I mean, we give a five
year labor warranty, but I would say twenty five years,
twenty five to thirty years you should get out of
a really good gutter system. And of course that's like
when you should change it. A lot of people go
way past that line and they would probably be just fine.
(36:08):
But in good concerence, I'd say probably twenty five years
thirty years would be the good lifespan of a set
of gutters. By then we're gonna have, you know, seven
inch gutters.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Sure, I hear, James. How do they get a hold
of the Anderson Gutter Company?
Speaker 5 (36:24):
So you could call us at five one three six
six seven nine zero zero zero or Anderson Gutter Company
dot com.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Very good in the website.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
Andersony Gutter Company dot com.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
That is the website. Okay, gotcha. Hey, it's been a pleasure.
Thank you so much. I'm sure you'll get some gutter calls,
especially if it keeps snowing.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
YEP, I appreciate it. If you need anything else.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Let me know, all right, we'll do James, thank you.
All right, we'll take a little break kind of come
back and wrap up a snowy saturday. It looks like
it has slowed down a little bit where I I
met and covered the sidewalks. Streets look fine so far.
So uh we'll find out real fast here when one
o'clock gets here. All right, we'll continue at home with
(37:11):
Gary Salvan right here on fifty five k SE Detox station.
All right. Uh back at it, of course. Uh. The
holidays and Christmas and New Year's right around the corner,
and uh, you might be looking at gift ideas. It's
been a long time since I really talked about there's
a lot of really really, if you get into power
(37:33):
tools and things, Uh, there's so many. I was even
telling a group of people the other day, if you
there's some really innovative tools out there that are now
battery operated. I mean, you know you gotta you gotta
have your toys, I mean tools. Sorry, Uh, that's just
(37:54):
a rule, right, every project requires a new toy I
mean tool. But so check those out. Really, there's a
lot of multipurpose tools out and the price on power
tools that are battery operate. I think have gotten a
lot less expensive. So maybe you put off and maybe
(38:16):
you haven't been doing much work around houses or whatever,
and you think you always wanted us such and such.
You might put that on your gift list. They're more affordable.
Another thing is, you know, we used to talk a
lot about what goes in a regular you know, if
(38:36):
you're going to give a new homeowner a toolbox, and
I knew we probably don't need to repeat that unless
somebody wants to know exactly what my opinion is. But
you know, your basic tools can certainly go in there.
But here's here's one. Here's one I like, and I
used to use it all the time. If most homeowners young,
(38:59):
medium and older will tackle projects around the house, especially painting,
and I've said that many many times. And one of
the things that used to and still drives me crazy
is when a homeowner is going to tackle a painting
job and plastic drop cloths. Okay, that's what drives me crazy.
(39:24):
Plastic drop cloths. I know you can get them for
a buck two bucks. They're as thin as what the
old dry cleaning bags are. They're dangerous. You trip over them,
they slide on carpet. They're they're they're not durable, and
you will throw them away. Get somebody as a gift,
(39:49):
a good especially if they're young too, where they're gonna,
you know, paint a lot of rooms through the course
of their life. Get them a good canvas drop cloth.
Like a painter uses canvas on both signs interlayer of
plastic which never comes into play. It's it's like a
(40:11):
it's like the thickness of a bedspread. If you will.
It's manageable and you can use it your lifetime. And
I literally I've done a lot of painting over the
years and I've literally used or had a canvas uh
uh drop cloth. I bet forty years. Got every color
(40:34):
of paint you can imagine on that drop cloth. But
it served me well. And if it wasn't for splattered paint,
it'd be brand new. And I'm serious about that. So
that's a good gift idea. Got somebody that does some
painting or just got a home, I would recommend that.
Danny Boy, thank you very much. It was a fun
and busy day. Don't forget to check out the podcast.
(40:56):
We'll have two each hour, plus our special guests today
that's on the iHeart app. It's at Home with Gary Sullivan.
If you miss the one on insurance, that's a good one.
Take a listen and then look at your policy. All right,
good Lord willing, Danny and I will both be back
tomorrow for more At Home with Gary Sullivan.
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