December 20, 2025 • 45 mins
This hour of "At home with Gary Sullivan" focuses on home improvement and maintenance. Gary discusses the importance of removing road salt residue from driveways and sidewalks after a snowy winter. He also talks to a caller about attic insulation, advising that it's not always necessary to replace existing insulation, but rather to add more on top. Additionally, Gary interviews Todd Miller from Classic Metal Roofing, who shares the benefits of metal roofing, including its durability, energy efficiency, and resistance to hail and fire. They also discuss the growing trend of metal roofing and how it's becoming a popular choice for homeowners.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Well, the weekend is upon us. Welcome aboard. You're at
home with Gary Salvin, taking through another weekend, getting a
few things done around the home. Thanks for joining me
and just talking about things to pay attention to about
your home and taking care of the problem as they occurred.
Don't let them stack up on you, because it'll get
(00:52):
it'll get out of hand in a hurry. One of
the things in last weekend when we were talking, we
had snow. We hit probably ave in snow where I
met a lot of parts right in the Midwest, had
a bunch of snow in New England. I think you
had some snow. And now all of a sudden, well
it's not it's not like seventy degrees, but around Christmas
(01:15):
it will be around sixty degrees where I'm at. And
I'm always talking about you know, when we have the
snow and we use you know, ice melters and salts
and everything, and you know, once the snow's gone, everybody
forgets about it. Right now, we survived that, We're good,
you know, we're all set. And then we got the
(01:37):
holidays coming and we got people coming and going in
our homes. Make sure and this is this is really
good advice. Holidays are not holidays after a snow, if
you get a warm patch or something where you can
get outside even with a broom and sweep the residue away,
or if you can you know, you got a hose
(01:58):
a spickett in the garage and you can squirt out
the garage. Getting that residue off, really it's great. It's
a great way to prevent problems because especially road salt
that you'll pull in from your car up on your
driveway or on your apron, if you haven't sealed concrete
(02:19):
for a while, and that rock salt and water, it's corrosive.
It's not good for concrete and the surface that concrete.
In some cases we'll start spawling, it'll start popping off,
and just getting that residue off helps prevent that. Now,
(02:42):
the residue itself just laying there in a powder form
isn't really don't hurt anything. But with a little bit
of water, be it a little dew, a little moisture,
and it's always kind of or just you know, moisture
from the car, any type of moisture, it reactivates that
(03:04):
and it's that salty brained solution is very corrosive. So
and the other end of that is people that are
coming to visit during the holidays tracking that in on
your wood floors, on carpeting. It's a grid. I mean,
(03:24):
it's an abrasive and you know, you can I'm not
gonna say you're gonna, you know, damage your wood floors
because people walk in your house. But the other hand
thing is, you know, we got you know, maybe a
little mat outside and maybe a little rug right in
the front door. Maybe you're walking right into carpet and
you got a runner or something along those lines. Anything
(03:46):
you can do to prevent that residue, that grid from
being tracked into your home beneficial, beneficial for sure. And
then you know, every spring, one of the biggest questions
and one of the biggest projects we have is taking
care of the concrete, making it look better than it
(04:09):
looks like after a harsh winter, because in a lot
of cases, we'll have cracks, we'll have the spawling on
the surface, and you know, people want to address that
in the spring. So if we can keep that corrosive
residue off the surface, we minimize how much maintenance we
(04:31):
have to do. And it's never too late either. I
mean if we do have some warm weather next weekend.
I mean, weather at least where I am in the
winter time can be crazy. You know. You can have
zero degrees in snow and the next week you can
have sixty degrees. And I know that's like that in
many places. And if you get in a warm day
and you can address some of those issues, you should
(04:54):
take advantage of that. You should take advantage of that,
for sure. And one of the things you can always
help prevent that too, and probably too late in a
lot of parts of the country now, especially cold weather
climates where we're kind of talking about this issue, is
ceiling concrete. You know, people always you know, do you
(05:15):
really need to seal concrete? Now you don't, No, you don't, No,
you don't, Yes you do, No, you don't. Mixed thoughts
on it, but you do, you do, And especially it
depends on where you live. But you know, if you
live in cold weather climates and you can minimize moisture
penetration of that concrete, which ceiling does, you'll be ahead
(05:36):
of the game. And if you live in warm weather
climates and you always have fungus or molds or mildews
growing on the surface. In other words, they're discolored ceiling.
It makes a difference. So there's a you know, ceiling
is important. And how long does it lasts? Hey, you
(05:56):
know you could probably get depends on how much sunshine
you get, but you know you'd be safe resealing probably
every about three years. That's a good number. I'd like
to tell you five five would be good for vertical brick,
but for a driveway, usually every three years is going
to be, you know, satisfactory. Easy to do. In a
(06:17):
lot of cases, you want to breatheable sealer, you want
to penetrating into the concrete, and literally you can take
a tank sprayer unless it's a gloss or a surface seiler,
which you would have on pattern concrete exposed to aggregate concrete,
stamp concrete, those type of things. But you know, if
(06:41):
it's just a penetrating product, sure you can just put
it on with the tank sprayer. All right. Again, Our
phone number is eight hundred eighty two three eight two
five five Brandon, Welcome.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Hey, good morning, Gary. I love the show. I'm a
maybe a second or a third time caller now, and
I just heard you talking about the smart home stuff. Yeah, yeah,
Well I'm in Illinois and Amerin had a they had
some kind of thing where they were offering free thermostat
and free Bluetooth type Wi Fi light bulbs. So I
(07:19):
went ahead and took them up on it. And I'm
kind of OCD. I check a lot of things. I'm
weird about light switches to begin with, so I install these.
I got WiFi in the house. I love them. I
can be at work, I can turn on the lights,
I can turn them off, you know, my exterior lights,
(07:40):
and I got one in the kitchen and I set
them on certain timers in the night time, so and
even if I'm gone for a few days, they still
come on and off. So someone's skin.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Still around, right right. Yeah, it's interesting. I have people
that'll say, like, I just don't even want to go,
you know, bother with that. But I've got several things
in there, even cloud based exterior lights, which are I
think it's really cool. You can just some pumps that
will tell you or you could activate them from your phone. Hey,
(08:13):
you know they they they they're helpful. And I know
some people just a little resistant to it. And I'm
sure there's products out there that can cause you a
little angst, but I'm with you. I kind of enjoy
some of the uh the newer products in the smart home.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I was weird about it at first, but I believe
one of the well, the thermostat Gary. My furnace is
too old. It didn't have the the blue wire to
connect it. I still have the thermostat, but I'm still
running a pretty old furnace. But the best purchase, as
far as uh Wi Fi and and all that goes,
the best smart device I've ever purchased for my home
(08:54):
is my I believe it's a Media brand dehumidifier for
my basement. Oh yeah, okay, and it comes with an
app so I can be at work. You know it
starts raining. I can turn that on and it tells
me the indoor humidity and what you know, what percent
it's said at. And you know, I have it into
a five gallon bucket for my plants. I actually use that,
(09:18):
but it'll get my basement bone dry. And I can
do it all for my phone. All you got to
do is just leave it plugged in. I could be
I could be anywhere in the world and turn that on.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
See people, you and me on the OCD thing. I'm
right there with you. And these are the greatest things
to just check all the time.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Exactly. Yeah, they definitely help people like that. I, you know,
I can check my I got a camera, security system,
the dehumidifier, the Bluetooth lights. It just makes it look
like someone's here, and you know, I can check on
everything in the house and super very good.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Thanks for your input, Brandon, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, sir, you're a great guy. I love the show
and I look forward to you almost every weekend. I
listen to you.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Thank you, my friend. Take care, I have a great holiday.
All right, we'll continue, We'll take a break and Mark
you'll be up first, and then Pat. And you're at
home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
If you don't have a list of things to do
around the house, Gary will find something for you at
one eight hundred eighty two three talk You're at home
with Gary's Ellivators.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
For over forty years, Dumont has made powerful pain coating
removers that are tough on layers but save for you
in the environment. Tried Demand Smart Strip Advanced. It works
on over ninety percent of the coatings, no harmful fumes,
no dangerous chemicals. Not sure what you're removing well, Demon's
easy test kid tells you exactly what you need. Find
smart strip at you're participating do It Best retailer Sherwin Williams.
(10:57):
Or visit Dumont Global dot com. That's Dumont Globe dot Com.
Dumont Smart safe and proven, so do it yourself with demand.
