July 26, 2025 • 45 mins
The Yardoby stops by. Also your calls, questions and Gary's expert advice.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Well, it's the weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome, you're at home with Gary Selvin and so I
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weekend means some work around the home. Happen to have
you in our phone number. If you'd like to ask
a question, it's an easy one. It's eight hundred eight
(01:17):
two three eight.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Two five five.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Earlier today, I was on the air with Ron Wilson
and I said, Hey, do you get your energy? What
are you going to talk about? I said, hey, do
you get your energy billings?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Got mine too? I went, uh, In fact rarely.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
I said the same thing when I got mine.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. I said wow, wow, And I don't know, I mean,
we all like to know. I started research how much
did I use last year? How much did I use
this year? And the usage was down and the bill
was up. So I made a little den in it,
but it didn't come out from.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
A positive side.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So we can pull out the old sheets on energy
savings and we can give tips, and we can also
talk about ventilating and insulating addicts. We've done that before,
but I think we had to do it again for
absolute sure. I was saying I did a pretty good
(02:20):
job and apparently I did of conserving energy this summer
so far, and it's been cool and it's been really hot,
but there was there was a I didn't get the percentage,
but looking at it real quick, I would say usage was.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Down almost twenty percent and the bill was up.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
And I like to think I've done some of it
with using shades during the heat of the day, creating
some minimizing solar heat gain during the heat of the day.
Changing that filter. Changed it two days ago. It was
(03:06):
about sixty five days old. It was a ninety day filter,
pleaded filter. I held it up and yeah, it was dirty.
So don't get married to that ninety day especially if
there's a lot of traffic inside your home. I haven't
made the journey to the attic or had someone make
(03:29):
a journey to the attic for me. But that is
on the top of my list today. I've also incorporated
the use of more of the ceiling fans this year
counterclockwise in the summertime, and raising that thermometer. I got
(03:50):
it up to about seventy seven now. Back in not
too many years ago, I think I had my thermostat
around seventy two to seventy three in the summertime. But
I've been working it up and working it up, and
trying to work on the humidity and trying to work
on the insulation and the ventilation, and I think I've
(04:13):
done a pretty good job. So my input to you today, as.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Have you.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
We don't need to have a wine fest about the
cost of energy. I think we're all there. But have
you tried anything to conserve you know, really, when you
take a look back, we've tried a lot, right, I mean,
we've got the LED light bulbs. There's been a certainly
a savings there weather stripping. Hopefully, you pay attention to
(04:44):
doors that close tightly, and that brings up another thing.
Even if you have a door that isn't real snug
when it's closed. How is it when you lock the door.
I've been locking the man door going into the house
from the garage. It's just a dead bowl, pulls it
(05:05):
tight against them. You know the weather stripping windows. Are
they all properly locked? How to use the fan? Are
you using a do umidifier? That can have pros and cons?
They're expensive to operate, but if you get that humidity
at a really palatable range, which would be somewhere around
fifty five percent, it can make a really big difference
(05:29):
in comfort and possibly being able to increase that thermostat
a degree.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Here and there.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
So I'm curious, are you concerned enough to take action,
to create a plan and take action at serving and
saving energy? I think I have decided I am and
will go so even a step further, taking some boots
(06:01):
on top of registers where the cold air is being
blown out on the floor and that registers, you know
behind a table or behind a sofa. There's these little
boots and magnetic boots that you can put over it
where it just kicks the air out maybe underneath the
sofa into the room where you're getting a full benefit
rather than blown up behind the couch and up behind
(06:24):
the shades and losing a lot of that cool air.
So I think one of the things we can challenge
ourselves to do is to tighten up our homes. In
the winter time, we talk about you know, I don't know,
maybe you're listening. You don't have air conditioning. A lot
(06:45):
of us do, and in the wintertime when we're running
the heat and we're were sealing up the windows, I
talk about the plastic over windows. That's something we need
to look at for summer. There's clocking where you can
close windows. Clock windows close if you're not going to
(07:09):
open them until fall. Maybe that's something we should look at. Anyway,
I'm just curious at how serious you are or is
it the old Well, it is what it is. But
if you are taking I don't know if i'd say
a stand, but starting to think about how to conserve
(07:34):
energy and what you're doing to do that, I'd love
to talk to you about it. I think a lot
of people need some ideas, they need some help. And
our phone number is eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. And how much insulation do you have
in the attic floor? I think the Department of Energy
says my area needs an R forty two for remodeling,
(07:58):
R thirty eight for new bills. So that's probably about
fourteen fifteen inches of insulation. So you can figure out
for every inch of insulation that's equal to about zero
point two five are value. So you can do the math,
(08:21):
and you can put insulation on top of insulation. The
only time you don't want to do that is if
there's a vapor barrier on the bottom of that insulation
and you want to put it batting down that has
a vapor barrier, and it would be in the middle
of the insulation.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
That's not what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
But you could put a loose fill on top of that,
or you could put a batting with no vapor barrier
on it. If there's already a vapor barrier down against
the um, say that the backside of the ceiling. The
vapor bearrier is usually placed going towards the warmer area
of the home during the course of a year. So
(08:58):
do you intend to add more insulation make a big difference?
All right, again, it's eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. We're gonna step outside in the garden
with Ron Wilson next you're at home with Gary Sullivan's
time to.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
Get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give them a
call at one eight hundred eight two three Talk You're
at home with Gary Sullivants.
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Speaker 2 (12:04):
All right, stepping out in the garden and meet our
friend Ron Wilson as we talked a little yardening as
he refers to it, and mister Wilson, how are we today?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yes, sir Barriers, I got rh factors. What all that
stuff you were saying? My head's spinning?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
It is? What it is?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Our values? Well, you gotta worry about.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Is planing a few more shade trees? You know what?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
That that is the truth.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I'm not kidding on that one.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I made the decision i'm going to say, probably fifteen
years ago to save one of my ash trees. And
you know I do the injection in the ash bore
every couple two three years. And my dream was at
that point that tree could shade my whole front yard
(12:58):
in my house. And it's a tree between a sidewalk
in the street and at this point it's shay and
it would just burn out the yard before that tree
was big enough faces the southwest and that tree shade,
I'd say in the morning ninety five percent of the
(13:18):
front yard.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Isn't that nice? And what an investment, huge difference, what
an investment you.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Made, it is, So that is a great point, though
I'm serious. It takes a while to get there, but
it is amazing when you look back and what happens
in twenty five years or so. And then to keep
them shaped up. I know on your show you just
had Ron Rothhouse on and talking about you know, trees
(13:45):
and the health of trees. But man, what a key
role do they play in energy conservation?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yeah, and you know, there's a research continues to show
all the many benefits of planting a tree, you know.
