May 24, 2025 • 41 mins
Your calls and questions with Gary. We also wrap up the show taking to our friends at Chimney Care.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The best time of the day. I'm going to say,
good afternoon. Welcome nowur number four. You're at home with
Gary Salvan. This I was brought to you by Kissed
the Electric. Be prepared for the next power outage with
a generak home standby generator. It's Kissed Electric, that's who
I recommend. It's five one three, seven three eight thirty
four zero one. It's ki Stelectric dot Com. And in fact,
(00:29):
we have a little power failure today and the uh
the generator kicked on in the iHeart studios. Yeah, but
we just kept running and running. Yeah. It was out
for an hour and a half, not two hours. Two hours? Yeah, yeah, cool.
All right, let's get back to the phone calls. What
do you say. Let's go to Beth. Beth.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Welcome either Gary, I'm to talk with you.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I just want to encourage people that are listening to
keep a record a file what I do, a file
of home improvements labels from products. When I had the
roof redone, the owner was the one that.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Gave us the estimate.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
But guess what he was. He was out and about
and didn't answer his phone when the guys were doing
the roofing. So I went out and took pictures of
each of the I guess you call them squares of shingles,
so that I would have those on hand should something
go wrong, I would have the product, the you know,
exact number, and all that sort of thing, and kept
(01:32):
all that. But really a file with receipts, even pictures
of receipts if you're more tech savvy than me. And
I don't quite know how to put them in a
file in my phone or anything yet, but it really
can make a difference. You'll know what brand of paint
you bought, what sure, you know what the date was.
It's so funny, how three years can you think it's
(01:53):
only three years but it's ten or whatever. I have
My husband has an aunt that when she was in
her eighties, she's so oh, she's so sharp. She's about
to turn one hundred this year, but she's so sharp.
She had kept track of all of the furniture purchases,
all that sort of thing, receipts, and when she had
water in the place where she was living, she was
(02:14):
able to present all that to the people who's assisted living,
I believe, and she was fully reimbursed for everything because
she had proof of everything. Yeah, so it really pays
to pay attention and know.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Sure, I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I have courage.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, I have a folder and it's got as many receipts.
In fact, I had a refriger It was twenty six
years old and it died a slow and painful death
last year. But it was really nice because iride. Yeah,
I could literally we talked about it. I could shop
from home because I knew all the dimensions. I knew
(02:54):
the type, I knew the model number. And it does
make life, no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It surely does help, and it will help a lot
of your listeners because we're all in this together, trying
to learn what works best, how to survive the system,
that sort of thing, and gosh, if it can help
a few people, that will make a difference.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Very good Beth, Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Pleasure to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Sank take care, Bye bye, and we go to John.
John Welcome, good morning, morning.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I have a good morning. I have a royal plastic
shed that I constructed from a kit back in twenty eleven,
and I love the thing. It seems to be made
out of probably PBC and it's very sturdy, heavy construction, spacious.
The doors are nice. But the one problem I have
(03:50):
with it is that every summer it gets a build
up of some sort of algae or crud on the roof.
And so about what here, I have to get some
chlorox and oxy clean and a brush and scrub the
roof of this thing to get this stuff off. And
I'm wondering if there's some product you could suggest that
(04:12):
I could spray on there that would prevent the build up.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Well, no, it's mother nature. Mother nature is going to win.
But but I can make it easier to get it
off than what you're going through right now. So there's
a product. It's called Wet and Forget, and they make
an exterior Wet and Forget that comes in a gallon
(04:38):
jug that is a concentrate, and they come they also
have a bottle that you just connect to the hose
and spray it onto the surface. It will kill fungus, algae, molds, mildew, lichen,
and you spray it on just like it says, you
(04:59):
wet it and you forget it, and in about six
weeks it'll be clean and it will be a complete
kill of the fungus and the algae. So it will
keep it clean for about a year or two because
it's a complete kill. Bleach is not a complete kill.
(05:21):
It'll it'll, it'll, it'll uh, it'll make it look clean,
but it'll grow. It'll grow right back, probably within a year,
and so you get an extra year out of this.
And the best way to do is get the wet
and forget and just spread it every spring and you'll
never see algae on that again.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
So it works prophylactively as well as shall we say, therapeutically.
If it's correct, the crud help remove it, and if
his crud's not there, it will.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Tend to prevent it.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
That is correct.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
So it comes in you say, a gollon for.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, and I don't know how big it is, but
they make several products. They make probably fifteen products now,
but the one you're looking for is WIT and Forget
outdoor cleaner. They make it in a gallon concentrate and
they make it in a also a container where you
just attach it to a hose and spray it on,
(06:25):
which makes it very easy. They also make it ready
to use like cork bottle. If you had a small
brick window sill to do or something like that.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Uh huh, Okay, well, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
You're quite welcome. Take care, thank you. Yeah, that'll take
care of the job, that's for sure. Be perfect and
Mary welcome.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Hi Harry today, doing fine.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Thanks.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I'm talking about the water softener. You suggested the water
softener for the whole house system.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Uh huh.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
But I just wanted to point out it's probably the
right approach for the guy if he's got limestone issues,
but there are whole house systems that deal with all
kinds of other stuff without having to deal with water softener.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah. I think he wanted both though, so and there
may be a combination one that I'm not familiar with.
But he was talking how important he was talking about
both things, and I just wanted to make sure that
he knew he was talking about not just the water
softener and not just the reverse osmosis, because he's talking
(07:41):
about taking chemicals out like leads and you know, fluorides
and chlorines, and he was also talking about, you know,
good for your clothing, good for your skin, which is
strictly softening water. And they make I don't know, they
may make a common.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Familiar they make you can buy even on Amazon, the
way you can buy everything on Amazon, but you can
buy a series of and install it yourself, a series
of filters and put the kind of filters in each
canister that you need for your situation. So you need
(08:25):
to know what you're trying to filter out, but you
can buy. In my situation, I'm talking about a cistern water,
so I'm collecting water from the roof, so I have
no hard water situation, but I want to in fact,
I want to get all the leaf particles in, any
of the bacteria and stuff, right, you know, the bird
(08:48):
droppings or whatever. Sure so, and also deal with the
possibility of having chlorinated water trucked into my cistern times.
So you can buy stuff to take out all those
different things. And then a dechlorinator, which I think is
(09:09):
very important if you've got city water and the chlorine
that's in the water. In his situation, that might be
important to him. Yeah, I think I have carbon filter
to take out the chlorine.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Right, So what you're to identify exactly.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
What you're trying to do, and they will try to
sell you a water softener regardless of what your situation is,
but which may be the right thing for him, but
it's not always necessary to have a water sopping well.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, and so he was from Louisville, Kentucky. So Louisville,
Kentucky has plenty of hard water. In different parts of
the Greater Cincinnati area has really really hard water too.
And that's really what I was trying to emphasize to
him is you know, he started out the conversation and said,
I've had cancer and I want to you know, I
(10:07):
want to get rid of you know, I thought right away,
he wants to get rid of the chlorine. He wants
to get rid of the lead. That's that's where he
was focusing in on. And then so I started talking
to him about the reverse osmosis. And you're right, there's
filters for all kinds of things. I mean, you know,
there's even iron oxide filters if you have wells and
things like that. And you know, I said, if you remember,
(10:30):
I said, you can even start with a Brita, right,
and just you know, filter your water that way you
can go. Yeah, you can go from A to Z
with no problem at all. And then he laid on,
you know, and it'll really soften my clothes and it
will be good for my skin. I go, well, hold on,
now that's something else.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
And that's what I told him. I said, you really.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Needs and let him tackle each one of those things.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You're so right lection and.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
Then if it's cost too much, then you decide what's
important to worry about.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
That's exactly right. Yeah, you got to start with a test.
