December 28, 2025 • 45 mins
In this hour of "At Home with Gary Sullivan," Gary takes calls from listeners with home improvement questions. First, a caller discusses a brick issue with his home's front stoop and retaining wall, where the edges are flaking off due to moisture. Gary recommends using a breathable sealant to minimize water penetration. Next, a caller asks about storing paint cans, and Gary suggests using "stop loss bags" to preserve the paint. The episode also covers fireplace maintenance, plumbing odors, and appliance repair.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All right, the weekend is upon us.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
You're at home with Gary Sullivan taking your calls for
doing your home improvement projects. And uh, well, the numbers
eight hundred eight two three eight two five five. We'll
get right back to the phones. We get several on
old and Pat Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Hello, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Gary, thanks for taking my call. I've listened to you
for years. First time caller.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
My house. My house is built in March and ninety
seven's all brick, including u two steps going up to
the front stoop, which is also all brick. And I've
noticed in the last few years and I have a
little like eighteen inches retaining wall around my border of
my driveway on two sides. The edges of the bricks
are I call flaking off. Somebody told me that's called spawling. Yeah.
(01:19):
Are these bricks are eventually disintegrate? I mean it just
seems like in the front porch and the retaining water though.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
They could they could. It depends what type of brick
it is. And you know how old the house is,
but you'res in that old Yeah ninety bricks are usually
last well, they can last a long long time. But
back in the day, a lot of those bricks were
fired and everything else in the clay right from the
(01:47):
area where they're being built. Yours weren't, so they're probably
fairly substantial. But once water gets in there and continues
to be there, it just really breaks down the bricks.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And my is that's kind of what's happening.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
And it's getting soft and the surface spawling is you know,
it's probably less than a quarter inch deep about what
it is, Yeah, but it starts looking a little one sightly.
So I know you're gonna ask me, well, what do
I do, And I'm not sure there's a lot you're
going to do. You can certainly put as. You can't
(02:25):
seal it because then you'll trap water in it if
it's coming from the backside. But you can seal it
to minimize water penetration, and there are ceilers that breathe.
But to patch it on brick, I mean, you could
put concrete on it, but you know it's not gonna
look real good.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I just know it's just the front steps, the two
steps going up to the stoop, which is all brick.
It's the edges. It's the only thing that's flaking off.
And same on my cunning wall. It's just the edges.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I wonder if the water puddles and goes to the
edges or sits up on the edges.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
But it doesn't. It doesn't get that deep. Now step,
I mean you know, it gets four or five inches
you know each step.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, yeah, Well, let's get a breathable ceiling on there.
See if we can slow it down. We're not going
to repair it, but I might be able to minimize
the damage.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So it would mean the houses.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
The house is all brick. Now houses all brick, and
those bricks are fine. It's just the front stoop and
the retaining wall around the driveway. It seems like coming apart.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, moisture You've heard me say it a million times.
Moisture is the number one enemy of the house. And somehow, yes, somehow,
that's getting Uh, that's that brick there is vulnerable for
some reason.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
M soka.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Make sure it's a it's a make sure it says breathable, okay,
And usually the ingredients is a slock sain, which is
a silicone molecule that is also breathe bowl. Okay, So
that that's really what you want. It minimizes water penetration
but allows water beneath or underneath or side of it
(04:09):
to exhaust itself out of the brick itself.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Okay, all right, well thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
All right, very good. Thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
All right, let's go to Mike. Mike, welcome.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Oh yes, sir, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. I just kept
actually I was looking at these stop lost bags.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Or I just had the.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Exterior of my house painted and by these bags. This
one has an air van on the thing. You fill
it up, you can squeeze the air out of it,
and then supposed to last for.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Up to ten years. I don't know if that's the
true statement.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
I never used them.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I just didn't know if you ever heard of the
stop loss bags.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So is this for what for what I mean, for
the painting tools or for the paint can or what
is it?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'm not familiar with it.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Yeah, sir, it's for whatever you got a five gallon
jug or a little left at the painter, or left
or half whatever you get port in the bag. You
get a funnel and a little thing to slide the
bag in where you just clamp it to a table
and you just pour your paint there and then sure
instead of shaking the can up, you just moved the
(05:23):
bag around. I mean, I didn't know you've heard of anything.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
There's a couple of products out there. I know.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
One of them is like a cup of about sixteen ounces,
the whole sixteen ounces of paint. It's got a silicone
gasket around it minimizes air and penetration drying it out,
and those work well. Also, I'm sure that BEG does
the same thing.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Okay, I'm just trying to get rid of the cans
because you know, I left them in the garage for
a couple of months and probably should have did that.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
But yeah, yeah, Well that's one of my notes is
you know, as the Christmas holidays pass, we all seem
to be looking for more storage space. And one of
the tips I have today is to go through your
paint cans and see how many are even viable. And
I did this, I think about a year and a
(06:16):
half ago, and I had cans that I didn't even
have the color of paint in our house anymore. So
you know, we all kind of fall into those traps
and you can donate that paint or whatever. But yeah, yeah,
I would say those bags would It sounds to me
like once you pour it in there, do you vacuum
(06:39):
any the air out of there?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Or you just seal it.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
And it's got two caps.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
One once you fill it up, okay, you can pour
it out. But the top cap where the funnel goes
in to fill the bag up, okay, you on twitsch
that a little bit and squeeze all the air out
and then ah good.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
It said it last for ten years, and.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Well, I bet it does.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
You know, it's got a thing on the you got
a thing on the front where you can write, you know,
the paint code.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
No, I love it. I'd love it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Anything's better than those cans because quite honestly, even saving
the cans, you never get those lids on perfectly.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I used to tell people to put you.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Know, even like a saran wrap and then hit the
lid down on it. But even the cans get bad.
And those little cup things that I talked about. The
kid who invented it actually was on Shark Tank and
they've since sold the company. I'm not familiar with the bags,
but it sounds good to me. I think it'd be
(07:38):
well worth it, if you know, want to store the
paint for sure.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
Yeah, they're called stop Lost Bags.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I'll take a look at them.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
And then I think they call it kick the can
and stop lost bags or something. Yeah, Motel was it
was on the It was on the hardware show out
there in Vegas one time.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
So I've gotten a lot of great products and ideas
from out in Vegas at the National Hardware Show. So
I'll look into it. But it sounds great. Really, my
kids much better.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Than just keeping them into the can, I assure you.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
All right, sir, I appreciate it having good new year.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
All right, You do the same, Thank you, Take care
all right. You can join us as we get to
eight hundred eight two three eight two five five, go
ahead and grab a line. Happy to chat with you
about your projects. By the way, paints, we were talking
about that and finding, you know, paint cans that are
half filled or quarter filled or all the way filled
(08:37):
with a color.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
You don't even have in the house anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
A lot of places will take the latex paint. I know,
Habitat for you, Mandy's Restores. I believe they still take it.
