May 31, 2026 • 45 mins
This hour is all about taking care of your home's exterior and interior. Gary shares his expertise on how to remove stubborn smoke stains from brick and stone fireplaces using two different methods. He also talks about the importance of inspecting your chimney for signs of moisture and how to address any issues that may arise. Additionally, he discusses the benefits of using a product called Peel Away to make the process much easier.
Gary also takes calls from listeners, answering questions on how to repair screens on windows and how to clean a dirty main water valve in the basement. He also shares tips on how to prevent future problems, such as using a product like Wet and Forget to keep outdoor areas clean and free of mold and mildew.
If you're looking for ways to improve your home and address any issues that have been lingering, this hour is a must-listen. Gary's got the knowledge and expertise to help you tackle any project that comes your way.
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Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well, it's the weekend. Welcome at Home with Gary Salvin.
By the way, this hour's brought you by gutter Brush. Listen,
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for sponsoring this hour of the show, and we move forward.
(01:36):
I was saying, there's always a lot of things. Some
things are out of season right now, and that's kind
of the way we start to show today start talking
about ventilation and insulation. I'd like to take it one
step further. If you have a fireplace in burn wood,
and this is a good time to clean things up
(02:00):
a little bit. So if you have a brick fireplace,
a stone fireplace, a tiled fireplace inside your home and
your burning wood, you may or you may not have
this problem. But if you have this problem, it's unsightly.
And what I'm talking about is smoke stains around the
(02:22):
firebox on a stone bricker tile, and it's very difficult
to get off. Smoke stains, creosoide stains, very very difficult
to get off. There's a couple of products that I
can talk you through that will work. One a lot
(02:44):
less expensive and a lot more messy and a little
bit more work. Then there's another one more expensive, pretty
much a snap and a breeze, but more expensive. So
if you again have this issue, you know one of
(03:08):
the products you can find in grocery stores, hardware stores,
big box stores is a product called tri sodium phosphate.
It is a very high phosphate cleaner. It does tremendous
work on smoke stains. Whether it's you bought a house
and somebody it's smoked in the house and you need
(03:30):
to wash the walls down or it's very round the
opening to the fireplace and it's stained the brick to
tile the stone. So the first thing you want to
do is note that this is going to be a
little messy job, so you want to get gay drop
cloth around that whole area. It's it's not going to
(03:53):
really smell or anything, but it's going to be messy.
It's gonna splatter when you're doing that particular job where
goggles gloves get what they call a palmyra scrub brush.
That is a brown woody scrub brush. It's very very stiff,
(04:13):
and again that drop clock down on the floor. Then
you're going to mix, and there is the mixture ratio
right on the container of the tri sodium phosphate. You
can get it a couple different ways, and one is
a no rinse. I think you're gonna rinse this anyway
because of the amount of smoke stain you're going to
be removing and you're gonna want to rinse it anyway,
(04:37):
so it doesn't matter. You can get the rinse free,
you can get the rinse, but you're gonna use four
smoke stains that particular mixture, get a bucket of water
mixture trice sodium phosphate, and if you can with a sponge,
kind of sponge that area down and let it sit
(04:57):
on there for a bit. Obviously it's going to be
running down on your drop cloth and a little messy,
but start the process there. And once it's especially on
your stone, in your in your brick, because it's going
to absorb into that a little bit, not so much
on the tile, but after it has soaked in a
(05:17):
little bit or rolled off, take deep palmyra scrub brush
and dip and scrub. I mean, that's pretty much what
it's going to. That's pretty much what you're gonna use.
And after that it's the cleanup of the sponge in
clear water, which you may have to have several buckets
of clear water to get that off, depending on how
(05:38):
bad the smoke stain is. So that's one way of
removing it. Yes you can remove it. Yes you can
remove it probably for you know, ten bucks and a
couple hours worth of work. Not bad, not bad, improvement dramatic.
Now there's another way of doing it. I've coined the
(05:59):
phrase years and years. I'm all about easy, and I'm
sure you feel the same way. Time is precious, weekend
away from work is precious, and you'd like to get
your home projects done quickly easily as you can. You
don't want to cut corners. You want it to be effective.
You want to get the job done, but you don't
(06:19):
want to spend all day doing it. That other one
didn't take that long. It's not that hard. It's messy.
But there's a product. It's made by a company called
Chimney Rx at chimneyrx dot com if you want to
look it up. I know it's sold to do at
best stores. I know it's on Amazon and it's called
(06:39):
peel Away. They make a lot of very specific chimney
and fireplace products that are niche products. You know, you're
not going to find a lot of people that have
something similar to it, the very niche products. The peel
(07:00):
Away is it's almost like a thick, syrupy type product.
It's white and you're going to take a paintbrush or
a roller. If it's a smooth surface and you're going
to paint this onto you just still put the drop
clock down and all that make sure we protect the environment.
(07:22):
But you take that peeled away, say you use a roller,
and if it's a little umm textured, or you know,
you got brick, and you'll want a thicker napril or
maybe like a three quarter inch or a paintbrush, and
you're just gonna paint a thick coat on there, not
paper thin, not like you're painting a wall. A thick
(07:45):
coat of the peel away onto that brick or onto
that stone. And you're done for right now. So how
long does that take? I don't know. Not long, not long,
no prep work, just painted on there. Go play golf,
go play in the garden, go play, have some fun
(08:06):
with the kids. But you're done. You're gonna let that dry,
and you're gonna let it dry, probably overnight. And if
it's a good thick film like it talks about and
like I'm speaking of, you should be able to get
up in the morning when you're ready to tackle that
project and you're gonna finish your project. Now. I know
you're probably gonna go huh, but this is what you do.
(08:31):
There would be a kid and you dip your finger
in elmer glue and you'd peel the glue off. We
probably all did that one time or another. It's kind
of the same process. You get to that opening where
you put the peel away on. You just take your
friend now, start digging and it'll start coming off like
the elmer's glue off your finger, and it'll come off
(08:51):
in a sheet. You keep pulling this film off, and
with that film is come with it all of the
smoke stain intact, stuck to the backside of the peel away.
How cool was that? Pretty sharp, isn't it? And at
(09:16):
that point disposed of it. You're done, no rinsing, You're done.