And I always say plant a tree or two or three.
It's always a reminder out there because of how important
they are, and it's kind of one of the best
things you can do with the most influence on this
earth is to plant a tree or two or three.
But it takes time, and so you know, and it's
not just plant a tree, but it's to grow a
(14:12):
tree and get them to grow it and continue on.
And it takes time. And that's why one of the
things Ron pushes and we'll kind of put this out
there for your listeners as well, is older tree preservation
and preserving those trees when they get a little bit older.
You know, it's easy to say, well it's old, let's
just take it down, but instead of having an armist
(14:33):
come out, inspect it on a regular basis, keep it
as happy as you can. Because you take down a
you take down a big tree, like maybe you're ash
tree or something even larger, it takes, you know, two
hundred more saplings to try to supplement what the benefits
that it was doing at that time. So it's important
to save those old trees, but continue to plant new
trees as well. And man, you talk about the shade,
(14:56):
it's amazing the moisture they give out. The wind blows
through there, it's always cooler. Yeah, you know, the whole
nine yards. It's just so many great benefits. And if
you're complaining about raking up leaves in the fall, well,
you know, it's a good workout for you. But do
like you do, and we suggest mow them back into
the turf. Sure, grind them up and say put them
an accomplished pod.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But you mentioned that, I was thinking about that this morning.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
That won't be.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Long raking up those river birds leaves.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
No, that was.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
That was a good decision I made on that ash tree.
And it's really really paying dividends right now.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
You still haven't treated yeah, yeah, oh yeah about every
two years. Three years.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I'm still doing it every two years. Yeah, I was
thinking about moving out. The three probably wouldn't hurt at
this point. It's a pretty big, strong, healthy, mature tree.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And the kicker is if you went to because these
that treeage last at least two right, sometimes three. But
if you went three years and you had you know,
you had years the third year you can always watch
right and if you started to see a little problem
up in the top, and come back that fourth year
and reapply, so you can't stretch it out. Maybe lose
a branch here or two or there, you're not going
(16:12):
to lose the tree. So that is an option out
there for folks if you you know, if it's to
help the budget a little bit, because your electric bills
set you over the edge.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
It did. I've been watching that.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I don't know if it affected yours, probably it's affected everybody.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
And I just saw that now. I know it's been hot,
it's been really hot, and but I've done a lot
of advanced planning, and I thought maybe I could hold
the gain right and kind of keep it flat from
last year. And I reduced the usage significantly, but the
price went up at the monthly costs was still higher.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
So is that why you're slim and svelt? Is that
why you're so slim and schvelt?
Speaker 1 (16:59):
From run around the house?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I'm just sweating in your home. No hosting those hot
yoga classes in the basement.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It's been very comfortable in our house this year, and
I have.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I'm not talking about missus Sullivan. I'm talking about the air.
The air is very comfortable.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Okay, but it's amazing, you know, blocking that radiant energy,
that's what a tree does, pulling down shades, that's you know,
that helps. All those little things help. And one of
the times I last fall, we had a really really
nice fall, and I started noticing when I had all
the windows open about three o'clock in the afternoon, the
ones on the west side of the house, you know,
(17:39):
that's where the warm air would come into the house.
Then I closed the windows and I thought, oh, you know,
in the middle of summer, when airs on, I'll just
close the shades and it makes a difference so little
things they do help. I'm glad I made some effort
to trying to minimize the cost of energy, or have
even been more surprising.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
You know when you're doing when you're buying new windows,
and obviously that's a whole another two or three shows
in itself on how to pick out a window, but
the window tinting again can help a lot, right, sure, And.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know we got into the low eglass back in
the late eighties and that that's got some you know, diminishes,
solar gain and different things like that. But you know,
you still get some. You still get some, right, and
you can keep on working. Ten helps, trees help, shades help,
There's all kinds of things that helps. So my tip
(18:35):
is really to continue to do the little things right right,
and they add up to a bigger things and then
the bigger projects like insulation and ventilation. It would be
well worth your time to either you get up in
the attic and figure out if it's you got enough
up there that is not covering up the soft events
(18:59):
which would prohibit the attic from breathing and exhausting that
very very hot air running ceiling fans. There's a lot
of little things but the big things are the heating
or the ventilation and the insulation, and you can check
that too.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I actually watched a YouTube thing the other day was
I don't know why I came across this, but they
were sucking the insulation away from the edges of the room. Yeah,
because it wasn't breathing right, So they're opening back up again.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
So that's right.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
And they've got baffles up there that am baffled too.
Keeps that insulation from covering up those soft a beds
so that they don't have to brush that back. Stay
good tip and uh day, all right, always are all right?
Ron Wilson online dot com. You can check out his
gardening tips and your calls next as we continue at
(19:50):
Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 6 (19:55):
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Speaker 7 (22:42):
All.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Right back to where we go. You're at home with
Gary Sealvin. Plenty to do.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
As we've been talking about the cost of energy and
trying to uh cut that a little bit, cut our
usage a little bit, but also being comfortable. Uh and
then there's the other thing of just getting things done.
This year has been a challenge with the heat, with
the amount of rainfall many of us have had. But
(23:08):
let's chat about it. If you've got a question regarding
your project, the lines are open. It's eight hundred eight
two three eight two five five. It's eight hundred eight
two three eight two five five, and get on board
and let's talk chat a little bit about what you're
doing around your home. You know, one of the things too,
we don't really think about as energy savings, and there's
(23:31):
a lot of little things that we waste energy on.