Matthew twenty five ministries. We have one of those in
our city. They take it. In fact, they'll take the
oil base too. Most play says will not take oil base. Uh,
(09:02):
those are usually Counties will have different collection points for
oil based paints several times a year, but latex paints
are usually donatable. Don't throw them in the trash. I
always tell the story somebody and are right after they
paved the roads, somebody threw paint cans in the trash can,
(09:29):
and when they crushed the trash, you know where the
paint went, right across the newly asphalted road.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Look great, So don't do that. Don't do that.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
All right, let's take a break, we'll come back. Ron
you'll lead us off. Then Robert Mike's dialing in. You
can dial in also. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 6 (09:54):
Help for your home is just a click away at
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Speaker 1 (12:34):
All right, Back to work.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
We go at home with Gary Salton about twenty minutes
after the top of the hour and talking about your home.
Feel free to join us. Our phone number is eight
hundred eight two three eight two five five and ron.
Welcome morning, Gary morning.
Speaker 9 (12:53):
I've got a fireplace that got a house that was
built in seventy nine in the fireplace, I had the
crown on, we paired and the waterproofed the fireplace at
the time. But it's probably been seven or eight years now,
and I just want to maintain that waterproofing because it
really helped. Uh, And I'm just looking for a product recommendation.
(13:16):
I'm not going to do it now with all the raining, right,
I'm going to wait for it to dry out. So
I'm going I'm looking for just a recommendation.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I guess.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Okay, so you're talking about the brick on the Chimney
outdoors exactly, Okay, Okay, yeah, so we were talking. I
don't know if you heard the other color. He was
talking about a crownwash issue. And I had sent him
to a website called Chimney rx dot com. And I
(13:46):
would send you to that same website. Ron, It's Chimney
rx dot com. Or if you have some do it
best hardware stores out in your area. I know they
carry the Chimney RX products, but they have a Chimney
brick Chimney waterproofing product. And that's what it is. And
(14:09):
you got to be careful the way you use the word.
It is a waterproofing product. It's not a sealant because
a chimney needs to breathe, but a waterproofing product waterproofs
the exterior part of that brick on that chimney, so
it minimizes that brick from absorbing a lot of water
(14:35):
and starting. You heard the other person talking about brick
that was spawling, and I was saying, well, it's because
after so much water being absorbed, that's what happens. And
also if you have free stall cycles, you run the
product the problem of having that pop surface pop off.
(14:56):
So jimneyrx dot com, you're looking for Chimney me brick
waterproofing product that can be sprayed on with a tanks prayer.
It can be rolled, it can be brushed however you
want to apply it. And your question on the timeframe
is excellent because on a vertical surface, the lifespans about
five to seven years.
Speaker 9 (15:20):
Okay, And that's good to know because when he was
doing that, he spelled just a little drop on my
pavers and it was bubbling up and waterproofing at one
spot on my pavor until this year.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
As I know, I know, it's that very good. Yeah,
it's time. It's time for sure, excellent.
Speaker 9 (15:42):
Well, I appreciate your help.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
All right, Ron, thanks for the call. Take care, Bye
bye Jimney RX dot com. They got a lot of
different specialty products even have am I like this product too.
It's called mortar joint and crack repair and it's if
it's a mortar joining against bricking. How you get that
little just almost like an expansion crack is how you
(16:04):
can get your fingernail in it, or a pencil lead.
But that's about it. You can't really put more concrete
on top of it. They have one it's a mortar
joint and crack repair. Looks like milk and you put
it on with a brush and dry is clear and
it'll seal that small crack. Robert welcome, Yes, good morning,
(16:25):
Gary morning.
Speaker 10 (16:27):
Okay, my question is about a indoor gas fireplace. Co
Paine had it on about three weeks ago. Recently looked
at it and the eight of the inside is black.
So my three questions are what happened? Can I clean
(16:52):
that myself? And what can I clean it with?
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So one question back at you is what color is
the flying.
Speaker 10 (17:03):
It's a yellowish okay, yeah, yellowish on the tips right,
maybe a little orientish in the center.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Ish ye, any blue flame at all down at.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
The base.
Speaker 10 (17:18):
Maybe a small amount.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, So it could be a number of things. So
you know, it's just a matter of some time. I'm
gonna give you a litany of what it can be,
all right, and you'll probably need to clean the logs,
clean the inside, and also clean the burner. It could
be a lack of oxygen where the you know, intake
(17:40):
isn't allowing enough oxygen in there to burn it to
where there's a good blue flame, about half the flame
being blue.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's why I asked that question.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
The the orangish ones are usually there's impurities in there,
so it's not maybe getting enough oxygen. That's that would
be a burner issue in a lot of cases.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But also even having the logs, you said, what happens
if the logs somebody tried to clean the logs and
maybe restacked it or move some logs around. It can
be that where it's and that happens a lot. If
there's exact if you still have the owners, if you
still have the owner's manual, pull that thing out. And
(18:26):
what I would do first is I would get a
stiff brush paintbrush like you know, something along noselanes, and
that black will just wipe off those ceramic logs. Take
the logs outside, wipe them, and then your manual make
sure you stack them exactly like it tells you the
order to stack them.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
That's key.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
If it's other than that, cleaning that inside off again,
that brush is.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
A good way of doing it.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And then again, I don't know how you're getting the
airflow to that particular appliance, whether it's coming from outdoors
or it's just using the indoor air outdoor outdoor. Just
check that vent that intake, make sure it's not clogged
or minimized. They get clogged up with stuff also.
Speaker 10 (19:17):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Very good, Thank you much.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I appreciate the call, and Robert will be up first,
then Mike, if you'd like to.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Join us too, So we got a spot for you.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
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Speaker 2 (22:20):
Hey, back to where we go at home with Jerry Sullivan.
Thirty three minutes after the top. They are taking your
calls regarding your home projects at eight hundred eight two
three eight two, five, five, clean up, A little bit
of loose ends here, the one on the fireplace against fireplace.
Everything I said I stick to, But one thing I
(22:41):
did not mention is if you do have a lot
of accumulation of soot and you also have a lot
of yellow burning flame and minimal blue flame, you should
have blue flame and the yellow tips. He had orange
and yellow, so certainly it could be the damper. I
didn't mention the damper. That's another one of the things
I talked about airflow being important, stacking of the logs
(23:03):
not being proper. But the real thing I wanted to
add to that is it's also a sign of incomplete
fuel combustion, which produces carbon monoxide. So if you have
a gas upplines like gas logs, you're living on thin
(23:24):
ice without a carbon monoxide detector. Hopefully you have one,
Hopefully it's functioning, and if it is carbon monoxide, you
would be warned.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Just wanted to pass that along.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
The other one was on the paint. I kept saying.