Make your home sparkle this holiday season with Jaws the
just Add Water System. The Holiday Caddiepack is back filled
with your four must have Jaws cleaners, my favorite glass cleaner,
plus the kitchen cleaner, disinfectant, bathroom cleaner, and a super
(11:18):
convenient dispray. Everything you need to clean up after holiday baking,
gift wrapping, and fun perfect for your home or is
a holiday gift for a limited time, It's twenty percent
off with promo code. Gary comes with free shipping jawscleans
dot com, Jaws cleans dot com and make your holiday shine.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
When the weather turns cold, your plumbing system can really
take a beating. Hey, Gary Selvin here for Rota Router
plumbing and water clean up. If you experience frozen or
burst pipes this winter, Runner Ruter's expert team can repair
the pipe and clean up the water damage and if
you have vulnerable pipes and cross spaces, garages or beneath
peer and beam homes, Rutner Router can offer solutions to
(11:58):
protect and win a RISO pipes before the next d freeze.
Schedule an estimate and service call at rotrouter dot com
or call one eight hundred get rot.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Oh Hey, Gary Sullvan here for Zlar pumps. Zalor's been
keeping home safe and dry since nineteen thirty nine, and
their passion for excellence is why it's the only name
I trust to keep my basement dry. For your home's
groundwater protection system, you got to check out the Solar
Model sixty three some pump with the LED plug and
the aquanot Fit five oh eight battery backup system. Together
(12:30):
they're your guaranteed water protection system when installed by a
factory certified installer. To find your installer today, go to
zalarpumps dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
All right, back to work, We go at home with
Gary Sullivan and talking a little home improvement. Mark Welcome,
How are you?
Speaker 6 (13:00):
I'm good, Dary good, appreciate your fake my call. I've
got a question on attic insulation. All right, and so
we live in a house it's about seventy years old
and we bought it twenty years ago. I'm not sure
if it's ever had additional installation put in it. When
I'm asking a question because a friend of mine is
(13:21):
who has about a ten year old house is having
his insulation completely removed from his house and new insulation
put in because the evidently the contractor put in poor
insulation and it doesn't have the R factor it should.
And so it's just bringing a question in my mind
of whether or not removing installation from your attic from
(13:44):
time to time and putting in new installation that's kind
of I guess mice repellent kind of insulation and a
better ART factor if if that's a smart investment or
if that's really necessary, well.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I think it's always removing is not always nossary. There's
all these different types of insulation, there's different circumstances, there
are different building eras that we use different things. But
the quick answer is to check what you have, and
(14:16):
you know the type of insulation you have, and you
know the depth of the insulation, and you can kind
of patch together what the R value you have in
your attic is. And let's say you got fiberglass insulation,
which is an R value of about two point five
per inch of thickness, and so you have you know,
(14:38):
xyz of inches. And let's say you come up with
your R value is in R twenty. You go to
the Department of Energy or you go up to the
home depot and you look at rolls of insulation. There's
an insulation map. Follow the zone you're in, and in
my zone it'll say R forty two. Well, it's about
(14:58):
sixteen inches of you know, maybe more, maybe eighteen inches
of insulation required, and I only have ten inches. Then
you can put insulation right on top of existing insulation.
Now there's other you know, there's certainly circumstances you wouldn't
want to do that. If you hit a mouse problem
up there and you got mouse feces all over and
(15:20):
they've been using it as a nest, probably pull the
old stuff out. If there's a fan that wasn't vented
properly and it's moldy, probably pull that out. But in
most cases you can just blow it right over the
top of it and you'll be fine. You can even
mix from a blown in fiberglass on top of a
(15:41):
you know, batting fiberglass. The only way you get in
trouble is if you start covering up the ventilation on
the sides, or if you put down another vapor barrier.
There's usually a vapor barrier down on the back side
of the ceiling, but you can put you know, loose
fille run on top of that. So so it depends.
(16:05):
I guess, is the the only way I'd remove it
if if that insulation was really compromised and soiled or
very very compacted.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
Sure, so I do have uh, And I'd probably catch
two or three mice up there annually, particularly in the winter,
and I put traps up there, So I'm guessing there
is some you know, mice s feces up there before
I've caught them, right, And ye.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I'd have to think, yeah, yeah, I mean you might
have some. I would. I would think a lot of
homes have that. To be honest with you, I got
up my attic one time about ten years ago. There's
dead birds. I don't even know how they got in.
I never did could I've never had the problem again.
But I'd start the process with how deep is my
(16:54):
insulation and then just kind of examine it and see
if it's moldy, your soil. Of it's molting soiled, i'd
pull with otherwise I'd go right over the top of it.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
Okay, sounds good. All right, awesome, appreciate your advice.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Very good, Thank you, take care. All right, let's go
to Pat. Pat, welcome.
Speaker 7 (17:17):
Than Good morning, Gary, sir, Good morning morning. Going back
to your question when you're talking about more winterization. So
I have a you know, a thirty three inch wide
walk behind more self called. But I put in a
shutoff valve last year from the gas tank to the motor.
(17:43):
Should I still do some winterization with the with the
gas in the tank Yeah, I mean I have shut
off valve.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Now, Yeah, yeah, well it shut Off's fine. But if
you have gas in that tank already, you know, gas
over time will varnish, especially if it's inactive, you know,
for like six months. I think, uh, it's probably a
good time frame. You could either put a stabilizer in
there to stabilize it or to remove it.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Okay, because I used to just burn it out, just
run it, run it dry.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
But that's what I do.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
Probably half a tank in there now, which is kind
of a waste of gas. Sure I can, Should I
fill the tank up all the way and then put
the winners. They put the stabilizer in.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah, what you can do is figure out how much
you know about how much is in the tank, right,
and then if you have some gas, put this stabilizer
in that gas and you know even a little bit
more because of the gas in the tank, and then
fill it up all the way. And what that does
is they'll just minimize condensation.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
Okay, okay, all right, all right, that was easy enough.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
You're quite welcome, thank you. All right, Thinking about a
roof and we're always talking about asphalt shingles, and they
seem to be in the news a lot with insurance
and all kinds of things in black streaking, and so
the metal roofing industry continues to grow. Todd Miller, he's
with Classic Metal Roofing. He's going to join us at
(19:19):
the bottom of the hour and we're going to talk
about where metal roofing is these days as we continue
to invest in our homes. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Get
McCall at one eight hundred and eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary sullivant.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Soon we're going to be spending more time inside our
home where the air is five times worse than the
outdoor air. Get that stagnant, stuffy air out with an
easy breathe, then reduce airborne particles by eighty five percent.
Don't get trapped inside a sick house breathing dirty, musty,
damp air this winter, right now, get two u ministats
with every easy Breathe purchase. Give them a call at
(20:24):
eight six six eight two two seventy three twenty eight,
or visit easybreed dot com. I've used this product because
my washer smelled terrible, and let me tell you it
worked great. Hi Gary Sullivan here, Now my water's crystal clear.
I've got real peace of mind with Awesome Watercare. Their
products remove all the hidden gunk, biofilm, bacterium build up
(20:45):
from hot tubs, jetted tubs, swim spots, even washers and dishwashers.
If you want your water system spotless, check out awesome
dot com spelled ahh somme dot com. You'll see and
smell the difference. Hey Gary Salvin here another happy odor
exit comment. I bought a perfect juice car, except it
reached from the smell of smoke. I scrubbed, I sprayed,
(21:07):
I even left windows open for days, and nothing got
rid of that smell. Then I found odor Exit AQM
Air Quality Manager, a small packet and the smell was
gone overnight, not covered, eliminated, and the smell's never come back.
Don't live with a car that smells like a campfire
or any space. Order Odor Exit AQM at odor exit
dot com. Go to odor exit dot com for the
(21:29):
best pricing, combas and service. Remodeling your basement into a recroom, office,
or home gym, Well, don't forget to ventilate those spaces
to protect your home from decay. The Easy Breathe ventilation
system exchanges trap dirty damp air for cleaner, dryer, healthier air.
We've had an easy Breeze system in our home for
about ten years now, and the air in our basement
(21:49):
always feels fresh and clean. Diy kits are available and
right now get two you minutes stats plus twenty percent
off every Easy Breathe purchase call eight six six eight
two two seventy three twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Well, we got a lot to discuss today. We've been
talking a lot about roofs and it seems like they're
always talked about, and it's about asphalt shingles, and so
I thought i'd reach out to my friend Todd Miller.