They do add up. I was talking about air filters before,
talking about pleated air filters. There are some that are
very very good air filters. They have a little denser media,
they're pleated. When dust and stuff gets on those and
(23:53):
maybe it's harder to get the air through it, that
takes longer to satisfy a thermostat sure.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
That drives up cost.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
How about your dryer vented outside? How many of you
have and just think about this, really, how many of
you have a dryer that is vented properly outside.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
And maybe haven't even looked. Maybe you know it drives
my clothes? Who cares?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
What are you talking about, Gary, Well, I'm talking about
the hose that's connected to the pipe that goes outside
to the vent pipe and to the vent itself. Is
that just kind of fitted on there?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Is it kind of half on?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Is there a hose clamp that's not quite got it
nice and snug onto that pipe? So there's hot air,
hot moist air that's getting blown into the laundry room
or in the basement or wherever your dryer is. Or
how about where the pipe goes through the drywall on
the concrete.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Is that sealed up? Probably not?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Probably not a little can of expandable foam in there.
Probably do you a world of good? Is there other
areas like in a you know, different rooms where you
walk in this war room's warmer than the other ones.
This one the air feels heavier in this one and
start looking around, why is that?
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And is that feeling ceiling fan?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Maybe we've got to turn that on just to move
that air a little bit, and that's an inexpensive way
to do that. But you know, when rooms feel different?
Finding that source we got into last week using the
word why when something's not right. Maybe there's water in
(25:42):
the house, maybe there's stains, and maybe there's warm rooms.
Why why, let's get to the why what is going on?
Because it's affecting things electric bills, one, comfort certainly one,
maybe health. If you're smelling mold, is it mold? And
(26:04):
why is there mold? Getting to the bottom of it,
So let's get to the bottom of the why for
your projects again. Our phone number is eight hundred A
two three A two five five. Well, I was talking
about just getting the projects done. This year has been
a challenge. We get tremendous amounts of calls on concrete repair,
(26:26):
on deck ceiling, on deck repair, and this year not
as much. And I really think it's difficult to get
a larger do it yourself project completed this year. It's
a little bit more of a challenge just finding that time.
(26:47):
And depending on the type of seilers, there's some restraints.
You know, it's not so bad when you have a
water base seiler. I mean that can be you can
use that, you know, two three hours after the wood
has been uh you know, get wet because of a
shower or cleaning or something like that. But it's a
(27:10):
solvent based sealing, you might have to wait two days.
And I don't know about you, but finding two days
in a row words drive It has been tough for
us this year. All right, let's chat about it again.
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five day.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
If you lead us off.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Welcome, Hey Gary, nice to talk to you again.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (27:32):
I have a.
Speaker 8 (27:32):
Question about attic insulation. You were just talking about it
and live. I live in an older home and my
my attic is insulated between the floor joists and I've
got old. Uh, I don't know. It looks like some
kind of blown in batting of some sort or another.
First of all, how often should that be replaced if
(27:55):
it gets compacted?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Well, it depends what kind it is.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
A celluloso compact faster than a.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Fiberglass.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
You can fluff it up. You don't necessarily have to
replace it.
Speaker 7 (28:11):
Oh you can't fluff it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
You can't.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Well, if it's a batting, you can't fluff. But if
it is a blown in insulation, you can fluff.
Speaker 8 (28:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:21):
I think it's blown in.
Speaker 8 (28:23):
Okay, okay, good?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah, So the other and again, you know, in your area,
you should probably have in that attic floor probably sixteen
inches of insulation, probably sixteen to seventeen inches.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That's a that's a good amount.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
And what people will discover is First of all, if
it's a well ventilated attic, sometimes you'll have movement of
that insulation, so it almost needs to be smoothed out
to get a you know, consistent depth to that insulation.
And sometimes you get up there and it's compactor. You
(28:58):
only got twelve inches. It's like, well, and you would
help yourself immensely by having more.
Speaker 7 (29:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
Well, the follow up question of that is what about
the actual roof rafters can you put can you have
insulation both in the floor and then also up in
the roof itself, such as that foam insulation that you
(29:29):
talk about.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, one of the things.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
It's usually one or the other, Okay, but about fifteen
twenty years ago we got on it. You know, if
you spind the clock back in the seventies, there was
maybe three inches of insulation in your attic in an
older home. Yeah, and there was no vents, and that
attic was one hundred and forty hundred and fifty degrees
(29:54):
on a daylight today. And then we started Yeah, and
then we start venting addicts. So we put the ridge
vent in there, and we got soft events and it
works like a chimney. It allows the hot air to
escape brings the cooler air even though the cooler air
is ninety degrees in through the soffits, and then we
(30:14):
have the insulation on the floor to keep that maybe
one hundred degree temperature from filtering down into the house.
Then about fifteen twenty years a turn of the century,
we started having what they call whole house encapsulation. So
what people to start doing is foaming underneath the ridge
(30:35):
or under taking out the ridge vents, taking out the
soft events, creating the attic into a conditioned air space
maybe where you're not heating and cooling it. But they
got the insulation underneath the roof and on the sidewalls
of the attic. They remove the insulation from the attic floor.
They allow the cooler air from the house to just
(30:57):
you know, saunter its way into the attic and it
keeps it at ninety degrees And that's helpful in a
lot of the hotter climates southeast Southwest. In fact, a
lot of people will have air handlers in the attic
and it makes them more efficient. But for the most part,
(31:21):
you know, Midwest, you're pretty much still with insulation on
the you know, above the living quarters of the house.
Sixteen to eighteen inches deep, and if you wanted to
minimize We were talking about radiant energy, and Ron was
talking about trees creating shade. There is radiant coatings that
(31:45):
can be put on the floor of the attic. There's
radiant coatings that can be sprayed on the underside of
the roof, which helps. The best way to describe that
is it's not an insult. It's not like putting on
a coat or anything. Right, it's not creating a buffer.
But what it does, it's like radiant energy would be
like if you're standing in the middle of a ball
(32:07):
field today at three o'clock, it's really hot, but if
you go sit underneath a big oak tree, it's not
so bad. How many times this summer of you said,
boy Nichet, it's not too bad. But man, we're not
direct sunlight. It's really beaten down. That's radiant energy you're feeling.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
So if we can put.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
A radiant barrier in our attic along with insulation, that
would be beneficial.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
Okay, okay, all right, Well this is really helpful.
Speaker 7 (32:36):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
That's great information, very good some to think about, that's
for sure.
Speaker 7 (32:43):
Yeah, Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Gary all right, take care, Thanks, take care. All right,
let's take a break.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
We'll come back.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
We got Joe and Ray. If you'd like to join us,
do so.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
At Home with Gary Sullivan. Help for your.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
Home is just a look away at Garysullivan online dot com.