And I've used this a couple of times, and one
time I had used it, believe it or not, it
was inside a home that had a brick pizza oven,
wood fired brick pizza oven, and all around that brick
(09:38):
was this black soot or smoke stain. Used a peel away,
put it on, let it sit. Next morning we peeled
it off, smoke stain was gone, and it looks it
looks brand new. It's one of the more it's one
(09:58):
of the more fascinating products I think I've ever used
inside a home that worked so well and took a messy,
stubborn job and made it very very simple. If there
is a problem that someone is going to not accomplish
(10:19):
great results with it, it's because the film that they
put on was too thin, So you want a generous
coating of that and then you want that to dry
and pull away all the smoke stain. That's simple. So
(10:39):
if you want to check that out, it's chimney rx
dot com the manufacturer, and the products called peel Away.
They got a lot of different products for chimneys. In fact,
when we come back and it's a good project to
do right now because we're not using the fireplace right
and the same way as if you're having some issues
(11:02):
with your fireplace or you're having a lot of water
stains and areas like that. It may be coming from
the chimney, from the brick to the top of the
chimney to the flashing. We'll cover some of that. Maybe
you've got some efflorescence, you know what that is. That's
at white staining. That's next as we continue at home
(11:24):
with Gary.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So if you don't have a list of things to
do around the house, Gary will find something for you.
At one eight hundred eighty two three talk You're at
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Speaker 3 (13:21):
Hey, Gary Salvin here. If you're spring cleaning and you
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Speaker 1 (14:07):
All right back at it and again. Apologies if you
keep getting a busy signal as you call. Our perfect
phones are down and you and me today, So Hopefully
I'm giving you some good information that you can utilize
and work on.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Well, let's see, this might be working again.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I don't know. It's kind of interesting, all right. One
of the things I want you to do is saying,
the fireplace kind of out of commission right now because
it's warming up. Take a look at your chimney and
see if you see white coating dust, it looks like
salt growing on the chimney itself. It's called efflorescence. And
(14:48):
what that is is that is a sign of moisture,
moisture that needs your attention. Maybe you don't see a
leak inside the house, but you have that efflorescence. Maybe
it's coating the brick, and maybe the brick is absorbing
a lot of water. So number one, if you have
(15:10):
efflorescence on a chimney, you have The phones are all
working now. I guess they're all light enough. I were
laughing with Danny. The moisture could be absorbed by the brick,
which means you need to seal that brick. I was
mentioning a company when we're talking about the peel away
called Chimney r X. They make an excellent brick sealer.
(15:34):
It allows the brick to exhaust water from behind if
it got between the liner and the brick, but it
stops from soaking that brick and allowing that brick to
absorb water like a sponge ceiling. You know, getting an
efflorescence cleaner clean that off, put a sealer on there,
that would be a big, big help. Also, when you
(15:56):
look at the chimney, if you have to have it cleaned,
or you should have it cleaned every year or so
and have it inspected. They'll check the top of the
chimney itself. It's called the crown wash. Sometimes those spawls,
like sidewalks, they crack. It's a big problem that too
(16:17):
may need to be repaired, especially if you're seeing moisture
enter the home. All right, let's go to Terry. Terry welcome. Hi.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
I know that a person can repair screens on the window.
I've never done it, and I would just like information
on what do I need to purchase and how do
I figure it out?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, so are these screens? Are these aluminum?
Speaker 5 (16:46):
You mean frame?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yees? Uh? Huh? Okay, and okay, so if there there's
different kinds too, That's why I'm saying this so if
you have an aluminum frame, the screening material is installed
into that aluminum frame with a piece of it almost
(17:09):
looks like vinyl roping. Okay, so step one would be
you take that screen out, You pull out that that
spleen spline is what it's called a spline, which looks
like vinyl roping. You remove the screen, You purchase the screen.
You got options there, we'll talk about that in a second.
And you purchase a screening tool and it looks like
(17:33):
a pizza cutter with plastic rollers. And you take that
vinyl screen, or you take that aluminum screen molding, and
you clamp it to a workbench, a ping pong table,
a table, or something to keep it stable and not move.
You lay the screening material over the frame. You start
(17:55):
in the corner with the spline, and you push it
into that crevice that's going to hold the screen in place.
And then you take your screening tool and you move
it slowly over the top of the spline, pushing it
into that crevice and holding this screen nice and tight.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Now, do you measure a certain amount extra when you're measuring.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Your Yeah, yeah, I want I'd want at least you know,
probably three inches of overlap on each side, so or
at least two inches for sure. So if it's a
thirty inch screen on the inside, you know, you get
a thirty two inch wide screen, you'll be good to go.
And you're gonna have choices of fiberglass screen or an
(18:47):
aluminum screen, and I would get the fiberglass. It's much
easier to work with. You got a lifespan of probably
fifteen years on that screen. It comes in gray or black.
Black will have almost no glare. You'll see out of
the black better than the gray. The gray emulates more
(19:08):
of an aluminum screen, but there's a lot of glare.
So I again, I think I would use the black
fiberglass screen and it worked great. Hey, glad you got through, Terry.
Thank you very much. You're at home with Gary Sellibate.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
No time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan.
Give him a call at one eight eight two three talk.
You're at home with Gary Sellibate.
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Start with the air in your home. Hey Gary Salvin here.
If your place smells, there's a reason, and it affects
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to tackle your whole home with one simple system. You
get the glass cleaner for a streak free shine, a
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cream cleanser for the toughest jobs, plus a glass cleaning
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Speaker 6 (22:25):
M all right back in it we go at Home
with Jerry Sullivan. Great news, great news, great news.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
If you've been listening most of the day here you
have been unable to get in to the show. I
was saying, the phone systems were down, and now the
phone systems are up, so we have a little bit
of time on take your calls, and of course Danny
will be ready to take your call. And also, of
(22:56):
course everybody here. Yeah, so you won't be able to
take all the rush calls that are coming in. Yeah,
so be patient. Here's the phone number you can grab
a line happy to talk about your project. It's eight
hundred eight two three A two five five. All right,
we'll see who the winter winter chicken dinner is first
(23:17):
one in all right. One of the things we were
talking about is you were talking about the chimney, and
now's a good time to have inspected, have it cleaned.
We're not using it if you're having some issues with moisture.
And you can always tell if there's moisture being a
problem with the efflorescence the white powder on the surface
(23:37):
of the brick. We talked about the importance of say,
sealing the brick. I also, this is one of the
easy things to do, is if you you know brick
chimney binoculars on the ground, take a look seriously, scan
that chimney, and what you're looking for is not so
(23:58):
much minute cracks but missing mortar. Maybe you've been seeing
some brick or some mortar laying on the roof of
the house, so you know there's some process of decay
going on, But scan that chimney and you know there's
(24:18):
The process is known as tuck pointing. It's a project
a homeowner can do if you're pretty savvy and you're
not scared of heights, and you can get up there,
et cetera, et cetera. But people that clean chimneys, repair chimneys,
they certainly can help you out with that. It's a mortar.