He is with Classic Metal Roofing and kind of see
where the metal roofing industry is these days. I would
assume it's growing, especially with some of the natural disasters
(22:39):
that have taken place, and I think, quite honestly, some
of the not so good press that asphalt shingles are getting.
So Todd Miller, welcome that home with Gary Salvan. How
you doing.
Speaker 8 (22:51):
I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much for having me today,
Garrett Pleasure.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
You're quite welcome. So how is the metal roofing industry going?
Speaker 8 (23:00):
You know, we continue to grow, and you hit on
something important there. A lot of times, the natural disasters
kind of point people toward, hey, there has to be
a better way to roof my home. And a few
years ago when several hurricanes hit Florida, we saw that
happen in Florida, and Florida very much has turned toward
metal in recent years. And now the big thing is
(23:22):
the horribly tragic fires out in southern California just about
a year ago. As people are starting to think about
rebuilding and even remodeling if they did survive the fires
without devastation. We are seeing a lot of heads and
thoughts turning toward metal roofing in southern California right now.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Yeah, what kind of propped in might call to you?
Is well, two things happened. Number one, I saw report
where they were testing s phalt shingles on hell damage
and across the boarder, I'm going to screw this up?
Is a bad a criteria is and nobody ended up
(24:06):
with a classification of as excellent. So that was a
little concerning. I know the shingles have gotten a little thinner.
I know algae has become you know, unsightly on shingles
that are over ten years old. What else is going on?
Insurance companies they want to pro rate roofs asphalt shingles.
(24:27):
I don't know how that applies to metal. And I thought,
after I heard all that, I said, you know what,
we got to talk to Todd about metal roofing because
you think metal roofing and uh, quite honestly, everybody thinks, oh,
when it rains, it's going to be loud, and how's
that do with hail? So why don't you give me
the benefits of metal roofing, Todd.
Speaker 8 (24:50):
Sure, And you know you touched on the insurance industry there,
and absolutely insurance is trying to figure out how they
can quit having to people knew roasts every year. The
insurance industry and many of these hail prone areas is
extremely upside down, and so they've been looking at a
number of options reducing coverage. In fact, probably a lot
(25:13):
of your listeners have gotten letters from their insurance companies
that referenced roof damages in hail, and most of those
letters are hard to even understand. But the point is
they're trying to figure out how to not have to
keep replacing roosts due to hail damage. And you know,
I think one of the keys that is a big
benefit of metal roofing is that it doesn't lose its resiliency,
(25:35):
It doesn't lose its strength, that it doesn't have all
these oils in it that evaporate and dry out so
that it becomes weaker with age. A metal roof will
resist hail, it will be just as resilient and high winds,
just as fire resistant in thirty forty fifty years as
it is when it's first installed. Whereas you look at
(25:57):
most other roofing materials and you know, including as a shingles,
including wood shingles that used to be used a lot
in creating tile. There are some newer polymer products on
the market. We're not quite sure how those are going
to fair. But you know, most of those products tend
to lose a lot of that strength and resiliency as
they age, and that just isn't the case with metal.
(26:18):
So for that reason, insurance companies like metal in a
lot of respects and in many cases where they have
started to regulate, hey, we won't ensure anybody with the
roof over fifteen years old. In most cases, if those
homeowners dig a little bit, they will find that there
are there is a pathway for getting their roof in
(26:40):
or their home insured if it has a metal roof
on it, despite that metal roof maybe being fifteen, twenty,
thirty five years old.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Not that money is the only concern, but in terms
of metal roofing that that's going to last. I think
the weren't you but fifty years or something?
Speaker 8 (27:02):
I mean, you're pretty common forty to fifty years sometimes
lifetime for the initial owner.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, how's the insurance treat doz I mean, is there
a discount to the homeowner in terms of insurance if
you have a metal roof.
Speaker 8 (27:17):
So it's kind of a double edged sword for the
insurance industry. They realize that metal roofts are very resilient,
very long lasting, but they also know if there's some
sort of disaster that does destroy that roof, they're going
to have a fairly expensive plane because metal risks do
have a higher upfront cost. So what we have seen
is they will offer discounts in some areas of the country,
(27:41):
especially in hail prone areas of the country, they will
offer a discount for metal roofing. We've also seen in
some cases a homeowner might be paying extra on their
insurance if they have, say a wood roof due to
the fire hazard, or even if they have an older
asshole roof, they may still be being insured but simply
(28:01):
be paying more because of it. So if you replace
with a metal roof, make sure you go back to
your insurance got me and find out if you've been
paying anything extra for that old roof that can now
go away now that you have a new roof.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, we had Beth Harper on. She's an insurance broker
out of Cleveland. We had her on last week and
we've had different discussions. I knew there's big changes, you know,
with insurance and roofing, and we were talking about a
lot of those things. But I think metal roofing brings
so much more to the table than just the insurance
and one of his energy savings. A lot of people
(28:35):
don't look at a roof as an energy saving product,
but a metal roofing can save you energy.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
In particular during the summer. That is correct. So today's
metal roofs, sometimes with the coatings on them, sometimes just
because of the design of the product. They're designed to
keep heat out of the attic and to be reflective
of radiant heat. And what we will all often hear
from homeowners is they will see summertime energy savings of
(29:04):
around twenty percent due to reduced air conditioning needs. And
so yeah, that's pretty significant. And you know, there again,
that isn't something that you just get for the first
couple of years and it diminishes. You know, it's there
for the life of the roof.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
How about the look of a metal roof. I'm sure
there's people listening as conversation going like, yeah, but I
don't want my house to look like a mar and
that's so far from the truth. Boy, I got a
niche down in Louisville, Kentucky, and driving through down in
that area, there's a lot of metal roofs and beautiful
homes with beautiful metal roofs, and there is a there's
(29:44):
quite a distinctive look on a metal roof if you
want it. Can't talk about the appearance.
Speaker 8 (29:50):
Well, there absolutely is. There's a great variety of looks.
You can have that traditional vertical seam look if you
want that, you know, in particular on some homes colonials
or some ultra contemporary homes that vertical seem look looks
really nice. However, there are also a number of companies,
including ours, that manufacture a wide variety of metal shingles.
(30:15):
So you can actually have a metal roof that looks
like traditional asshole shingles, or maybe looks like a high
end slate roof or a barrel tile roof or a
wood shake roof. You can have the benefits of metal
with something that doesn't look like metal at all.
Speaker 9 (30:34):
Is there an I mean, do most roofers do metal
roofing or is it kind of a Nietzsche group of
folks that do the installation on metal roofing and how
do we find those folks?
Speaker 8 (30:48):
Sure? So, our industry has worked very hard to train
new installers out there, and so yes, most metal roof
or most roofing contractors will offer metal roofs, and a
lot of times they will subcontract that labor out not
to their typical asphalt crew, but to a metal specialist crew.
(31:09):
One of the things I really suggest people do, though, is,
you know, do some research online, look at the metal
roofs that you like, find some products you like, go
back to those manufacturers and say, hey, I like your product.
Who in my area is experienced installing this product? And
let the manufacturer who you know, they know who their
(31:29):
customers are, and they know who does things right and
who maybe doesn't do things right. Let them refer you
to somebody who's experienced with their product.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Todd, when you just mentioned something that didn't even really
think of to even ask. But when you're looking for
a metal roof, you say different manufacturers and stuff, And
course not all manufacturers are the same kind as you stated.
For as a consumer, what kind of things are you
asking or looking for in a metal roof?
Speaker 8 (32:02):
You know, I think aesthetics and warranty are a big one.
You know, I think looking at the type of coating
that's on the roof. So for many years, the really
the well most respected coating on metal roofing has been
a paint finish called kin or as the trade name
or it's PVDF polyvanildine fluoride, and the polyvanildine fluoride is
(32:25):
an extremely robust finish that's well known for its fade
and chalk resistance. So I would certainly look into seeing
what the coating is on it, what the life expectancy,
what the fade and chalk resistance is of that coating. Yes,
you're right, there's a lot of manufacturers out there, and
you know there are a few folks who are sort
(32:45):
of putting themselves out there as manufacturers, but they are
buying all shore products.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
And bringing it in.
Speaker 8 (32:52):
You'll know who the warranty is coming from. I know
exactly what the product warranty covers and know who who
stands behind that warranty. And of course when you buy
a roof, you're probably going to get two warranties. You're
going to get a product warranty from the manufacturer. You're
going to get an installation workmanship warranty from the contractor.
