July 19, 2025 • 45 mins
Your calls, tips and quesitons with the guy who is all about easy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well, it's a weekend. Welcome, you're at home with Gary Salvin.
This hours brought to you by Jaws, and summertimes means
cleaning time. In fact, just last night had a few
folks out on the porch and just chatting and kind
of catching up. And boy, the table we haven't used
it that much with all the rain we've had around ours.
(00:51):
It's kind of dirty. And got the Jaws All Purpose
Cleaner out. And I'm always talking about the glass cleaner
and the kitchen to greaser. I have used the All
Purpose cleaner. I've used the glass cleaner. That all Purpose cleaner.
I'm telling you what, and I just used it. It
was last night. I was very very impressed with it.
(01:14):
The smell was very clean, but the cleaning power the
All Purpose Cleaner by Jaws was outstanding. By the way.
That means just add water system and you can just
reload the bottle that the Jaws comes in, put a
little cartridge in there and you're good to go again.
Check it out. It's jawscleans dot com. All right. The
(01:35):
weekends upon us and that means let's get to work.
What do you say. Let me give you the phone
number you can grab a line, happy to talk about
your home project. I got a list of things we
need to talk about, and our phone number is eight
hundred eight two three eight two five five. We'll also
have Ron Wilson on. We'll be talking about our landscaping,
(01:56):
Deb Meyer, we're gonna be talking about odors. But what
I'm gonna talk about, and it's been a while as
water control, and obviously we've heard about some horrific, horrific
news on floods over the last year in North Carolina
and Texas and those I'm not going to say you
(02:18):
can't do anything about them, but you know, it's a
reach of control and warning. But I'm gonna scale it
back a little bit and just talk about in your area,
in your suburbs, around your home. I was talking to
Ron Wilson earlier today. He was talking about some parts
(02:41):
of our city are dry, other parts have been hit
by a lot of rain, other part deluges. I talked
to somebody last night where I met and it was
probably five miles away. They had like three or four
inches of rain in an hour. That's crazy. So what
(03:01):
do you do? How can you protect your home from
having that water invader home? I've said for years. It
takes a path of least resistance the water does. So
the path of least resistance could be a crack in
a foundation, it could be around the windows, it could
(03:26):
be through the vent pipes on your roof, It could
be around the door, it could be just weeping through concrete,
the path of least resistance. So I always like to
say the name water proof. Yeah, okay, but it's really
(03:46):
water control. So one of the things that somebody actually
sent me a picture of was water. In fact, it
was last night we had a burst of rain, pretty heavy,
and the water was coming through his basement windows, coming
(04:11):
in through the sides, coming in underneath. They didn't look
like they were the greatest of windows. But what the
problem was is I had to stare at it. It
was like, how it's streaming in. It's like a small
creek is coming in through the side of the window.
How was that happening? And as I studied the picture
(04:31):
of the hall, that's, oh my gosh, that's a window
well outside that window well is filling with water and
a path of least resistance. It didn't break the glass,
but it's coming through the frame of the window. It's
gushing in. And I know what the question's going to be.
(04:53):
If somebody asked that question, what can I put on
that window to stop the water? That's not the question
you should be asking. Because if we calk, or if
we use a hydraulic cement and we stop the water
from going in, remember path of least resistance. So where
(05:18):
is that water going to go? I mean the well
is filled up, there's water pressure. The question is why
is that window well filling with water? And what can
I do to correct that? Is it a high water
table that's just coming up and the window well is
the lowest point and that's the path of the least
(05:41):
resistance to fill up that bucket or that window well.
And oh, by the way, there's a window in there.
Oh the calking it's gone. There's too much water pressure. Gee,
it's coming inside with me. Or maybe there is a
drain in the window well. Not all window wells have drains.
Maybe it hasn't been cleaned out for fifteen years. Maybe
(06:02):
nobody's paid any attention to it at all, and they're
sticks and rock and debris, and that that drain is clogged.
But either or I mean, always think when you're battling
an issue, a water issue, path of least resistance. A
friend of mine had a big stamp patio right out
(06:24):
there back door, beautiful and probably about twenty some years old,
good shape, well maintained. But when the house was built,
that patio was installed, and of course along that house
is backfill. It's dirt, backfill. Patio was poured backfill, settled,
(06:49):
patio tilts to the house. Gutters, overflow, excess waterfalls on
the patio funneled right to the house and in the
basement along that wall right where that patio is, it's leaking.
There is no crack in the foundation, but there is
(07:12):
a natural pore between a floor and the wall, natural seam.
They're poor, they're two different pores, and there's so much
water it was coming in through the path of least resistance.
Patios tilt towards the house. It's settled. There's a gap
(07:33):
at the end of the patio up against the foundation,
so it's a funnel, and then there's a gap and
it flows down there, and it goes down the side
of the wall, and there's a seam and it comes
in your in your house, and a lot of times
when people have that problem. When I'm talking to them there,
what they'll say is it really only leaks when we
(07:54):
have a real hard grain. Yeah, that's right. It really
does only leak when you have a really hard rain
because there's not enough volume to be a problem before.
So let's talk about it. If you have having some
problems with controlling around the water around your home, you know, patios, sidewalks, grating, calking,
(08:16):
the vents, ponding wood rod around the house, let's talk
about it and see if we can get to the
source and see if we can get to where that problem,
where that problem is originating. And I've said it many
times on this show, the search doesn't start with the
crack in the basement. The search needs to start outside.
(08:40):
And I've had many people that I've talked to over
the years I thought they hit a big water basement leakage.
And sometimes you know, there isn't anything in a five
dollars can that's just going to solve your problem. But
sometimes just altering the environment we use that phrase a
lot in this show, really makes a big difference in
(09:02):
solving a problem. So if you're having some problems, let's
talk about it. Maybe we can come up with something
that's uh, you know, a little bit easier than maybe
what you're anticipating. And sometimes you got to call in
the big guns to fix it. It's a whole system
that needs to be corrected, and that's never fun to
(09:24):
talk about. But think about that basement, that crawl space.
If it's wet and there's mold, that's a problem. It's
an unhealthy home. It's not going to get better. But
let's see if we can find out the crux of
the issue. Our phone number's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five coming up next our friend Ron Wilson.
(09:45):
And then we'll be taking your calls about water. All right,
we'll continue. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give
them a call at one eight hundred eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Celebrate this summer. Clean smarter with Jaws, the just add
water system, eco friendly, save for kids and pets. Jaws
(10:23):
Streak free formulas deliver high performance cleaning for every surface,
from glass and granite to bathrooms and hardwood floors. Whatever
summer throws your way, Jaws is ready to clean it up.
And each Jaws refill saves eighty three percent of the
plastic compared to buying a new bottle. Just refill, reload,
and reuse. Jaws makes cleaning powerful, sustainable and smart. Jaws
(10:44):
the Just Add Water system shop now at jawscleans dot com.
Well with summer weather, there's a lot of outdoor projects
that need attention, so be sure you're ready to tackle
them all with the professional grade blaster products. It all
starts with the Pbe blaster, the absolute best product for
breaking free rusted nuts and bolts and parts. Then there's
Blaster Silicone, Loube, garage door lube, and of course MultiMAX
(11:08):
synthetic loop to use for practically anything that moves. Hey,
take it from me. When there's work to do, make
sure blaster products are by your side and work it
like a pro.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Get ready to make.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Your slippery walking surfaces safe for both indoors and out
with track Safe Anti slip Sealer by Dish Coatings. Track
Safe is a tough, premixed clearcoat you roll on the concrete, stone, tile,
annoiume and painted surfaces. It brings added beauty and foot
traction to steps, wet pool decks, walkways, garage and interior floors.
Get a grip with slip resistant track safe ordered to
(11:42):
day online through the home depot Lows or diish Coatings
dot Com, Daichcoatings dot com. Gary Salvent here for the
Zalar Pump company. Zalar leads the way in some pumps
and battery backup systems with continuous innovation. Now you can
see the light with their LED plug illuminating Zalar green
when the power is present. You no longer have to
(12:03):
wonder if your some pump hass power. The plug is
always illuminated when power is present. Check it out today
on the popular Zlar model sixty three and M fifty three.