This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
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Speaker 1 (35:49):
Well, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
You're at home with Carrie Selvin where we discuss issues
that you may have around your home, whether it's maintenance
or repair.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Feel free to join.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Us, and let's get back to the phone calls.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
We got Ray.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Ray, Welcome, Hi Gary, how's it going doing fine?
Speaker 7 (36:07):
Thank you sir, big fan, and listen to you for
a long time about a a lot of products, because
you know, we got Champion windows in our current house.
The old house, we had done several projects with basement
forever dry and painted outside with what is that rhino shield?
(36:34):
All that stuff work out really great. And now this
house it's it was built in seventy four. It's a
large ranch and I get I'm getting what are they
called the ice dams, and I know that it's got
(36:54):
the cellulas installation mm hmm, and and when I look
up there, you can see it's kind of like skip
down and there's probably a time where they waited too
long to replace the roof, and you know, water got
in it. There was like signs. I mean, the roof
on it is good now. But I guess my question is,
(37:19):
you know that it's kind of has that real old
house smell up in that attic? Really thinks we had
put up some canned lights and we put one of
those events in the basement, the easy breathe. I think
it might pull a little bit of air through there,
(37:41):
so you smell that. My wife's not too happy with it.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Have you.
Speaker 7 (37:50):
What's that?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Have you been up in the attic to look at
the insulation and say, it kind of smells moldy and
stuff and it's cellulos so there is a possibility that
it could be mildew or mold in that insulation.
Speaker 7 (38:05):
Yeah, I don't know what that smells like. It just
smells old. But that was just the question, you know,
I mean the previous house, that's the same thing, and
we just blew in more insulation on this on top
of it, and that's what they had recommended. I don't
know if it's just an addict smell or should.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
I well, I can't smell it, but usually if you know,
I used the old phrase, if it smells stuffy and
smells moldy, it's probably moldy. I mean it's a distinct smell.
You smelled a lot when you go into people's basements.
You know they got cardboard boxes or something like that,
and they're damp. It's just got that moldy or mildewy smell.
(38:50):
And you know that's usually exactly what it is. So
when you said you had some ice dams, had some
water back up, certainly could have wet the cellulose insulation,
which could have created the mold and the mildew, which
would produce that smell. And you're right that easy breathe
(39:10):
or a ventilation product will be pulling air down, so
it would enhance that smell. So I guess I would
get somebody up there and really just you know, take
some samples that cellulo see I see if it's moldy.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
You should be able to see it, Okay, gotcha?
Speaker 7 (39:28):
So I could have like an insulation company check it
and see if it needs to be pulled out first sure, or.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Even get a handyman up there, you know, just to
look and kind of give a visual inspection of the attic.
Last week, Ray we talked a lot about you know,
I'm always talking about taking a walk around the house.
If it doesn't look right, it's not right, you know,
create a plan to fix it, execute the plan. The
same thing's true in the attic when you think about it.
(39:58):
You know, in some cases that can be a third
of the size of your house up in that attic,
and we you know, it's it's we never really pay
attention to it.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
It's just there.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
And if we had some ventilation issues and there's mold
on the underside of the roof or any insulation. Uh,
there's things that can go wrong up there, for sure.
You know, animals get up in the attic and nest
and you know, if we don't ever get up there
and check it, you know, we never really know what's
going on. And if there's an odor up there and
(40:32):
it smells stuffy and stuff like that, I think somebody
just needs to get up there and take a look.
I think you'll you'll find the issue.
Speaker 7 (40:43):
Okay, So is there if I took some of the
installation I have, like you know, gone through it. So
I'm not like every corner or anything like that, right,
but could you take the insulation from any anywhere it's
a cellular Well, what.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
I would do really is if you can move around
in there, you know, and don't do it on the
hottest day of the here for sure, but just kind
of inspect, you know, the undersides of the roof, the
truss is, see if you see any discoloration, any water marks,
any mold at all, and then then kind of concentrate
(41:23):
on the on the floor white.
Speaker 7 (41:27):
Yeah, I could see like white type of mold on
some of them. And I've seen the same thing on
the other previous.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
House, and that could be that could be the result
of the moisture. That can be a result. There's three
hundred different species of mold, probably more than that now
and all different stages of you know how hazardous it is.
But I mean there's there's different types, there's different colors.
(41:58):
There's pink mold, there's blue, there's black molds, there's green molds.
I mean, there's a lot of difference and the only
way you'll know, you know, is do a see it.
There's different home test kits you can tell if it's
a dangerous mold or just a mold. You can have
companies come in and test it, you know for mold.
(42:23):
But my guess is based on what you're telling me
from the smells and stuff. There's something going on up there.
And cellulos insulation is a really organic material, so it
could be there wood on the underside of the roof.
Roof really organic material certainly could be a food source
(42:44):
for the for the mold, and we we gotta, we gotta,
you got the smell, we gotta find it. And then
we got to ask why, why is why is this
growing up here? And usually it's growing out there due
to poor ventilation. Is trapping the condensation, the moisture in
that attic, it's in it in the mold spores and
(43:05):
the moisture then feed on organic material and you got
the problem.
Speaker 7 (43:12):
So my plan was to get it insulated before the winner.
But there was like some wiring I wanted to finish up,
you know, I'm want to skip more lights and stuff
done before Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Well I'll tell you I would probably get on that
the wiring as soon as you can, or you know,
get with an insulation company, let them get up in
the attic, let them find out what's going on. They'll
be able to smell it if there's a problem up there,
and get their information to how they're going to address
that area. If you're going to have somebody do it,
(43:50):
they're gonna have to check that. You're not gonna have
to check that, and that would be that'd be a
good plan because my guess is people continue to get
the utility bills that have increased, the demand for installation
is going to.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Rise this year, no question.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And you know, if you get somebody out there, get
the diagnosis of what's going on up there, and get
a cost in the solution to the problem, then you
can do your wiring, you know, and set.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
A date to get that project done. Hope that helps
a bunch.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Thank you much for the call, and again a quick reminder,
you can share a picture.
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Or a video using ter Mender.
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Again. Check it out.
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It's ta mender dot com. Check with their Facebook page
and put up one of your projects video or want
to remind you about that. In the meantime, we'll take
your calls at eight hundred eight two three eight two
five y five. You're at home with Garius ullib.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Help for your.
Speaker 6 (45:15):
Home is just a click away at Garysullivan online dot com.