You certainly want to understand both of those and know
(33:14):
who is behind both of theirs.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
So the warranties, is it safe to say they're almost
double of a asphalt roof, I mean, is a just
being very general?
Speaker 8 (33:26):
You know, any warranty, of course, you always want to
look at the fine print, and there are certainly ways
to create warranties out there that have so many exclusions
in them that they look better than they really are.
But typically with a residential metal roof, we're seeing on
product warranty most manufacturers offering a lifetime warranty for the
(33:48):
life of the initial property owner, and then usually it
transfers to a forty or fifty year warranty after or
when the house is sold. A couple of things to
look at are how many times will that warranty transfer?
We'll just transfer one, then never again, We'll transfer multiple
times during the forty or fifty years, and then look
(34:09):
at the pro ration of that warranty. Two. Some roofing
warranties of all products pro rate down pretty heavily, whereas say,
maybe by year five, the coverage is only fifty percent
of the value of the roof. And you know that
is all based on the fact that you did get
some value and some use out of that product. But
(34:30):
there are warranties out there that do not pro rate
at all, and so you want to make sure you
understand again exactly what that warranty covers, what its limitations are,
how transferable it is, and whether it pro rates or not.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Certainly a metal roof is going to cost more upfront.
You had said that maybe it's a couple times. I
don't know. It's a roof that you're going to have
for the rest of your life, that's for sure. Is
there any text credits in metal roofing?
Speaker 8 (34:59):
So well, there was a federal tax credit for a
number of years, and that did go away at the
end of twenty twenty two. What we do see is
some local utility incentives. The state of Michigan has had
a program that would help homeowners get lower interest rates
(35:19):
for buying energy efficient products. So there are some state
and local incentives out there. Usually, once you get to
the point of talking to a contractor, they're probably going
to know what incentives are available in your area.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Excellent, Todd. Thank you so much for join us. We're
going to do this again. I think metal roofing is
going to see a little bit of an explosion here.
I really I just feelt my bones and you're my
go to guy. How do people get a hold of
you or your website? How do we get things started?
Speaker 6 (35:53):
So?
Speaker 8 (35:53):
My company corporate name is Isaiah Industries. They can go
to Isaiah Industries dot com. They can also go to
classicroof dot com. Or I have an educational website at
ask Toddmiller dot com and folks can reach me through
that Todd at ask Toddmiller dot com. And I've got
lots of questions on that website and things I've answeredain
(36:15):
things I've helped folks with over the years.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us. You guys
have a blessed Christmas and a happy.
Speaker 8 (36:22):
New Year you too. Thank you so much, Gary taking
you bet you?
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Thanks all right, Todd Miller, I'll tell you what he
is the man. He is the man I go to
for my information on metal roofing. I hope he certainly
has a great holiday, and we thank him for joining us.
All right, we'll take a little break. We got Beth
coming up first. If you'd like to join us, do so.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
For over forty years, Dumont has made powerful paint and
coating removers that are tough on layers but save for
you in the environment. Try demand Smart Strip Advanced. It
works on over ninety percent of the coatings. No harmful fumes,
no dangerous chemicals. Not sure what you're removing, well, Demon's
easy test kit tells you exactly what you need. Find
Smart Strip that you're participating. Do it best retailer Sherwin
(37:33):
Williams or visit Dumont Global dot com. That's Dumont Global
dot com. Dumont Smart safe and proven, So do it
yourself with Demon.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
When the weather turns cold, your plumbing system can really
take a beating. Hey, Gary Selvin, here form Rota Ruter
Plumbing and water clean up. If you experienced frozen or
burst pipes this winter, Rota Ruter's expert team can repair
the pipe and clean up the water damage and if
you have vulnerable pipes and crawl spaces, garages or beneath
peer and beam homes, Roto Router can offer solutions to
(38:02):
protect and winterize those pipes before the next deep freeze.
Schedule an estimate and service call at Rotorrouter dot com
or call one eight hundred get Roto. With more and
more time spent at home, more and more projects are
getting done and with winter here, Blaster products can really
help for protecting from and dealing with rust. Like Blaster's
Premium MultiMAX synthetic lubricin. It's odorless and provides the longest
(38:25):
lasting lubrication and protection against corrosion. Use it on one
thousand applications and with blasters unique pro strawl to control
the flow down to just a drop. It's the better
way to spray. Pick up a can at a home
hardware or autos store near you and always use Blaster
products and work it like a pro.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Hey Gary Salvan here for Zlar pumps. Zalor's been keeping
home safe and dry since nineteen thirty nine, and their
passion for excellence is why it's the only name I
trust to keep my basement dry. For your home's groundwater protection, system.
You got to check out the Zalor Model sixty three
some pump with the LED plug and the Aqua nott
Fit five oh eight battery backup system. Together they're your
(39:04):
guaranteed water protection system when installed by a factory certified installer.
To find your installer today, go to zalarpumps dot com.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
All right, back here we go at home with Gary
Salvan again. Thank you to Todd Miller. Classic Metal Roofing
is the name of his business up in Pickwell, Ohio.
And we'll go to Beth. Beth, Welcome hither.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Gary.
Speaker 10 (39:44):
Good to talk to you today.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 10 (39:47):
I can't tell you every week I learned something new.
It's arazing to me. You'd think by now you'd learn
it all, but no, I have three questions for you.
I only had two till I was listening to you
and I discovered that I need to know.
Speaker 8 (40:02):
Well.
Speaker 10 (40:03):
First off, we have Pergo flooring in this condo. It
was built in ninety eight. It's in perfect condition, it
looks great. But we had a little leak from a
refrigerator that was in our guest room. The ice, I guess,
came loose. And now there's there's two I don't know
(40:26):
what you call them that there's a scene where it's
they've gotten raised and it's almost like it's even near
on the top, and we need to know if we
need to get a professional in to glue those back
down or how to get those to you know, lafla
and look perfect again.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
So that, I guess is bad and I can't see it,
but my guess is it's not going to be that easy.
How long ago did the leak happen?
Speaker 10 (40:56):
Just this week?
Speaker 1 (40:57):
All right, here's what I want you to do. It's
hard to do, but here's what I want you to
do is give it time, because sometimes that will end
up laying down fairly well, maybe not perfect, but fairly
well if it continues. My brother he had some Pergo
(41:17):
flooring down and it is down a month and his
kid brought up a cooler, set it down and the
cooler leaked and same thing. And I said, well give
it six months, and he's like six months. It's right
in front of the door, and it was about four
months and it laid down. If it doesn't lay down,
(41:39):
I think gluing that lamb in it down to the
you know, the bulk of the boards is going to
be very difficult. I think you end up replacing that board.
Speaker 10 (41:51):
Oh okay, you know.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
W'd have to come in and snap some of it
off and then replace that strip. But I'd give it.
I mean, you can have somebody take a look at it.
Usually that wouldn't take anything. Maybe a flooring company, you
go in talk to them, or if somebody take a
look at it. But I wouldn't panic yet. I would
(42:13):
give it, you know, four to six months and see
if that lays down.
Speaker 10 (42:18):
Okay, well it's and so maybe for now I could
put something over it to catch on your socks when
you walk by.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely so. In fact, you know, I hate
to tell you to put something heavy on it, but
if you had something that would be heavy, and you know,
you know, again, if it's in a bedroom, maybe you
can tolerate that. Yeah, yeah, you know, and put something
heavy on it and give it a chance. You know
that the air inside our homes is very dry right now,
(42:48):
so you know that will help. That will help. Maybe
by springtime it'll lay down. But it would be interesting,
and I'd give it a chance before I went into
glueing or even replacing that board.
Speaker 10 (43:03):
Good good, okay, great, And that leads me into humidity.
You talk about it so often, but when we just
had this cold snap, I was like, what, I forget
what Gary says indoor humidity should be.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
In the winter when it's really cold.
Speaker 10 (43:18):
Why do I not know this?
Speaker 6 (43:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Yeah, when it's even freezing outside, so thirty degrees, the
perfect humidity level inside your home would be thirty five percent.
So when it's even freezing outside, thirty five percent. If
it gets down to zero, you know, even twenty five percent.
But in the wintertime, if you can hold it around
(43:40):
thirty five percent, you'll be doing very good. Beth. I
know you hear the music, but I'm gonna hold you over.