Go to zalarpumps dot com the located factory certified installer
in your area zalarpumps dot com. All right, talking home improvement,
(12:49):
of course, a big part of home improvement is also
lawn and landscaping improvement. That's where we talk to Ron
Wilson each and every weekend and uh Ron does a
national home Well it's a gardening and landscaping and he
covers the outside. I cover the inside and ted bit
on the outside inside outside, mister Wilson, how are you yes, sir,
(13:14):
I'm underwater underwater, it's rained a little come on, okay, hey,
going out and checking their radios to make sure that
the doting gets screwed up.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You can call me water, all right, because I'm on
the path of least resistance.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I've been on a path of least that's.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Gonna be my yeah, new nickname water. I'm a water.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
All I'm doing is trimming, cutting, raking and everything on
the outside. Because everythinging like crazy.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, well that's good thing. I mean, I'll take that.
Usually we transition from a you know, growing like crazy
spring into a hot, dry summer. And so far it's
been a hot, wet summer, sure, and and many areas,
not all, but many areas, right, But I.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Mean things obviously. You know, I always say, you want
to have a good lawn, have good rain. And we
got good rain. We have a good lawn.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
But mother, if mother Nature can can give that to you,
you got it made.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I can't tell you how much I used to water
planting and changing slowly some of the landscaping out, and
every year we'd lose a bush or two. And this
year it's like everything is definitely deeply rooted and growing
and loving it good. And so that posts the question.
Then as it's grown, it's almost like you're running out
(14:35):
of room. Everything's growing so fast. It's kind of getting
h leggy and different things. Can you can you is
it okay to trim some of this stuff up?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
You can as a matter of fact, right now. After that,
especially when the new growth kind of I call it
hardening off. Yeah, it becomes the same as the old
growth looks, the same, colors are the same. You can
go back through and do a second prune, like boxwood
right now, getting a second pruning Japanese use getting a
second pruning some of the junior I think the thing
you have to remember is there are some plants. If
they're flowering plants, those flower buds may be set for
(15:05):
next year already. You do a little pruning right now,
you lose some of the flower buds Lilacs, Yeah, lilac especially,
you wouldn't you know, besides whole branch removal really not
a whole lot many of the hydrangees at this stage yet.
Be careful about those two if they flower on last
year's growth. But you know, for the most part, you
will get a second kind of as I call it,
a second pruning. Right about midsummer where you go through
(15:26):
and kind of, you know, hand do things, even them up,
that type of thing. Get those branch that came out
here or there that's hanging over the sidewalk, get that
off of there, and kind of just tidy up a
little bit. But then you want to stop. You know,
there's a point where you you know, right now you
want to do that, But once we get another month in,
you pretty well want to stop any of that heavy
pruning and it would just be whole branch removal at
(15:49):
that point until we get into the mid latter part
of the fall season.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I'll tell you what. A couple of years ago, I
got one of these. I got a Fisker's lope lupping cheer,
and it came with a little like scissors, pruning scissors.
I like that because it keeps me out of trouble
because you can only remove that's exactly right. That is
exactly right. You can't remove a lot, but you can
(16:14):
get the strays.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
You can get what you need to do right now, right,
I agree, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So I play with that with my trimming up some
old lilies that you know, have some dead growth on them.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Now, my problem is I carry those. I do that also,
and I do the dram scissors, and I can't carry
them in my back pocket, and I have a hole
in all my back pockets. I have a little sheath
that comes with it, but I don't take that.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I want to do that. I got she too. It's
on a workback.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I've ripped my truck seat and then you know the
whole nine yards oh ze.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, but it is amazing though, I mean you can
it's easy. It's as smooth it's and you can't get
too much in trouble. So I'm all about the scissors.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Good for dead heading too.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Well, that's really all I got it because we got daisies.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Oh that's that's what makes it so easy.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And Sue likes to just pull off the flower and
I kind of don't like that.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
That's okay, you can do that, that's I know.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
But if you go down further and get it where
the leaves, it could bloom again.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah, listen to you, mister gardener.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
We're working on it.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
We're working on I actually, can I ask you two questions? Sure,
it's a follow up to your window well thing. When
window wells are when the house is being built and
they're being stuck on the side, and I think there's
a tobally screwed into the foundation of the house. Are
those sealed?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
No, they could put a little calking in there, but
they're not like sealed. Would it be?
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Would it didn't help with the way the extremes were
having today If I actually sealed that. It's just assuming
I was having a new house built, then I actually
could seal that and put a window well cover on
the top.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Oh sure, sure, you know, the window will is basically
for light, right, you know, but you got a light
in there.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
But we have these extremes, there's a good chance water
is going to go in, you know, wind and floor,
And like I.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Said, not all of them are drain have a drain
in them. And even the ones that have the drain
in them, I would say, if I went and looked
at window wells, the ones that had a drain, they
may as well not had a drain because they're just
all clogged up.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Anyone who gets down in there to clear that, all right, nobody.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Out of sight, out of mind, right, So yeah, putting
a little lid on that thing and keeping the light
coming in. Calking the sides, especially if you have ponding
in that area, right, Yeah, because and I don't mean
to make it sound really super simple, but in the
way it is super simple. Water will take a path
of least resistance. So if you've got a gap between
(18:40):
the metal window well and the foundation, then you got
ponding on the side of the foundation. It's going right
in the window will And if that window is old,
not sealed up real good. And I've even seen windows
that broke from water pressure. Wow, and it was sealed
up real good. Yeah, that's what a lot of times
people put glass walk in there too.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
That's that's when you tell them, See, you sealed it
up too good. See to let it leak, you wouldn't
have had to break it.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's exactly right. Put a lid on it.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
But does I mean the lid I mean obviously helps
to keep debrising thing and critters out of your well.
I guess it would help in a situation like that too. Sure,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Getting delus your reign. It's not filling up the bucket either.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah, I like them.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Anyway, You get a snork will all right. Ron Wilson
online dot com. You can check out his uh snorkling
videos and some gardening tips at the same time. Thank you, sir,
Thank you all right, I will continue with your calls.
You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Home Improvement one oh one with Gary Sullivan every weekend
classes began at one eight hundred and eight two three
Tap You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
For over forty years, Dumont has made powerful pain and
coating removers that are tough on layers but save for
you in the environment. Tried demand Smart Strip Advanced. It
works on over ninety percent of the coatings, no harmful fumes,
no dangerous chemicals. Not sure what you're removing well, Demon's
easy test kit tells you exactly what you need. Find
Smart Strip at you're participating Do it Best retailer Sherwin
(20:38):
Williams or visit Dumont Global dot Com. At Dumont Global
dot Com. Dumont Smart safe and proven, So do it
yourself with Demon. Hey Gary Salvin here for the plumbing
pros at Rutter Ruter Plumbing and water Cleanup. They've been
trusted and recommended for almost ninety years. Coast to coast route.
Ruter fixes clogged drains, leaky faucets and running toilets. They repair,
(21:00):
water heaters, garbage disposals, some pumps, and just about any
other residential or commercial plumbing problem. I use rotor Aruter
at my house and you should too. Call one eight hundred,
get roto, or go to rotoreruter dot com to learn more. Well,
I've been recommending Blackjack driveway sealers for years, and here's
some great news. The Blackjack ten year Sealer drive Max
(21:22):
one thousand features accelerated drying time in curing in cooler temperatures.
Drive Max one thousand adds curb appeal, delivering a light,
new black finish and as you're a thane enhanced for
the longest life.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Drive Max one.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Thousand available at Low's Home Depot, True value ace in
your local hardware store. Visit Blackjackcoatings dot com for more information.
Blackjack protecting driveways for over one hundred years. Summer smells
don't stand a chance because odor Exit is bringing the
heat with their summer sale right now at odor exit
dot com. You'll get fifteen percent off, free shipping on
(21:56):
orders over twenty five dollars and a free six ounce
bottle of Medge when you spend over thirty five dollars.