The cup, the touch cup. It's called a touch up cup.
You can get like a three they're thirteen ounces silicone seal.
Air can't get to it, shake it up, and go ahead,
and you know, make your touch ups. You can get
like a three pack for like eighteen bucks. You can
(23:57):
get two packses single cups like seven eight bucks. I
wanted to pass that along also.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So grab a line.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
We've got a spot for you and Robert.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Welcome, Hi Gary. How are you this one doing fine?
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (24:12):
All right.
Speaker 11 (24:13):
I've just got a follow up question going back to
the paint.
Speaker 12 (24:17):
I've got a few.
Speaker 11 (24:18):
I've got a few paint cans that have got in
the garage that you know, just got stuck in a
corner and they've been there for a few years and
the rest of the bottoms are rusted out, so the
pink's no good. And I just you said that you
shouldn't set paint out with the trash and the rest
of the rubbage, and I was just wanting to know
what to do with those and dispose of doing properly.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Well, I'm glad you asked that.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Number One is I want to even qualify something I
said when I said don't put them out for the trash. Obviously,
one of the things I mean is don't put even
latex paint out for the trash, as long as it's
in its liquid form. So a couple of things you
can do is I don't know how much paints in
(25:03):
the can, but if you take the lid off the
can and putting kitty litter, let the kitty litter absorb
the paint and leave the lid off, it'll harden and
at that point you can put Latex hardened paint in
the trash.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
That's an option. I'm just saying that.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
The other option is are the paint cans leaking or
are they just kind of rusted at the bottom.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
They're just rusted in the bottom, so no, it's not leakage.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Okay, So I was talking about people that collect paint.
I know in different cities there's multiple different organizations that
will even some hardware stores will. I know when I
had the hardware stores, we took used paint or stored
paint and we gave it to a company or a
(25:56):
nonprofit called keep Sencnight Beautiful. And what they did is
they poured Latex paint in the vats and reblended it.
I also talked about Matthew twenty five ministries in my
town and they blend it and ship it overseas. So
as long as it's not leaking, I'm sure you could
(26:19):
donate it at some organization in your city. Might have
to ask around. But Latex paints very it can be repurposed.
It can certainly be you know, donated, or if it's
just you know, three inches of paint in the bottom
of a gallon, can get some kitty litter and just
(26:39):
let it dry out solid and then it can be pitched.
Oil based paints are a different ballgame. Those are usually
county will have hazardous waist pickups or drop offs several
times a year and that's where those will go. All right,
(27:00):
you bet, Thanks for the call, appreciate it, and let's
go to Mike.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Mike, Welcome, Oh.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
Good morning, Gary. Have a I have a question that
I've been putting off for a long time because I'm
afraid of what the answers might be. I've got a
home that was built in nineteen sixty It's in good,
stable shape. I bought it in nineteen ninety nine, and
(27:28):
I've had plumbing work done over the years. I'm not
good at plumbing, so that and keeping my hands away
from electrical wires I've learned. But I've had traps are
planed out checked, I've had plumbing where they've replaced the
shut off valves on pipes under sinx and all so
(27:51):
plumbers have not noted anything in particular, but in the
kitchen drain and then in one bathroom them upstairs. I
get odors quite often, okay that at times are fairly strong,
and I have even tried maybe that'll stop the right product.
But I saw odor exit that I hear from you
(28:13):
all the time. I found an eliminator out of store.
I sprayed some of that into it, and it really
does help mask it for a while. But I just
don't know. Is there something I'm missing that I should
try first.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Or yeah, yeah, maybe maybe so one thing I do
want to add, So the odor eliminator does it masket?
It actually eliminates the odor. But if you're straining it
into a sink, I think what you have is you
have an endless supply of odors. In other words, that
odor exit can't get to it to kill all the odor.
(28:47):
So let let's take it. Is the bathrooms upstairs as
are they used often or.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Not much at all?
Speaker 5 (28:57):
Used every day?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Okay? All right?
Speaker 2 (29:00):
And is there any of the odors around any bathroom
appliance that isn't being used.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
No, and I have not noticed any except when you're
standing over the sink.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Sink, right, okay, all right, Well, there's a couple drains
in a sink. Most people don't think about that. There
is the main drain in the center of the bowl,
which could be the culprit or. As you go up
to where you're standing up by on the wall of
the vanity bowl, there's a little tiny hole or there's
(29:35):
an oval shaped hole. And what that is is that's
an overflow. And a lot of times people will treat
the drain, but they won't treat the overflow. So the
issue is we use, I say a lot. We use
all gel products. We have gel, toothpaste, gel, hair gel, deodorant, gel, soaps,
(29:58):
everything's gel, which makes it sticky. And on the inside
of the main drain, that stickiness when we wash our
hands or washer whatever we shave it, all that gel
sticky stuff starts coding the drain trap the pipe, and
then bacteria, which can be whiskers, it can be dead skin,
(30:21):
it can be all kinds of things collects in that gel.
In that bacteria as it starts breaking down, begins to smell. Okay,
and so what we need to do is we need
to clean that out. And there are products in the
hardware store that are enzyme based drain cleaners and enzyme
(30:44):
based drake cleaners break through that gel and it also
kills bacteria. So if you go to the hardware store
and you get an enzyme drain cleaner, and that's just
the way their market marked, it's usually a liquid or
a granular. You mix it with water. Sometimes you just
(31:05):
put the plug in the sink, put some warm water
in there. Add the amount of enzyme drain cleaner that
it tells you to do, pull the plug or open
the stopper, and let it go down that drain, and
do not use that vanity bowl for that night, and
you can use it in the morning and that will
(31:26):
eliminate that smell in the main drain. Now if you
have it and it still exists, or if you want
to get your nose near in that vanity bowl and
see exactly where that odor is, if it's coming from
the overflow up at the upper edges of that bowl,
you can use a dishwashing liquid soap, you could use
(31:48):
bleach um and just put that down in that bowl
or in that overflow hole and again give it overnight,
and I think your odors are going to disappear.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
I appreciate the ends. I'm familiar with the enzyme products,
but I never never thought about that.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
So the overflows, yeah, it'll even the overflow thing that'll
produce odors, even if you know it's rarely ever used.
It's just it's just a way the uh, you know,
the moisture that's in a bathroom can activate that bacteria
and make it smell. So I would try in the
(32:35):
drain an enzyme cleaner and then you know, put a
little bleach down that overflow and see if that doesn't
help perfect.
Speaker 5 (32:44):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Thank you all right much, You're quite welcome. Thanks for
the call. Appreciate all right.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Let's take a break. We've got Scott, Teresa and Ron.
If you'd like to join us, do so. We've got
a whole another hour and fifteen minutes to go, so
feel free to grab a line. It's eight hundred eighty
two three eight two five to five. You're at home
with Gary Sulvant.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Garysullivan.