(24:40):
Mortar doesn't like to stick to mortar, so you got
to clean that joint out with the brick so it
doesn't suck all the water out of the patching mortar.
And then you got the problem of and this is
where a really good mason is worth the price of gold.
They're going to come very close in matching the existing
mortar with an mortar. There is some artistry to it.
(25:04):
And but now is the time too, if you feel
you have any chimney issues or it's been a couple
of years since you had the chimney clean certified chimney sweep,
have inspected, have it cleaned, and get her ready for
another year. Hey Chris, welcome, congratulations first one in. How
are you?
Speaker 7 (25:24):
Oh great, Thank you very much taking my call, love
your show.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
We have any Do you have a cottage on make
Erie that that has a cements tad that's about two
and a half feet high and about eight by twelve
faces north, So it's always dirty and it's spent six
months out of the year with leaves and snow on
it when no one's there. I'm just wondering any ideas.
(25:49):
I suppose I can put wet and Forget on it,
but any other ideas for how to make that a
more attractive place or to cover it with something?
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Sure? Sure, sure, I guess the one of the first
thing is you probably need something a little more than
wet and Forget. To be honest with you, I mean,
I know you got fungus, you got mildew, you got gunk.
And Wet and Forget is a product that takes care
of fungus algae like in mildew mold, and it'll do that,
(26:20):
but it's not going to take care of tannins from
leaves and things like that, plus just even dirt. So
I would go to the oxygenated bleach route. I talk
about oxygenate bleach. It's a high quality oxygenated bleach for
(26:40):
cleaning wood or cleaning masonry. It's a powder mixed with water.
Spray it on, pour it on, let it sit about
ten minutes, re wet, and then take a wood fibered
street broom and use that as a giant scrub brush
and just agitate the heck out of that, Chris, and
(27:01):
then come back with a hose or pressure washer and
go ahead and rinse that off. That's probably gonna be
the best way to clean it. Now, the big thing
is how do you prevent it? I don't know so
option one. Option one is after you get it clean,
spray it with wet and forget. Okay, it's not going
(27:22):
to help you with the leaves, but it will help
you since it faces the north and it's a wet environment,
it'll it'll stop fungus, mildew, algae and all that good
stuff from growing there for about a year and just
use it as a maintenance product. So that's one thing
you can do. You can you can paint it. You've
(27:46):
probably heard me talk about dice coatings in the past.
That is, it can be as decorative as you want
it to be. They have one that looks like terrezo.
They have one called roll rock, one called spreadstone. You
would have to I would recommend you go to their
(28:07):
website and take a look at what the finishes will
look like. But once you have a good and clean
and you apply that, you can also put a clear
seiler on there called track Safe. In fact, that's another
product he's just I call him the mad scientists. He's
just invented this one product. I have not used it yet.
(28:28):
Track Safe was a clear concrete ceiler that was slip resistant,
and now he's developed a way to pigment that. So
it's a slip resistance coating which comes in colors. So
the spreadstone, the roller rock to Thereza, the t the
(28:51):
track Safe colorant. Those are all on his website with
videos and color options. So it's DICE. It's d A
i c ch Coatings dot com. I'd really recommend you
visit that and take a look and see if any
of those, you know, excite you something you'd want to
(29:14):
mess with. I mean, there's a lot of options out there. Now,
there's some they're expensive, but there's some polyurea concrete coatings
that have the flakes in. It's not like the epoxy
garage floor coatings, but it looks like it. They're much
more durable. That's an that's an option also for you.
Speaker 7 (29:39):
Okay, I knew you'd have some solutions for me, and
I thought you talk about dice coding, so I was
wondering if that would work too. So I appreciate.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
You're quite welcome. Thank you very much. Oh, appreciate it
all right. Uh, for pretty much the first time today,
our phone lines are open, So if you've been a
busy signal for like three hours, you won't. Now it's
eight hundred and eight two three eight two five five.
I've just taken you through the course of chimney repair.
(30:10):
Another thing. Number one vulnerability on a chimney if you're
getting water into the house is the flashing, flashing between
a roof and chimney, So they would inspect that make
any corrections a lot of times. And let's face it,
(30:30):
how many people are sitting around worrying about whether they're
flashing is rusting or whether it's rusted through and there's
pinholes in it? Probably not many of us, but I
have to tell you if you have and most of
us do unprotected metal flashing, and you want to paint
(30:52):
it to seal it, to protect it and never probably
painted again. There is there's a product called hammer righte
and I'll tell you right now it is very durable.
But you do not want to put this on when
it's a This is my opinion. It doesn't say son
(31:14):
it can, but if it's bright sunshine and over eighty degrees,
I think it kind of goes on like a chewing gum.
But if you get a seventy degree day, a sixty
degree day, a fifty degree day with sun or without sun,
this hammer right It'll look almost like a hammered finish.
(31:35):
But there is fiberglass strands that are going through this pain,
I mean, and when you put it on, and you
can put it over a surface rusted finish, so you
could use it on other things too. You could use
it on right on fence, you could use it on
an old light post. You could do it on flashing,
(31:58):
but nobody wants to climb up there painter flashing every
now and then. So that's why I'm suggesting it. And
then I'm also telling you what the limitations are. But
I'll tell you what. Right over the existing rust, not
flaky rust, but just surface rust, man, it'll give you
some great protection and something i'd recommend. All right, all
(32:18):
U's sit tight. We're gonna take a break and when
we come back, we're gonna get your call and we
will continue. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
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Speaker 1 (33:21):
Did you know multiple states building codes are requiring basement
ventilation in order to get permits for renovations. Why Because
basements are a major source of air pollution. They need
to be properly ventilated for a healthy home. Easy Breathed
Ventilation provides solutions at work and are code compliant called
eight six six eight two two seventy three twenty eight
(33:43):
or visit easybreed dot com receive a free humidity monitoring
kit while supplies last. Easybreed dot com.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Hey Gary Salvin here. If you're spring cleaning and you
find a few plumbing issues around the house like dripping faucet,
slow drains, or even a wornout garbage disposal or water heater,
make a list and call my friends at Roto Ruter
Plumbing and Water clean Up. Royal Routers, Licensed and experienced
plumbers can fix any plumbing issues, so give them a call.