I'm talking mold pets, funky shoes, sweaty gear, even your
car after a hot day, Odor exit knocks it out fast,
best eels always directed Odor Exit dot com. Go now
and stop out those odors for good. All right, back
(22:44):
at it we go talking about your home and you're
at home with Jerry Salivan. If you want to grab
a line water issues after a lot of rainy summer
that we've had, feel free to join us. Plus a
lot of outdoor projects from Dexi on the concrete patch
and got you over there too. Our phone number is
eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five John.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Welcome, Garry, Thank you for taking my call, listening to
me almost every weekend when I do Aaron's on Saturday morning.
I have an issue with a very small leak in
my laundry room basement where my main pipe that takes
all sewage out to my septic tank goes through the
(23:28):
basement wall. Okay, it's not a huge issue. It's not
a big leak. I can manage it with a little bucket,
and I've tried different clocks on it and everything, and
it'll stop there in someplace, some cleric else on there
and I can't seem to do it from inside. And
what you mentioned about the outside got me thinking, because
(23:50):
what has happened over the past three or four years
at the outside of the house or that pipe goes out.
I have a patio that's about fifteen by twenty concrete patio,
so that pipe actually traverses under that patio, and even
the spot where you know, you can take it off
or you can pull stuff out of that, you know
(24:10):
what I mean, it's right in the middle of the patio,
you know, right where you can can do it anyway,
that concrete started to drop a little bit down towards
where it meets up to the house, okay, right, and
it dropped about a half an inch. And then I
noticed that now when the water is you know, hits
(24:31):
the patio, it's starting to pind and go right towards
the foundation. Okay, because it's a big patio, yeah, very
you know. So I thought, well, I'll call this guy,
you know where you can raise the concrete. But I
got to thinking if I try to raise that concrete,
I got concerned I might crack that pipe, you know
what I mean, that sewage pipe, you know what I mean,
(24:52):
that something might happen there. So I said, look, all
I want to do is I don't want you to
try to raise it back up that half inch. I
I just want you to stabilize it. So they did that,
but I still got that slope that's taking that water
down there. Is there anything that you can put on
top of that concrete to kind of level that and
maybe push the water outboards the word?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, And I got a couple ideas really as you're talking.
But one of the questions I would have is your
thought about creating so much pressure you had cracked that pipe.
My guess is this like a schedule forty PVC necessarily think, well,
did you when you brought up your concern to the
(25:35):
uh slabjacker or concrete level or did he say, oh, yeah,
we could crack that pipe, because I don't know.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
He said he he didn't know, and you know he
wasn't going to guarantee it wouldn't happen. Yeah, you know
what I mean, And that would be the worst problem obviously.
You know what I mean. Now you're talking about tearing
that patio up, and you know, putting that in going
all the way to the septic tank, which is another
sure the patios twenty foot, so I mean it's under
there for about twenty foot we're going into into the yard.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Well, my guess is my guess is I don't think
it would crack that pipe. And I'm sure there's data
to find out for sure whether it would crack it
or not, but I would think it would knock because
again it's it's applying pressure, right, but the pressure is
being absorbed by it lifting that patio. And I actually
(26:29):
stood on a floor that stopped dropped like three inches
one time, and they did a slab jacking on a
one on slab branch house and then it had dropped
about three inches below the baseboard and I stood on
that and with the pressure readings that they were doing,
they could take that slab and they could nuzzle it
(26:49):
right up to the bottom of that baseboard and stop it.
And so I don't think it would. But having said that,
what whatever, Okay, So here's here's something I think I
would really look into. First of all, if we can
seal that hole around that pipe. And I know calking
(27:10):
may not have been strong enough, but there's a couple
other things that you might be able to have someone do,
or there's even I know quick Creek makes a in
a POxy out in a calking tube where its self mixes,
but they make an epoxy injection where it's under pressure,
and you could do it from the inside where it'll
(27:31):
push that epoxy into that crevice around the pipe and
fill it around and shut off. Okay, so you would
fill it, so you would stop the path at least
resistance number one, and then we still have the water issue,
and that's going to be pouring in. So we get
to your question, how do we stop that? I think
(27:53):
I would very possibly revisit that hole lifting of that slab,
because if you can get a positive grade going away
from the house, you're home free. You're home free exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Now, that's what I'm thinking. The leak's not that bad.
That what's causing it is all that water moving sure
right on the foundation and it's up there.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Is a common problem. Like I said, we dig a hole,
we plan a house, and we backfill, and and that
backfill is going to settle. Every time it's going to settle,
whether it takes you know, one year or five years
or ten years, it's going to settle. And then that
pattery is just going to settle. Right with it, so
pushing that back up and I don't think that pipe
(28:37):
would crack, but that company who did that should have
that answer. But I think the path of least resistance
lift a pad long before it compromises that pipe. But
if we do a in epoxy injection from the inside
and then lifting get a positive grading, I think you'd
be home free. Now to answer your question, can I
put something on top? Yeah you can, but cosmetically it's
(29:01):
not gonna look all that great. And as that water
comes down, it's gonna hit like that curb if you will,
and it's going to go off to the side. And
it may work, but think about the cosmetics on it.
You can't tie it to the house, you know. So
and again, if that seam is I don't know, half
(29:22):
inch wide, you could put a backer rod in there,
or fill it with sand up to about three ace
of an inch and then put a good eurothane clocking
on there, which has great adhesion, great flexibility. You'd still
have a negative grade, but that that you're a thinge
(29:43):
to water protected. So you got to know where it's
going to go now, you know, is the water coming down,
it's not going to go in that crevice anymore, it's
going to go off to the side, or it's going
to create a puddle. I don't know, but so slab
jacking and an injectable POxy I think looks like your
your answer.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Okay, all right, well, all right, the uh information and
uh hopefully this is something I've been trying to do
myself except jacking it up with them. Guy, do the
slab jack, you know what I mean. And I kind
of reached my wits end, and I don't want to
call some waterproofing company coming in, you know, just to
try to fix that little crack because they're gonna want
(30:25):
to start digging and everything. I got sub bump and
then the water goes right into the sub bubb pole
because the sup bump poles right near there, you know
what I mean. So it's it's it's not an issue,
but I'm getting older. You might sell the house, and
I know I'm going to get asked a question about
that when I go to shirt, you know what I mean,
And then you're talking about, well, I'm gonna want that repaired,
(30:47):
and then I'm gonna end up having to call somebody
in any way, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
So right, well, I think there's an answer to it.
And you know, waterproofing companies they do the whole system
and then they give you a lifetime warranty, so they're
going to do everything. Now, that's what they do. But
there's steps. In fact, most waterproofing companies that even tell
you you know, there are steps that sometimes can correct it. Yeah,
(31:11):
and it usually does start on the outside. So and
most people will try different things way before they get
into a whole waterproofing job. And so there's a place
for both, is what I'm saying. And since you're kind
of just getting into this, I just I would think
that would be a solution worth trying.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Okay, thank you, Gary, appreciate.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
It all right, thank you very much. And that's that's
very true. Just keep telling yourself path of least resistance,
slap tilt negative fall gap right on the foundation. Sure
if you've got an opening around, sure around the pipe.
Path of leasters is coming right inside. Folks eight two
(31:56):
three eight two five five. That's our number. When we
come back. We got Scott and Dale. If you'd like
to join us, do so. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Imagine getting in a hot, stuffy car in a summer
Gary Sullivan here. You know how it cools off much
faster when you roll the windows down first to get
the hot air out. Well, that's exactly how an easy
Breed ventilation system works, removing all the musty, damp, stagnant
air and replacing with fresher, cleaner, dryer air. Take charge
of your air with an easy Breeds ventilation system and
(32:49):
get two and fifty dollars off today. Ask about DIY kids,
visit letter E letter z Breed dot com. Co eight
six six eight two two seventy three twenty eight. Are
clean Smarter with Jaws the just add water system, eco friendly,
save for kids and pets. Jaws Streak free formulas deliver
high performance cleaning for every surface, from glass and granite
(33:11):
to bathrooms and hardwood floors. Whatever summer throws your way,
Jaws is ready to clean it up, and each Jaws
refill saves eighty three percent of the plastic compared to
buying a new bottle. Just refill, reload, and reuse. Jaws
makes cleaning powerful, sustainable and smart. Jaws the just add
water system shop now at jawscleans dot com. Gary Solvent
(33:32):
here for the Zalar pump company. Zalor leads the way
in some pumps and battery backup systems with continuous innovation.