I'll put you on hold, or you'll put you on hold,
and if you can sit tight through the top of
the hour, we'll get you on the other side to
talk about your next question. You can join us. It's
eight hundred and eighty two three eight two five five
(44:01):
and you're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Home Improvement one oh one with Gary Sullivan every weekend.
Classes begin at one eight hundred and eight two three tall.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 7 (45:00):
No
Well, the weekend is upon us. Welcome aboard. You're at
home with Gary Salvin, taking through another weekend, getting a
few things done around the home. Thanks for joining me
and just talking about things to pay attention to about
your home and taking care of the problem as they occurred.
Don't let them stack up on you, because it'll get
(00:52):
it'll get out of hand in a hurry. One of
the things in last weekend when we were talking, we
had snow. We hit probably ave in snow where I
met a lot of parts right in the Midwest, had
a bunch of snow in New England. I think you
had some snow. And now all of a sudden, well
it's not it's not like seventy degrees, but around Christmas
(01:15):
it will be around sixty degrees where I'm at. And
I'm always talking about you know, when we have the
snow and we use you know, ice melters and salts
and everything, and you know, once the snow's gone, everybody
forgets about it. Right now, we survived that, We're good,
you know, we're all set. And then we got the
(01:37):
holidays coming and we got people coming and going in
our homes. Make sure and this is this is really
good advice. Holidays are not holidays after a snow, if
you get a warm patch or something where you can
get outside even with a broom and sweep the residue away,
or if you can you know, you got a hose
(01:58):
a spickett in the garage and you can squirt out
the garage. Getting that residue off, really it's great. It's
a great way to prevent problems because especially road salt
that you'll pull in from your car up on your
driveway or on your apron, if you haven't sealed concrete
(02:19):
for a while, and that rock salt and water, it's corrosive.
It's not good for concrete and the surface that concrete.
In some cases we'll start spawling, it'll start popping off,
and just getting that residue off helps prevent that. Now,
(02:42):
the residue itself just laying there in a powder form
isn't really don't hurt anything. But with a little bit
of water, be it a little dew, a little moisture,
and it's always kind of or just you know, moisture
from the car, any type of moisture, it reactivates that
(03:04):
and it's that salty brained solution is very corrosive. So
and the other end of that is people that are
coming to visit during the holidays tracking that in on
your wood floors, on carpeting. It's a grid. I mean,
(03:24):
it's an abrasive and you know, you can I'm not
gonna say you're gonna, you know, damage your wood floors
because people walk in your house. But the other hand
thing is, you know, we got you know, maybe a
little mat outside and maybe a little rug right in
the front door. Maybe you're walking right into carpet and
you got a runner or something along those lines. Anything
(03:46):
you can do to prevent that residue, that grid from
being tracked into your home beneficial, beneficial for sure. And
then you know, every spring, one of the biggest questions
and one of the biggest projects we have is taking
care of the concrete, making it look better than it
(04:09):
looks like after a harsh winter, because in a lot
of cases, we'll have cracks, we'll have the spawling on
the surface, and you know, people want to address that
in the spring. So if we can keep that corrosive
residue off the surface, we minimize how much maintenance we
(04:31):
have to do. And it's never too late either. I
mean if we do have some warm weather next weekend.
I mean, weather at least where I am in the
winter time can be crazy. You know. You can have
zero degrees in snow and the next week you can
have sixty degrees. And I know that's like that in
many places. And if you get in a warm day
and you can address some of those issues, you should
(04:54):
take advantage of that. You should take advantage of that,
for sure. And one of the things you can always
help prevent that too, and probably too late in a
lot of parts of the country now, especially cold weather
climates where we're kind of talking about this issue, is
ceiling concrete. You know, people always you know, do you
(05:15):
really need to seal concrete? Now you don't, No, you don't, No,
you don't, Yes you do, No, you don't. Mixed thoughts
on it, but you do, you do, And especially it
depends on where you live. But you know, if you
live in cold weather climates and you can minimize moisture
penetration of that concrete, which ceiling does, you'll be ahead
(05:36):
of the game. And if you live in warm weather
climates and you always have fungus or molds or mildews
growing on the surface. In other words, they're discolored ceiling.
It makes a difference. So there's a you know, ceiling
is important. And how long does it lasts? Hey, you
(05:56):
know you could probably get depends on how much sunshine
you get, but you know you'd be safe resealing probably
every about three years. That's a good number. I'd like
to tell you five five would be good for vertical brick,
but for a driveway, usually every three years is going
to be, you know, satisfactory. Easy to do. In a
(06:17):
lot of cases, you want to breatheable sealer, you want
to penetrating into the concrete, and literally you can take
a tank sprayer unless it's a gloss or a surface seiler,
which you would have on pattern concrete exposed to aggregate concrete,
stamp concrete, those type of things. But you know, if
(06:41):
it's just a penetrating product, sure you can just put
it on with the tank sprayer. All right. Again, Our
phone number is eight hundred eighty two three eight two
five five Brandon, Welcome.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Hey, good morning, Gary. I love the show. I'm a
maybe a second or a third time caller now, and
I just heard you talking about the smart home stuff. Yeah, yeah,
Well I'm in Illinois and Amerin had a they had
some kind of thing where they were offering free thermostat
and free Bluetooth type Wi Fi light bulbs. So I
(07:19):
went ahead and took them up on it. And I'm
kind of OCD. I check a lot of things. I'm
weird about light switches to begin with, so I install these.
I got WiFi in the house. I love them. I
can be at work, I can turn on the lights,
I can turn them off, you know, my exterior lights,
(07:40):
and I got one in the kitchen and I set
them on certain timers in the night time, so and
even if I'm gone for a few days, they still
come on and off. So someone's skin.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Still around, right right. Yeah, it's interesting. I have people
that'll say, like, I just don't even want to go,
you know, bother with that. But I've got several things
in there, even cloud based exterior lights, which are I
think it's really cool. You can just some pumps that
will tell you or you could activate them from your phone. Hey,
(08:13):
you know they they they they're helpful. And I know
some people just a little resistant to it. And I'm
sure there's products out there that can cause you a
little angst, but I'm with you. I kind of enjoy
some of the uh the newer products in the smart home.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I was weird about it at first, but I believe
one of the well, the thermostat Gary. My furnace is
too old. It didn't have the the blue wire to
connect it. I still have the thermostat, but I'm still
running a pretty old furnace. But the best purchase, as
far as uh Wi Fi and and all that goes,
the best smart device I've ever purchased for my home
(08:54):
is my I believe it's a Media brand dehumidifier for
my basement. Oh yeah, okay, and it comes with an
app so I can be at work. You know it
starts raining. I can turn that on and it tells
me the indoor humidity and what you know, what percent
it's said at. And you know, I have it into
a five gallon bucket for my plants. I actually use that,
(09:18):
but it'll get my basement bone dry. And I can
do it all for my phone. All you got to
do is just leave it plugged in. I could be
I could be anywhere in the world and turn that on.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
See people, you and me on the OCD thing. I'm
right there with you. And these are the greatest things
to just check all the time.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Exactly. Yeah, they definitely help people like that. I, you know,
I can check my I got a camera, security system,
the dehumidifier, the Bluetooth lights. It just makes it look
like someone's here, and you know, I can check on
everything in the house and super very good.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Thanks for your input, Brandon, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, sir, you're a great guy. I love the show
and I look forward to you almost every weekend. I
listen to you.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Thank you, my friend. Take care, I have a great holiday.
All right, we'll continue, We'll take a break and Mark
you'll be up first, and then Pat. And you're at
home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
If you don't have a list of things to do
around the house, Gary will find something for you at
one eight hundred eighty two three talk You're at home
with Gary's Ellivators.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
For over forty years, Dumont has made powerful pain coating
removers that are tough on layers but save for you
in the environment. Tried Demand Smart Strip Advanced. It works
on over ninety percent of the coatings, no harmful fumes,
no dangerous chemicals. Not sure what you're removing well, Demon's
easy test kid tells you exactly what you need. Find
smart strip at you're participating do It Best retailer Sherwin Williams.
(10:57):
Or visit Dumont Global dot com. That's Dumont Globe dot Com.
Dumont Smart safe and proven, so do it yourself with demand.