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Speaker 2 (35:50):
All right at home with Gary Sullivan, I have twelve
minutes before the top of the are taking your calls
regarding your home projects. Feel free to join us, and
we're going to go back to the phone calls.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
We got Scott Scott.
Speaker 13 (36:03):
Welcome, Hey Gary, how you doing this morning?
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Doing fine? Thank you.
Speaker 13 (36:08):
He a couple of months ago, I heard you talking
about you was having problems with a refriger writer. And
then I believe last week he was talking about a
smart home. I run across the situation with a wash
sheeed repair in the appliance repairment, come in and he
was working on it, and he told me he showed
(36:30):
me every appliance and I didn't notice every appliance large
and small in your home now has a QR code
on it, and you could scape that QR code and
it will give you the owner and operator's menu, give
you parts, breakdown partners, it will give you videos. I mean,
it's just the wealth of information and you may not
(36:52):
want to repair yourself, but it gives you research and data,
you know. And he told me they're constantly updating. I
mean there's a recall or something.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Right.
Speaker 13 (37:03):
I've tried it and I actually ended up buying some
brushes and got through apartmember off the kitchen aid mixer,
right and I'll be darned that And I didn't know that,
And I just thought, well, you know a lot of
people could use that, right, A lot of people don't
keep the manuals or whatever. And I mean, it pops
it up all there on PDF form. You can scan it. Yeah,
(37:24):
you can pray, do whatever you want to do with it.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Is that? So when did they start doing that? Did
he know?
Speaker 13 (37:31):
Or he thought about five or six years ago?
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Really?
Speaker 2 (37:36):
See, I haven't really run into that. But what I
did with I do something similar, Scott. To be honest
with you, I'll use the chat GPT and I did
with my refrigerator I've done. I had an element on
the stove go out too, and it was it was
very cool, you know. I recovered the model number, which
(37:56):
was easy to do, and put that in there and
and talked about the upper element and it told me
everything to do and I could click a button in
order the part. I mean it was. I'm not I'm
an appliance repair guy at all, but it was easy
to do.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
It was easy to do.
Speaker 13 (38:18):
It takes you to YouTube videos, yeah, or yeah, are
the manufacturer videos? And this gives you a wealth of information.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Yeah, the QR codes I haven't run into but I
mean QR codes have been around what fifteen years now,
and you are seeing them being used more and more,
in fact, almost on everything. I didn't even I may
have a QR code on a refrigerator, to be honest,
But it turned out the refriger just just it was.
It was very interesting, you refrigerator was way it was
(38:52):
a big problem. It was when the government changed the
refrigerant regulations on refrigerators. The manufacturing and the engineering of
those refrigerators didn't quite keep up with the new refrigerants
(39:13):
and the pan needed to be different, and this, that
and the other thing. They literally that refrigerator was sixteen
months old and basically rebuilt the inside of that thing. Yes,
you know, it may it may help somebody, but I mean, yeah, no,
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 13 (39:32):
And I didn't even realize it was there either. So
he told me, and I started looking, and I mean,
I've learned a little bit about oh, you know, just
just browled and much instead of Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
And and to be honest with you, I mean we
had a I think its a ge dryer or no,
it was a washing machine and it still had a
transmission in it and it was getting old. It just
starts shutting off and just doing a little research, I
didn't see a QR code, but I'm going to look.
(40:06):
And I don't know how long we've had it, but
I got to the same thing. Whereas information. Who's going
to know this but a repair person. You literally unplugged it,
counted to five, plugged it in, reset it to turn on,
and you would open the lid and close the lid
(40:27):
six times in twelve seconds, and it reset the transmission.
Speaker 13 (40:35):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
That's crazy, Like, who's going to know that except somebody's
working on these things?
Speaker 3 (40:40):
How much detail.
Speaker 13 (40:42):
I do have some troubleshooting stuff on there, but you know,
I'm sure they're not going to put the prize repair
man out of business.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
But no, no, there's plenty of work.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
But that that QR code, that that's a great idea
and that just takes you right there, no guessing. And
I appreciate your call. O got thank you week you
do the same.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Thank you. That's excellent. I'm looking for that one I
get off.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
They got a little easy to use. Just use your
camera in most things. You don't even need a QR
code app take you right there to the website.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Ron Welcome.
Speaker 5 (41:18):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
Guess yes, sir, I got.
Speaker 12 (41:21):
A couple of questions about a furnace. I'm up in Wisconsin,
Central Wisconsin, and my current furnace is thirty nine years old. Okay,
it came with the house, and we're considering buying a
new furnace. And my question is is do we want
(41:43):
to clean the vents all the vent related pipes before
or after we install that furnace.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Yeah, if you're interested in cleaning the duckwork, I'd probably
let them install the furnace and then have them have
the vent pipes cleaned. I don't think, to be real honest,
that it's going to make any difference one way or
the other, but I would probably do it after the
furnace has been installed.
Speaker 12 (42:10):
Okay, all right, And one other question about that is
what type of humidifier would you recommend?
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Well, I've got an April Air. I can't say I
could do a good consumer report on humidifiers right now,
but I can tell you my April Air youumidifier has
been there about, oh probably twenty years and has done
a great job. I have no complaints on it. My
(42:40):
previous one was also an April Air and I had
to replace the cellnoid valve on it once. But the
April Airs, it's really a pretty simple process, quite honestly.
It's on the doctor. It's got a pad to catch
the water and you you know, you run a little
(43:01):
quarter inch soft copper water line and it wet's that
pad when the cellnoids call them for water. I mean,
that's that's pretty much the process. So I'd say in
April Air, a good company has served me well. But
again I can't give you the maybe competing companies and
how they would stack up.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
That require a little research.
Speaker 5 (43:24):
Well I was.
Speaker 12 (43:25):
I didn't know if there was different types of them,
but it sounds sounds pretty simple.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Pretty simple. It is. It's pretty simple.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
It's basically a pad on the duckwork that's connected to
a water line exactly.
Speaker 12 (43:37):
Okay, all right, I do have one one more comment,
and that's on metal roofs. You had to show on
metal metal.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Roofs a few last weekends or whatever.
Speaker 14 (43:48):
And one of the insurance things was that the insurance
that for fires, because without a asphalt roop, there's no
no fire that continue, right, it doesn't burn.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Yeah, And there are discounts given for those I know
they're very big out west for that very reason. So
thank you much for the call. I appreciate we got
that information, and thank you, thank you. Teresa. You'll be
up first and then Mike. If you'd like to join us,
we got a spot for you.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
It's eight hundred.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Eight two three eight two five five. Look forward to
talking to you on the other side of the hour.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan's.
Speaker 6 (44:46):
The weekend and you have fixed questions. Get Gary a
call at eight hundred eighty two three talk this. He's
at home with Gary.