In fact, I encourage a lot of homers when I'll
get asked that question a lot, just with friends and
things like and I'll say, well, what's the problem, and
They'll say, well, I don't know. I you know. I said,
that's the problem. You don't know. You can't do anything.
You can't make really any decision until you know what's
(11:27):
in the wall.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
It's just like your body. Don't start taking a bunch
of pills until you know what what's wrong with you.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, we're on the same page, so thank you.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Okay, And I got one more other statement. Are you
still looking for electric mower feedback?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Sure? I'm always looking for feedback on I just figured
that would be very important this time of year.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yeah, so I bought I bought an electric mower several
years ago when my treasured gas mower bit the dust
and it failed on me. It was great for malting
up leaves. So I bought the electric mower and it
was terrible for malting up leaves. But somebody managed to
(12:19):
fix my gas mower. I malted the leaves in the
fall with that gas mower. But the electric mower is
so light, it's so easy to use, does a great
job and mowing the grass, and it is. It is
just I have a a terrain, you know, with some
(12:43):
hills and right, so you can get around all the
trees and the hills and the Oh it's so easy.
So it can't that benefit. But I don't recommend it
for leaf yep, so leave it doesn't do a good job.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
All right, Mary, thank you very much. I got a scoot,
make a break and then get back to the calls.
And we're also going to talk about your chimney. Yeah,
that's right. That needs maintenance tow and it's a good
time year to do that. We'll have our friend in
from the chimney care company. You're at home with Gary
Salvan right here on fifty five care see de talk station.
(13:26):
All right, back here it we go, and let's see
twelve twenty three. You're at home with Gary salvn. Let's
get back to the phones and we have Andy. Andy.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Welcome, hello there, late, love your show.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
When I shave in the morning, I fill up the
basin with water. When I drain it, it goes real slow.
Now I have a sink in the half path. I
tried this with the sink, and the half path I
filled it up with water, went down real fast. I'm
thinking maybe there's a bird snack in the vent pipe
on the roof. What's your day?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I'll tell you what I think it is. I think
it's just that one sink, and I think it's the
one you know, you you use a little or more
than the other one.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
I don't want to, I don't want to interrupt you.
But it's a double sink. My wife has one side,
of course, and I had the others the same. And
I've got one of those plastic things you put down
the drain to bring up any hair, and there is
no hair or anything coming up when I do that.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
How far down can you get that? Andy? That zip strip.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
It's about it and a half long, I think.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah, I mean, can you get it down there? Fifteen
inches twenty inches or no.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
Probably fifteen inches, but not twenty.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Okay, so you can get it down there all the way.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
And yeah, yeah, the plastic thing with the barbs on them.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah yeah. So on the where's the other sink? Is
it on the other side of the wall? Does it
go into the same waistline?
Speaker 6 (15:06):
No, it's raighted next to each other, and the half
bath is on the other side of the house to
probably have its own vent pipe.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Right, Okay, Well I'll answer your question easily. Yeah, I'm
gonna guess it's not a bird's nest in the vent pipe,
but it could be. Okay, I think it's more likely
the way those things are set up is, you know,
you got to the side by side sinks and then
you got this other sink on the other side of
the house. It's not a problem. I get that. If
(15:35):
it's a vent pipe and it's going to that double sink.
When you put the water in there, you should almost
hear the bathtubble gurgle because it's trying to pull air.
If it's if that vent pipe has got a bird's
nest or something's impeding it, Chances are those pipes when
(15:57):
they come down and you got the trap and it
goes into the wall and then it joins the waistline.
There's a blockage in there. There's a blockage in there somewhere.
The zip or I call them zip strips. I have
the exact same setup as you have, and I have
to use that zip strip in mine. I'm gonna say
(16:19):
every five six months, and one of our sinks will
start running slow. Not both of them, but one of
them will, and I have to get that zip strip
in there and wiggle it and then go to the
other side of the stopper and get it down there
and wigle it and I take up very little, but
it starts flowing again. If it doesn't, I put down
(16:41):
a gez A not an acid drain cleaner, but an
enzyme drain cleaner. It's a powder or a liquid that's
mixed with water, and you pour it down there, let
it set overnight, and then flush it through the next morning,
and I'll usually open it up that way. Third chance,
(17:04):
if you rick. If there's one called master cam, there's
one called Draino. The draino itself even has a enzyme cleaner. Now,
don't use the acid, because the third attempt that we're
gonna do would be to take that trap off that
wall tube and run a snake.
Speaker 6 (17:23):
In it, right, That's what I was thinking too.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, so that would be the that'd be the you know,
the third step. But make sure you get in that
uh that zip it strip all the way around. I mean,
I use about probably five to seven passes in that drain,
and sometimes I'll I'll pull up stuff, and other times
there will just be little things and I won't think
(17:47):
I got it all, and I'll turn on the hot
water and I did get it.
Speaker 6 (17:52):
Yeah, yeah, I fell to sink up with hot water
and then pull a drain let it go down real fast, right,
But it doesn't go down real fast. That's the problem,
right right.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
You know that clean help.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
Enzyme cleaner, right, and DRAINO make it.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
DRAINO does make one.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Yes, sir, Okay, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
All right, you're quite welcome. Thank you, bye bye again.
Not to say it couldn't be a vent pipe. It
can be, but usually there's other telltale signs. I mean,
usually everything just on that one vent pipe will just
start working real slow. The toilet won't flush all the way,
the bathtub won't drain. But there's two ways to remove things,
(18:41):
and it's mechanically and chemically. And the one thing you
do not want to use. I emphasize this all the time.
He is so very important. Don't use an acid. And
I know, you know at the hardware store they'll have
shells of acids, they'll have shell of enzyme cleaners. But
(19:03):
if you pour acid down in that drain, remember the
next thing. If it doesn't unclog that, or if it
unclogs it for a little bit and then goes further
down the pipe and clogs it up, then you know
what the problem is. You got to take that trap
off and yep, that trap's gonna have acid in it.
So don't use that. You know, if you want to
try a small hand plunger, that's fine. Before don't use acid.
(19:27):
I'm not talking about that. But just now fill it
up with hot water and try a little hand plunger.
That's fine. Even have ones that attach to the air
raider and it's almost like a pressure washer for a drain.
That would work fine, but just be cautious. But those
little zip itt strips, I talk about them all the time.
They're longer than a foot, they're probably two feet long.
(19:49):
Got the little barbs, and if you really worked that
around that stopper down into that drain. I'm telling you
there's a good chance you will free it up, but
sometimes you got to get the old snake out and
just route that thing out. So I'll leave you with
that thought. Firewood and burning the fireplace, using the fireplace.
(20:10):
Hopefully we're finished that. So now it's time to focus
a little bit on the maintenance of it and what
needs to be done and what can structurally be wrong
with the chimney. And that's where we're going to cover next.
Clark from the Chimney Care Company will be joining me
right here. You're at home with Gary Sullivan on fifty
five care see de talk station. Well you're at home
(20:34):
with Gary Salvin as we continue to work our way
through the weekend. And well, I'll tell you what it's like.