This is at home with Garysullivan.
Well, it's the weekend.
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weekend means some work around the home. Happen to have
you in our phone number. If you'd like to ask
a question, it's an easy one. It's eight hundred eight
(01:17):
two three eight.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Two five five.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Earlier today, I was on the air with Ron Wilson
and I said, Hey, do you get your energy? What
are you going to talk about? I said, hey, do
you get your energy billings?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Got mine too? I went, uh, In fact rarely.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
I said the same thing when I got mine.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. I said wow, wow, And I don't know, I mean,
we all like to know. I started research how much
did I use last year? How much did I use
this year? And the usage was down and the bill
was up. So I made a little den in it,
but it didn't come out from.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
A positive side.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So we can pull out the old sheets on energy
savings and we can give tips, and we can also
talk about ventilating and insulating addicts. We've done that before,
but I think we had to do it again for
absolute sure. I was saying I did a pretty good
(02:20):
job and apparently I did of conserving energy this summer
so far, and it's been cool and it's been really hot,
but there was there was a I didn't get the percentage,
but looking at it real quick, I would say usage was.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Down almost twenty percent and the bill was up.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
And I like to think I've done some of it
with using shades during the heat of the day, creating
some minimizing solar heat gain during the heat of the day.
Changing that filter. Changed it two days ago. It was
(03:06):
about sixty five days old. It was a ninety day filter,
pleaded filter. I held it up and yeah, it was dirty.
So don't get married to that ninety day especially if
there's a lot of traffic inside your home. I haven't
made the journey to the attic or had someone make
(03:29):
a journey to the attic for me. But that is
on the top of my list today. I've also incorporated
the use of more of the ceiling fans this year
counterclockwise in the summertime, and raising that thermometer. I got
(03:50):
it up to about seventy seven now. Back in not
too many years ago, I think I had my thermostat
around seventy two to seventy three in the summertime. But
I've been working it up and working it up, and
trying to work on the humidity and trying to work
on the insulation and the ventilation, and I think I've
(04:13):
done a pretty good job. So my input to you today, as.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Have you.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
We don't need to have a wine fest about the
cost of energy. I think we're all there. But have
you tried anything to conserve you know, really, when you
take a look back, we've tried a lot, right, I mean,
we've got the LED light bulbs. There's been a certainly
a savings there weather stripping. Hopefully, you pay attention to
(04:44):
doors that close tightly, and that brings up another thing.
Even if you have a door that isn't real snug
when it's closed. How is it when you lock the door.
I've been locking the man door going into the house
from the garage. It's just a dead bowl, pulls it
(05:05):
tight against them. You know the weather stripping windows. Are
they all properly locked? How to use the fan? Are
you using a do umidifier? That can have pros and cons?
They're expensive to operate, but if you get that humidity
at a really palatable range, which would be somewhere around
fifty five percent, it can make a really big difference
(05:29):
in comfort and possibly being able to increase that thermostat
a degree.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Here and there.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
So I'm curious, are you concerned enough to take action,
to create a plan and take action at serving and
saving energy? I think I have decided I am and
will go so even a step further, taking some boots
(06:01):
on top of registers where the cold air is being
blown out on the floor and that registers, you know
behind a table or behind a sofa. There's these little
boots and magnetic boots that you can put over it
where it just kicks the air out maybe underneath the
sofa into the room where you're getting a full benefit
rather than blown up behind the couch and up behind
(06:24):
the shades and losing a lot of that cool air.
So I think one of the things we can challenge
ourselves to do is to tighten up our homes. In
the winter time, we talk about you know, I don't know,
maybe you're listening. You don't have air conditioning. A lot
(06:45):
of us do, and in the wintertime when we're running
the heat and we're were sealing up the windows, I
talk about the plastic over windows. That's something we need
to look at for summer. There's clocking where you can
close windows. Clock windows close if you're not going to
(07:09):
open them until fall. Maybe that's something we should look at. Anyway,
I'm just curious at how serious you are or is
it the old Well, it is what it is. But
if you are taking I don't know if i'd say
a stand, but starting to think about how to conserve
(07:34):
energy and what you're doing to do that, I'd love
to talk to you about it. I think a lot
of people need some ideas, they need some help. And
our phone number is eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. And how much insulation do you have
in the attic floor? I think the Department of Energy
says my area needs an R forty two for remodeling,
(07:58):
R thirty eight for new bills. So that's probably about
fourteen fifteen inches of insulation. So you can figure out
for every inch of insulation that's equal to about zero
point two five are value. So you can do the math,
(08:21):
and you can put insulation on top of insulation. The
only time you don't want to do that is if
there's a vapor barrier on the bottom of that insulation
and you want to put it batting down that has
a vapor barrier, and it would be in the middle
of the insulation.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
That's not what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
But you could put a loose fill on top of that,
or you could put a batting with no vapor barrier
on it. If there's already a vapor barrier down against
the um, say that the backside of the ceiling. The
vapor bearrier is usually placed going towards the warmer area
of the home during the course of a year. So
(08:58):
do you intend to add more insulation make a big difference?
All right, again, it's eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. We're gonna step outside in the garden
with Ron Wilson next you're at home with Gary Sullivan's
time to.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
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Speaker 2 (12:04):
All right, stepping out in the garden and meet our
friend Ron Wilson as we talked a little yardening as
he refers to it, and mister Wilson, how are we today?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yes, sir Barriers, I got rh factors. What all that
stuff you were saying? My head's spinning?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
It is? What it is?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Our values? Well, you gotta worry about.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Is planing a few more shade trees? You know what?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
That that is the truth.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I'm not kidding on that one.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I made the decision i'm going to say, probably fifteen
years ago to save one of my ash trees. And
you know I do the injection in the ash bore
every couple two three years. And my dream was at
that point that tree could shade my whole front yard
(12:58):
in my house. And it's a tree between a sidewalk
in the street and at this point it's shay and
it would just burn out the yard before that tree
was big enough faces the southwest and that tree shade,
I'd say in the morning ninety five percent of the
(13:18):
front yard.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Isn't that nice? And what an investment, huge difference, what
an investment you.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Made, it is, So that is a great point, though
I'm serious. It takes a while to get there, but
it is amazing when you look back and what happens
in twenty five years or so. And then to keep
them shaped up. I know on your show you just
had Ron Rothhouse on and talking about you know, trees
(13:45):
and the health of trees. But man, what a key
role do they play in energy conservation?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yeah, and you know, there's a research continues to show
all the many benefits of planting a tree, you know.
