July 27, 2025 • 44 mins
Wrapping up the weekend with your calls, tips and questions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tell you what, those lights are pretty dog gone cool.
And I know one of the things we were talking
about earlier was getting projects done. I know this heat
not so much from a lighting standpoint, But if I've
been trying to warn people about this, there's probably quite
a few companies, maybe in concrete repair, maybe in roofing,
(00:24):
I don't know, exterior painting, those type of outdoor projects
very well could be being pushed back. In other words,
maybe they're unable to do it because of temperature. Maybe
you don't want to do it because of temperature, but
(00:46):
maybe you're not gonna do it all now, you'll get
somebody to do it in the fall. Plan ahead. With
the heat and stuff. I just think everybody's gonna rush
at one time. I can I feel it building. So
if you're thinking about an outdoor project, and I stand
(01:07):
to say this truthfully, the best time for outdoor projects
is the fall. It's not necessarily a springtime. It's the fall.
And if you're planning on doing one of those, please
start now and get that booked because I think this
season in a lot of parts of the country is
going to be compressed fairly, fairly significantly compressed. So get
(01:33):
to work on that. Start lining your people up, start
lining up your projects, start doing your your research. I
think that'd be a great idea. One of those things
chatted about yesterday. Somebody was talking about their chimney and
I was they had taken out, I guess a stove
(01:55):
in their firebox and they were getting odors and talking
about how to remove the odors and just different questions
regarding that. Now would be a great time to schedule that.
They a lot of chimney repair companies. They do a
lot of work in the summertime, talking about substantial works,
(02:16):
maybe a liner, maybe taking care of some flashing or
some bricks, and you know, things like that the crown
wash at the top of the chimney. Even if you
don't suspect you have a problem, if you haven't had
a chimney clean for a year or two, get somebody
out there and inspect that chimney. Now again, if we
(02:42):
push it off and we start calling those types of companies,
you know, maybe before Halloween because it started getting called out. Yeah,
they can get to you, but they're not gonna get
to you for a while. I don't know what it'll be.
But if it's a good it's gonna be for a while.
(03:02):
So I would inquire about those projects right now and
get that on your list. Also, if you're burning wood,
I drove by a place the other day that was
selling firewood and just mountains and mountains of split firewood.
(03:25):
And again when you're buying firewood and you're gonna if
you're new to this, if you if you're not new
to this, you already know, but you want to buy
well seasoned firewood. And you don't want to buy the
firewood that's cut and split and it just got cut
down last week and burn it this year. You want
(03:46):
it from last year. So you can tell the difference
sometimes a lot of times just by the weight of
it dropping it on the concrete sidewalk. And if it
goes thud, it's got some moisture in it. If it
goes ping, it's probably pretty dry. If it's split on
the ends cracks is pretty dry. But if you're thinking
(04:11):
about purchasing split wood, I would get to work on
that too, Start figuring out what kind of would they have,
how long it's been seasoned. Those all come into play. Also,
if you have lots of abundance of trees and woods
and you do your own wood, that's fine, you know
this story. But I know a lot of fire pits
(04:32):
out there. I know a lot of people getting inserts
once again. And that kind of goes by that whole
energy savings concept that we're talking about. This summer is
going to carry on into this winter, so I think
it'll be a busy year for fireplaces and fire stoves
(04:54):
and things like that. So plan ahead, plan ahead, and
get those projects at least started. Start doing a little inquiring.
And if you get the wood, don't pile it inside
your house. Okay, it goes away from the house, and
preferably not in the garage. Away from the house. Don't
(05:17):
cover it in plastic. You want the wind to blow
through it. If you want to cover the top eighteen
inches of that with you know, a tarp or something
along those lanes, that's fine, but prefer to have the
wind blow through that and really dry that out properly
(05:40):
and allow you to enjoy it. And the type of
wood you're buying too, Remember you're looking for hardwood. You're
not looking to bind burned pine or spruce or pressure
treated wood. Those are all no nose. But you know,
walnut and apple and oak. Those are maple. Those are good,
good firewoods to burn. All right again, our phone number
(06:02):
is eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five,
and we start off the day talking about painting, indoor painting,
and certainly I hope you cut some of that. By
the way, today's been kind of a slow day on calls,
So if you've been trying to get through, you know,
(06:22):
in the past weeks, today it'd be a great day
to get through. Also, if you want to know about
some information on paints, types of paints, types of tools
for painting, i'd encourage you to take a look at
the iHeart app just said at home with Gary Salvan,
(06:45):
our number one. We did a whole pretty much a
whole section on you know, quality paints and quality tools
and why and how it's so important. So I encourage
you to take a look at that. And oh, excuse me,
we've got well one color. We'll get David on here
(07:05):
in just a minute. David, you there, I'm here. There
you go, Thanks for calling them, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Well, here's my situation. My wife inherited her mother's house
building the seven nineteen seventies, and it's a try level
with a basement. The problem is we've been experiencing flooding
in the basement. And I'm talking after you know, some
of the Midwestern range we've had. We've had maybe two
(07:33):
feet of water, three feet of water in there, and
it seems to be coming pretty much about a foot
or two below the foundation walls with a clay tile.