We can't put you know, early spring or winter to
bed this year. But I think for the most part
most of us have shut down the fireplace for the season.
So maybe we got to start changing our vision to
(20:54):
more maintenance and repair. So joining me now is Clark
Key is with the Chimney Care Company right up in Leveland,
Ohio on Ward's Corner Road. And Clark, welcome to a
home with Gary Salvin. How you doing, I'm doing well.
How are you, dude? Good? Good? So tell me a
little bit about the Chimney Care Company. I've been talking
about them, I guess probably for twenty five or thirty years.
(21:16):
But tell our listeners a little bit about the Chimney Care.
Speaker 6 (21:19):
Company, right right, Well, yep.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We've been servicing the greater Cincinnati area since since nineteen
eighty eight. We do anything from fireplace maintenance to installing woodstoves,
servicing gas fireplaces, and we also do a lot of
a lot of exterior brickwork and stuff like that about
(21:45):
this time of year.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Okay, soll I think that's kind of what I want
to focus on. Like I said, for the most part,
I'm going to assume fire season's over. But the way
this weather's been, you never knows, right early weak, that's
for sure. So all the rain this year, I know
I've had a few calls. You've probably had a lot
(22:07):
of calls. A lot of times. We start developing leaks
inside our home, and of course chimney around the chimney,
the chimney itself, that can be not the cause, but
that can be the transportation method for rain. Are you
getting a lot of calls on problems with moisture getting
into homes through the chimney and what's causing that.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean especially we've had near record
rainfall earlier this spring, so we've gotten a lot of
calls about people having water come in. A lot of
the time, we're not the first industry that people think
of to reach out to when they have water issues.
They think about roofing and stuff like that. But what
(22:55):
people don't realize is how porous brickwork actually is. And
when you have a chimney that's just usually a four
sided structure completely exposed to the elements, they can basically
turn into a sponge. So a lot of what we've
been experiencing is people saying, you know, I moved into
(23:17):
this house, you know, a few years ago, five, ten
years ago, whatever, I've never had water issues before. But
with the amount of rain that's been happening, we've had
a lot of people calling in saying, yeah, water. You know,
the more rains, the more water starts coming in, whether
it be you know, upstairs above where their fireplace is
(23:37):
against the dry wall, or more common than that, all
the way down in the basement. It kind of depends
on how the chimney's actually constructed. Yeah, but yeah, that's
caused us to come out to a lot of houses
to assess for stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And I think, you know, the chimney is the great unknown.
I mean, not many homeowners are going to climb up
on the roof to inspect their chimney. I've reckoned many
people stand in their front yard or backyard with a
pair of binoculars and just kind of, you know, give
a little viewing of the chimney. If you start at
the top of the chimney, there's many entry points for moisture,
(24:13):
for water, and I guess we could start out at
the crown. Is that the number one? Number two, number three?
How's that stack up a lot of times? Crowns, I
guess cracks in just like a sidewalk would.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Right, Yeah, I would say that crowns are the number
one thing that we repair or replaced the vast majority
of houses. As they lay brickwork going up to the
top of the chimney where they're going to pour that
masonry slab, the bricklayers will just use whatever mortar they
(24:49):
were laying the brick with at the top of that chimney,
and as you have a flu that's cutting through that
mortar slab at the top, we're home owners will see
their actual chimney cap up there. A lot of the time.
There's almost never an expansion joint around there. So I've
seen houses built, you know, two three years ago that
(25:11):
have pretty substantial cracking right at the very top of
the chimney. So that's a big thing that we've been
replacing a lot of.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So on a normal crown, is it usually mortar that
is there or is it more like a sand mix
type of concrete?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It is usually mortar. The actual NFPA guidelines that we
use that kind of help us determine if something is
correct on a chimney state that it is supposed to
be concrete. I have yet to see a house, new construction, whatever,
(25:50):
that was actually built with a poured concrete crown. They
always use mortar. And the reason you're supposed to use
concrete is is way less likely to absorb.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Water, crack, more dense cell.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
When we're replacing crowns, we always replace them with concrete.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Sure, sure, when you said you had a choice of
repair or replacement, I guess if it's just a cracked
you coat or waterproof the top of that. Explain that
to me a little bit.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Right, So that kind of depends on the client's needs. Really,
the only permanent solution when we see cracking like that
in a crown is to remove it and pour what
we would call an extended edge concrete crown where we
actually put forms up there. We poured concrete, so it's
(26:44):
actually overhanging that top course of brickwork. A lot of
the times, a lot of the times people aren't prepared
to do a repair quite that extensive. There are flexible
coatings that we can use as a bit of a
stop app but that's almost always this second option that.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
We Okay, so that's kind of a fallback plan. So
when you do a crown, you put a reveal on
it or or not? Does it extend over the brick work?
I guess what I'm asking.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yes, yes, okay, Usually it'll actually overhang that top course
of brick by one to two inches. Well, shed water
away from the brick work.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, that's that's that's not everybody does that, So hats
off to you guys. It's chimney carric on me, that's
for sure. As we kind of work our way down.
I guess cracked brick, missing mortar. When you do inspections
that people house house homes, you focus in on that also.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Correct absolutely, so yeah, this is a question of how
severe is the cracking in the brick work itself. We've
been doing it feel like this season a lot of
partial or full rebuilds. It just depends on how some
of viear that cracking is. That is an area where
(28:08):
if there's minor cracking, we actually probably would recommend some
specialized sealers to help arrest that damage. But if it's
bad enough, we will basically tear down and rebuild the chimney.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I wonder if that has anything to do with the
drought that we had last summer and fall and then
the really wet spring with all the clay.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Right, yeah, it definitely could, I.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Right, right, right, So coming down the chimney so you
can take care of the crown, you can repair or replace,
and take care of the brick and mortar repair or replace.
And I guess the last thing down at the bottom
is the flashing. And most people look at flashing, they
have no idea what it's doing, and it's kind of
maybe explain that and what kind of damage you see
(28:56):
around the flashing of a chimney to the roof.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Right, So, first off, I think that most people assume
if they're getting water in around the chimney, they immediately
go to it must be a flashing problem. In reality,
it usually is not a flashing problem. It's usually an
issue with the masonry. When there is an issue with
(29:20):
the flashing that is actually causing water to enter the house,
it is usually just because it is very old. Even
a little pin hole rusted and flashing can cause a
substantial amount of water to enter the house. Its usually
kind of what we're looking for like that, And.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I'm sure you're also looking for rusted flashing and so
that down the road we don't end up with pinholes.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Right right, Yeah, And it just depends on how bad
that rust is whether or not we'll recommend reflashing the
chimney or just coating it with something. I mean, it
takes a lot for flashing to actually rust and develop.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Holes, right right, Always good idea to keep your eye
on it, that's for sure. Well, I know, as people
call the chimney care company, I'm sure a lot of
your repairs, at least in the past when I've spoke
with you, a lot of the repairs were you know,
it's summer in early falls repair business, and then it's
get your chimney ready for next year business. And let's
(30:27):
let's have a discussion about that. Will take a break first,
Clark from the Chimney Care Company is joining me. We'll continue.