Make your home sparkle this holiday season with Jaws the
just Add Water System. The Holiday Caddiepack is back filled
with your four must have Jaws cleaners, my favorite glass cleaner,
plus the kitchen cleaner, disinfectant, bathroom cleaner, and a super
(11:18):
convenient dispray. Everything you need to clean up after holiday baking,
gift wrapping, and fun perfect for your home or is
a holiday gift for a limited time, It's twenty percent
off with promo code. Gary comes with free shipping jawscleans
dot com, Jaws cleans dot com and make your holiday shine.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
When the weather turns cold, your plumbing system can really
take a beating. Hey, Gary Selvin here for Rota Router
plumbing and water clean up. If you experience frozen or
burst pipes this winter, Runner Ruter's expert team can repair
the pipe and clean up the water damage and if
you have vulnerable pipes and cross spaces, garages or beneath
peer and beam homes, Rutner Router can offer solutions to
(11:58):
protect and win a RISO pipes before the next d freeze.
Schedule an estimate and service call at rotrouter dot com
or call one eight hundred get rot.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Oh Hey, Gary Sullvan here for Zlar pumps. Zalor's been
keeping home safe and dry since nineteen thirty nine, and
their passion for excellence is why it's the only name
I trust to keep my basement dry. For your home's
groundwater protection system, you got to check out the Solar
Model sixty three some pump with the LED plug and
the aquanot Fit five oh eight battery backup system. Together
(12:30):
they're your guaranteed water protection system when installed by a
factory certified installer. To find your installer today, go to
zalarpumps dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
All right, back to work, We go at home with
Gary Sullivan and talking a little home improvement. Mark Welcome,
How are you?
Speaker 6 (13:00):
I'm good, Dary good, appreciate your fake my call. I've
got a question on attic insulation. All right, and so
we live in a house it's about seventy years old
and we bought it twenty years ago. I'm not sure
if it's ever had additional installation put in it. When
I'm asking a question because a friend of mine is
(13:21):
who has about a ten year old house is having
his insulation completely removed from his house and new insulation
put in because the evidently the contractor put in poor
insulation and it doesn't have the R factor it should.
And so it's just bringing a question in my mind
of whether or not removing installation from your attic from
(13:44):
time to time and putting in new installation that's kind
of I guess mice repellent kind of insulation and a
better ART factor if if that's a smart investment or
if that's really necessary, well.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I think it's always removing is not always nossary. There's
all these different types of insulation, there's different circumstances, there
are different building eras that we use different things. But
the quick answer is to check what you have, and
(14:16):
you know the type of insulation you have, and you
know the depth of the insulation, and you can kind
of patch together what the R value you have in
your attic is. And let's say you got fiberglass insulation,
which is an R value of about two point five
per inch of thickness, and so you have you know,
(14:38):
xyz of inches. And let's say you come up with
your R value is in R twenty. You go to
the Department of Energy or you go up to the
home depot and you look at rolls of insulation. There's
an insulation map. Follow the zone you're in, and in
my zone it'll say R forty two. Well, it's about
(14:58):
sixteen inches of you know, maybe more, maybe eighteen inches
of insulation required, and I only have ten inches. Then
you can put insulation right on top of existing insulation.
Now there's other you know, there's certainly circumstances you wouldn't
want to do that. If you hit a mouse problem
up there and you got mouse feces all over and
(15:20):
they've been using it as a nest, probably pull the
old stuff out. If there's a fan that wasn't vented
properly and it's moldy, probably pull that out. But in
most cases you can just blow it right over the
top of it and you'll be fine. You can even
mix from a blown in fiberglass on top of a
(15:41):
you know, batting fiberglass. The only way you get in
trouble is if you start covering up the ventilation on
the sides, or if you put down another vapor barrier.
There's usually a vapor barrier down on the back side
of the ceiling, but you can put you know, loose
fille run on top of that. So so it depends.
(16:05):
I guess, is the the only way I'd remove it
if if that insulation was really compromised and soiled or
very very compacted.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
Sure, so I do have uh, And I'd probably catch
two or three mice up there annually, particularly in the winter,
and I put traps up there, So I'm guessing there
is some you know, mice s feces up there before
I've caught them, right, And ye.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I'd have to think, yeah, yeah, I mean you might
have some. I would. I would think a lot of
homes have that. To be honest with you, I got
up my attic one time about ten years ago. There's
dead birds. I don't even know how they got in.
I never did could I've never had the problem again.
But I'd start the process with how deep is my
(16:54):
insulation and then just kind of examine it and see
if it's moldy, your soil. Of it's molting soiled, i'd
pull with otherwise I'd go right over the top of it.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
Okay, sounds good. All right, awesome, appreciate your advice.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Very good, Thank you, take care. All right, let's go
to Pat. Pat, welcome.
Speaker 7 (17:17):
Than Good morning, Gary, sir, Good morning morning. Going back
to your question when you're talking about more winterization. So
I have a you know, a thirty three inch wide
walk behind more self called. But I put in a
shutoff valve last year from the gas tank to the motor.
(17:43):
Should I still do some winterization with the with the
gas in the tank Yeah, I mean I have shut
off valve.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Now, Yeah, yeah, well it shut Off's fine. But if
you have gas in that tank already, you know, gas
over time will varnish, especially if it's inactive, you know,
for like six months. I think, uh, it's probably a
good time frame. You could either put a stabilizer in
there to stabilize it or to remove it.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Okay, because I used to just burn it out, just
run it, run it dry.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
But that's what I do.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
Probably half a tank in there now, which is kind
of a waste of gas. Sure I can, Should I
fill the tank up all the way and then put
the winners. They put the stabilizer in.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Yeah, what you can do is figure out how much
you know about how much is in the tank, right,
and then if you have some gas, put this stabilizer
in that gas and you know even a little bit
more because of the gas in the tank, and then
fill it up all the way. And what that does
is they'll just minimize condensation.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
Okay, okay, all right, all right, that was easy enough.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
You're quite welcome, thank you. All right, Thinking about a
roof and we're always talking about asphalt shingles, and they
seem to be in the news a lot with insurance
and all kinds of things in black streaking, and so
the metal roofing industry continues to grow. Todd Miller, he's
with Classic Metal Roofing. He's going to join us at
(19:19):
the bottom of the hour and we're going to talk
about where metal roofing is these days as we continue
to invest in our homes. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Get
McCall at one eight hundred and eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary sullivant.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Soon we're going to be spending more time inside our
home where the air is five times worse than the
outdoor air. Get that stagnant, stuffy air out with an
easy breathe, then reduce airborne particles by eighty five percent.
Don't get trapped inside a sick house breathing dirty, musty,
damp air this winter, right now, get two u ministats
with every easy Breathe purchase. Give them a call at
(20:24):
eight six six eight two two seventy three twenty eight,
or visit easybreed dot com. I've used this product because
my washer smelled terrible, and let me tell you it
worked great. Hi Gary Sullivan here, Now my water's crystal clear.
I've got real peace of mind with Awesome Watercare. Their
products remove all the hidden gunk, biofilm, bacterium build up
(20:45):
from hot tubs, jetted tubs, swim spots, even washers and dishwashers.
If you want your water system spotless, check out awesome
dot com spelled ahh somme dot com. You'll see and
smell the difference. Hey Gary Salvin here another happy odor
exit comment. I bought a perfect juice car, except it
reached from the smell of smoke. I scrubbed, I sprayed,
(21:07):
I even left windows open for days, and nothing got
rid of that smell. Then I found odor Exit AQM
Air Quality Manager, a small packet and the smell was
gone overnight, not covered, eliminated, and the smell's never come back.
Don't live with a car that smells like a campfire
or any space. Order Odor Exit AQM at odor exit
dot com. Go to odor exit dot com for the
(21:29):
best pricing, combas and service. Remodeling your basement into a recroom, office,
or home gym, Well, don't forget to ventilate those spaces
to protect your home from decay. The Easy Breathe ventilation
system exchanges trap dirty damp air for cleaner, dryer, healthier air.
We've had an easy Breeze system in our home for
about ten years now, and the air in our basement
(21:49):
always feels fresh and clean. Diy kits are available and
right now get two you minutes stats plus twenty percent
off every Easy Breathe purchase call eight six six eight
two two seventy three twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Well, we got a lot to discuss today. We've been
talking a lot about roofs and it seems like they're
always talked about, and it's about asphalt shingles, and so
I thought i'd reach out to my friend Todd Miller.
He is with Classic Metal Roofing and kind of see
where the metal roofing industry is these days. I would
assume it's growing, especially with some of the natural disasters
(22:39):
that have taken place, and I think, quite honestly, some
of the not so good press that asphalt shingles are getting.
So Todd Miller, welcome that home with Gary Salvan. How
you doing.