Now you can see the light with their LED plug
illuminating Zalor green when the power is present. You no
longer have to wonder if your some pump pass power.
The plug is always illuminated when power is present. Check
it out today on the popular Zolar model sixty three
(33:53):
and M fifty three. Go to zolarpumps dot com the
located factory certified installer in your area pumps dot com.
Well ants are known for being hard working and industrious,
which is bad news for you when they end up
in your house. Hey Gary Sullivan here. When you need
to get rid of ants fast, you need rescue ant baits.
Rescue ant bits are prebated, child resistant and ready to
(34:15):
use right out of the box. No sticky liquids, no mess.
Rescue ant bits are made in USA by the makers
of the popular rescue Flying Yellowjacket traps. Learn more at
rescue dot com. That's r E s c Ue dot com.
(34:52):
All right back at it we go. You're at home
with Gary Sullivan talking a little home improvement. Let's get
back to the phones. What do you say that we got,
Scott Scott welcome, Hey Gary.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
I appreciate your show, sir, thank you much like you
guys in Cincinnati, in southeast area, we've had really wet
moist went the spring summer and I'm doing battle with
gnats this year. And I have never had the problem
like I've had this year. And it's I was thinking
(35:23):
that last year or something I heard you talk about
possibly a house plant connection with Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
So there's basically when you have gnats in your house,
there's there's a there's three sources. Primarily, there's fruit gnats,
which usually bring home from the grocery grocery store, you know,
with apples and things like that. There's fungus gnats. And
the fungus gnats is when we were talking about one time,
(35:52):
this person called on said it's common in house plants
and that's where they're coming from. And the third one
be drain gnats, which is the one for that I
usually focus on, but that doesn't mean they're the most common.
I don't know why I focus on that, but I
(36:13):
think usually it's around the kitchen sink is when people call,
So let me just kind of go through that. You
can on the drain gnats, you can take some masking
tape and just tape over the top of the drain
and don't use that for you know, a day or
two and see if there's gnats that are actually stuck
on the back of that masking tape. That's really a
(36:35):
real quick easy way to find out on the drain nets.
The fruit gnats, wherever you store your fruit, if it's
outside of the refrigerator, maybe in a little basket you
got apples, or you got tomatoes or something like that,
just see if they're around that area. And of course
with the fungus gnats again, maybe there's some way of
(36:58):
using tape over the the pot to see if you
can catch some gnats and then you'll know they're coming
from there. And then the way you get rid of
them depends on you know which which type of gnats
you have, But usually for drain gnats, really getting a
(37:22):
foam type drain cleaner gets rid of the bacteria above
the water line in the pipe, that'll sometimes get rid
of them. There's also traps that people use they're attracted
to red. So they'll put like water in a cider
vinegar and a couple of drops.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
I'm doing that and then you know the type. I
have one around and I've closed all the drains, put
stoppers in them, and then I on the bathroom saints
it's got as well. I'll put tape over those as well.
I haven't found anything on the tapes.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Okay, you know, we do have quite a not quite.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
We have four or five plants in the kitchen because
we get a lot of light in there and my
wife loves plants. I was thinking that maybe it was
a relationship to the plant. But I mean because we
don't keep any food I mean fresh fruit out until
that's kept a refrigerator. And sure, I mean, I'm trying
to just combat everything that I've I've heard. You know,
we'll talk about, but I don't think I can think
(38:22):
is the plant I mean I have.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Well, it might be that, and then you know a
couple of things to do is just and you can
check with my friend Ron Wilson. May I ask him
that on our little get together that we have every weekend.
But letting that soil dry out not to a point
where it, you know, starts hurting the plant, but don't
leave that soil moist all the time, remove dead leaves
(38:46):
off the planet itself. There's probably if you go to
a garden center a funger side, you can use on
the soil which will kill the fungus which is the
food source. And then you can still make those traps
and put it around the plant itself and see if
you know you can decrease the population that way.
Speaker 5 (39:06):
Okay, all right, it sounds good, so I appreciate your information.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
You're quite welcome. Thank you, Take care, Scott. All right.
Our phone number you can join us. It's eight hundred
eight two three eight two five five. I thought today'd
be really really busy.
Speaker 5 (39:20):
Not so much.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
They all welcome.
Speaker 6 (39:24):
Hey, how you doing here, Jerry?
Speaker 2 (39:26):
My call?
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (39:28):
Here in the middle of Ohio washing my car and
uh I also got a paint.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Of barn today and I hope it don't rain.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
Yeah, it's at three o'clock. I may be able to
get out of this, but uh, sorry, honey.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Anyway, I'm relating.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Painted with oil.
Speaker 6 (39:51):
Yeah, I painted with oil paint last time I painted it.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Okay, somebody told me you can't use.
Speaker 6 (39:57):
Oil paint and on barns in Ohio and more. Is
that true?
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I think in Ohio you're still allowed to buy oil
based paints. Now. I don't know if they can actually
police what you use, but yeah, and and to be
honest with you, now you're quite honestly on a barn,
your latex or acrylic paints are gonna last longer. Yeah,
(40:25):
you can make that transition too. Now, one of the
big benefits of acrylic paints or latex paints, you'll lose
because of the oil base that's already on there. But
acrylic paints and latex paints breathe, so it allows water
vapor to penetrate through the latex and acrellic paints from
(40:48):
the inside out. There's a benefit there old oil based paints.
If you have multiple layers of it almost becomes a
waterproof coating for water from the inside out. And that's
bad because water. You've probably heard me say this, water
(41:08):
always wins. And that's why when we have multiple coats
of an oil base, we have cracking and peeling of paint.
With the acrylics, we really don't have that, so you know,
I I would. And then the other real big benefit,
the big thing is acrylic and latex paints do a
(41:29):
marvelous job compared to oil when it comes to standing
up to the ultraviolet rays of the sun, so there's
minimal fading compared to oil based. So you know, you're
kind of ahead of the game on acrylics now. Oil
based penetrates in the wood better, and you already got that.
You can still get oil primers if you want to
(41:50):
do that, but i'd get a really good grade of
a self praming latex or acrylic paint and put that
right over the oil base and you should be good.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
I think I'll do that. Yeah, all right, Okay, I
got an I got one more question for you. All right,
I have to build a sixteen by sixteen dance floor.
It's going to be outside. What type of plywood? Because
this is plywood. Then I'm going to repurpose inside the
barn or floor. But any three quarter inch uh pressure
(42:27):
treated well.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
That's what I was going to lean to. Is a
a thick you know, five a or three quarter pressure
treated plywood. I don't know if there would be something
that would be better, but you know, when you asked
that question, that's the first place my mind went to.
(42:50):
But it's indoors, right, I mean it's not outdoors.
Speaker 6 (42:53):
Correct, No, this, I'm sorry, this is gonna gonna be
in the back forty. They want to she wants her
a wedding out, So I'm gonna door outside wedding. I'm
gonna threw these things together, kind of get as level
as I can. Sure there's your dance floor, and then
when we're done, I'm going to repurpose it and replace
the floor inside the barn.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Okay, okay. So one of the things that would just
be of a mild concern, and it depends on today. Obviously,
pressure wood can be slippery because it's infused with a treatment,
so water doesn't penetrate into that very well, especially when
(43:36):
it's new, so it could be slippery. Can't really put
anything on that until it's got some age to it.
So there would be a slip resistance sealer that could
be put on there, but probably not for a good
six months.
Speaker 6 (43:57):
So I may have waited too long to do that.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Well, I'm yeah, yeah, and that's what I mean. I
think if if you're gonna do it, that's that's what
you would use. And yeah, yeah, and uh, like the
rest of the wedding. You're gonna pray for sunshine that day,
all right.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
You know one of my favorite products too, you've heard
me talk about is Wet and Forget and they make
an exterior window and screen cleaner. Now, this particular product
actually cleans through the window screens. It cleans the screens
and cleans the window. You can check it out for yourself.
It's available at Low's, Walmart, Ace and Blains in Their
website is Wetinforget dot com. You can join us. We
(44:42):
got open lines. It's eight hundred and eight two three
eight two five five. You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Garysullivan.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
M hmm
Well, it's a weekend. Welcome, you're at home with Gary Salvin.