Speaker 5 (44:54):
Sullivant about the difficulty report the
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Prop
All right, the weekend is upon us.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
You're at home with Gary Sullivan taking your calls for
doing your home improvement projects. And uh, well, the numbers
eight hundred eight two three eight two five five. We'll
get right back to the phones. We get several on
old and Pat Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Hello, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Gary, thanks for taking my call. I've listened to you
for years. First time caller.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
My house. My house is built in March and ninety
seven's all brick, including u two steps going up to
the front stoop, which is also all brick. And I've
noticed in the last few years and I have a
little like eighteen inches retaining wall around my border of
my driveway on two sides. The edges of the bricks
are I call flaking off. Somebody told me that's called spawling. Yeah.
(01:19):
Are these bricks are eventually disintegrate? I mean it just
seems like in the front porch and the retaining water though.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
They could they could. It depends what type of brick
it is. And you know how old the house is,
but you'res in that old Yeah ninety bricks are usually
last well, they can last a long long time. But
back in the day, a lot of those bricks were
fired and everything else in the clay right from the
(01:47):
area where they're being built. Yours weren't, so they're probably
fairly substantial. But once water gets in there and continues
to be there, it just really breaks down the bricks.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And my is that's kind of what's happening.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
And it's getting soft and the surface spawling is you know,
it's probably less than a quarter inch deep about what
it is, Yeah, but it starts looking a little one sightly.
So I know you're gonna ask me, well, what do
I do, And I'm not sure there's a lot you're
going to do. You can certainly put as. You can't
(02:25):
seal it because then you'll trap water in it if
it's coming from the backside. But you can seal it
to minimize water penetration, and there are ceilers that breathe.
But to patch it on brick, I mean, you could
put concrete on it, but you know it's not gonna
look real good.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I just know it's just the front steps, the two
steps going up to the stoop, which is all brick.
It's the edges. It's the only thing that's flaking off.
And same on my cunning wall. It's just the edges.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I wonder if the water puddles and goes to the
edges or sits up on the edges.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
But it doesn't. It doesn't get that deep. Now step,
I mean you know, it gets four or five inches
you know each step.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, yeah, Well, let's get a breathable ceiling on there.
See if we can slow it down. We're not going
to repair it, but I might be able to minimize
the damage.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So it would mean the houses.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
The house is all brick. Now houses all brick, and
those bricks are fine. It's just the front stoop and
the retaining wall around the driveway. It seems like coming apart.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, moisture You've heard me say it a million times.
Moisture is the number one enemy of the house. And somehow, yes, somehow,
that's getting Uh, that's that brick there is vulnerable for
some reason.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
M soka.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Make sure it's a it's a make sure it says breathable, okay,
And usually the ingredients is a slock sain, which is
a silicone molecule that is also breathe bowl. Okay, So
that that's really what you want. It minimizes water penetration
but allows water beneath or underneath or side of it
(04:09):
to exhaust itself out of the brick itself.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Okay, all right, well thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
All right, very good. Thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
All right, let's go to Mike. Mike, welcome.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Oh yes, sir, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. I just kept
actually I was looking at these stop lost bags.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Or I just had the.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Exterior of my house painted and by these bags. This
one has an air van on the thing. You fill
it up, you can squeeze the air out of it,
and then supposed to last for.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Up to ten years. I don't know if that's the
true statement.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
I never used them.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I just didn't know if you ever heard of the
stop loss bags.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So is this for what for what I mean, for
the painting tools or for the paint can or what
is it?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'm not familiar with it.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Yeah, sir, it's for whatever you got a five gallon
jug or a little left at the painter, or left
or half whatever you get port in the bag. You
get a funnel and a little thing to slide the
bag in where you just clamp it to a table
and you just pour your paint there and then sure
instead of shaking the can up, you just moved the
(05:23):
bag around. I mean, I didn't know you've heard of anything.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
There's a couple of products out there. I know.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
One of them is like a cup of about sixteen ounces,
the whole sixteen ounces of paint. It's got a silicone
gasket around it minimizes air and penetration drying it out,
and those work well. Also, I'm sure that BEG does
the same thing.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Okay, I'm just trying to get rid of the cans
because you know, I left them in the garage for
a couple of months and probably should have did that.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
But yeah, yeah, Well that's one of my notes is
you know, as the Christmas holidays pass, we all seem
to be looking for more storage space. And one of
the tips I have today is to go through your
paint cans and see how many are even viable. And
I did this, I think about a year and a
(06:16):
half ago, and I had cans that I didn't even
have the color of paint in our house anymore. So
you know, we all kind of fall into those traps
and you can donate that paint or whatever. But yeah, yeah,
I would say those bags would It sounds to me
like once you pour it in there, do you vacuum
(06:39):
any the air out of there?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Or you just seal it.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
And it's got two caps.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
One once you fill it up, okay, you can pour
it out. But the top cap where the funnel goes
in to fill the bag up, okay, you on twitsch
that a little bit and squeeze all the air out
and then ah good.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
It said it last for ten years, and.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Well, I bet it does.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
You know, it's got a thing on the you got
a thing on the front where you can write, you know,
the paint code.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
No, I love it. I'd love it.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Anything's better than those cans because quite honestly, even saving
the cans, you never get those lids on perfectly.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I used to tell people to put you.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Know, even like a saran wrap and then hit the
lid down on it. But even the cans get bad.
And those little cup things that I talked about. The
kid who invented it actually was on Shark Tank and
they've since sold the company. I'm not familiar with the bags,
but it sounds good to me. I think it'd be
(07:38):
well worth it, if you know, want to store the
paint for sure.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
Yeah, they're called stop Lost Bags.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I'll take a look at them.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
And then I think they call it kick the can
and stop lost bags or something. Yeah, Motel was it
was on the It was on the hardware show out
there in Vegas one time.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
So I've gotten a lot of great products and ideas
from out in Vegas at the National Hardware Show. So
I'll look into it. But it sounds great. Really, my
kids much better.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Than just keeping them into the can, I assure you.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
All right, sir, I appreciate it having good new year.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
All right, You do the same, Thank you, Take care
all right. You can join us as we get to
eight hundred eight two three eight two five five, go
ahead and grab a line. Happy to chat with you
about your projects. By the way, paints, we were talking
about that and finding, you know, paint cans that are
half filled or quarter filled or all the way filled
(08:37):
with a color.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
You don't even have in the house anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
A lot of places will take the latex paint. I know,
Habitat for you, Mandy's Restores. I believe they still take it.