You're at home with Gary Salvyn right here on fifty
five care see detalk station. Well back at it. We
go at home with Gary Salvin. Joining me today is
Clark is with the Chimney Care Company. We're talking about
given the chimney of your home a physical You know,
(30:47):
we're trying to keep water out of our home. Water
is your number one enemy. We've covered the outside Clark
at the Chimney Care Company, I'm sure, in fact, I
know you have certified chimney sweeps, and the inside the
chimney is in important also. And really now during the
summer is a great time to do that.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Oh yes, absolutely. I like to stress the people that
now that it's getting warmer, we aren't really thinking about
using our fireplaces especially, but now would be the time
to think about that. If we come out and do
inspections and things like that, and we if we find issues,
(31:32):
we would like to be able to address them before
you want to actually use the fireplace when it starts
getting colder.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Yeah. And you also you have video capabilities of showing
people if there is a problem. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
That is correct. Every single evaluation we do of a
fireplace system, we inspect from the interior with a camera system.
That is really the only way we can find any
potential issues. It's basically impossible to just look down a
flu and assess whether or not it is intact.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, from us consumers benefit, it is great
benefits also because the consumer can see what the problem is.
There's you know, it's pretty transparent and straightforward, and I
like that. I know you've got to You've got a
motivation factor here for the chimney cleaning and inspection too.
(32:33):
You've got a special price going on.
Speaker 7 (32:35):
Right now, that's right, yep, we are offering fifty dollars
off of our regular suite and evaluation, so right now
it is one hundred.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
And sixty nine dollars. I am basically doing that to
really try and encourage people sure to have their fireplaces
looked at while it's warm. Well, before or Thanksgiving or
Christmas come around and they decide they want to use
it when they have family over.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Well, there's no question about it. I think that's just
a great idea. And I've always, you know, always have
my to do list each and every weekend and get
people to pay attention of what needs maintenance work or
things you need to have checked out. And during the summertime,
I'm always talking about chimneys. I know it's not fireplace season,
(33:27):
but it's a great time to get it inspected. So
that's one hundred and sixty nine nine fifty bucks off.
And how do they get a hold of the Chimney
Care Company.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So we have a website that people can visit Chimney.
If you just google Chimney Care Company, it will come up.
You can call us at five one three, two four
eight ninety six hundred. All you have to do is
reach out to us and then our office staff are great.
They'll they'll prompt people with questions to figure out exactly
(34:00):
which service would be the best for them.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah, I got another question. I know spring or spring
and summer is probably the biggest real estate time people
seem to hold on to their homes. Till spring or
summer and schools out and I get into home inspections
and things like that. I know some home inspectors they
pay attention to the chimney, but I always I always
(34:25):
cringe on some myself. Just bout a house and I'm
building my first fire and I'm going, do you have
that chimney inspected? No? Do I need to? Yeah? Tell
me about when you have a home inspected is a
how good is a home inspector and looking at the
chimney I guess it's the easiest way to do it
or how in depth do they go?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Right? So most of the time, and home inspectors will
tell you this often in the report that they provide
to a buyer or a seller. They do very very
surface level looks at a fireplace and chimney system, if
they even look at it at all. Often there will
(35:08):
be a note under fireplace the fireplace section of the
report that says, I recommend contacting a qualified professional to
inspect the fireplace. They're just really not They're not geared
up to be able to go in depth on every
single specific minutia of a house.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
So yeah, yeah, because I always worry about you know,
somebody just buys a house and here there's a liner
that's cracked in the chimney, and I don't know if
a home inspector picks that up or not. But you know,
if you're using cameras, I don't know if they use
cameras or not. So I you know.
Speaker 6 (35:47):
There right right.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
I've never known a home inspector to scan the inside
of the chimney, and even if they did, they're not
exactly trained to be able to assess good integrity.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Of the So if somebody's just bought a house, so
they're gonna buy a house, do you have any levels
of inspections or anything.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Like that, yes, So the levels of inspection are determined
by the national standards, the NFPA two eleven, So there's
a level one inspection and a level two inspection. The
NFPA actually requires that a level two inspection is performed
(36:28):
during the transfer of a property. So during a level
one inspection, we as a company include running the video
camera as a level one inspection, that's actually not required.
So a level one inspection is basically whatever you can
see wrong just visually with your own eyes. It doesn't
actually even technically require using a ladder to get on
(36:51):
a roof. So with the Level two inspection, we are
going in the carall space if there is one, or
the basement to see what's going on underneath the chimney system.
We're getting on the roof to look at everything above
the gutter line. We're getting in the attic to see
if there's any clearance to combustibles issues up there. We're
(37:15):
running the camera as we always do, so it's just
a much more in depth look at the entire system.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
I got that. That's good stuff. I mean, you guys
are the experts. You know, you got certified chimney sweeps
out on the site. They're looking, they're cleaning, switching gears
a little bit. We got a lot of modular fireplaces
or gas stoves. Do those need to be inspected also?
Speaker 6 (37:42):
Yes, So.
Speaker 8 (37:44):
It's I describe it to people how they have their
gas furnace inspected annually or tuned up annually. It is
basically the same exact recommendation. Every manufacturer recommends that basically
every appliance be inspected annually. Parks do go bad, and
(38:05):
you don't really want that happening.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
In the middle of winter when we are booked way out,
so it's always recommended that that service be done, you know,
when you're not using the gas fireplace like like you
would with your guest furnace.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Now, so you guys are the experts, you're out in
the field, you're making these repairs you're inspecting. Do you
sell any fireplaces at all?
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Yes, Yes, we sell any type of hearth appliance or fireplace.
We have a showroom on Ward's Corner Road. We have
a good variety of anything from wood stoves to vent
free gas logs. So we saw a lot of appliances
like that and do the installations ourselves.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
So is woodburning stoves coming back into vogue? I know
we went from wood stoves to guests those, we went
pellet stoves. I know you sell all of those. But
is wood kind of the stronghold again or is it?
How's that stacking up sales wise?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
It's kind of hard to say right now that gas
is gas. Yeah, I think gas fireplaces are probably sales
wise doing better than wood, but I don't really have
anything other than intuition to go. Yeah, I kind of
think that in the next few months it'll switch back
(39:31):
to wood. The predominant sales well have to do with
how the summer.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Is energy too, you know the cost of energy, and
you know they got some neat looking fireplaces, wall fireplaces
and everything. That whole business is just just huge anymore.
And the bottom line though, in a lot of cases,
it all still comes down to that chimney and how
important it is for the safety of your family and
your house to have that thing inspected.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
That's the key, right and and that's something I stress
to the rest of the technicians here is you know
you're out in the field, Sure you calk in to
go to work, but really in the back of your
mind has to be all the time you're in someone's
house and determine if their fireplace is safe.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Yeah, no question.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
That is the number one thing that we stressed to
our technicians, making sure things are safe.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
So the phone number is five one, three, two four
eight ninety six hundred. It's the Chimney Care Company. And uh,
that wasn't so bad. I mean they having an interview
about things you do all the time. Everybody stressed out.
I'm taken to myself. I said, you do this stuff
all the time, and you were great, and thank you
(40:48):
so much for joining us today. I appreciate it great,
Thank you, Uh huh, thanks Clark. All right again, it's
uh Clark from the Chimney Care Company, and the website
is Chimney Care Company and or google Chimney Care Company.