This hours brought to you by Jaws, and summertimes means
cleaning time. In fact, just last night had a few
folks out on the porch and just chatting and kind
of catching up. And boy, the table we haven't used
it that much with all the rain we've had around ours.
(00:51):
It's kind of dirty. And got the Jaws All Purpose
Cleaner out. And I'm always talking about the glass cleaner
and the kitchen to greaser. I have used the All
Purpose cleaner. I've used the glass cleaner. That all Purpose cleaner.
I'm telling you what, and I just used it. It
was last night. I was very very impressed with it.
(01:14):
The smell was very clean, but the cleaning power the
All Purpose Cleaner by Jaws was outstanding. By the way.
That means just add water system and you can just
reload the bottle that the Jaws comes in, put a
little cartridge in there and you're good to go again.
Check it out. It's jawscleans dot com. All right. The
(01:35):
weekends upon us and that means let's get to work.
What do you say. Let me give you the phone
number you can grab a line, happy to talk about
your home project. I got a list of things we
need to talk about, and our phone number is eight
hundred eight two three eight two five five. We'll also
have Ron Wilson on. We'll be talking about our landscaping,
(01:56):
Deb Meyer, we're gonna be talking about odors. But what
I'm gonna talk about, and it's been a while as
water control, and obviously we've heard about some horrific, horrific
news on floods over the last year in North Carolina
and Texas and those I'm not going to say you
(02:18):
can't do anything about them, but you know, it's a
reach of control and warning. But I'm gonna scale it
back a little bit and just talk about in your area,
in your suburbs, around your home. I was talking to
Ron Wilson earlier today. He was talking about some parts
(02:41):
of our city are dry, other parts have been hit
by a lot of rain, other part deluges. I talked
to somebody last night where I met and it was
probably five miles away. They had like three or four
inches of rain in an hour. That's crazy. So what
(03:01):
do you do? How can you protect your home from
having that water invader home? I've said for years. It
takes a path of least resistance the water does. So
the path of least resistance could be a crack in
a foundation, it could be around the windows, it could
(03:26):
be through the vent pipes on your roof, It could
be around the door, it could be just weeping through concrete,
the path of least resistance. So I always like to
say the name water proof. Yeah, okay, but it's really
(03:46):
water control. So one of the things that somebody actually
sent me a picture of was water. In fact, it
was last night we had a burst of rain, pretty heavy,
and the water was coming through his basement windows, coming
(04:11):
in through the sides, coming in underneath. They didn't look
like they were the greatest of windows. But what the
problem was is I had to stare at it. It
was like, how it's streaming in. It's like a small
creek is coming in through the side of the window.
How was that happening? And as I studied the picture
(04:31):
of the hall, that's, oh my gosh, that's a window
well outside that window well is filling with water and
a path of least resistance. It didn't break the glass,
but it's coming through the frame of the window. It's
gushing in. And I know what the question's going to be.
(04:53):
If somebody asked that question, what can I put on
that window to stop the water? That's not the question
you should be asking. Because if we calk, or if
we use a hydraulic cement and we stop the water
from going in, remember path of least resistance. So where
(05:18):
is that water going to go? I mean the well
is filled up, there's water pressure. The question is why
is that window well filling with water? And what can
I do to correct that? Is it a high water
table that's just coming up and the window well is
the lowest point and that's the path of the least
(05:41):
resistance to fill up that bucket or that window well.
And oh, by the way, there's a window in there.
Oh the calking it's gone. There's too much water pressure. Gee,
it's coming inside with me. Or maybe there is a
drain in the window well. Not all window wells have drains.
Maybe it hasn't been cleaned out for fifteen years. Maybe
(06:02):
nobody's paid any attention to it at all, and they're
sticks and rock and debris, and that that drain is clogged.
But either or I mean, always think when you're battling
an issue, a water issue, path of least resistance. A
friend of mine had a big stamp patio right out
(06:24):
there back door, beautiful and probably about twenty some years old,
good shape, well maintained. But when the house was built,
that patio was installed, and of course along that house
is backfill. It's dirt, backfill. Patio was poured backfill, settled,
(06:49):
patio tilts to the house. Gutters, overflow, excess waterfalls on
the patio funneled right to the house and in the
basement along that wall right where that patio is, it's leaking.
There is no crack in the foundation, but there is
(07:12):
a natural pore between a floor and the wall, natural seam.
They're poor, they're two different pores, and there's so much
water it was coming in through the path of least resistance.
Patios tilt towards the house. It's settled. There's a gap
(07:33):
at the end of the patio up against the foundation,
so it's a funnel, and then there's a gap and
it flows down there, and it goes down the side
of the wall, and there's a seam and it comes
in your in your house, and a lot of times
when people have that problem. When I'm talking to them there,
what they'll say is it really only leaks when we
(07:54):
have a real hard grain. Yeah, that's right. It really
does only leak when you have a really hard rain
because there's not enough volume to be a problem before.
So let's talk about it. If you have having some
problems with controlling around the water around your home, you know, patios, sidewalks, grating, calking,
(08:16):
the vents, ponding wood rod around the house, let's talk
about it and see if we can get to the
source and see if we can get to where that problem,
where that problem is originating. And I've said it many
times on this show, the search doesn't start with the
crack in the basement. The search needs to start outside.
(08:40):
And I've had many people that I've talked to over
the years I thought they hit a big water basement leakage.
And sometimes you know, there isn't anything in a five
dollars can that's just going to solve your problem. But
sometimes just altering the environment we use that phrase a
lot in this show, really makes a big difference in
(09:02):
solving a problem. So if you're having some problems, let's
talk about it. Maybe we can come up with something
that's uh, you know, a little bit easier than maybe
what you're anticipating. And sometimes you got to call in
the big guns to fix it. It's a whole system
that needs to be corrected, and that's never fun to
(09:24):
talk about. But think about that basement, that crawl space.
If it's wet and there's mold, that's a problem. It's
an unhealthy home. It's not going to get better. But
let's see if we can find out the crux of
the issue. Our phone number's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five coming up next our friend Ron Wilson.
(09:45):
And then we'll be taking your calls about water. All right,
we'll continue. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give
them a call at one eight hundred eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Celebrate this summer. Clean smarter with Jaws, the just add
water system, eco friendly, save for kids and pets. Jaws
(10:23):
Streak free formulas deliver high performance cleaning for every surface,
from glass and granite to bathrooms and hardwood floors. Whatever
summer throws your way, Jaws is ready to clean it up.
And each Jaws refill saves eighty three percent of the
plastic compared to buying a new bottle. Just refill, reload,
and reuse. Jaws makes cleaning powerful, sustainable and smart. Jaws
(10:44):
the Just Add Water system shop now at jawscleans dot com.
Well with summer weather, there's a lot of outdoor projects
that need attention, so be sure you're ready to tackle
them all with the professional grade blaster products. It all
starts with the Pbe blaster, the absolute best product for
breaking free rusted nuts and bolts and parts. Then there's
Blaster Silicone, Loube, garage door lube, and of course MultiMAX
(11:08):
synthetic loop to use for practically anything that moves. Hey,
take it from me. When there's work to do, make
sure blaster products are by your side and work it
like a pro.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Get ready to make.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Your slippery walking surfaces safe for both indoors and out
with track Safe Anti slip Sealer by Dish Coatings. Track
Safe is a tough, premixed clearcoat you roll on the concrete, stone, tile,
annoiume and painted surfaces. It brings added beauty and foot
traction to steps, wet pool decks, walkways, garage and interior floors.
Get a grip with slip resistant track safe ordered to
(11:42):
day online through the home depot Lows or diish Coatings
dot Com, Daichcoatings dot com. Gary Salvent here for the
Zalar Pump company. Zalar leads the way in some pumps
and battery backup systems with continuous innovation. Now you can
see the light with their LED plug illuminating Zalar green
when the power is present. You no longer have to
(12:03):
wonder if your some pump hass power. The plug is
always illuminated when power is present. Check it out today
on the popular Zlar model sixty three and M fifty three.