(34:11):
It's one eight hundred. Get roto or schedule online at
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(34:39):
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(35:14):
We're thirteen minutes before the top of they are. By
the way, if you missed our conversation regarding some of
these extenders for roofing, you can pick up that podcast
along with Adam Smith or Dumont Chemical some of the
(35:35):
very safe, environmentally friendly painterripers. That's available via podcast on
the iHeart app. Just click at home with Gary Salvin.
Take a listen, lot good information. All right, Ella, welcome.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
Good morning Gary. How are you today doing?
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Fine?
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Morning? So I am a longtime listener here in Topsfield,
Mass and third time caller. All right, thank you so
much for all your great information. And it's a very
basic question. My husband and I have had a persistent
and long enduring because we didn't address it leak in
(36:13):
our basement and it's the main water valve. We finally
had it replaced and it seems to be in good condition.
But my question really is about cleaning that area, which
is about a four by four. I would call it
just yucky or icky after years of water dripping. What's
(36:33):
the best way to sanitize and clean? You talk often
of oxygenated leech, that would be a good one.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
So where this valve was leaking, is this a concrete
basement floor? Is that where it was lee?
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Okay, so it's kind of saint exactly. Yeah, So there's
all kinds of things that would clean it up. I
guess it really doesn't have to be oxygen genated bleach,
you know, just a heavy dude to cleaner. I was
talking about tri sodium phosphate before sure, soil axe, any
(37:09):
of those type of things. You probably got it. And
this was clear water, right, it was dripping from the
main water gen so in Yeah, probably mixed with a
little bit of dust. It's in a basement, organic material,
it could be a little moldy. I would start out with,
you know, a good detergent cleaner and see where you get.
(37:36):
And what I mean by that isent detergent cleaner is
gonna lift dirt, lift goo. Look, you know it's gonna
do that rinse, but it may not really get into
if there's some mold there, there's some mildew there, and
that's where your oxygenated bleach would be helpful. So it
(37:59):
might be a step one, step two thing. But starting
with basic you know, detergent cleaners for floors I think
would probably do very well. And then see if you
still get that discoloration and then maybe go to an
oxygenated bleach.
Speaker 4 (38:14):
Does the tri sodium phosphate equal a detergent cleaner?
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yes, yes, so it's a high phosphate cleaner, so yes,
it would, it would, and it'll have different mixtures on it,
you know, Like I was talking about it for smoke damage,
which it even does a tremendous job on that, but
for even general cleaning, like if you were to paint
(38:38):
walls and you were gonna wash them down and you know,
get all the gunk cough walls or something, you would
use something like that to use gloves, maybe even a
pair of goggles. You know. It's a strong, high phosphate detergent,
but it'll do a good job. It's a good cleaner
for that, okay.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
And as far as rinsing, because these products require rinsing
of some kind, I would think, yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
They do. There is I'm going to really complicate it
now to make a try sodium phosphate. And don't ask
me how or what this means, but it's tri sodium
phosphate phosphate free because some states outlawled phosphates. So since
that name was so well recognized, it's phosphate free. Try
(39:24):
sodium phosphate. You can use that. In fact, you may
have to use that from Boston. I don't know. And
then there's also no rinse. Try sodium phosphate.
Speaker 4 (39:35):
That's what I'm thinking about.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
Yeah, so yeah, you're going to it's awkward.
Speaker 4 (39:40):
It's awkward to rinse it. You know, it's one thing
to rub it and wash it, and then it's you know,
do you use a sponge? Do you use rags?
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (39:54):
Where you go? Carol Burnett lives.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
So I'm give away. I'm still here to do it.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (40:05):
All right, we have a great day.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Thank you. You did the same. All right. Yeah, well
I'll tell you what when you're talking about that main
valve coming in, uh, one of the things uh changed
and good change. The main valve in some of the
water lines. You know it's a gate valve and a
gate valve had uh you know several sets of washers.
(40:29):
If you have bonnet valves that had the old compression
washer valve or the gate came down. Now they got
ball valves. And ball valves are they're excellent. It's it's
a steel ball in the middle of the body of
the valve and it's got a lever handle and you
(40:49):
just close. It's like you know, it's like a dam, right,
so that ball goes over bam. It's on a little
nylon seal and that ball it's stain. The steel ball
just rotates in that almost like a shoulder joint and
seals that off and last much longer than a gate
(41:11):
valve or a globe valve. And so yeah, we've improved that.
But another thing not not too I think we've all
been in this situation where and she said it, we
probably ignored it too long. And yes, not only that,
but leaks around the house just kind of being tuned in,
(41:32):
especially in toilets, not so much valves, not so much faucets,
but toilets. When these things start leaking or running or
flushing themselves, it is amazing how much water you will consume,
how much water you will waste, and in so many
cases you'll you'll you'll pick up a bill that's gonna
(41:58):
be shocking. And taking care of those types of things
immediately is prudent. We'll say we'll say, we'll call it prudent. Uh.
There's also valves that can be put on where they're
leak detectors, where they can tell that you're using more
(42:22):
water than normal. So it's telling you that you have
a leak somewhere or you're using more water, right, I mean,
it's if it's a leak leak and it's running maybe
when you're out of town or something, that's a great
notification that you've got a problem. So when you get
to a point maybe that you're going to replace that
(42:45):
main valve, it might be something. Now, they're going to
be expensive, they're going to be in the four hundred
buck range and different things in your insurance companies should
give you a discount if they know you have one
of those leak detecting valves. So keep that in mind
as an option too. You know, nothing's easy anymore, right,
(43:05):
we have choices, We have choices and everything we we
do anymore. But just google that, learn a little bit
about it. Maybe that's something you want to take a
look at. I know Moan makes them a lot. There's
several different ones and there's different features you can read
about them. But it could in a long term become savings.
(43:28):
They're very durable, they last a long time, and discounts
on insurance. It might be something that can you know,
pay dividends. It might be something you'd be interested in.
All right, did get a couple emails thanking us for
the phones, so it was it was kind of an
interesting day today. It also gave me an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
A little different, but you did.
Speaker 4 (43:52):
We did fine.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Yeah, it gave me an opportunity to really talk about
some projects that maybe we don't normally talk about. And Danny,
thank you. I know some of these days can be
a little difficult when the whole phone system fails, but
certainly appreciate your efforts and keeping us informed. And yes,
we worked the last half hours, so hooray for us. Hey,
good lord, willing, Danny and I'll be back next weekend
(44:15):
for more At Home with Gary Sullivan
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Home Improvement one O one with Gary Sullivan Every weekend
classes began and eight hundred eighty two three taw You're
at Home with Gary Sullivan
Well, it's the weekend. Welcome at Home with Gary Salvin.