Speaker 8 (22:51):
I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much for having me today,
Garrett Pleasure.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
You're quite welcome. So how is the metal roofing industry going?
Speaker 8 (23:00):
You know, we continue to grow, and you hit on
something important there. A lot of times, the natural disasters
kind of point people toward, hey, there has to be
a better way to roof my home. And a few
years ago when several hurricanes hit Florida, we saw that
happen in Florida, and Florida very much has turned toward
metal in recent years. And now the big thing is
(23:22):
the horribly tragic fires out in southern California just about
a year ago. As people are starting to think about
rebuilding and even remodeling if they did survive the fires
without devastation. We are seeing a lot of heads and
thoughts turning toward metal roofing in southern California right now.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Yeah, what kind of propped in might call to you?
Is well, two things happened. Number one, I saw report
where they were testing s phalt shingles on hell damage
and across the boarder, I'm going to screw this up?
Is a bad a criteria is and nobody ended up
(24:06):
with a classification of as excellent. So that was a
little concerning. I know the shingles have gotten a little thinner.
I know algae has become you know, unsightly on shingles
that are over ten years old. What else is going on?
Insurance companies they want to pro rate roofs asphalt shingles.
(24:27):
I don't know how that applies to metal. And I thought,
after I heard all that, I said, you know what,
we got to talk to Todd about metal roofing because
you think metal roofing and uh, quite honestly, everybody thinks, oh,
when it rains, it's going to be loud, and how's
that do with hail? So why don't you give me
the benefits of metal roofing, Todd.
Speaker 8 (24:50):
Sure, And you know you touched on the insurance industry there,
and absolutely insurance is trying to figure out how they
can quit having to people knew roasts every year. The
insurance industry and many of these hail prone areas is
extremely upside down, and so they've been looking at a
number of options reducing coverage. In fact, probably a lot
(25:13):
of your listeners have gotten letters from their insurance companies
that referenced roof damages in hail, and most of those
letters are hard to even understand. But the point is
they're trying to figure out how to not have to
keep replacing roosts due to hail damage. And you know,
I think one of the keys that is a big
benefit of metal roofing is that it doesn't lose its resiliency,
(25:35):
It doesn't lose its strength, that it doesn't have all
these oils in it that evaporate and dry out so
that it becomes weaker with age. A metal roof will
resist hail, it will be just as resilient and high winds,
just as fire resistant in thirty forty fifty years as
it is when it's first installed. Whereas you look at
(25:57):
most other roofing materials and you know, including as a shingles,
including wood shingles that used to be used a lot
in creating tile. There are some newer polymer products on
the market. We're not quite sure how those are going
to fair. But you know, most of those products tend
to lose a lot of that strength and resiliency as
they age, and that just isn't the case with metal.
(26:18):
So for that reason, insurance companies like metal in a
lot of respects and in many cases where they have
started to regulate, hey, we won't ensure anybody with the
roof over fifteen years old. In most cases, if those
homeowners dig a little bit, they will find that there
are there is a pathway for getting their roof in
(26:40):
or their home insured if it has a metal roof
on it, despite that metal roof maybe being fifteen, twenty,
thirty five years old.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Not that money is the only concern, but in terms
of metal roofing that that's going to last. I think
the weren't you but fifty years or something?
Speaker 8 (27:02):
I mean, you're pretty common forty to fifty years sometimes
lifetime for the initial owner.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, how's the insurance treat doz I mean, is there
a discount to the homeowner in terms of insurance if
you have a metal roof.
Speaker 8 (27:17):
So it's kind of a double edged sword for the
insurance industry. They realize that metal roofts are very resilient,
very long lasting, but they also know if there's some
sort of disaster that does destroy that roof, they're going
to have a fairly expensive plane because metal risks do
have a higher upfront cost. So what we have seen
is they will offer discounts in some areas of the country,
(27:41):
especially in hail prone areas of the country, they will
offer a discount for metal roofing. We've also seen in
some cases a homeowner might be paying extra on their
insurance if they have, say a wood roof due to
the fire hazard, or even if they have an older
asshole roof, they may still be being insured but simply
(28:01):
be paying more because of it. So if you replace
with a metal roof, make sure you go back to
your insurance got me and find out if you've been
paying anything extra for that old roof that can now
go away now that you have a new roof.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, we had Beth Harper on. She's an insurance broker
out of Cleveland. We had her on last week and
we've had different discussions. I knew there's big changes, you know,
with insurance and roofing, and we were talking about a
lot of those things. But I think metal roofing brings
so much more to the table than just the insurance
and one of his energy savings. A lot of people
(28:35):
don't look at a roof as an energy saving product,
but a metal roofing can save you energy.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
In particular during the summer. That is correct. So today's
metal roofs, sometimes with the coatings on them, sometimes just
because of the design of the product. They're designed to
keep heat out of the attic and to be reflective
of radiant heat. And what we will all often hear
from homeowners is they will see summertime energy savings of
(29:04):
around twenty percent due to reduced air conditioning needs. And
so yeah, that's pretty significant. And you know, there again,
that isn't something that you just get for the first
couple of years and it diminishes. You know, it's there
for the life of the roof.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
How about the look of a metal roof. I'm sure
there's people listening as conversation going like, yeah, but I
don't want my house to look like a mar and
that's so far from the truth. Boy, I got a
niche down in Louisville, Kentucky, and driving through down in
that area, there's a lot of metal roofs and beautiful
homes with beautiful metal roofs, and there is a there's
(29:44):
quite a distinctive look on a metal roof if you
want it. Can't talk about the appearance.
Speaker 8 (29:50):
Well, there absolutely is. There's a great variety of looks.
You can have that traditional vertical seam look if you
want that, you know, in particular on some homes colonials
or some ultra contemporary homes that vertical seem look looks
really nice. However, there are also a number of companies,
including ours, that manufacture a wide variety of metal shingles.
(30:15):
So you can actually have a metal roof that looks
like traditional asshole shingles, or maybe looks like a high
end slate roof or a barrel tile roof or a
wood shake roof. You can have the benefits of metal
with something that doesn't look like metal at all.
Speaker 9 (30:34):
Is there an I mean, do most roofers do metal
roofing or is it kind of a Nietzsche group of
folks that do the installation on metal roofing and how
do we find those folks?
Speaker 8 (30:48):
Sure? So, our industry has worked very hard to train
new installers out there, and so yes, most metal roof
or most roofing contractors will offer metal roofs, and a
lot of times they will subcontract that labor out not
to their typical asphalt crew, but to a metal specialist crew.
(31:09):
One of the things I really suggest people do, though, is,
you know, do some research online, look at the metal
roofs that you like, find some products you like, go
back to those manufacturers and say, hey, I like your product.
Who in my area is experienced installing this product? And
let the manufacturer who you know, they know who their
(31:29):
customers are, and they know who does things right and
who maybe doesn't do things right. Let them refer you
to somebody who's experienced with their product.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Todd, when you just mentioned something that didn't even really
think of to even ask. But when you're looking for
a metal roof, you say different manufacturers and stuff, And
course not all manufacturers are the same kind as you stated.
For as a consumer, what kind of things are you
asking or looking for in a metal roof?
Speaker 8 (32:02):
You know, I think aesthetics and warranty are a big one.
You know, I think looking at the type of coating
that's on the roof. So for many years, the really
the well most respected coating on metal roofing has been
a paint finish called kin or as the trade name
or it's PVDF polyvanildine fluoride, and the polyvanildine fluoride is
(32:25):
an extremely robust finish that's well known for its fade
and chalk resistance. So I would certainly look into seeing
what the coating is on it, what the life expectancy,
what the fade and chalk resistance is of that coating. Yes,
you're right, there's a lot of manufacturers out there, and
you know there are a few folks who are sort
(32:45):
of putting themselves out there as manufacturers, but they are
buying all shore products.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
And bringing it in.
Speaker 8 (32:52):
You'll know who the warranty is coming from. I know
exactly what the product warranty covers and know who who
stands behind that warranty. And of course when you buy
a roof, you're probably going to get two warranties. You're
going to get a product warranty from the manufacturer. You're
going to get an installation workmanship warranty from the contractor.
You certainly want to understand both of those and know
(33:14):
who is behind both of theirs.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
So the warranties, is it safe to say they're almost
double of a asphalt roof, I mean, is a just
being very general?