Go to zalarpumps dot com the located factory certified installer
in your area zalarpumps dot com. All right, talking home improvement,
(12:49):
of course, a big part of home improvement is also
lawn and landscaping improvement. That's where we talk to Ron
Wilson each and every weekend and uh Ron does a
national home Well it's a gardening and landscaping and he
covers the outside. I cover the inside and ted bit
on the outside inside outside, mister Wilson, how are you yes, sir,
(13:14):
I'm underwater underwater, it's rained a little come on, okay, hey,
going out and checking their radios to make sure that
the doting gets screwed up.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You can call me water, all right, because I'm on
the path of least resistance.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I've been on a path of least that's.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Gonna be my yeah, new nickname water. I'm a water.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
All I'm doing is trimming, cutting, raking and everything on
the outside. Because everythinging like crazy.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, well that's good thing. I mean, I'll take that.
Usually we transition from a you know, growing like crazy
spring into a hot, dry summer. And so far it's
been a hot, wet summer, sure, and and many areas,
not all, but many areas, right, But I.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Mean things obviously. You know, I always say, you want
to have a good lawn, have good rain. And we
got good rain. We have a good lawn.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
But mother, if mother Nature can can give that to you,
you got it made.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I can't tell you how much I used to water
planting and changing slowly some of the landscaping out, and
every year we'd lose a bush or two. And this
year it's like everything is definitely deeply rooted and growing
and loving it good. And so that posts the question.
Then as it's grown, it's almost like you're running out
(14:35):
of room. Everything's growing so fast. It's kind of getting
h leggy and different things. Can you can you is
it okay to trim some of this stuff up?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
You can as a matter of fact, right now. After that,
especially when the new growth kind of I call it
hardening off. Yeah, it becomes the same as the old
growth looks, the same, colors are the same. You can
go back through and do a second prune, like boxwood
right now, getting a second pruning Japanese use getting a
second pruning some of the junior I think the thing
you have to remember is there are some plants. If
they're flowering plants, those flower buds may be set for
(15:05):
next year already. You do a little pruning right now,
you lose some of the flower buds Lilacs, Yeah, lilac especially,
you wouldn't you know, besides whole branch removal really not
a whole lot many of the hydrangees at this stage yet.
Be careful about those two if they flower on last
year's growth. But you know, for the most part, you
will get a second kind of as I call it,
a second pruning. Right about midsummer where you go through
(15:26):
and kind of, you know, hand do things, even them up,
that type of thing. Get those branch that came out
here or there that's hanging over the sidewalk, get that
off of there, and kind of just tidy up a
little bit. But then you want to stop. You know,
there's a point where you you know, right now you
want to do that, But once we get another month in,
you pretty well want to stop any of that heavy
pruning and it would just be whole branch removal at
(15:49):
that point until we get into the mid latter part
of the fall season.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I'll tell you what. A couple of years ago, I
got one of these. I got a Fisker's lope lupping cheer,
and it came with a little like scissors, pruning scissors.
I like that because it keeps me out of trouble
because you can only remove that's exactly right. That is
exactly right. You can't remove a lot, but you can
(16:14):
get the strays.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
You can get what you need to do right now, right,
I agree, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
So I play with that with my trimming up some
old lilies that you know, have some dead growth on them.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Now, my problem is I carry those. I do that also,
and I do the dram scissors, and I can't carry
them in my back pocket, and I have a hole
in all my back pockets. I have a little sheath
that comes with it, but I don't take that.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I want to do that. I got she too. It's
on a workback.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I've ripped my truck seat and then you know the
whole nine yards oh ze.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, but it is amazing though, I mean you can
it's easy. It's as smooth it's and you can't get
too much in trouble. So I'm all about the scissors.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Good for dead heading too.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Well, that's really all I got it because we got daisies.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Oh that's that's what makes it so easy.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And Sue likes to just pull off the flower and
I kind of don't like that.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
That's okay, you can do that, that's I know.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
But if you go down further and get it where
the leaves, it could bloom again.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah, listen to you, mister gardener.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
We're working on it.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
We're working on I actually, can I ask you two questions? Sure,
it's a follow up to your window well thing. When
window wells are when the house is being built and
they're being stuck on the side, and I think there's
a tobally screwed into the foundation of the house. Are
those sealed?
Speaker 1 (17:34):
No, they could put a little calking in there, but
they're not like sealed. Would it be?
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Would it didn't help with the way the extremes were
having today If I actually sealed that. It's just assuming
I was having a new house built, then I actually
could seal that and put a window well cover on
the top.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Oh sure, sure, you know, the window will is basically
for light, right, you know, but you got a light
in there.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
But we have these extremes, there's a good chance water
is going to go in, you know, wind and floor,
And like I.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Said, not all of them are drain have a drain
in them. And even the ones that have the drain
in them, I would say, if I went and looked
at window wells, the ones that had a drain, they
may as well not had a drain because they're just
all clogged up.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Anyone who gets down in there to clear that, all right, nobody.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Out of sight, out of mind, right, So yeah, putting
a little lid on that thing and keeping the light
coming in. Calking the sides, especially if you have ponding
in that area, right, Yeah, because and I don't mean
to make it sound really super simple, but in the
way it is super simple. Water will take a path
of least resistance. So if you've got a gap between
(18:40):
the metal window well and the foundation, then you got
ponding on the side of the foundation. It's going right
in the window will And if that window is old,
not sealed up real good. And I've even seen windows
that broke from water pressure. Wow, and it was sealed
up real good. Yeah, that's what a lot of times
people put glass walk in there too.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
That's that's when you tell them, See, you sealed it
up too good. See to let it leak, you wouldn't
have had to break it.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's exactly right. Put a lid on it.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
But does I mean the lid I mean obviously helps
to keep debrising thing and critters out of your well.
I guess it would help in a situation like that too. Sure,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Getting delus your reign. It's not filling up the bucket either.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah, I like them.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Anyway, You get a snork will all right. Ron Wilson
online dot com. You can check out his uh snorkling
videos and some gardening tips at the same time. Thank you, sir,
Thank you all right, I will continue with your calls.
You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Home Improvement one oh one with Gary Sullivan every weekend
classes began at one eight hundred and eight two three
Tap You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
For over forty years, Dumont has made powerful pain and
coating removers that are tough on layers but save for
you in the environment. Tried demand Smart Strip Advanced. It
works on over ninety percent of the coatings, no harmful fumes,
no dangerous chemicals. Not sure what you're removing well, Demon's
easy test kit tells you exactly what you need. Find
Smart Strip at you're participating Do it Best retailer Sherwin
(20:38):
Williams or visit Dumont Global dot Com. At Dumont Global
dot Com. Dumont Smart safe and proven, So do it
yourself with Demon. Hey Gary Salvin here for the plumbing
pros at Rutter Ruter Plumbing and water Cleanup. They've been
trusted and recommended for almost ninety years. Coast to coast route.
Ruter fixes clogged drains, leaky faucets and running toilets. They repair,
(21:00):
water heaters, garbage disposals, some pumps, and just about any
other residential or commercial plumbing problem. I use rotor Aruter
at my house and you should too. Call one eight hundred,
get roto, or go to rotoreruter dot com to learn more. Well,
I've been recommending Blackjack driveway sealers for years, and here's
some great news. The Blackjack ten year Sealer drive Max
(21:22):
one thousand features accelerated drying time in curing in cooler temperatures.
Drive Max one thousand adds curb appeal, delivering a light,
new black finish and as you're a thane enhanced for
the longest life.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Drive Max one.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Thousand available at Low's Home Depot, True value ace in
your local hardware store. Visit Blackjackcoatings dot com for more information.
Blackjack protecting driveways for over one hundred years. Summer smells
don't stand a chance because odor Exit is bringing the
heat with their summer sale right now at odor exit
dot com. You'll get fifteen percent off, free shipping on
(21:56):
orders over twenty five dollars and a free six ounce
bottle of Medge when you spend over thirty five dollars.
I'm talking mold pets, funky shoes, sweaty gear, even your
car after a hot day, Odor exit knocks it out fast,
best eels always directed Odor Exit dot com. Go now
and stop out those odors for good. All right, back
(22:44):
at it we go talking about your home and you're
at home with Jerry Salivan. If you want to grab
a line water issues after a lot of rainy summer
that we've had, feel free to join us. Plus a
lot of outdoor projects from Dexi on the concrete patch
and got you over there too. Our phone number is
eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five John.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Welcome, Garry, Thank you for taking my call, listening to
me almost every weekend when I do Aaron's on Saturday morning.