By the way, this hour's brought you by gutter Brush. Listen,
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for sponsoring this hour of the show, and we move forward.
(01:36):
I was saying, there's always a lot of things. Some
things are out of season right now, and that's kind
of the way we start to show today start talking
about ventilation and insulation. I'd like to take it one
step further. If you have a fireplace in burn wood,
and this is a good time to clean things up
(02:00):
a little bit. So if you have a brick fireplace,
a stone fireplace, a tiled fireplace inside your home and
your burning wood, you may or you may not have
this problem. But if you have this problem, it's unsightly.
And what I'm talking about is smoke stains around the
(02:22):
firebox on a stone bricker tile, and it's very difficult
to get off. Smoke stains, creosoide stains, very very difficult
to get off. There's a couple of products that I
can talk you through that will work. One a lot
(02:44):
less expensive and a lot more messy and a little
bit more work. Then there's another one more expensive, pretty
much a snap and a breeze, but more expensive. So
if you again have this issue, you know one of
(03:08):
the products you can find in grocery stores, hardware stores,
big box stores is a product called tri sodium phosphate.
It is a very high phosphate cleaner. It does tremendous
work on smoke stains. Whether it's you bought a house
and somebody it's smoked in the house and you need
(03:30):
to wash the walls down or it's very round the
opening to the fireplace and it's stained the brick to
tile the stone. So the first thing you want to
do is note that this is going to be a
little messy job, so you want to get gay drop
cloth around that whole area. It's it's not going to
(03:53):
really smell or anything, but it's going to be messy.
It's gonna splatter when you're doing that particular job where
goggles gloves get what they call a palmyra scrub brush.
That is a brown woody scrub brush. It's very very stiff,
(04:13):
and again that drop clock down on the floor. Then
you're going to mix, and there is the mixture ratio
right on the container of the tri sodium phosphate. You
can get it a couple different ways, and one is
a no rinse. I think you're gonna rinse this anyway
because of the amount of smoke stain you're going to
be removing and you're gonna want to rinse it anyway,
(04:37):
so it doesn't matter. You can get the rinse free,
you can get the rinse, but you're gonna use four
smoke stains that particular mixture, get a bucket of water
mixture trice sodium phosphate, and if you can with a sponge,
kind of sponge that area down and let it sit
(04:57):
on there for a bit. Obviously it's going to be
running down on your drop cloth and a little messy,
but start the process there. And once it's especially on
your stone, in your in your brick, because it's going
to absorb into that a little bit, not so much
on the tile, but after it has soaked in a
(05:17):
little bit or rolled off, take deep palmyra scrub brush
and dip and scrub. I mean, that's pretty much what
it's going to. That's pretty much what you're gonna use.
And after that it's the cleanup of the sponge in
clear water, which you may have to have several buckets
of clear water to get that off, depending on how
(05:38):
bad the smoke stain is. So that's one way of
removing it. Yes you can remove it. Yes you can
remove it probably for you know, ten bucks and a
couple hours worth of work. Not bad, not bad, improvement dramatic.
Now there's another way of doing it. I've coined the
(05:59):
phrase years and years. I'm all about easy, and I'm
sure you feel the same way. Time is precious, weekend
away from work is precious, and you'd like to get
your home projects done quickly easily as you can. You
don't want to cut corners. You want it to be effective.
You want to get the job done, but you don't
(06:19):
want to spend all day doing it. That other one
didn't take that long. It's not that hard. It's messy.
But there's a product. It's made by a company called
Chimney Rx at chimneyrx dot com if you want to
look it up. I know it's sold to do at
best stores. I know it's on Amazon and it's called
(06:39):
peel Away. They make a lot of very specific chimney
and fireplace products that are niche products. You know, you're
not going to find a lot of people that have
something similar to it, the very niche products. The peel
(07:00):
Away is it's almost like a thick, syrupy type product.
It's white and you're going to take a paintbrush or
a roller. If it's a smooth surface and you're going
to paint this onto you just still put the drop
clock down and all that make sure we protect the environment.
(07:22):
But you take that peeled away, say you use a roller,
and if it's a little umm textured, or you know,
you got brick, and you'll want a thicker napril or
maybe like a three quarter inch or a paintbrush, and
you're just gonna paint a thick coat on there, not
paper thin, not like you're painting a wall. A thick
(07:45):
coat of the peel away onto that brick or onto
that stone. And you're done for right now. So how
long does that take? I don't know. Not long, not long,
no prep work, just painted on there. Go play golf,
go play in the garden, go play, have some fun
(08:06):
with the kids. But you're done. You're gonna let that dry,
and you're gonna let it dry, probably overnight. And if
it's a good thick film like it talks about and
like I'm speaking of, you should be able to get
up in the morning when you're ready to tackle that
project and you're gonna finish your project. Now. I know
you're probably gonna go huh, but this is what you do.
(08:31):
There would be a kid and you dip your finger
in elmer glue and you'd peel the glue off. We
probably all did that one time or another. It's kind
of the same process. You get to that opening where
you put the peel away on. You just take your
friend now, start digging and it'll start coming off like
the elmer's glue off your finger, and it'll come off
(08:51):
in a sheet. You keep pulling this film off, and
with that film is come with it all of the
smoke stain intact, stuck to the backside of the peel away.
How cool was that? Pretty sharp, isn't it? And at
(09:16):
that point disposed of it. You're done, no rinsing, You're done.
And I've used this a couple of times, and one
time I had used it, believe it or not, it
was inside a home that had a brick pizza oven,
wood fired brick pizza oven, and all around that brick
(09:38):
was this black soot or smoke stain. Used a peel away,
put it on, let it sit. Next morning we peeled
it off, smoke stain was gone, and it looks it
looks brand new. It's one of the more it's one
(09:58):
of the more fascinating products I think I've ever used
inside a home that worked so well and took a messy,
stubborn job and made it very very simple. If there
is a problem that someone is going to not accomplish
(10:19):
great results with it, it's because the film that they
put on was too thin, So you want a generous
coating of that and then you want that to dry
and pull away all the smoke stain. That's simple. So
(10:39):
if you want to check that out, it's chimney rx
dot com the manufacturer, and the products called peel Away.