Matthew twenty five ministries. We have one of those in
our city. They take it. In fact, they'll take the
oil base too. Most play says will not take oil base. Uh,
(09:02):
those are usually Counties will have different collection points for
oil based paints several times a year, but latex paints
are usually donatable. Don't throw them in the trash. I
always tell the story somebody and are right after they
paved the roads, somebody threw paint cans in the trash can,
(09:29):
and when they crushed the trash, you know where the
paint went, right across the newly asphalted road.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Look great, So don't do that. Don't do that.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
All right, let's take a break, we'll come back. Ron
you'll lead us off. Then Robert Mike's dialing in. You
can dial in also. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 6 (09:54):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 7 (10:17):
Gary Solvent Here for the Zalor pump company. Zalor leads
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(10:40):
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Speaker 8 (10:48):
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(11:09):
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Speaker 1 (12:34):
All right, Back to work.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
We go at home with Gary Salton about twenty minutes
after the top of the hour and talking about your home.
Feel free to join us. Our phone number is eight
hundred eight two three eight two five five and ron.
Welcome morning, Gary morning.
Speaker 9 (12:53):
I've got a fireplace that got a house that was
built in seventy nine in the fireplace, I had the
crown on, we paired and the waterproofed the fireplace at
the time. But it's probably been seven or eight years now,
and I just want to maintain that waterproofing because it
really helped. Uh, And I'm just looking for a product recommendation.
(13:16):
I'm not going to do it now with all the raining, right,
I'm going to wait for it to dry out. So
I'm going I'm looking for just a recommendation.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I guess.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Okay, so you're talking about the brick on the Chimney
outdoors exactly, Okay, Okay, yeah, so we were talking. I
don't know if you heard the other color. He was
talking about a crownwash issue. And I had sent him
to a website called Chimney rx dot com. And I
(13:46):
would send you to that same website. Ron, It's Chimney
rx dot com. Or if you have some do it
best hardware stores out in your area. I know they
carry the Chimney RX products, but they have a Chimney
brick Chimney waterproofing product. And that's what it is. And
(14:09):
you got to be careful the way you use the word.
It is a waterproofing product. It's not a sealant because
a chimney needs to breathe, but a waterproofing product waterproofs
the exterior part of that brick on that chimney, so
it minimizes that brick from absorbing a lot of water
(14:35):
and starting. You heard the other person talking about brick
that was spawling, and I was saying, well, it's because
after so much water being absorbed, that's what happens. And
also if you have free stall cycles, you run the
product the problem of having that pop surface pop off.
(14:56):
So jimneyrx dot com, you're looking for Chimney me brick
waterproofing product that can be sprayed on with a tanks prayer.
It can be rolled, it can be brushed however you
want to apply it. And your question on the timeframe
is excellent because on a vertical surface, the lifespans about
five to seven years.
Speaker 9 (15:20):
Okay, And that's good to know because when he was
doing that, he spelled just a little drop on my
pavers and it was bubbling up and waterproofing at one
spot on my pavor until this year.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
As I know, I know, it's that very good. Yeah,
it's time. It's time for sure, excellent.
Speaker 9 (15:42):
Well, I appreciate your help.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
All right, Ron, thanks for the call. Take care, Bye
bye Jimney RX dot com. They got a lot of
different specialty products even have am I like this product too.
It's called mortar joint and crack repair and it's if
it's a mortar joining against bricking. How you get that
little just almost like an expansion crack is how you
(16:04):
can get your fingernail in it, or a pencil lead.
But that's about it. You can't really put more concrete
on top of it. They have one it's a mortar
joint and crack repair. Looks like milk and you put
it on with a brush and dry is clear and
it'll seal that small crack. Robert welcome, Yes, good morning,
(16:25):
Gary morning.
Speaker 10 (16:27):
Okay, my question is about a indoor gas fireplace. Co
Paine had it on about three weeks ago. Recently looked
at it and the eight of the inside is black.
So my three questions are what happened? Can I clean
(16:52):
that myself? And what can I clean it with?
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So one question back at you is what color is
the flying.
Speaker 10 (17:03):
It's a yellowish okay, yeah, yellowish on the tips right,
maybe a little orientish in the center.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Ish ye, any blue flame at all down at.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
The base.
Speaker 10 (17:18):
Maybe a small amount.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, So it could be a number of things. So
you know, it's just a matter of some time. I'm
gonna give you a litany of what it can be,
all right, and you'll probably need to clean the logs,
clean the inside, and also clean the burner. It could
be a lack of oxygen where the you know, intake
(17:40):
isn't allowing enough oxygen in there to burn it to
where there's a good blue flame, about half the flame
being blue.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's why I asked that question.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
The the orangish ones are usually there's impurities in there,
so it's not maybe getting enough oxygen. That's that would
be a burner issue in a lot of cases.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But also even having the logs, you said, what happens
if the logs somebody tried to clean the logs and
maybe restacked it or move some logs around. It can
be that where it's and that happens a lot. If
there's exact if you still have the owners, if you
still have the owner's manual, pull that thing out. And
(18:26):
what I would do first is I would get a
stiff brush paintbrush like you know, something along noselanes, and
that black will just wipe off those ceramic logs. Take
the logs outside, wipe them, and then your manual make
sure you stack them exactly like it tells you the
order to stack them.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
That's key.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
If it's other than that, cleaning that inside off again,
that brush is.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
A good way of doing it.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And then again, I don't know how you're getting the
airflow to that particular appliance, whether it's coming from outdoors
or it's just using the indoor air outdoor outdoor. Just
check that vent that intake, make sure it's not clogged
or minimized. They get clogged up with stuff also.
Speaker 10 (19:17):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Very good, Thank you much.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I appreciate the call, and Robert will be up first,
then Mike, if you'd like to.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Join us too, So we got a spot for you.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
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I use rotor Uter at my house.
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And you should leave plumbing to the pros too. Call
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Speaker 2 (22:20):
Hey, back to where we go at home with Jerry Sullivan.
Thirty three minutes after the top. They are taking your
calls regarding your home projects at eight hundred eight two
three eight two, five, five, clean up, A little bit
of loose ends here, the one on the fireplace against fireplace.
Everything I said I stick to, But one thing I
(22:41):
did not mention is if you do have a lot
of accumulation of soot and you also have a lot
of yellow burning flame and minimal blue flame, you should
have blue flame and the yellow tips. He had orange
and yellow, so certainly it could be the damper. I
didn't mention the damper. That's another one of the things
I talked about airflow being important, stacking of the logs
(23:03):
not being proper. But the real thing I wanted to
add to that is it's also a sign of incomplete
fuel combustion, which produces carbon monoxide. So if you have
a gas upplines like gas logs, you're living on thin
(23:24):
ice without a carbon monoxide detector. Hopefully you have one,
Hopefully it's functioning, and if it is carbon monoxide, you
would be warned.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Just wanted to pass that along.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
The other one was on the paint. I kept saying.
The cup, the touch cup. It's called a touch up cup.
You can get like a three they're thirteen ounces silicone seal.