Give him a call at five one three two four
eight ninety six hundred. Don't pass up this opportunity. Get
(41:09):
that thing inspected this summer. We all right, Well, another
weekend taking your calls. I certainly appreciate you joining good
Lord Willing back next weekend for more at Home with
Gary Sullivan
The best time of the day. I'm going to say,
good afternoon. Welcome nowur number four. You're at home with
Gary Salvan. This I was brought to you by Kissed
the Electric. Be prepared for the next power outage with
a generak home standby generator. It's Kissed Electric, that's who
I recommend. It's five one three, seven three eight thirty
four zero one. It's ki Stelectric dot Com. And in fact,
(00:29):
we have a little power failure today and the uh
the generator kicked on in the iHeart studios. Yeah, but
we just kept running and running. Yeah. It was out
for an hour and a half, not two hours. Two hours? Yeah, yeah, cool.
All right, let's get back to the phone calls. What
do you say. Let's go to Beth. Beth.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Welcome either Gary, I'm to talk with you.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I just want to encourage people that are listening to
keep a record a file what I do, a file
of home improvements labels from products. When I had the
roof redone, the owner was the one that.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Gave us the estimate.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
But guess what he was. He was out and about
and didn't answer his phone when the guys were doing
the roofing. So I went out and took pictures of
each of the I guess you call them squares of shingles,
so that I would have those on hand should something
go wrong, I would have the product, the you know,
exact number, and all that sort of thing, and kept
(01:32):
all that. But really a file with receipts, even pictures
of receipts if you're more tech savvy than me. And
I don't quite know how to put them in a
file in my phone or anything yet, but it really
can make a difference. You'll know what brand of paint
you bought, what sure, you know what the date was.
It's so funny, how three years can you think it's
(01:53):
only three years but it's ten or whatever. I have
My husband has an aunt that when she was in
her eighties, she's so oh, she's so sharp. She's about
to turn one hundred this year, but she's so sharp.
She had kept track of all of the furniture purchases,
all that sort of thing, receipts, and when she had
water in the place where she was living, she was
(02:14):
able to present all that to the people who's assisted living,
I believe, and she was fully reimbursed for everything because
she had proof of everything. Yeah, so it really pays
to pay attention and know.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Sure, I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I have courage.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, I have a folder and it's got as many receipts.
In fact, I had a refriger It was twenty six
years old and it died a slow and painful death
last year. But it was really nice because iride. Yeah,
I could literally we talked about it. I could shop
from home because I knew all the dimensions. I knew
(02:54):
the type, I knew the model number. And it does
make life, no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It surely does help, and it will help a lot
of your listeners because we're all in this together, trying
to learn what works best, how to survive the system,
that sort of thing, and gosh, if it can help
a few people, that will make a difference.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Very good Beth, Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Pleasure to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Sank take care, Bye bye, and we go to John.
John Welcome, good morning, morning.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I have a good morning. I have a royal plastic
shed that I constructed from a kit back in twenty eleven,
and I love the thing. It seems to be made
out of probably PBC and it's very sturdy, heavy construction, spacious.
The doors are nice. But the one problem I have
(03:50):
with it is that every summer it gets a build
up of some sort of algae or crud on the roof.
And so about what here, I have to get some
chlorox and oxy clean and a brush and scrub the
roof of this thing to get this stuff off. And
I'm wondering if there's some product you could suggest that
(04:12):
I could spray on there that would prevent the build up.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Well, no, it's mother nature. Mother nature is going to win.
But but I can make it easier to get it
off than what you're going through right now. So there's
a product. It's called Wet and Forget, and they make
an exterior Wet and Forget that comes in a gallon
(04:38):
jug that is a concentrate, and they come they also
have a bottle that you just connect to the hose
and spray it onto the surface. It will kill fungus, algae, molds, mildew, lichen,
and you spray it on just like it says, you
(04:59):
wet it and you forget it, and in about six
weeks it'll be clean and it will be a complete
kill of the fungus and the algae. So it will
keep it clean for about a year or two because
it's a complete kill. Bleach is not a complete kill.
(05:21):
It'll it'll, it'll, it'll uh, it'll make it look clean,
but it'll grow. It'll grow right back, probably within a year,
and so you get an extra year out of this.
And the best way to do is get the wet
and forget and just spread it every spring and you'll
never see algae on that again.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
So it works prophylactively as well as shall we say, therapeutically.
If it's correct, the crud help remove it, and if
his crud's not there, it will.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Tend to prevent it.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
That is correct.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
So it comes in you say, a gollon for.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, and I don't know how big it is, but
they make several products. They make probably fifteen products now,
but the one you're looking for is WIT and Forget
outdoor cleaner. They make it in a gallon concentrate and
they make it in a also a container where you
just attach it to a hose and spray it on,
(06:25):
which makes it very easy. They also make it ready
to use like cork bottle. If you had a small
brick window sill to do or something like that.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Uh huh, Okay, well, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
You're quite welcome. Take care, thank you. Yeah, that'll take
care of the job, that's for sure. Be perfect and
Mary welcome.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Hi Harry today, doing fine.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Thanks.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I'm talking about the water softener. You suggested the water
softener for the whole house system.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Uh huh.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
But I just wanted to point out it's probably the
right approach for the guy if he's got limestone issues,
but there are whole house systems that deal with all
kinds of other stuff without having to deal with water softener.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah. I think he wanted both though, so and there
may be a combination one that I'm not familiar with.
But he was talking how important he was talking about
both things, and I just wanted to make sure that
he knew he was talking about not just the water
softener and not just the reverse osmosis, because he's talking
(07:41):
about taking chemicals out like leads and you know, fluorides
and chlorines, and he was also talking about, you know,
good for your clothing, good for your skin, which is
strictly softening water. And they make I don't know, they
may make a common.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Familiar they make you can buy even on Amazon, the
way you can buy everything on Amazon, but you can
buy a series of and install it yourself, a series
of filters and put the kind of filters in each
canister that you need for your situation. So you need
(08:25):
to know what you're trying to filter out, but you
can buy. In my situation, I'm talking about a cistern water,
so I'm collecting water from the roof, so I have
no hard water situation, but I want to in fact,
I want to get all the leaf particles in, any
of the bacteria and stuff, right, you know, the bird
(08:48):
droppings or whatever. Sure so, and also deal with the
possibility of having chlorinated water trucked into my cistern times.
So you can buy stuff to take out all those
different things. And then a dechlorinator, which I think is
(09:09):
very important if you've got city water and the chlorine
that's in the water. In his situation, that might be
important to him. Yeah, I think I have carbon filter
to take out the chlorine.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Right, So what you're to identify exactly.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
What you're trying to do, and they will try to
sell you a water softener regardless of what your situation is,
but which may be the right thing for him, but
it's not always necessary to have a water sopping well.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, and so he was from Louisville, Kentucky. So Louisville,
Kentucky has plenty of hard water. In different parts of
the Greater Cincinnati area has really really hard water too.
And that's really what I was trying to emphasize to
him is you know, he started out the conversation and said,
I've had cancer and I want to you know, I
(10:07):
want to get rid of you know, I thought right away,
he wants to get rid of the chlorine. He wants
to get rid of the lead. That's that's where he
was focusing in on. And then so I started talking
to him about the reverse osmosis. And you're right, there's
filters for all kinds of things. I mean, you know,
there's even iron oxide filters if you have wells and
things like that. And you know, I said, if you remember,
(10:30):
I said, you can even start with a Brita, right,
and just you know, filter your water that way you
can go. Yeah, you can go from A to Z
with no problem at all. And then he laid on,
you know, and it'll really soften my clothes and it
will be good for my skin. I go, well, hold on,
now that's something else.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
And that's what I told him. I said, you really.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Needs and let him tackle each one of those things.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You're so right lection and.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
Then if it's cost too much, then you decide what's
important to worry about.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
That's exactly right. Yeah, you got to start with a test.