And I don't know if that was the way they
sealed them back then. They just butted them up against
each other, wrapped the black tar paper around them, and
(07:55):
back filled it with peat gravel. Well, probably over time
it's settled some. I mean, it will flow crystal clear water,
It'll flow like a river, and then once it comes
up over that twitter, then it floods the basement. Any ideas,
is there a sleeve that you can put inside?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Well, you can put into waste lines. I don't know
about a lot of times. What happens on those tiles
and those clay pipes is with the clay in your
area in Indiana, once they separate, they don't always align,
(08:39):
so the liner becomes you know, you can't really use
the liner. The only way you'll know that, David, is
you know, you get a waterproofing company out there or
a plumbing company out there, have them run or rent
the machine where you can run a cable through it
and see exactly what kind of shape those pipes are in.
(09:00):
They could be crushed, they could be misaligned, or maybe
they just separate a little bit. If they just separate
a little bit, yeah, they could probably be lined.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So there isn't a product that that they could put
in there that maybe I don't know, one half inch
PBC to run it through there, or some kind of
flexible pipe as opposed to digging down.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
We're talking, well, well, first you'd have to gain you'd
have to gain Yeah, I know. First of all, you've
got to gain entrance to that pipe, to that opening.
And and what what they would do with a waist line,
not necessarily you know, the foot or drains, but a waistline,
and sometimes they can is kind of what I'm saying.
(09:42):
It's not a very good answer, but that's what I'm saying.
They'll put and they will examine the see if they
can get that pipe all the way through. And it's
not really a pipe. What it is is like a
really long sock that is then put in there, blown
up and heated, and it's it's got like a fifty
(10:05):
year warranty and it's as hard as you know PVC
and and that's what they'll use to line it. Uh So,
but they got to get you know, they're gonna have
to get entrance. But yeah, it's a little a lot
easier than digging you know, that whole thing up for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, that'll be wood, putting a sump pit in, going
down there and digging down below with that foot or that,
putting in one of the sump pits that has the
and the out so that as the water comes through,
that clay tile goes into the pit and some pump
pumps it out and the rest of it flows out
the other end.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yep. That that's an option. I'll tell you. Another thing
that we've seen is we actually they'll actually cut the
floor in the basement and they'll bring it out like
twelve inches okay, and they'll they'll dig that out and
they'll put in a pipe that goes, you know, uh
below the slab, which is catching the water and then
(11:05):
routing it to the sump pit and pumping it out
from the inside. I've seen that done also.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Well, this one runs underneath the stairway and it's in
the crawl space. It doesn't run into the foundation, but
are into the flour It just adjacent to it. So
it's talk about when it when it rains.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Boy, so it's pretty much a cross space issue. I mean,
that's where that's the why, that's that's where it originates.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Uh, it originates. I assume in the backyard of the house.
The way the house is in the subdivision. It's probably
one of it's at the end of the elevation wise.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
It's the lowest part. Okay, so we.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Get else's drainage. It comes down through. Sure, I've never
seen three feet of water in the basement.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
I'll tell you what if it was. I mean, you
sound like you kind of want to do some of
that work yourself. But I'd contact a couple uh waterproofing companies,
maybe an excavator, get their idea. You know, there's exterior,
like you said, somep wells that can be utilized. There's
underground French drains that could you know, minimize the amount
(12:15):
of water to minimize the uh water table. Those could
be Yeah. I think you'll just get some options. I
would be surprised even if you contacted you know, several people,
you would you would have the same option. I think
you'd be given several different types of options by each individual.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Well, we had a plumber out and he said, I'm
afraid to break that line open. With the volume of
water coming, I I don't think we could pump it
fast enough. Yeah, he said, wait, we gotta wait till
we have a drought in Indiana.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
But well, it'll be coming, trust me.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well I'm praying for it because grass.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, you and me both, all right, David, keep me posted,
will you? I appreciate it. All right, let's take a break. Michael,
you'll be up first. You can join us. You're at
home with Gary Salt.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Start a project and don't know how to finish it?
Call Gary at one eight hundred and eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary Solid.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
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(15:57):
and to of the funds we go as we talk
a little home improvement. Michael, welcome, Hell, are you doing
doing fine? Thanks?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Hey, I got a couple of things. And it's kind
of a weird thing is that it's the outside and
basically I would have an older house that has a
lot of gravel all the way around the whole property
and they put down of membering underneath the gravel. To
keep the weeds from not coming up. Next has bought me?