Air can't get to it, shake it up, and go ahead,
and you know, make your touch ups. You can get
like a three pack for like eighteen bucks. You can
(23:57):
get two packses single cups like seven eight bucks. I
wanted to pass that along also.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So grab a line.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
We've got a spot for you and Robert.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Welcome, Hi Gary. How are you this one doing fine?
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (24:12):
All right.
Speaker 11 (24:13):
I've just got a follow up question going back to
the paint.
Speaker 12 (24:17):
I've got a few.
Speaker 11 (24:18):
I've got a few paint cans that have got in
the garage that you know, just got stuck in a
corner and they've been there for a few years and
the rest of the bottoms are rusted out, so the
pink's no good. And I just you said that you
shouldn't set paint out with the trash and the rest
of the rubbage, and I was just wanting to know
what to do with those and dispose of doing properly.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Well, I'm glad you asked that.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Number One is I want to even qualify something I
said when I said don't put them out for the trash. Obviously,
one of the things I mean is don't put even
latex paint out for the trash, as long as it's
in its liquid form. So a couple of things you
can do is I don't know how much paints in
(25:03):
the can, but if you take the lid off the
can and putting kitty litter, let the kitty litter absorb
the paint and leave the lid off, it'll harden and
at that point you can put Latex hardened paint in
the trash.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
That's an option. I'm just saying that.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
The other option is are the paint cans leaking or
are they just kind of rusted at the bottom.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
They're just rusted in the bottom, so no, it's not leakage.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Okay, So I was talking about people that collect paint.
I know in different cities there's multiple different organizations that
will even some hardware stores will. I know when I
had the hardware stores, we took used paint or stored
paint and we gave it to a company or a
(25:56):
nonprofit called keep Sencnight Beautiful. And what they did is
they poured Latex paint in the vats and reblended it.
I also talked about Matthew twenty five ministries in my
town and they blend it and ship it overseas. So
as long as it's not leaking, I'm sure you could
(26:19):
donate it at some organization in your city. Might have
to ask around. But Latex paints very it can be repurposed.
It can certainly be you know, donated, or if it's
just you know, three inches of paint in the bottom
of a gallon, can get some kitty litter and just
(26:39):
let it dry out solid and then it can be pitched.
Oil based paints are a different ballgame. Those are usually
county will have hazardous waist pickups or drop offs several
times a year and that's where those will go. All right,
(27:00):
you bet, Thanks for the call, appreciate it, and let's
go to Mike.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Mike, Welcome, Oh.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
Good morning, Gary. Have a I have a question that
I've been putting off for a long time because I'm
afraid of what the answers might be. I've got a
home that was built in nineteen sixty It's in good,
stable shape. I bought it in nineteen ninety nine, and
(27:28):
I've had plumbing work done over the years. I'm not
good at plumbing, so that and keeping my hands away
from electrical wires I've learned. But I've had traps are
planed out checked, I've had plumbing where they've replaced the
shut off valves on pipes under sinx and all so
(27:51):
plumbers have not noted anything in particular, but in the
kitchen drain and then in one bathroom them upstairs. I
get odors quite often, okay that at times are fairly strong,
and I have even tried maybe that'll stop the right product.
But I saw odor exit that I hear from you
(28:13):
all the time. I found an eliminator out of store.
I sprayed some of that into it, and it really
does help mask it for a while. But I just
don't know. Is there something I'm missing that I should
try first.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Or yeah, yeah, maybe maybe so one thing I do
want to add, So the odor eliminator does it masket?
It actually eliminates the odor. But if you're straining it
into a sink, I think what you have is you
have an endless supply of odors. In other words, that
odor exit can't get to it to kill all the odor.
(28:47):
So let let's take it. Is the bathrooms upstairs as
are they used often or.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Not much at all?
Speaker 5 (28:57):
Used every day?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Okay? All right?
Speaker 2 (29:00):
And is there any of the odors around any bathroom
appliance that isn't being used.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
No, and I have not noticed any except when you're
standing over the sink.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Sink, right, okay, all right, Well, there's a couple drains
in a sink. Most people don't think about that. There
is the main drain in the center of the bowl,
which could be the culprit or. As you go up
to where you're standing up by on the wall of
the vanity bowl, there's a little tiny hole or there's
(29:35):
an oval shaped hole. And what that is is that's
an overflow. And a lot of times people will treat
the drain, but they won't treat the overflow. So the
issue is we use, I say a lot. We use
all gel products. We have gel, toothpaste, gel, hair gel, deodorant, gel, soaps,
(29:58):
everything's gel, which makes it sticky. And on the inside
of the main drain, that stickiness when we wash our
hands or washer whatever we shave it, all that gel
sticky stuff starts coding the drain trap the pipe, and
then bacteria, which can be whiskers, it can be dead skin,
(30:21):
it can be all kinds of things collects in that gel.
In that bacteria as it starts breaking down, begins to smell. Okay,
and so what we need to do is we need
to clean that out. And there are products in the
hardware store that are enzyme based drain cleaners and enzyme
(30:44):
based drake cleaners break through that gel and it also
kills bacteria. So if you go to the hardware store
and you get an enzyme drain cleaner, and that's just
the way their market marked, it's usually a liquid or
a granular. You mix it with water. Sometimes you just
(31:05):
put the plug in the sink, put some warm water
in there. Add the amount of enzyme drain cleaner that
it tells you to do, pull the plug or open
the stopper, and let it go down that drain, and
do not use that vanity bowl for that night, and
you can use it in the morning and that will
(31:26):
eliminate that smell in the main drain. Now if you
have it and it still exists, or if you want
to get your nose near in that vanity bowl and
see exactly where that odor is, if it's coming from
the overflow up at the upper edges of that bowl,
you can use a dishwashing liquid soap, you could use
(31:48):
bleach um and just put that down in that bowl
or in that overflow hole and again give it overnight,
and I think your odors are going to disappear.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
I appreciate the ends. I'm familiar with the enzyme products,
but I never never thought about that.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
So the overflows, yeah, it'll even the overflow thing that'll
produce odors, even if you know it's rarely ever used.
It's just it's just a way the uh, you know,
the moisture that's in a bathroom can activate that bacteria
and make it smell. So I would try in the
(32:35):
drain an enzyme cleaner and then you know, put a
little bleach down that overflow and see if that doesn't
help perfect.
Speaker 5 (32:44):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Thank you all right much, You're quite welcome. Thanks for
the call. Appreciate all right.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Let's take a break. We've got Scott, Teresa and Ron.
If you'd like to join us, do so. We've got
a whole another hour and fifteen minutes to go, so
feel free to grab a line. It's eight hundred eighty
two three eight two five to five. You're at home
with Gary Sulvant.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
Help for your home is just a click away at
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Speaker 2 (35:50):
All right at home with Gary Sullivan, I have twelve
minutes before the top of the are taking your calls
regarding your home projects. Feel free to join us, and
we're going to go back to the phone calls.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
We got Scott Scott.