I have an issue with a very small leak in
my laundry room basement where my main pipe that takes
all sewage out to my septic tank goes through the
(23:28):
basement wall. Okay, it's not a huge issue. It's not
a big leak. I can manage it with a little bucket,
and I've tried different clocks on it and everything, and
it'll stop there in someplace, some cleric else on there
and I can't seem to do it from inside. And
what you mentioned about the outside got me thinking, because
(23:50):
what has happened over the past three or four years
at the outside of the house or that pipe goes out.
I have a patio that's about fifteen by twenty concrete patio,
so that pipe actually traverses under that patio, and even
the spot where you know, you can take it off
or you can pull stuff out of that, you know
(24:10):
what I mean, it's right in the middle of the patio,
you know, right where you can can do it anyway,
that concrete started to drop a little bit down towards
where it meets up to the house, okay, right, and
it dropped about a half an inch. And then I
noticed that now when the water is you know, hits
(24:31):
the patio, it's starting to pind and go right towards
the foundation. Okay, because it's a big patio, yeah, very
you know. So I thought, well, I'll call this guy,
you know where you can raise the concrete. But I
got to thinking if I try to raise that concrete,
I got concerned I might crack that pipe, you know
what I mean, that sewage pipe, you know what I mean,
(24:52):
that something might happen there. So I said, look, all
I want to do is I don't want you to
try to raise it back up that half inch. I
I just want you to stabilize it. So they did that,
but I still got that slope that's taking that water
down there. Is there anything that you can put on
top of that concrete to kind of level that and
maybe push the water outboards the word?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, And I got a couple ideas really as you're talking.
But one of the questions I would have is your
thought about creating so much pressure you had cracked that pipe.
My guess is this like a schedule forty PVC necessarily think, well,
did you when you brought up your concern to the
(25:35):
uh slabjacker or concrete level or did he say, oh, yeah,
we could crack that pipe, because I don't know.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
He said he he didn't know, and you know he
wasn't going to guarantee it wouldn't happen. Yeah, you know
what I mean, And that would be the worst problem obviously.
You know what I mean. Now you're talking about tearing
that patio up, and you know, putting that in going
all the way to the septic tank, which is another
sure the patios twenty foot, so I mean it's under
there for about twenty foot we're going into into the yard.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Well, my guess is my guess is I don't think
it would crack that pipe. And I'm sure there's data
to find out for sure whether it would crack it
or not, but I would think it would knock because
again it's it's applying pressure, right, but the pressure is
being absorbed by it lifting that patio. And I actually
(26:29):
stood on a floor that stopped dropped like three inches
one time, and they did a slab jacking on a
one on slab branch house and then it had dropped
about three inches below the baseboard and I stood on
that and with the pressure readings that they were doing,
they could take that slab and they could nuzzle it
(26:49):
right up to the bottom of that baseboard and stop it.
And so I don't think it would. But having said that,
what whatever, Okay, So here's here's something I think I
would really look into. First of all, if we can
seal that hole around that pipe. And I know calking
(27:10):
may not have been strong enough, but there's a couple
other things that you might be able to have someone do,
or there's even I know quick Creek makes a in
a POxy out in a calking tube where its self mixes,
but they make an epoxy injection where it's under pressure,
and you could do it from the inside where it'll
(27:31):
push that epoxy into that crevice around the pipe and
fill it around and shut off. Okay, so you would
fill it, so you would stop the path at least
resistance number one, and then we still have the water issue,
and that's going to be pouring in. So we get
to your question, how do we stop that? I think
(27:53):
I would very possibly revisit that hole lifting of that slab,
because if you can get a positive grade going away
from the house, you're home free. You're home free exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Now, that's what I'm thinking. The leak's not that bad.
That what's causing it is all that water moving sure
right on the foundation and it's up there.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Is a common problem. Like I said, we dig a hole,
we plan a house, and we backfill, and and that
backfill is going to settle. Every time it's going to settle,
whether it takes you know, one year or five years
or ten years, it's going to settle. And then that
pattery is just going to settle. Right with it, so
pushing that back up and I don't think that pipe
(28:37):
would crack, but that company who did that should have
that answer. But I think the path of least resistance
lift a pad long before it compromises that pipe. But
if we do a in epoxy injection from the inside
and then lifting get a positive grading, I think you'd
be home free. Now to answer your question, can I
put something on top? Yeah you can, but cosmetically it's
(29:01):
not gonna look all that great. And as that water
comes down, it's gonna hit like that curb if you will,
and it's going to go off to the side. And
it may work, but think about the cosmetics on it.
You can't tie it to the house, you know. So
and again, if that seam is I don't know, half
(29:22):
inch wide, you could put a backer rod in there,
or fill it with sand up to about three ace
of an inch and then put a good eurothane clocking
on there, which has great adhesion, great flexibility. You'd still
have a negative grade, but that that you're a thinge
(29:43):
to water protected. So you got to know where it's
going to go now, you know, is the water coming down,
it's not going to go in that crevice anymore, it's
going to go off to the side, or it's going
to create a puddle. I don't know, but so slab
jacking and an injectable POxy I think looks like your
your answer.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Okay, all right, well, all right, the uh information and
uh hopefully this is something I've been trying to do
myself except jacking it up with them. Guy, do the
slab jack, you know what I mean. And I kind
of reached my wits end, and I don't want to
call some waterproofing company coming in, you know, just to
try to fix that little crack because they're gonna want
(30:25):
to start digging and everything. I got sub bump and
then the water goes right into the sub bubb pole
because the sup bump poles right near there, you know
what I mean. So it's it's it's not an issue,
but I'm getting older. You might sell the house, and
I know I'm going to get asked a question about
that when I go to shirt, you know what I mean,
And then you're talking about, well, I'm gonna want that repaired,
(30:47):
and then I'm gonna end up having to call somebody
in any way, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
So right, well, I think there's an answer to it.
And you know, waterproofing companies they do the whole system
and then they give you a lifetime warranty, so they're
going to do everything. Now, that's what they do. But
there's steps. In fact, most waterproofing companies that even tell
you you know, there are steps that sometimes can correct it. Yeah,
(31:11):
and it usually does start on the outside. So and
most people will try different things way before they get
into a whole waterproofing job. And so there's a place
for both, is what I'm saying. And since you're kind
of just getting into this, I just I would think
that would be a solution worth trying.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Okay, thank you, Gary, appreciate.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
It all right, thank you very much. And that's that's
very true. Just keep telling yourself path of least resistance,
slap tilt negative fall gap right on the foundation. Sure
if you've got an opening around, sure around the pipe.
Path of leasters is coming right inside. Folks eight two
(31:56):
three eight two five five. That's our number. When we
come back. We got Scott and Dale. If you'd like
to join us, do so. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Imagine getting in a hot, stuffy car in a summer
Gary Sullivan here. You know how it cools off much
faster when you roll the windows down first to get
the hot air out. Well, that's exactly how an easy
Breed ventilation system works, removing all the musty, damp, stagnant
air and replacing with fresher, cleaner, dryer air. Take charge
of your air with an easy Breeds ventilation system and
(32:49):
get two and fifty dollars off today. Ask about DIY kids,
visit letter E letter z Breed dot com. Co eight
six six eight two two seventy three twenty eight. Are
clean Smarter with Jaws the just add water system, eco friendly,
save for kids and pets. Jaws Streak free formulas deliver
high performance cleaning for every surface, from glass and granite
(33:11):
to bathrooms and hardwood floors. Whatever summer throws your way,
Jaws is ready to clean it up, and each Jaws
refill saves eighty three percent of the plastic compared to
buying a new bottle. Just refill, reload, and reuse. Jaws
makes cleaning powerful, sustainable and smart. Jaws the just add
water system shop now at jawscleans dot com. Gary Solvent
(33:32):
here for the Zalar pump company. Zalor leads the way
in some pumps and battery backup systems with continuous innovation.