And I always say plant a tree or two or three.
It's always a reminder out there because of how important
they are, and it's kind of one of the best
things you can do with the most influence on this
earth is to plant a tree or two or three.
But it takes time, and so you know, and it's
not just plant a tree, but it's to grow a
(14:12):
tree and get them to grow it and continue on.
And it takes time. And that's why one of the
things Ron pushes and we'll kind of put this out
there for your listeners as well, is older tree preservation
and preserving those trees when they get a little bit older.
You know, it's easy to say, well it's old, let's
just take it down, but instead of having an armist
(14:33):
come out, inspect it on a regular basis, keep it
as happy as you can. Because you take down a
you take down a big tree, like maybe you're ash
tree or something even larger, it takes, you know, two
hundred more saplings to try to supplement what the benefits
that it was doing at that time. So it's important
to save those old trees, but continue to plant new
trees as well. And man, you talk about the shade,
(14:56):
it's amazing the moisture they give out. The wind blows
through there, it's always cooler. Yeah, you know, the whole
nine yards. It's just so many great benefits. And if
you're complaining about raking up leaves in the fall, well,
you know, it's a good workout for you. But do
like you do, and we suggest mow them back into
the turf. Sure, grind them up and say put them
an accomplished pod.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But you mentioned that, I was thinking about that this morning.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
That won't be.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Long raking up those river birds leaves.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
No, that was.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
That was a good decision I made on that ash tree.
And it's really really paying dividends right now.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
You still haven't treated yeah, yeah, oh yeah about every
two years. Three years.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I'm still doing it every two years. Yeah, I was
thinking about moving out. The three probably wouldn't hurt at
this point. It's a pretty big, strong, healthy, mature tree.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
And the kicker is if you went to because these
that treeage last at least two right, sometimes three. But
if you went three years and you had you know,
you had years the third year you can always watch
right and if you started to see a little problem
up in the top, and come back that fourth year
and reapply, so you can't stretch it out. Maybe lose
a branch here or two or there, you're not going
(16:12):
to lose the tree. So that is an option out
there for folks if you you know, if it's to
help the budget a little bit, because your electric bills
set you over the edge.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
It did. I've been watching that.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
I don't know if it affected yours, probably it's affected everybody.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
And I just saw that now. I know it's been hot,
it's been really hot, and but I've done a lot
of advanced planning, and I thought maybe I could hold
the gain right and kind of keep it flat from
last year. And I reduced the usage significantly, but the
price went up at the monthly costs was still higher.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
So is that why you're slim and svelt? Is that
why you're so slim and schvelt?
Speaker 1 (16:59):
From run around the house?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I'm just sweating in your home. No hosting those hot
yoga classes in the basement.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It's been very comfortable in our house this year, and
I have.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I'm not talking about missus Sullivan. I'm talking about the air.
The air is very comfortable.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Okay, but it's amazing, you know, blocking that radiant energy,
that's what a tree does, pulling down shades, that's you know,
that helps. All those little things help. And one of
the times I last fall, we had a really really
nice fall, and I started noticing when I had all
the windows open about three o'clock in the afternoon, the
ones on the west side of the house, you know,
(17:39):
that's where the warm air would come into the house.
Then I closed the windows and I thought, oh, you know,
in the middle of summer, when airs on, I'll just
close the shades and it makes a difference so little
things they do help. I'm glad I made some effort
to trying to minimize the cost of energy, or have
even been more surprising.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
You know when you're doing when you're buying new windows,
and obviously that's a whole another two or three shows
in itself on how to pick out a window, but
the window tinting again can help a lot, right, sure, And.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know we got into the low eglass back in
the late eighties and that that's got some you know, diminishes,
solar gain and different things like that. But you know,
you still get some. You still get some, right, and
you can keep on working. Ten helps, trees help, shades help,
There's all kinds of things that helps. So my tip
(18:35):
is really to continue to do the little things right right,
and they add up to a bigger things and then
the bigger projects like insulation and ventilation. It would be
well worth your time to either you get up in
the attic and figure out if it's you got enough
up there that is not covering up the soft events
(18:59):
which would prohibit the attic from breathing and exhausting that
very very hot air running ceiling fans. There's a lot
of little things but the big things are the heating
or the ventilation and the insulation, and you can check
that too.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I actually watched a YouTube thing the other day was
I don't know why I came across this, but they
were sucking the insulation away from the edges of the room. Yeah,
because it wasn't breathing right, So they're opening back up again.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
So that's right.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
And they've got baffles up there that am baffled too.
Keeps that insulation from covering up those soft a beds
so that they don't have to brush that back. Stay
good tip and uh day, all right, always are all right?
Ron Wilson online dot com. You can check out his
gardening tips and your calls next as we continue at
(19:50):
Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 6 (19:55):
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Speaker 7 (22:42):
All.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Right back to where we go. You're at home with
Gary Sealvin. Plenty to do.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
As we've been talking about the cost of energy and
trying to uh cut that a little bit, cut our
usage a little bit, but also being comfortable. Uh and
then there's the other thing of just getting things done.
This year has been a challenge with the heat, with
the amount of rainfall many of us have had. But
(23:08):
let's chat about it. If you've got a question regarding
your project, the lines are open. It's eight hundred eight
two three eight two five five. It's eight hundred eight
two three eight two five five, and get on board
and let's talk chat a little bit about what you're
doing around your home. You know, one of the things too,
we don't really think about as energy savings, and there's
(23:31):
a lot of little things that we waste energy on.
They do add up. I was talking about air filters before,
talking about pleated air filters. There are some that are
very very good air filters. They have a little denser media,
they're pleated. When dust and stuff gets on those and
(23:53):
maybe it's harder to get the air through it, that
takes longer to satisfy a thermostat sure.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
That drives up cost.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
How about your dryer vented outside? How many of you
have and just think about this, really, how many of
you have a dryer that is vented properly outside.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
And maybe haven't even looked. Maybe you know it drives
my clothes? Who cares?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
What are you talking about, Gary, Well, I'm talking about
the hose that's connected to the pipe that goes outside
to the vent pipe and to the vent itself. Is
that just kind of fitted on there?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Is it kind of half on?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Is there a hose clamp that's not quite got it
nice and snug onto that pipe? So there's hot air,
hot moist air that's getting blown into the laundry room
or in the basement or wherever your dryer is. Or
how about where the pipe goes through the drywall on
the concrete.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Is that sealed up? Probably not?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Probably not a little can of expandable foam in there.