In fact, I encourage a lot of homers when I'll
get asked that question a lot, just with friends and
things like and I'll say, well, what's the problem, and
They'll say, well, I don't know. I you know. I said,
that's the problem. You don't know. You can't do anything.
You can't make really any decision until you know what's
(11:27):
in the wall.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
It's just like your body. Don't start taking a bunch
of pills until you know what what's wrong with you.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, we're on the same page, so thank you.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Okay, And I got one more other statement. Are you
still looking for electric mower feedback?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Sure? I'm always looking for feedback on I just figured
that would be very important this time of year.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yeah, so I bought I bought an electric mower several
years ago when my treasured gas mower bit the dust
and it failed on me. It was great for malting
up leaves. So I bought the electric mower and it
was terrible for malting up leaves. But somebody managed to
(12:19):
fix my gas mower. I malted the leaves in the
fall with that gas mower. But the electric mower is
so light, it's so easy to use, does a great
job and mowing the grass, and it is. It is
just I have a a terrain, you know, with some
(12:43):
hills and right, so you can get around all the
trees and the hills and the Oh it's so easy.
So it can't that benefit. But I don't recommend it
for leaf yep, so leave it doesn't do a good job.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
All right, Mary, thank you very much. I got a scoot,
make a break and then get back to the calls.
And we're also going to talk about your chimney. Yeah,
that's right. That needs maintenance tow and it's a good
time year to do that. We'll have our friend in
from the chimney care company. You're at home with Gary
Salvan right here on fifty five care see de talk station.
(13:26):
All right, back here it we go, and let's see
twelve twenty three. You're at home with Gary salvn. Let's
get back to the phones and we have Andy. Andy.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Welcome, hello there, late, love your show.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
When I shave in the morning, I fill up the
basin with water. When I drain it, it goes real slow.
Now I have a sink in the half path. I
tried this with the sink, and the half path I
filled it up with water, went down real fast. I'm
thinking maybe there's a bird snack in the vent pipe
on the roof. What's your day?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I'll tell you what I think it is. I think
it's just that one sink, and I think it's the
one you know, you you use a little or more
than the other one.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
I don't want to, I don't want to interrupt you.
But it's a double sink. My wife has one side,
of course, and I had the others the same. And
I've got one of those plastic things you put down
the drain to bring up any hair, and there is
no hair or anything coming up when I do that.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
How far down can you get that? Andy? That zip strip.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
It's about it and a half long, I think.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah, I mean, can you get it down there? Fifteen
inches twenty inches or no.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
Probably fifteen inches, but not twenty.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Okay, so you can get it down there all the way.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
And yeah, yeah, the plastic thing with the barbs on them.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah yeah. So on the where's the other sink? Is
it on the other side of the wall? Does it
go into the same waistline?
Speaker 6 (15:06):
No, it's raighted next to each other, and the half
bath is on the other side of the house to
probably have its own vent pipe.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Right, Okay, Well I'll answer your question easily. Yeah, I'm
gonna guess it's not a bird's nest in the vent pipe,
but it could be. Okay, I think it's more likely
the way those things are set up is, you know,
you got to the side by side sinks and then
you got this other sink on the other side of
the house. It's not a problem. I get that. If
(15:35):
it's a vent pipe and it's going to that double sink.
When you put the water in there, you should almost
hear the bathtubble gurgle because it's trying to pull air.
If it's if that vent pipe has got a bird's
nest or something's impeding it, Chances are those pipes when
(15:57):
they come down and you got the trap and it
goes into the wall and then it joins the waistline.
There's a blockage in there. There's a blockage in there somewhere.
The zip or I call them zip strips. I have
the exact same setup as you have, and I have
to use that zip strip in mine. I'm gonna say
(16:19):
every five six months, and one of our sinks will
start running slow. Not both of them, but one of
them will, and I have to get that zip strip
in there and wiggle it and then go to the
other side of the stopper and get it down there
and wigle it and I take up very little, but
it starts flowing again. If it doesn't, I put down
(16:41):
a gez A not an acid drain cleaner, but an
enzyme drain cleaner. It's a powder or a liquid that's
mixed with water, and you pour it down there, let
it set overnight, and then flush it through the next morning,
and I'll usually open it up that way. Third chance,
(17:04):
if you rick. If there's one called master cam, there's
one called Draino. The draino itself even has a enzyme cleaner. Now,
don't use the acid, because the third attempt that we're
gonna do would be to take that trap off that
wall tube and run a snake.
Speaker 6 (17:23):
In it, right, That's what I was thinking too.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, so that would be the that'd be the you know,
the third step. But make sure you get in that
uh that zip it strip all the way around. I mean,
I use about probably five to seven passes in that drain,
and sometimes I'll I'll pull up stuff, and other times
there will just be little things and I won't think
(17:47):
I got it all, and I'll turn on the hot
water and I did get it.
Speaker 6 (17:52):
Yeah, yeah, I fell to sink up with hot water
and then pull a drain let it go down real fast, right,
But it doesn't go down real fast. That's the problem,
right right.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
You know that clean help.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
Enzyme cleaner, right, and DRAINO make it.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
DRAINO does make one.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Yes, sir, Okay, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
All right, you're quite welcome. Thank you, bye bye again.
Not to say it couldn't be a vent pipe. It
can be, but usually there's other telltale signs. I mean,
usually everything just on that one vent pipe will just
start working real slow. The toilet won't flush all the way,
the bathtub won't drain. But there's two ways to remove things,
(18:41):
and it's mechanically and chemically. And the one thing you
do not want to use. I emphasize this all the time.
He is so very important. Don't use an acid. And
I know, you know at the hardware store they'll have
shells of acids, they'll have shell of enzyme cleaners. But
(19:03):
if you pour acid down in that drain, remember the
next thing. If it doesn't unclog that, or if it
unclogs it for a little bit and then goes further
down the pipe and clogs it up, then you know
what the problem is. You got to take that trap
off and yep, that trap's gonna have acid in it.
So don't use that. You know, if you want to
try a small hand plunger, that's fine. Before don't use acid.
(19:27):
I'm not talking about that. But just now fill it
up with hot water and try a little hand plunger.
That's fine. Even have ones that attach to the air
raider and it's almost like a pressure washer for a drain.
That would work fine, but just be cautious. But those
little zip itt strips, I talk about them all the time.
They're longer than a foot, they're probably two feet long.
(19:49):
Got the little barbs, and if you really worked that
around that stopper down into that drain. I'm telling you
there's a good chance you will free it up, but
sometimes you got to get the old snake out and
just route that thing out. So I'll leave you with
that thought. Firewood and burning the fireplace, using the fireplace.
(20:10):
Hopefully we're finished that. So now it's time to focus
a little bit on the maintenance of it and what
needs to be done and what can structurally be wrong
with the chimney. And that's where we're going to cover next.
Clark from the Chimney Care Company will be joining me
right here. You're at home with Gary Sullivan on fifty
five care see de talk station. Well you're at home
(20:34):
with Gary Salvin as we continue to work our way
through the weekend. And well, I'll tell you what it's like.