Speaker 8 (33:26):
You know, any warranty, of course, you always want to
look at the fine print, and there are certainly ways
to create warranties out there that have so many exclusions
in them that they look better than they really are.
But typically with a residential metal roof, we're seeing on
product warranty most manufacturers offering a lifetime warranty for the
(33:48):
life of the initial property owner, and then usually it
transfers to a forty or fifty year warranty after or
when the house is sold. A couple of things to
look at are how many times will that warranty transfer?
We'll just transfer one, then never again, We'll transfer multiple
times during the forty or fifty years, and then look
(34:09):
at the pro ration of that warranty. Two. Some roofing
warranties of all products pro rate down pretty heavily, whereas say,
maybe by year five, the coverage is only fifty percent
of the value of the roof. And you know that
is all based on the fact that you did get
some value and some use out of that product. But
(34:30):
there are warranties out there that do not pro rate
at all, and so you want to make sure you
understand again exactly what that warranty covers, what its limitations are,
how transferable it is, and whether it pro rates or not.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Certainly a metal roof is going to cost more upfront.
You had said that maybe it's a couple times. I
don't know. It's a roof that you're going to have
for the rest of your life, that's for sure. Is
there any text credits in metal roofing?
Speaker 8 (34:59):
So well, there was a federal tax credit for a
number of years, and that did go away at the
end of twenty twenty two. What we do see is
some local utility incentives. The state of Michigan has had
a program that would help homeowners get lower interest rates
(35:19):
for buying energy efficient products. So there are some state
and local incentives out there. Usually, once you get to
the point of talking to a contractor, they're probably going
to know what incentives are available in your area.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Excellent, Todd. Thank you so much for join us. We're
going to do this again. I think metal roofing is
going to see a little bit of an explosion here.
I really I just feelt my bones and you're my
go to guy. How do people get a hold of
you or your website? How do we get things started?
Speaker 6 (35:53):
So?
Speaker 8 (35:53):
My company corporate name is Isaiah Industries. They can go
to Isaiah Industries dot com. They can also go to
classicroof dot com. Or I have an educational website at
ask Toddmiller dot com and folks can reach me through
that Todd at ask Toddmiller dot com. And I've got
lots of questions on that website and things I've answeredain
(36:15):
things I've helped folks with over the years.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us. You guys
have a blessed Christmas and a happy.
Speaker 8 (36:22):
New Year you too. Thank you so much, Gary taking
you bet you?
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Thanks all right, Todd Miller, I'll tell you what he
is the man. He is the man I go to
for my information on metal roofing. I hope he certainly
has a great holiday, and we thank him for joining us.
All right, we'll take a little break. We got Beth
coming up first. If you'd like to join us, do so.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
For over forty years, Dumont has made powerful paint and
coating removers that are tough on layers but save for
you in the environment. Try demand Smart Strip Advanced. It
works on over ninety percent of the coatings. No harmful fumes,
no dangerous chemicals. Not sure what you're removing, well, Demon's
easy test kit tells you exactly what you need. Find
Smart Strip that you're participating. Do it best retailer Sherwin
(37:33):
Williams or visit Dumont Global dot com. That's Dumont Global
dot com. Dumont Smart safe and proven, So do it
yourself with Demon.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
When the weather turns cold, your plumbing system can really
take a beating. Hey, Gary Selvin, here form Rota Ruter
Plumbing and water clean up. If you experienced frozen or
burst pipes this winter, Rota Ruter's expert team can repair
the pipe and clean up the water damage and if
you have vulnerable pipes and crawl spaces, garages or beneath
peer and beam homes, Roto Router can offer solutions to
(38:02):
protect and winterize those pipes before the next deep freeze.
Schedule an estimate and service call at Rotorrouter dot com
or call one eight hundred get Roto. With more and
more time spent at home, more and more projects are
getting done and with winter here, Blaster products can really
help for protecting from and dealing with rust. Like Blaster's
Premium MultiMAX synthetic lubricin. It's odorless and provides the longest
(38:25):
lasting lubrication and protection against corrosion. Use it on one
thousand applications and with blasters unique pro strawl to control
the flow down to just a drop. It's the better
way to spray. Pick up a can at a home
hardware or autos store near you and always use Blaster
products and work it like a pro.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Hey Gary Salvan here for Zlar pumps. Zalor's been keeping
home safe and dry since nineteen thirty nine, and their
passion for excellence is why it's the only name I
trust to keep my basement dry. For your home's groundwater protection, system.
You got to check out the Zalor Model sixty three
some pump with the LED plug and the Aqua nott
Fit five oh eight battery backup system. Together they're your
(39:04):
guaranteed water protection system when installed by a factory certified installer.
To find your installer today, go to zalarpumps dot com.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
All right, back here we go at home with Gary
Salvan again. Thank you to Todd Miller. Classic Metal Roofing
is the name of his business up in Pickwell, Ohio.
And we'll go to Beth. Beth, Welcome hither.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Gary.
Speaker 10 (39:44):
Good to talk to you today.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 10 (39:47):
I can't tell you every week I learned something new.
It's arazing to me. You'd think by now you'd learn
it all, but no, I have three questions for you.
I only had two till I was listening to you
and I discovered that I need to know.
Speaker 8 (40:02):
Well.
Speaker 10 (40:03):
First off, we have Pergo flooring in this condo. It
was built in ninety eight. It's in perfect condition, it
looks great. But we had a little leak from a
refrigerator that was in our guest room. The ice, I guess,
came loose. And now there's there's two I don't know
(40:26):
what you call them that there's a scene where it's
they've gotten raised and it's almost like it's even near
on the top, and we need to know if we
need to get a professional in to glue those back
down or how to get those to you know, lafla
and look perfect again.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
So that, I guess is bad and I can't see it,
but my guess is it's not going to be that easy.
How long ago did the leak happen?
Speaker 10 (40:56):
Just this week?
Speaker 1 (40:57):
All right, here's what I want you to do. It's
hard to do, but here's what I want you to
do is give it time, because sometimes that will end
up laying down fairly well, maybe not perfect, but fairly
well if it continues. My brother he had some Pergo
(41:17):
flooring down and it is down a month and his
kid brought up a cooler, set it down and the
cooler leaked and same thing. And I said, well give
it six months, and he's like six months. It's right
in front of the door, and it was about four
months and it laid down. If it doesn't lay down,
(41:39):
I think gluing that lamb in it down to the
you know, the bulk of the boards is going to
be very difficult. I think you end up replacing that board.
Speaker 10 (41:51):
Oh okay, you know.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
W'd have to come in and snap some of it
off and then replace that strip. But I'd give it.
I mean, you can have somebody take a look at it.
Usually that wouldn't take anything. Maybe a flooring company, you
go in talk to them, or if somebody take a
look at it. But I wouldn't panic yet. I would
(42:13):
give it, you know, four to six months and see
if that lays down.
Speaker 10 (42:18):
Okay, well it's and so maybe for now I could
put something over it to catch on your socks when
you walk by.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely so. In fact, you know, I hate
to tell you to put something heavy on it, but
if you had something that would be heavy, and you know,
you know, again, if it's in a bedroom, maybe you
can tolerate that. Yeah, yeah, you know, and put something
heavy on it and give it a chance. You know
that the air inside our homes is very dry right now,
(42:48):
so you know that will help. That will help. Maybe
by springtime it'll lay down. But it would be interesting,
and I'd give it a chance before I went into
glueing or even replacing that board.
Speaker 10 (43:03):
Good good, okay, great, And that leads me into humidity.
You talk about it so often, but when we just
had this cold snap, I was like, what, I forget
what Gary says indoor humidity should be.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
In the winter when it's really cold.
Speaker 10 (43:18):
Why do I not know this?
Speaker 6 (43:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Yeah, when it's even freezing outside, so thirty degrees, the
perfect humidity level inside your home would be thirty five percent.
So when it's even freezing outside, thirty five percent. If
it gets down to zero, you know, even twenty five percent.
But in the wintertime, if you can hold it around
(43:40):
thirty five percent, you'll be doing very good. Beth. I
know you hear the music, but I'm gonna hold you over.
I'll put you on hold, or you'll put you on hold,
and if you can sit tight through the top of
the hour, we'll get you on the other side to
talk about your next question. You can join us. It's
eight hundred and eighty two three eight two five five
(44:01):
and you're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Home Improvement one oh one with Gary Sullivan every weekend.
Classes begin at one eight hundred and eight two three tall.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 7 (45:00):
No
At Home with Gary Sullivan News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.