Probably do you a world of good? Is there other
areas like in a you know, different rooms where you
walk in this war room's warmer than the other ones.
This one the air feels heavier in this one and
start looking around, why is that?
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And is that feeling ceiling fan?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Maybe we've got to turn that on just to move
that air a little bit, and that's an inexpensive way
to do that. But you know, when rooms feel different?
Finding that source we got into last week using the
word why when something's not right. Maybe there's water in
(25:42):
the house, maybe there's stains, and maybe there's warm rooms.
Why why, let's get to the why what is going on?
Because it's affecting things electric bills, one, comfort certainly one,
maybe health. If you're smelling mold, is it mold? And
(26:04):
why is there mold? Getting to the bottom of it,
So let's get to the bottom of the why for
your projects again. Our phone number is eight hundred A
two three A two five five. Well, I was talking
about just getting the projects done. This year has been
a challenge. We get tremendous amounts of calls on concrete repair,
(26:26):
on deck ceiling, on deck repair, and this year not
as much. And I really think it's difficult to get
a larger do it yourself project completed this year. It's
a little bit more of a challenge just finding that time.
(26:47):
And depending on the type of seilers, there's some restraints.
You know, it's not so bad when you have a
water base seiler. I mean that can be you can
use that, you know, two three hours after the wood
has been uh you know, get wet because of a
shower or cleaning or something like that. But it's a
(27:10):
solvent based sealing, you might have to wait two days.
And I don't know about you, but finding two days
in a row words drive It has been tough for
us this year. All right, let's chat about it again.
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five day.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
If you lead us off.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Welcome, Hey Gary, nice to talk to you again.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (27:32):
I have a.
Speaker 8 (27:32):
Question about attic insulation. You were just talking about it
and live. I live in an older home and my
my attic is insulated between the floor joists and I've
got old. Uh, I don't know. It looks like some
kind of blown in batting of some sort or another.
First of all, how often should that be replaced if
(27:55):
it gets compacted?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Well, it depends what kind it is.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
A celluloso compact faster than a.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Fiberglass.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
You can fluff it up. You don't necessarily have to
replace it.
Speaker 7 (28:11):
Oh you can't fluff it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
You can't.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Well, if it's a batting, you can't fluff. But if
it is a blown in insulation, you can fluff.
Speaker 8 (28:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:21):
I think it's blown in.
Speaker 8 (28:23):
Okay, okay, good?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah, So the other and again, you know, in your area,
you should probably have in that attic floor probably sixteen
inches of insulation, probably sixteen to seventeen inches.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That's a that's a good amount.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
And what people will discover is First of all, if
it's a well ventilated attic, sometimes you'll have movement of
that insulation, so it almost needs to be smoothed out
to get a you know, consistent depth to that insulation.
And sometimes you get up there and it's compactor. You
(28:58):
only got twelve inches. It's like, well, and you would
help yourself immensely by having more.
Speaker 7 (29:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
Well, the follow up question of that is what about
the actual roof rafters can you put can you have
insulation both in the floor and then also up in
the roof itself, such as that foam insulation that you
(29:29):
talk about.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, one of the things.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
It's usually one or the other, Okay, but about fifteen
twenty years ago we got on it. You know, if
you spind the clock back in the seventies, there was
maybe three inches of insulation in your attic in an
older home. Yeah, and there was no vents, and that
attic was one hundred and forty hundred and fifty degrees
(29:54):
on a daylight today. And then we started Yeah, and
then we start venting addicts. So we put the ridge
vent in there, and we got soft events and it
works like a chimney. It allows the hot air to
escape brings the cooler air even though the cooler air
is ninety degrees in through the soffits, and then we
(30:14):
have the insulation on the floor to keep that maybe
one hundred degree temperature from filtering down into the house.
Then about fifteen twenty years a turn of the century,
we started having what they call whole house encapsulation. So
what people to start doing is foaming underneath the ridge
(30:35):
or under taking out the ridge vents, taking out the
soft events, creating the attic into a conditioned air space
maybe where you're not heating and cooling it. But they
got the insulation underneath the roof and on the sidewalls
of the attic. They remove the insulation from the attic floor.
They allow the cooler air from the house to just
(30:57):
you know, saunter its way into the attic and it
keeps it at ninety degrees And that's helpful in a
lot of the hotter climates southeast Southwest. In fact, a
lot of people will have air handlers in the attic
and it makes them more efficient. But for the most part,
(31:21):
you know, Midwest, you're pretty much still with insulation on
the you know, above the living quarters of the house.
Sixteen to eighteen inches deep, and if you wanted to
minimize We were talking about radiant energy, and Ron was
talking about trees creating shade. There is radiant coatings that
(31:45):
can be put on the floor of the attic. There's
radiant coatings that can be sprayed on the underside of
the roof, which helps. The best way to describe that
is it's not an insult. It's not like putting on
a coat or anything. Right, it's not creating a buffer.
But what it does, it's like radiant energy would be
like if you're standing in the middle of a ball
(32:07):
field today at three o'clock, it's really hot, but if
you go sit underneath a big oak tree, it's not
so bad. How many times this summer of you said,
boy Nichet, it's not too bad. But man, we're not
direct sunlight. It's really beaten down. That's radiant energy you're feeling.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
So if we can put.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
A radiant barrier in our attic along with insulation, that
would be beneficial.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
Okay, okay, all right, Well this is really helpful.
Speaker 7 (32:36):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
That's great information, very good some to think about, that's
for sure.
Speaker 7 (32:43):
Yeah, Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Gary all right, take care, Thanks, take care. All right,
let's take a break.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
We'll come back.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
We got Joe and Ray. If you'd like to join us,
do so.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
At Home with Gary Sullivan. Help for your.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
Home is just a look away at Garysullivan online dot com.
This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
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Ah.
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Speaker 1 (35:49):
Well, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
You're at home with Carrie Selvin where we discuss issues
that you may have around your home, whether it's maintenance
or repair.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Feel free to join.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Us, and let's get back to the phone calls.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
We got Ray.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Ray, Welcome, Hi Gary, how's it going doing fine?