We can't put you know, early spring or winter to
bed this year. But I think for the most part
most of us have shut down the fireplace for the season.
So maybe we got to start changing our vision to
(20:54):
more maintenance and repair. So joining me now is Clark
Key is with the Chimney Care Company right up in Leveland,
Ohio on Ward's Corner Road. And Clark, welcome to a
home with Gary Salvin. How you doing, I'm doing well.
How are you, dude? Good? Good? So tell me a
little bit about the Chimney Care Company. I've been talking
about them, I guess probably for twenty five or thirty years.
(21:16):
But tell our listeners a little bit about the Chimney Care.
Speaker 6 (21:19):
Company, right right, Well, yep.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We've been servicing the greater Cincinnati area since since nineteen
eighty eight. We do anything from fireplace maintenance to installing woodstoves,
servicing gas fireplaces, and we also do a lot of
a lot of exterior brickwork and stuff like that about
(21:45):
this time of year.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Okay, soll I think that's kind of what I want
to focus on. Like I said, for the most part,
I'm going to assume fire season's over. But the way
this weather's been, you never knows, right early weak, that's
for sure. So all the rain this year, I know
I've had a few calls. You've probably had a lot
(22:07):
of calls. A lot of times. We start developing leaks
inside our home, and of course chimney around the chimney,
the chimney itself, that can be not the cause, but
that can be the transportation method for rain. Are you
getting a lot of calls on problems with moisture getting
into homes through the chimney and what's causing that.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean especially we've had near record
rainfall earlier this spring, so we've gotten a lot of
calls about people having water come in. A lot of
the time, we're not the first industry that people think
of to reach out to when they have water issues.
They think about roofing and stuff like that. But what
(22:55):
people don't realize is how porous brickwork actually is. And
when you have a chimney that's just usually a four
sided structure completely exposed to the elements, they can basically
turn into a sponge. So a lot of what we've
been experiencing is people saying, you know, I moved into
(23:17):
this house, you know, a few years ago, five, ten
years ago, whatever, I've never had water issues before. But
with the amount of rain that's been happening, we've had
a lot of people calling in saying, yeah, water. You know,
the more rains, the more water starts coming in, whether
it be you know, upstairs above where their fireplace is
(23:37):
against the dry wall, or more common than that, all
the way down in the basement. It kind of depends
on how the chimney's actually constructed. Yeah, but yeah, that's
caused us to come out to a lot of houses
to assess for stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And I think, you know, the chimney is the great unknown.
I mean, not many homeowners are going to climb up
on the roof to inspect their chimney. I've reckoned many
people stand in their front yard or backyard with a
pair of binoculars and just kind of, you know, give
a little viewing of the chimney. If you start at
the top of the chimney, there's many entry points for moisture,
(24:13):
for water, and I guess we could start out at
the crown. Is that the number one? Number two, number three?
How's that stack up a lot of times? Crowns, I
guess cracks in just like a sidewalk would.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Right, Yeah, I would say that crowns are the number
one thing that we repair or replaced the vast majority
of houses. As they lay brickwork going up to the
top of the chimney where they're going to pour that
masonry slab, the bricklayers will just use whatever mortar they
(24:49):
were laying the brick with at the top of that chimney,
and as you have a flu that's cutting through that
mortar slab at the top, we're home owners will see
their actual chimney cap up there. A lot of the time.
There's almost never an expansion joint around there. So I've
seen houses built, you know, two three years ago that
(25:11):
have pretty substantial cracking right at the very top of
the chimney. So that's a big thing that we've been
replacing a lot of.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So on a normal crown, is it usually mortar that
is there or is it more like a sand mix
type of concrete?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It is usually mortar. The actual NFPA guidelines that we
use that kind of help us determine if something is
correct on a chimney state that it is supposed to
be concrete. I have yet to see a house, new construction, whatever,
(25:50):
that was actually built with a poured concrete crown. They
always use mortar. And the reason you're supposed to use
concrete is is way less likely to absorb.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Water, crack, more dense cell.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
When we're replacing crowns, we always replace them with concrete.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Sure, sure, when you said you had a choice of
repair or replacement, I guess if it's just a cracked
you coat or waterproof the top of that. Explain that
to me a little bit.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Right, So that kind of depends on the client's needs. Really,
the only permanent solution when we see cracking like that
in a crown is to remove it and pour what
we would call an extended edge concrete crown where we
actually put forms up there. We poured concrete, so it's
(26:44):
actually overhanging that top course of brickwork. A lot of
the times, a lot of the times people aren't prepared
to do a repair quite that extensive. There are flexible
coatings that we can use as a bit of a
stop app but that's almost always this second option that.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
We Okay, so that's kind of a fallback plan. So
when you do a crown, you put a reveal on
it or or not? Does it extend over the brick work?
I guess what I'm asking.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yes, yes, okay, Usually it'll actually overhang that top course
of brick by one to two inches. Well, shed water
away from the brick work.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, that's that's that's not everybody does that, So hats
off to you guys. It's chimney carric on me, that's
for sure. As we kind of work our way down.
I guess cracked brick, missing mortar. When you do inspections
that people house house homes, you focus in on that also.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Correct absolutely, so yeah, this is a question of how
severe is the cracking in the brick work itself. We've
been doing it feel like this season a lot of
partial or full rebuilds. It just depends on how some
of viear that cracking is. That is an area where
(28:08):
if there's minor cracking, we actually probably would recommend some
specialized sealers to help arrest that damage. But if it's
bad enough, we will basically tear down and rebuild the chimney.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I wonder if that has anything to do with the
drought that we had last summer and fall and then
the really wet spring with all the clay.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Right, yeah, it definitely could, I.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Right, right, right, So coming down the chimney so you
can take care of the crown, you can repair or replace,
and take care of the brick and mortar repair or replace.
And I guess the last thing down at the bottom
is the flashing. And most people look at flashing, they
have no idea what it's doing, and it's kind of
maybe explain that and what kind of damage you see
(28:56):
around the flashing of a chimney to the roof.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Right, So, first off, I think that most people assume
if they're getting water in around the chimney, they immediately
go to it must be a flashing problem. In reality,
it usually is not a flashing problem. It's usually an
issue with the masonry. When there is an issue with
(29:20):
the flashing that is actually causing water to enter the house,
it is usually just because it is very old. Even
a little pin hole rusted and flashing can cause a
substantial amount of water to enter the house. Its usually
kind of what we're looking for like that, And.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I'm sure you're also looking for rusted flashing and so
that down the road we don't end up with pinholes.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Right right, Yeah, And it just depends on how bad
that rust is whether or not we'll recommend reflashing the
chimney or just coating it with something. I mean, it
takes a lot for flashing to actually rust and develop.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Holes, right right, Always good idea to keep your eye
on it, that's for sure. Well, I know, as people
call the chimney care company, I'm sure a lot of
your repairs, at least in the past when I've spoke
with you, a lot of the repairs were you know,
it's summer in early falls repair business, and then it's
get your chimney ready for next year business. And let's
(30:27):
let's have a discussion about that. Will take a break first,
Clark from the Chimney Care Company is joining me. We'll continue.