They got a lot of different products for chimneys. In fact,
when we come back and it's a good project to
do right now because we're not using the fireplace right
and the same way as if you're having some issues
(11:02):
with your fireplace or you're having a lot of water
stains and areas like that. It may be coming from
the chimney, from the brick to the top of the
chimney to the flashing. We'll cover some of that. Maybe
you've got some efflorescence, you know what that is. That's
at white staining. That's next as we continue at home
(11:24):
with Gary.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So if you don't have a list of things to
do around the house, Gary will find something for you.
At one eight hundred eighty two three talk You're at
Home with Gary celebrator.
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Speaker 3 (13:21):
Hey, Gary Salvin here. If you're spring cleaning and you
find a few plumbing issues around the house like dripping faucet,
slowed drains, or even a worn out garbage disposal or
water heater, make a list and call my friends at
Roto Ruter Plumbing and Water clean Up. Roto Routers, licensed
and experienced plumbers can fix any plumbing issues, so give
(13:41):
them a call. It's one eight hundred get roto or
schedule online at rotrouter dot com.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
All right back at it and again. Apologies if you
keep getting a busy signal as you call. Our perfect
phones are down and you and me today, So Hopefully
I'm giving you some good information that you can utilize
and work on.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Well, let's see, this might be working again.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I don't know. It's kind of interesting, all right. One
of the things I want you to do is saying,
the fireplace kind of out of commission right now because
it's warming up. Take a look at your chimney and
see if you see white coating dust, it looks like
salt growing on the chimney itself. It's called efflorescence. And
(14:48):
what that is is that is a sign of moisture,
moisture that needs your attention. Maybe you don't see a
leak inside the house, but you have that efflorescence. Maybe
it's coating the brick, and maybe the brick is absorbing
a lot of water. So number one, if you have
(15:10):
efflorescence on a chimney, you have The phones are all
working now. I guess they're all light enough. I were
laughing with Danny. The moisture could be absorbed by the brick,
which means you need to seal that brick. I was
mentioning a company when we're talking about the peel away
called Chimney r X. They make an excellent brick sealer.
(15:34):
It allows the brick to exhaust water from behind if
it got between the liner and the brick, but it
stops from soaking that brick and allowing that brick to
absorb water like a sponge ceiling. You know, getting an
efflorescence cleaner clean that off, put a sealer on there,
that would be a big, big help. Also, when you
(15:56):
look at the chimney, if you have to have it cleaned,
or you should have it cleaned every year or so
and have it inspected. They'll check the top of the
chimney itself. It's called the crown wash. Sometimes those spawls,
like sidewalks, they crack. It's a big problem that too
(16:17):
may need to be repaired, especially if you're seeing moisture
enter the home. All right, let's go to Terry. Terry welcome. Hi.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
I know that a person can repair screens on the window.
I've never done it, and I would just like information
on what do I need to purchase and how do
I figure it out?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, so are these screens? Are these aluminum?
Speaker 5 (16:46):
You mean frame?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yees? Uh? Huh? Okay, and okay, so if there there's
different kinds too, That's why I'm saying this so if
you have an aluminum frame, the screening material is installed
into that aluminum frame with a piece of it almost
(17:09):
looks like vinyl roping. Okay, so step one would be
you take that screen out, You pull out that that
spleen spline is what it's called a spline, which looks
like vinyl roping. You remove the screen, You purchase the screen.
You got options there, we'll talk about that in a second.
And you purchase a screening tool and it looks like
(17:33):
a pizza cutter with plastic rollers. And you take that
vinyl screen, or you take that aluminum screen molding, and
you clamp it to a workbench, a ping pong table,
a table, or something to keep it stable and not move.
You lay the screening material over the frame. You start
(17:55):
in the corner with the spline, and you push it
into that crevice that's going to hold the screen in place.
And then you take your screening tool and you move
it slowly over the top of the spline, pushing it
into that crevice and holding this screen nice and tight.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Now, do you measure a certain amount extra when you're measuring.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Your Yeah, yeah, I want I'd want at least you know,
probably three inches of overlap on each side, so or
at least two inches for sure. So if it's a
thirty inch screen on the inside, you know, you get
a thirty two inch wide screen, you'll be good to go.
And you're gonna have choices of fiberglass screen or an
(18:47):
aluminum screen, and I would get the fiberglass. It's much
easier to work with. You got a lifespan of probably
fifteen years on that screen. It comes in gray or black.
Black will have almost no glare. You'll see out of
the black better than the gray. The gray emulates more
(19:08):
of an aluminum screen, but there's a lot of glare.
So I again, I think I would use the black
fiberglass screen and it worked great. Hey, glad you got through, Terry.
Thank you very much. You're at home with Gary Sellibate.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
No time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan.
Give him a call at one eight eight two three talk.
You're at home with Gary Sellibate.
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If your place smells, there's a reason, and it affects
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It's spring cleaning season and Jaws has the perfect lineup
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to tackle your whole home with one simple system. You
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Speaker 6 (22:25):
M all right back in it we go at Home
with Jerry Sullivan. Great news, great news, great news.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
If you've been listening most of the day here you
have been unable to get in to the show. I
was saying, the phone systems were down, and now the
phone systems are up, so we have a little bit
of time on take your calls, and of course Danny
will be ready to take your call. And also, of
(22:56):
course everybody here. Yeah, so you won't be able to
take all the rush calls that are coming in. Yeah,
so be patient. Here's the phone number you can grab
a line happy to talk about your project. It's eight
hundred eight two three A two five five. All right,
we'll see who the winter winter chicken dinner is first
(23:17):
one in all right. One of the things we were
talking about is you were talking about the chimney, and
now's a good time to have inspected, have it cleaned.
We're not using it if you're having some issues with moisture.
And you can always tell if there's moisture being a
problem with the efflorescence the white powder on the surface
(23:37):
of the brick. We talked about the importance of say,
sealing the brick. I also, this is one of the
easy things to do, is if you you know brick
chimney binoculars on the ground, take a look seriously, scan
that chimney, and what you're looking for is not so
(23:58):
much minute cracks but missing mortar. Maybe you've been seeing
some brick or some mortar laying on the roof of
the house, so you know there's some process of decay
going on, But scan that chimney and you know there's
(24:18):
The process is known as tuck pointing. It's a project
a homeowner can do if you're pretty savvy and you're
not scared of heights, and you can get up there,
et cetera, et cetera. But people that clean chimneys, repair chimneys,
they certainly can help you out with that. It's a mortar.
(24:40):
Mortar doesn't like to stick to mortar, so you got
to clean that joint out with the brick so it
doesn't suck all the water out of the patching mortar.