Speaker 7 (36:07):
Thank you sir, big fan, and listen to you for
a long time about a a lot of products, because
you know, we got Champion windows in our current house.
The old house, we had done several projects with basement
forever dry and painted outside with what is that rhino shield?
(36:34):
All that stuff work out really great. And now this
house it's it was built in seventy four. It's a
large ranch and I get I'm getting what are they
called the ice dams, and I know that it's got
(36:54):
the cellulas installation mm hmm, and and when I look
up there, you can see it's kind of like skip
down and there's probably a time where they waited too
long to replace the roof, and you know, water got
in it. There was like signs. I mean, the roof
on it is good now. But I guess my question is,
(37:19):
you know that it's kind of has that real old
house smell up in that attic? Really thinks we had
put up some canned lights and we put one of
those events in the basement, the easy breathe. I think
it might pull a little bit of air through there,
(37:41):
so you smell that. My wife's not too happy with it.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Have you.
Speaker 7 (37:50):
What's that?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Have you been up in the attic to look at
the insulation and say, it kind of smells moldy and
stuff and it's cellulos so there is a possibility that
it could be mildew or mold in that insulation.
Speaker 7 (38:05):
Yeah, I don't know what that smells like. It just
smells old. But that was just the question, you know,
I mean the previous house, that's the same thing, and
we just blew in more insulation on this on top
of it, and that's what they had recommended. I don't
know if it's just an addict smell or should.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
I well, I can't smell it, but usually if you know,
I used the old phrase, if it smells stuffy and
smells moldy, it's probably moldy. I mean it's a distinct smell.
You smelled a lot when you go into people's basements.
You know they got cardboard boxes or something like that,
and they're damp. It's just got that moldy or mildewy smell.
(38:50):
And you know that's usually exactly what it is. So
when you said you had some ice dams, had some
water back up, certainly could have wet the cellulose insulation,
which could have created the mold and the mildew, which
would produce that smell. And you're right that easy breathe
(39:10):
or a ventilation product will be pulling air down, so
it would enhance that smell. So I guess I would
get somebody up there and really just you know, take
some samples that cellulo see I see if it's moldy.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
You should be able to see it, Okay, gotcha?
Speaker 7 (39:28):
So I could have like an insulation company check it
and see if it needs to be pulled out first sure, or.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Even get a handyman up there, you know, just to
look and kind of give a visual inspection of the attic.
Last week, Ray we talked a lot about you know,
I'm always talking about taking a walk around the house.
If it doesn't look right, it's not right, you know,
create a plan to fix it, execute the plan. The
same thing's true in the attic when you think about it.
(39:58):
You know, in some cases that can be a third
of the size of your house up in that attic,
and we you know, it's it's we never really pay
attention to it.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
It's just there.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
And if we had some ventilation issues and there's mold
on the underside of the roof or any insulation. Uh,
there's things that can go wrong up there, for sure.
You know, animals get up in the attic and nest
and you know, if we don't ever get up there
and check it, you know, we never really know what's
going on. And if there's an odor up there and
(40:32):
it smells stuffy and stuff like that, I think somebody
just needs to get up there and take a look.
I think you'll you'll find the issue.
Speaker 7 (40:43):
Okay, So is there if I took some of the
installation I have, like you know, gone through it. So
I'm not like every corner or anything like that, right,
but could you take the insulation from any anywhere it's
a cellular Well, what.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
I would do really is if you can move around
in there, you know, and don't do it on the
hottest day of the here for sure, but just kind
of inspect, you know, the undersides of the roof, the
truss is, see if you see any discoloration, any water marks,
any mold at all, and then then kind of concentrate
(41:23):
on the on the floor white.
Speaker 7 (41:27):
Yeah, I could see like white type of mold on
some of them. And I've seen the same thing on
the other previous.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
House, and that could be that could be the result
of the moisture. That can be a result. There's three
hundred different species of mold, probably more than that now
and all different stages of you know how hazardous it is.
But I mean there's there's different types, there's different colors.
(41:58):
There's pink mold, there's blue, there's black molds, there's green molds.
I mean, there's a lot of difference and the only
way you'll know, you know, is do a see it.
There's different home test kits you can tell if it's
a dangerous mold or just a mold. You can have
companies come in and test it, you know for mold.
(42:23):
But my guess is based on what you're telling me
from the smells and stuff. There's something going on up there.
And cellulos insulation is a really organic material, so it
could be there wood on the underside of the roof.
Roof really organic material certainly could be a food source
(42:44):
for the for the mold, and we we gotta, we gotta,
you got the smell, we gotta find it. And then
we got to ask why, why is why is this
growing up here? And usually it's growing out there due
to poor ventilation. Is trapping the condensation, the moisture in
that attic, it's in it in the mold spores and
(43:05):
the moisture then feed on organic material and you got
the problem.
Speaker 7 (43:12):
So my plan was to get it insulated before the winner.
But there was like some wiring I wanted to finish up,
you know, I'm want to skip more lights and stuff
done before Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Well I'll tell you I would probably get on that
the wiring as soon as you can, or you know,
get with an insulation company, let them get up in
the attic, let them find out what's going on. They'll
be able to smell it if there's a problem up there,
and get their information to how they're going to address
that area. If you're going to have somebody do it,
(43:50):
they're gonna have to check that. You're not gonna have
to check that, and that would be that'd be a
good plan because my guess is people continue to get
the utility bills that have increased, the demand for installation
is going to.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Rise this year, no question.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And you know, if you get somebody out there, get
the diagnosis of what's going on up there, and get
a cost in the solution to the problem, then you
can do your wiring, you know, and set.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
A date to get that project done. Hope that helps
a bunch.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Thank you much for the call, and again a quick reminder,
you can share a picture.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Or a video using ter Mender.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
That's the construction adhesive for fabrics and I'm always talking
about it. They got a Facebook account and you could
win some ter Mender products.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
Again. Check it out.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
It's ta mender dot com. Check with their Facebook page
and put up one of your projects video or want
to remind you about that. In the meantime, we'll take
your calls at eight hundred eight two three eight two
five y five. You're at home with Garius ullib.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Help for your.
Speaker 6 (45:15):
Home is just a click away at Garysullivan online dot com.
This is at home with Garysullivan.
At Home with Gary Sullivan News
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