You're at home with Gary Salvyn right here on fifty
five care see detalk station. Well back at it. We
go at home with Gary Salvin. Joining me today is
Clark is with the Chimney Care Company. We're talking about
given the chimney of your home a physical You know,
(30:47):
we're trying to keep water out of our home. Water
is your number one enemy. We've covered the outside Clark
at the Chimney Care Company, I'm sure, in fact, I
know you have certified chimney sweeps, and the inside the
chimney is in important also. And really now during the
summer is a great time to do that.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Oh yes, absolutely. I like to stress the people that
now that it's getting warmer, we aren't really thinking about
using our fireplaces especially, but now would be the time
to think about that. If we come out and do
inspections and things like that, and we if we find issues,
(31:32):
we would like to be able to address them before
you want to actually use the fireplace when it starts
getting colder.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Yeah. And you also you have video capabilities of showing
people if there is a problem. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
That is correct. Every single evaluation we do of a
fireplace system, we inspect from the interior with a camera system.
That is really the only way we can find any
potential issues. It's basically impossible to just look down a
flu and assess whether or not it is intact.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, from us consumers benefit, it is great
benefits also because the consumer can see what the problem is.
There's you know, it's pretty transparent and straightforward, and I
like that. I know you've got to You've got a
motivation factor here for the chimney cleaning and inspection too.
(32:33):
You've got a special price going on.
Speaker 7 (32:35):
Right now, that's right, yep, we are offering fifty dollars
off of our regular suite and evaluation, so right now
it is one hundred.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
And sixty nine dollars. I am basically doing that to
really try and encourage people sure to have their fireplaces
looked at while it's warm. Well, before or Thanksgiving or
Christmas come around and they decide they want to use
it when they have family over.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Well, there's no question about it. I think that's just
a great idea. And I've always, you know, always have
my to do list each and every weekend and get
people to pay attention of what needs maintenance work or
things you need to have checked out. And during the summertime,
I'm always talking about chimneys. I know it's not fireplace season,
(33:27):
but it's a great time to get it inspected. So
that's one hundred and sixty nine nine fifty bucks off.
And how do they get a hold of the Chimney
Care Company.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So we have a website that people can visit Chimney.
If you just google Chimney Care Company, it will come up.
You can call us at five one three, two four
eight ninety six hundred. All you have to do is
reach out to us and then our office staff are great.
They'll they'll prompt people with questions to figure out exactly
(34:00):
which service would be the best for them.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah, I got another question. I know spring or spring
and summer is probably the biggest real estate time people
seem to hold on to their homes. Till spring or
summer and schools out and I get into home inspections
and things like that. I know some home inspectors they
pay attention to the chimney, but I always I always
(34:25):
cringe on some myself. Just bout a house and I'm
building my first fire and I'm going, do you have
that chimney inspected? No? Do I need to? Yeah? Tell
me about when you have a home inspected is a
how good is a home inspector and looking at the
chimney I guess it's the easiest way to do it
or how in depth do they go?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Right? So most of the time, and home inspectors will
tell you this often in the report that they provide
to a buyer or a seller. They do very very
surface level looks at a fireplace and chimney system, if
they even look at it at all. Often there will
(35:08):
be a note under fireplace the fireplace section of the
report that says, I recommend contacting a qualified professional to
inspect the fireplace. They're just really not They're not geared
up to be able to go in depth on every
single specific minutia of a house.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
So yeah, yeah, because I always worry about you know,
somebody just buys a house and here there's a liner
that's cracked in the chimney, and I don't know if
a home inspector picks that up or not. But you know,
if you're using cameras, I don't know if they use
cameras or not. So I you know.
Speaker 6 (35:47):
There right right.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
I've never known a home inspector to scan the inside
of the chimney, and even if they did, they're not
exactly trained to be able to assess good integrity.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Of the So if somebody's just bought a house, so
they're gonna buy a house, do you have any levels
of inspections or anything.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Like that, yes, So the levels of inspection are determined
by the national standards, the NFPA two eleven, So there's
a level one inspection and a level two inspection. The
NFPA actually requires that a level two inspection is performed
(36:28):
during the transfer of a property. So during a level
one inspection, we as a company include running the video
camera as a level one inspection, that's actually not required.
So a level one inspection is basically whatever you can
see wrong just visually with your own eyes. It doesn't
actually even technically require using a ladder to get on
(36:51):
a roof. So with the Level two inspection, we are
going in the carall space if there is one, or
the basement to see what's going on underneath the chimney system.
We're getting on the roof to look at everything above
the gutter line. We're getting in the attic to see
if there's any clearance to combustibles issues up there. We're
(37:15):
running the camera as we always do, so it's just
a much more in depth look at the entire system.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
I got that. That's good stuff. I mean, you guys
are the experts. You know, you got certified chimney sweeps
out on the site. They're looking, they're cleaning, switching gears
a little bit. We got a lot of modular fireplaces
or gas stoves. Do those need to be inspected also?
Speaker 6 (37:42):
Yes, So.
Speaker 8 (37:44):
It's I describe it to people how they have their
gas furnace inspected annually or tuned up annually. It is
basically the same exact recommendation. Every manufacturer recommends that basically
every appliance be inspected annually. Parks do go bad, and
(38:05):
you don't really want that happening.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
In the middle of winter when we are booked way out,
so it's always recommended that that service be done, you know,
when you're not using the gas fireplace like like you
would with your guest furnace.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Now, so you guys are the experts, you're out in
the field, you're making these repairs you're inspecting. Do you
sell any fireplaces at all?
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Yes, Yes, we sell any type of hearth appliance or fireplace.
We have a showroom on Ward's Corner Road. We have
a good variety of anything from wood stoves to vent
free gas logs. So we saw a lot of appliances
like that and do the installations ourselves.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
So is woodburning stoves coming back into vogue? I know
we went from wood stoves to guests those, we went
pellet stoves. I know you sell all of those. But
is wood kind of the stronghold again or is it?
How's that stacking up sales wise?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
It's kind of hard to say right now that gas
is gas. Yeah, I think gas fireplaces are probably sales
wise doing better than wood, but I don't really have
anything other than intuition to go. Yeah, I kind of
think that in the next few months it'll switch back
(39:31):
to wood. The predominant sales well have to do with
how the summer.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Is energy too, you know the cost of energy, and
you know they got some neat looking fireplaces, wall fireplaces
and everything. That whole business is just just huge anymore.
And the bottom line though, in a lot of cases,
it all still comes down to that chimney and how
important it is for the safety of your family and
your house to have that thing inspected.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
That's the key, right and and that's something I stress
to the rest of the technicians here is you know
you're out in the field, Sure you calk in to
go to work, but really in the back of your
mind has to be all the time you're in someone's
house and determine if their fireplace is safe.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Yeah, no question.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
That is the number one thing that we stressed to
our technicians, making sure things are safe.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
So the phone number is five one, three, two four
eight ninety six hundred. It's the Chimney Care Company. And uh,
that wasn't so bad. I mean they having an interview
about things you do all the time. Everybody stressed out.
I'm taken to myself. I said, you do this stuff
all the time, and you were great, and thank you
(40:48):
so much for joining us today. I appreciate it great,
Thank you, Uh huh, thanks Clark. All right again, it's
uh Clark from the Chimney Care Company, and the website
is Chimney Care Company and or google Chimney Care Company.
Give him a call at five one three two four
eight ninety six hundred. Don't pass up this opportunity. Get
(41:09):
that thing inspected this summer. We all right, Well, another
weekend taking your calls. I certainly appreciate you joining good
Lord Willing back next weekend for more at Home with
Gary Sullivan
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