And then you got the problem of and this is
where a really good mason is worth the price of gold.
They're going to come very close in matching the existing
mortar with an mortar. There is some artistry to it.
(25:04):
And but now is the time too, if you feel
you have any chimney issues or it's been a couple
of years since you had the chimney clean certified chimney sweep,
have inspected, have it cleaned, and get her ready for
another year. Hey Chris, welcome, congratulations first one in. How
are you?
Speaker 7 (25:24):
Oh great, Thank you very much taking my call, love
your show.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
We have any Do you have a cottage on make
Erie that that has a cements tad that's about two
and a half feet high and about eight by twelve
faces north, So it's always dirty and it's spent six
months out of the year with leaves and snow on
it when no one's there. I'm just wondering any ideas.
(25:49):
I suppose I can put wet and Forget on it,
but any other ideas for how to make that a
more attractive place or to cover it with something?
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Sure? Sure, sure, I guess the one of the first
thing is you probably need something a little more than
wet and Forget. To be honest with you, I mean,
I know you got fungus, you got mildew, you got gunk.
And Wet and Forget is a product that takes care
of fungus algae like in mildew mold, and it'll do that,
(26:20):
but it's not going to take care of tannins from
leaves and things like that, plus just even dirt. So
I would go to the oxygenated bleach route. I talk
about oxygenate bleach. It's a high quality oxygenated bleach for
(26:40):
cleaning wood or cleaning masonry. It's a powder mixed with water.
Spray it on, pour it on, let it sit about
ten minutes, re wet, and then take a wood fibered
street broom and use that as a giant scrub brush
and just agitate the heck out of that, Chris, and
(27:01):
then come back with a hose or pressure washer and
go ahead and rinse that off. That's probably gonna be
the best way to clean it. Now, the big thing
is how do you prevent it? I don't know so
option one. Option one is after you get it clean,
spray it with wet and forget. Okay, it's not going
(27:22):
to help you with the leaves, but it will help
you since it faces the north and it's a wet environment,
it'll it'll stop fungus, mildew, algae and all that good
stuff from growing there for about a year and just
use it as a maintenance product. So that's one thing
you can do. You can you can paint it. You've
(27:46):
probably heard me talk about dice coatings in the past.
That is, it can be as decorative as you want
it to be. They have one that looks like terrezo.
They have one called roll rock, one called spreadstone. You
would have to I would recommend you go to their
(28:07):
website and take a look at what the finishes will
look like. But once you have a good and clean
and you apply that, you can also put a clear
seiler on there called track Safe. In fact, that's another
product he's just I call him the mad scientists. He's
just invented this one product. I have not used it yet.
(28:28):
Track Safe was a clear concrete ceiler that was slip resistant,
and now he's developed a way to pigment that. So
it's a slip resistance coating which comes in colors. So
the spreadstone, the roller rock to Thereza, the t the
(28:51):
track Safe colorant. Those are all on his website with
videos and color options. So it's DICE. It's d A
i c ch Coatings dot com. I'd really recommend you
visit that and take a look and see if any
of those, you know, excite you something you'd want to
(29:14):
mess with. I mean, there's a lot of options out there. Now,
there's some they're expensive, but there's some polyurea concrete coatings
that have the flakes in. It's not like the epoxy
garage floor coatings, but it looks like it. They're much
more durable. That's an that's an option also for you.
Speaker 7 (29:39):
Okay, I knew you'd have some solutions for me, and
I thought you talk about dice coding, so I was
wondering if that would work too. So I appreciate.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
You're quite welcome. Thank you very much. Oh, appreciate it
all right. Uh, for pretty much the first time today,
our phone lines are open, So if you've been a
busy signal for like three hours, you won't. Now it's
eight hundred and eight two three eight two five five.
I've just taken you through the course of chimney repair.
(30:10):
Another thing. Number one vulnerability on a chimney if you're
getting water into the house is the flashing, flashing between
a roof and chimney, So they would inspect that make
any corrections a lot of times. And let's face it,
(30:30):
how many people are sitting around worrying about whether they're
flashing is rusting or whether it's rusted through and there's
pinholes in it? Probably not many of us, but I
have to tell you if you have and most of
us do unprotected metal flashing, and you want to paint
(30:52):
it to seal it, to protect it and never probably
painted again. There is there's a product called hammer righte
and I'll tell you right now it is very durable.
But you do not want to put this on when
it's a This is my opinion. It doesn't say son
(31:14):
it can, but if it's bright sunshine and over eighty degrees,
I think it kind of goes on like a chewing gum.
But if you get a seventy degree day, a sixty
degree day, a fifty degree day with sun or without sun,
this hammer right It'll look almost like a hammered finish.
(31:35):
But there is fiberglass strands that are going through this pain,
I mean, and when you put it on, and you
can put it over a surface rusted finish, so you
could use it on other things too. You could use
it on right on fence, you could use it on
an old light post. You could do it on flashing,
(31:58):
but nobody wants to climb up there painter flashing every
now and then. So that's why I'm suggesting it. And
then I'm also telling you what the limitations are. But
I'll tell you what. Right over the existing rust, not
flaky rust, but just surface rust, man, it'll give you
some great protection and something i'd recommend. All right, all
(32:18):
U's sit tight. We're gonna take a break and when
we come back, we're gonna get your call and we
will continue. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
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(33:11):
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Speaker 1 (33:21):
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(33:43):
or visit easybreed dot com receive a free humidity monitoring
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Speaker 3 (33:50):
Hey Gary Salvin here. If you're spring cleaning and you
find a few plumbing issues around the house like dripping faucet,
slow drains, or even a wornout garbage disposal or water heater,
make a list and call my friends at Roto Ruter
Plumbing and Water clean Up. Royal Routers, Licensed and experienced
plumbers can fix any plumbing issues, so give them a call.
(34:11):
It's one eight hundred. Get roto or schedule online at
rotrouter dot com.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Hey, if your raid to strip paint a smarter way,
reach for Dumond's Smart Strip Advance paint remover. It's available
in a non aerosol spray powered by advanced Beagon valve technology.
This powerful water based formula cuts from multiple layers of
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Best of all, it's non flammable and free from harsh chemicals.
(34:39):
It's ideal for indoor outdoor projects. Smart Strip Advance non
aerosol Spray is available at participating Sherwin Williams and do
It Best retailers Ordumondglobal dot com. All right, back at it.