Speaker 13 (36:03):
Welcome, Hey Gary, how you doing this morning?
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Doing fine? Thank you.
Speaker 13 (36:08):
He a couple of months ago, I heard you talking
about you was having problems with a refriger writer. And
then I believe last week he was talking about a
smart home. I run across the situation with a wash
sheeed repair in the appliance repairment, come in and he
was working on it, and he told me he showed
(36:30):
me every appliance and I didn't notice every appliance large
and small in your home now has a QR code
on it, and you could scape that QR code and
it will give you the owner and operator's menu, give
you parts, breakdown partners, it will give you videos. I mean,
it's just the wealth of information and you may not
(36:52):
want to repair yourself, but it gives you research and data,
you know. And he told me they're constantly updating. I
mean there's a recall or something.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Right.
Speaker 13 (37:03):
I've tried it and I actually ended up buying some
brushes and got through apartmember off the kitchen aid mixer,
right and I'll be darned that And I didn't know that,
And I just thought, well, you know a lot of
people could use that, right, A lot of people don't
keep the manuals or whatever. And I mean, it pops
it up all there on PDF form. You can scan it. Yeah,
(37:24):
you can pray, do whatever you want to do with it.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Is that? So when did they start doing that? Did
he know?
Speaker 13 (37:31):
Or he thought about five or six years ago?
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Really?
Speaker 2 (37:36):
See, I haven't really run into that. But what I
did with I do something similar, Scott. To be honest
with you, I'll use the chat GPT and I did
with my refrigerator I've done. I had an element on
the stove go out too, and it was it was
very cool, you know. I recovered the model number, which
(37:56):
was easy to do, and put that in there and
and talked about the upper element and it told me
everything to do and I could click a button in
order the part. I mean it was. I'm not I'm
an appliance repair guy at all, but it was easy
to do.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
It was easy to do.
Speaker 13 (38:18):
It takes you to YouTube videos, yeah, or yeah, are
the manufacturer videos? And this gives you a wealth of information.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Yeah, the QR codes I haven't run into but I
mean QR codes have been around what fifteen years now,
and you are seeing them being used more and more,
in fact, almost on everything. I didn't even I may
have a QR code on a refrigerator, to be honest,
But it turned out the refriger just just it was.
It was very interesting, you refrigerator was way it was
(38:52):
a big problem. It was when the government changed the
refrigerant regulations on refrigerators. The manufacturing and the engineering of
those refrigerators didn't quite keep up with the new refrigerants
(39:13):
and the pan needed to be different, and this, that
and the other thing. They literally that refrigerator was sixteen
months old and basically rebuilt the inside of that thing. Yes,
you know, it may it may help somebody, but I mean, yeah, no,
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 13 (39:32):
And I didn't even realize it was there either. So
he told me, and I started looking, and I mean,
I've learned a little bit about oh, you know, just
just browled and much instead of Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
And and to be honest with you, I mean we
had a I think its a ge dryer or no,
it was a washing machine and it still had a
transmission in it and it was getting old. It just
starts shutting off and just doing a little research, I
didn't see a QR code, but I'm going to look.
(40:06):
And I don't know how long we've had it, but
I got to the same thing. Whereas information. Who's going
to know this but a repair person. You literally unplugged it,
counted to five, plugged it in, reset it to turn on,
and you would open the lid and close the lid
(40:27):
six times in twelve seconds, and it reset the transmission.
Speaker 13 (40:35):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
That's crazy, Like, who's going to know that except somebody's
working on these things?
Speaker 3 (40:40):
How much detail.
Speaker 13 (40:42):
I do have some troubleshooting stuff on there, but you know,
I'm sure they're not going to put the prize repair
man out of business.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
But no, no, there's plenty of work.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
But that that QR code, that that's a great idea
and that just takes you right there, no guessing. And
I appreciate your call. O got thank you week you
do the same.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Thank you. That's excellent. I'm looking for that one I
get off.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
They got a little easy to use. Just use your
camera in most things. You don't even need a QR
code app take you right there to the website.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Ron Welcome.
Speaker 5 (41:18):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
Guess yes, sir, I got.
Speaker 12 (41:21):
A couple of questions about a furnace. I'm up in Wisconsin,
Central Wisconsin, and my current furnace is thirty nine years old. Okay,
it came with the house, and we're considering buying a
new furnace. And my question is is do we want
(41:43):
to clean the vents all the vent related pipes before
or after we install that furnace.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Yeah, if you're interested in cleaning the duckwork, I'd probably
let them install the furnace and then have them have
the vent pipes cleaned. I don't think, to be real honest,
that it's going to make any difference one way or
the other, but I would probably do it after the
furnace has been installed.
Speaker 12 (42:10):
Okay, all right, And one other question about that is
what type of humidifier would you recommend?
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Well, I've got an April Air. I can't say I
could do a good consumer report on humidifiers right now,
but I can tell you my April Air youumidifier has
been there about, oh probably twenty years and has done
a great job. I have no complaints on it. My
(42:40):
previous one was also an April Air and I had
to replace the cellnoid valve on it once. But the
April Airs, it's really a pretty simple process, quite honestly.
It's on the doctor. It's got a pad to catch
the water and you you know, you run a little
(43:01):
quarter inch soft copper water line and it wet's that
pad when the cellnoids call them for water. I mean,
that's that's pretty much the process. So I'd say in
April Air, a good company has served me well. But
again I can't give you the maybe competing companies and
how they would stack up.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
That require a little research.
Speaker 5 (43:24):
Well I was.
Speaker 12 (43:25):
I didn't know if there was different types of them,
but it sounds sounds pretty simple.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Pretty simple. It is. It's pretty simple.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
It's basically a pad on the duckwork that's connected to
a water line exactly.
Speaker 12 (43:37):
Okay, all right, I do have one one more comment,
and that's on metal roofs. You had to show on
metal metal.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Roofs a few last weekends or whatever.
Speaker 14 (43:48):
And one of the insurance things was that the insurance
that for fires, because without a asphalt roop, there's no
no fire that continue, right, it doesn't burn.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Yeah, And there are discounts given for those I know
they're very big out west for that very reason. So
thank you much for the call. I appreciate we got
that information, and thank you, thank you. Teresa. You'll be
up first and then Mike. If you'd like to join us,
we got a spot for you.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
It's eight hundred.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Eight two three eight two five five. Look forward to
talking to you on the other side of the hour.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan's.
Speaker 6 (44:46):
The weekend and you have fixed questions. Get Gary a
call at eight hundred eighty two three talk this. He's
at home with Gary.
Speaker 5 (44:54):
Sullivant about the difficulty report the
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Prop
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