Now you can see the light with their LED plug
illuminating Zalor green when the power is present. You no
longer have to wonder if your some pump pass power.
The plug is always illuminated when power is present. Check
it out today on the popular Zolar model sixty three
(33:53):
and M fifty three. Go to zolarpumps dot com the
located factory certified installer in your area pumps dot com.
Well ants are known for being hard working and industrious,
which is bad news for you when they end up
in your house. Hey Gary Sullivan here. When you need
to get rid of ants fast, you need rescue ant baits.
Rescue ant bits are prebated, child resistant and ready to
(34:15):
use right out of the box. No sticky liquids, no mess.
Rescue ant bits are made in USA by the makers
of the popular rescue Flying Yellowjacket traps. Learn more at
rescue dot com. That's r E s c Ue dot com.
(34:52):
All right back at it we go. You're at home
with Gary Sullivan talking a little home improvement. Let's get
back to the phones. What do you say that we got,
Scott Scott welcome, Hey Gary.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
I appreciate your show, sir, thank you much like you
guys in Cincinnati, in southeast area, we've had really wet
moist went the spring summer and I'm doing battle with
gnats this year. And I have never had the problem
like I've had this year. And it's I was thinking
(35:23):
that last year or something I heard you talk about
possibly a house plant connection with Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
So there's basically when you have gnats in your house,
there's there's a there's three sources. Primarily, there's fruit gnats,
which usually bring home from the grocery grocery store, you know,
with apples and things like that. There's fungus gnats. And
the fungus gnats is when we were talking about one time,
(35:52):
this person called on said it's common in house plants
and that's where they're coming from. And the third one
be drain gnats, which is the one for that I
usually focus on, but that doesn't mean they're the most common.
I don't know why I focus on that, but I
(36:13):
think usually it's around the kitchen sink is when people call,
So let me just kind of go through that. You
can on the drain gnats, you can take some masking
tape and just tape over the top of the drain
and don't use that for you know, a day or
two and see if there's gnats that are actually stuck
on the back of that masking tape. That's really a
(36:35):
real quick easy way to find out on the drain nets.
The fruit gnats, wherever you store your fruit, if it's
outside of the refrigerator, maybe in a little basket you
got apples, or you got tomatoes or something like that,
just see if they're around that area. And of course
with the fungus gnats again, maybe there's some way of
(36:58):
using tape over the the pot to see if you
can catch some gnats and then you'll know they're coming
from there. And then the way you get rid of
them depends on you know which which type of gnats
you have, But usually for drain gnats, really getting a
(37:22):
foam type drain cleaner gets rid of the bacteria above
the water line in the pipe, that'll sometimes get rid
of them. There's also traps that people use they're attracted
to red. So they'll put like water in a cider
vinegar and a couple of drops.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
I'm doing that and then you know the type. I
have one around and I've closed all the drains, put
stoppers in them, and then I on the bathroom saints
it's got as well. I'll put tape over those as well.
I haven't found anything on the tapes.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Okay, you know, we do have quite a not quite.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
We have four or five plants in the kitchen because
we get a lot of light in there and my
wife loves plants. I was thinking that maybe it was
a relationship to the plant. But I mean because we
don't keep any food I mean fresh fruit out until
that's kept a refrigerator. And sure, I mean, I'm trying
to just combat everything that I've I've heard. You know,
we'll talk about, but I don't think I can think
(38:22):
is the plant I mean I have.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Well, it might be that, and then you know a
couple of things to do is just and you can
check with my friend Ron Wilson. May I ask him
that on our little get together that we have every weekend.
But letting that soil dry out not to a point
where it, you know, starts hurting the plant, but don't
leave that soil moist all the time, remove dead leaves
(38:46):
off the planet itself. There's probably if you go to
a garden center a funger side, you can use on
the soil which will kill the fungus which is the
food source. And then you can still make those traps
and put it around the plant itself and see if
you know you can decrease the population that way.
Speaker 5 (39:06):
Okay, all right, it sounds good, so I appreciate your information.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
You're quite welcome. Thank you, Take care, Scott. All right.
Our phone number you can join us. It's eight hundred
eight two three eight two five five. I thought today'd
be really really busy.
Speaker 5 (39:20):
Not so much.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
They all welcome.
Speaker 6 (39:24):
Hey, how you doing here, Jerry?
Speaker 2 (39:26):
My call?
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (39:28):
Here in the middle of Ohio washing my car and
uh I also got a paint.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Of barn today and I hope it don't rain.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
Yeah, it's at three o'clock. I may be able to
get out of this, but uh, sorry, honey.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Anyway, I'm relating.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Painted with oil.
Speaker 6 (39:51):
Yeah, I painted with oil paint last time I painted it.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Okay, somebody told me you can't use.
Speaker 6 (39:57):
Oil paint and on barns in Ohio and more. Is
that true?
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I think in Ohio you're still allowed to buy oil
based paints. Now. I don't know if they can actually
police what you use, but yeah, and and to be
honest with you, now you're quite honestly on a barn,
your latex or acrylic paints are gonna last longer. Yeah,
(40:25):
you can make that transition too. Now, one of the
big benefits of acrylic paints or latex paints, you'll lose
because of the oil base that's already on there. But
acrylic paints and latex paints breathe, so it allows water
vapor to penetrate through the latex and acrellic paints from
(40:48):
the inside out. There's a benefit there old oil based paints.
If you have multiple layers of it almost becomes a
waterproof coating for water from the inside out. And that's
bad because water. You've probably heard me say this, water
(41:08):
always wins. And that's why when we have multiple coats
of an oil base, we have cracking and peeling of paint.
With the acrylics, we really don't have that, so you know,
I I would. And then the other real big benefit,
the big thing is acrylic and latex paints do a
(41:29):
marvelous job compared to oil when it comes to standing
up to the ultraviolet rays of the sun, so there's
minimal fading compared to oil based. So you know, you're
kind of ahead of the game on acrylics now. Oil
based penetrates in the wood better, and you already got that.
You can still get oil primers if you want to
(41:50):
do that, but i'd get a really good grade of
a self praming latex or acrylic paint and put that
right over the oil base and you should be good.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
I think I'll do that. Yeah, all right, Okay, I
got an I got one more question for you. All right,
I have to build a sixteen by sixteen dance floor.
It's going to be outside. What type of plywood? Because
this is plywood. Then I'm going to repurpose inside the
barn or floor. But any three quarter inch uh pressure
(42:27):
treated well.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
That's what I was going to lean to. Is a
a thick you know, five a or three quarter pressure
treated plywood. I don't know if there would be something
that would be better, but you know, when you asked
that question, that's the first place my mind went to.
(42:50):
But it's indoors, right, I mean it's not outdoors.
Speaker 6 (42:53):
Correct, No, this, I'm sorry, this is gonna gonna be
in the back forty. They want to she wants her
a wedding out, So I'm gonna door outside wedding. I'm
gonna threw these things together, kind of get as level
as I can. Sure there's your dance floor, and then
when we're done, I'm going to repurpose it and replace
the floor inside the barn.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Okay, okay. So one of the things that would just
be of a mild concern, and it depends on today. Obviously,
pressure wood can be slippery because it's infused with a treatment,
so water doesn't penetrate into that very well, especially when
(43:36):
it's new, so it could be slippery. Can't really put
anything on that until it's got some age to it.
So there would be a slip resistance sealer that could
be put on there, but probably not for a good
six months.
Speaker 6 (43:57):
So I may have waited too long to do that.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Well, I'm yeah, yeah, and that's what I mean. I
think if if you're gonna do it, that's that's what
you would use. And yeah, yeah, and uh, like the
rest of the wedding. You're gonna pray for sunshine that day,
all right.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
You know one of my favorite products too, you've heard
me talk about is Wet and Forget and they make
an exterior window and screen cleaner. Now, this particular product
actually cleans through the window screens. It cleans the screens
and cleans the window. You can check it out for yourself.
It's available at Low's, Walmart, Ace and Blains in Their
website is Wetinforget dot com. You can join us. We
(44:42):
got open lines. It's eight hundred and eight two three
eight two five five. You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Garysullivan.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
M hmm
At Home with Gary Sullivan News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!