(35:14):
We're thirteen minutes before the top of they are. By
the way, if you missed our conversation regarding some of
these extenders for roofing, you can pick up that podcast
along with Adam Smith or Dumont Chemical some of the
(35:35):
very safe, environmentally friendly painterripers. That's available via podcast on
the iHeart app. Just click at home with Gary Salvin.
Take a listen, lot good information. All right, Ella, welcome.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
Good morning Gary. How are you today doing?
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Fine?
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Morning? So I am a longtime listener here in Topsfield,
Mass and third time caller. All right, thank you so
much for all your great information. And it's a very
basic question. My husband and I have had a persistent
and long enduring because we didn't address it leak in
(36:13):
our basement and it's the main water valve. We finally
had it replaced and it seems to be in good condition.
But my question really is about cleaning that area, which
is about a four by four. I would call it
just yucky or icky after years of water dripping. What's
(36:33):
the best way to sanitize and clean? You talk often
of oxygenated leech, that would be a good one.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
So where this valve was leaking, is this a concrete
basement floor? Is that where it was lee?
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Okay, so it's kind of saint exactly. Yeah, So there's
all kinds of things that would clean it up. I
guess it really doesn't have to be oxygen genated bleach,
you know, just a heavy dude to cleaner. I was
talking about tri sodium phosphate before sure, soil axe, any
(37:09):
of those type of things. You probably got it. And
this was clear water, right, it was dripping from the
main water gen so in Yeah, probably mixed with a
little bit of dust. It's in a basement, organic material,
it could be a little moldy. I would start out with,
you know, a good detergent cleaner and see where you get.
(37:36):
And what I mean by that isent detergent cleaner is
gonna lift dirt, lift goo. Look, you know it's gonna
do that rinse, but it may not really get into
if there's some mold there, there's some mildew there, and
that's where your oxygenated bleach would be helpful. So it
(37:59):
might be a step one, step two thing. But starting
with basic you know, detergent cleaners for floors I think
would probably do very well. And then see if you
still get that discoloration and then maybe go to an
oxygenated bleach.
Speaker 4 (38:14):
Does the tri sodium phosphate equal a detergent cleaner?
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yes, yes, so it's a high phosphate cleaner, so yes,
it would, it would, and it'll have different mixtures on it,
you know, Like I was talking about it for smoke damage,
which it even does a tremendous job on that, but
for even general cleaning, like if you were to paint
(38:38):
walls and you were gonna wash them down and you know,
get all the gunk cough walls or something, you would
use something like that to use gloves, maybe even a
pair of goggles. You know. It's a strong, high phosphate detergent,
but it'll do a good job. It's a good cleaner
for that, okay.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
And as far as rinsing, because these products require rinsing
of some kind, I would think, yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
They do. There is I'm going to really complicate it
now to make a try sodium phosphate. And don't ask
me how or what this means, but it's tri sodium
phosphate phosphate free because some states outlawled phosphates. So since
that name was so well recognized, it's phosphate free. Try
(39:24):
sodium phosphate. You can use that. In fact, you may
have to use that from Boston. I don't know. And
then there's also no rinse. Try sodium phosphate.
Speaker 4 (39:35):
That's what I'm thinking about.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
Yeah, so yeah, you're going to it's awkward.
Speaker 4 (39:40):
It's awkward to rinse it. You know, it's one thing
to rub it and wash it, and then it's you know,
do you use a sponge? Do you use rags?
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (39:54):
Where you go? Carol Burnett lives.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
So I'm give away. I'm still here to do it.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (40:05):
All right, we have a great day.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Thank you. You did the same. All right. Yeah, well
I'll tell you what when you're talking about that main
valve coming in, uh, one of the things uh changed
and good change. The main valve in some of the
water lines. You know it's a gate valve and a
gate valve had uh you know several sets of washers.
(40:29):
If you have bonnet valves that had the old compression
washer valve or the gate came down. Now they got
ball valves. And ball valves are they're excellent. It's it's
a steel ball in the middle of the body of
the valve and it's got a lever handle and you
(40:49):
just close. It's like you know, it's like a dam, right,
so that ball goes over bam. It's on a little
nylon seal and that ball it's stain. The steel ball
just rotates in that almost like a shoulder joint and
seals that off and last much longer than a gate
(41:11):
valve or a globe valve. And so yeah, we've improved that.
But another thing not not too I think we've all
been in this situation where and she said it, we
probably ignored it too long. And yes, not only that,
but leaks around the house just kind of being tuned in,
(41:32):
especially in toilets, not so much valves, not so much faucets,
but toilets. When these things start leaking or running or
flushing themselves, it is amazing how much water you will consume,
how much water you will waste, and in so many
cases you'll you'll you'll pick up a bill that's gonna
(41:58):
be shocking. And taking care of those types of things
immediately is prudent. We'll say we'll say, we'll call it prudent. Uh.
There's also valves that can be put on where they're
leak detectors, where they can tell that you're using more
(42:22):
water than normal. So it's telling you that you have
a leak somewhere or you're using more water, right, I mean,
it's if it's a leak leak and it's running maybe
when you're out of town or something, that's a great
notification that you've got a problem. So when you get
to a point maybe that you're going to replace that
(42:45):
main valve, it might be something. Now, they're going to
be expensive, they're going to be in the four hundred
buck range and different things in your insurance companies should
give you a discount if they know you have one
of those leak detecting valves. So keep that in mind
as an option too. You know, nothing's easy anymore, right,
(43:05):
we have choices, We have choices and everything we we
do anymore. But just google that, learn a little bit
about it. Maybe that's something you want to take a
look at. I know Moan makes them a lot. There's
several different ones and there's different features you can read
about them. But it could in a long term become savings.
(43:28):
They're very durable, they last a long time, and discounts
on insurance. It might be something that can you know,
pay dividends. It might be something you'd be interested in.
All right, did get a couple emails thanking us for
the phones, so it was it was kind of an
interesting day today. It also gave me an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
A little different, but you did.
Speaker 4 (43:52):
We did fine.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Yeah, it gave me an opportunity to really talk about
some projects that maybe we don't normally talk about. And Danny,
thank you. I know some of these days can be
a little difficult when the whole phone system fails, but
certainly appreciate your efforts and keeping us informed. And yes,
we worked the last half hours, so hooray for us. Hey,
good lord, willing, Danny and I'll be back next weekend
(44:15):
for more At Home with Gary Sullivan
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Home Improvement one O one with Gary Sullivan Every weekend
classes began and eight hundred eighty two three taw You're
at Home with Gary Sullivan
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