This is that I just filled up my whole truck
full of weeds just this year. So where I'm at
(16:29):
and I just bought this house, this is that how
should I kill it? And I'm kind of worried about
up roundup because of all the lawsuits against round up. Yeah,
in that kind of thing. Yeah, I'm looking for some suggestion.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Well, they've changed the round up that the old round
up is gone. There's a name that's still out there,
but it's it's the newer variety. So that's you know,
a weeding grass killer is what you're going to need.
Now underneath that gravel. I don't know what kind of
wheat barrier they put in, but a lot of people
(17:03):
put like the black plastic four mil black plastic. Is
that is that what's underneath the air.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Or it's actually a black match, like a situation.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
A black wet mesh. Oh okay, all right, all right,
all right, good because a lot of times the plastic
gets down there and just gets dry, rot cracks, and
the weeds come up. So you know, if it's been
a while, I don't know that that mesh will usually
keep it out or maybe they put it in upside
(17:37):
down if it never really worked. I'm trying to figure
out why it's not working, because it it should work.
I've got some down in mind. It's been there eight years,
and I might have an occasional piece on nuts edge
grow up through it, but nothing of consequence. But I'll
just use a wheat and grass. I think I have
(17:57):
an Ortho whedon grass killer as the one I use,
and I you know for other weeds in the landscaping
nut in the area house just talking about, but just
spot weeding and I'll use that and that seems to
be very effective.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
But I got like eight foot sunflowers going out through
this stuff, you know what I'm saying. So it's like
it's crazy. And as I said, I.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Thought, well that's why I'm saying, I'm not so sure
your your wheat fabric is working anymore. If you got
something of that magnitude growing, I'm going to bet something
along the line that that's split, torn or compromised, or
you wouldn't have that unless there's been some soil that's
washed over washed over that, which also could be the issue.
(18:42):
All right, thank you much, thanks for the call. You're
at home with Gary.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
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to do.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Around your home.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
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(20:16):
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(21:50):
Well you're at home with Gary Sullivan. One of the
things we've learned from the last two callers really, and
I'm not joking, I mean nothing lasts forever. We talked
about the clay pipe and on that. You know, weeds, sunflowers,
I think he said, growing up through the weed fabric.
You know, the weed fabric that's allowing weeds to grow
(22:15):
up through it. I mean, what causes that? I think
I hit them all. One is the fabrics just deteriorated
it all over time breaks down and the weeds grow
through it. But also one of the things that you
may not realize is just improperly installed. And he didn't ask,
(22:36):
he didn't answer when I asked him how long it's
been in there. But you need to overlap that or
it has gaps in it. And of course weeds can
go through there and sneak right through soil and mulch
on the top. You know, if you got the weed
fabric underneath and is put in the right way, and
(22:57):
you got the rocks on top of that, if there's
some erosion taking place in the dirt, and you know,
mud wash over those rocks. That's a whole nother ballgame then,
because weed seeds can take or sunfire seas can take
root above the rocks. And then there's also some I
(23:20):
mentioned nuts edge those are real aggressive, and other ones
like thistle bermuda grass is real aggressive. It sometimes can
go around the edges of where the where the weed
fabric is. So you almost got to remove all the weeds,
I mean pull them out or kill them either way,
(23:41):
check replace or repair of the fabric, and then you
might you know, in making sure you don't have a
rosion going over the surface of it. That's about the
only way to keep that in check. All right, let's
go to the funes and by the way, you the
lines open, it's eight hundred and eighty two three eight
two five five. Brian, welcome, Hey, Brian, Hi, doing fine.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
I got some effluorescence on an out exterior wall. It
was caused by pool panels that were screwed into the
old roofing and there was water that actually came into
the house in one of the rooms. And I guess
in that wall that's all been remedied. We have a
(24:34):
metal roof. Now everything's good. There is no gutter on
that side of the roof. But I want to repaint
that wall. There's some efflorescence. So I've hosed it, I've
sanded it, and it looks like we're down to the
original blue color. And I do have the good Sherwan
Williams paint. Should I treat that before I put the
(24:55):
paint on?
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Well? So where's the I always say, efflorescence is like
it's blooming. Okay, It's coming out of a masonry type surface.
Is the blue? Is that a masonry wall?
Speaker 5 (25:13):
It's a block wall?
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Okay? Okay, So so this white powdery stuff's coming out
of that wall and you've removed all that, you say, correct?
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Pretty much? Yeah, with agitation and some posing. I was
even maybe gonna hit it with the pressure washer or
a day before I paint it.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Well, I don't know if I do that there. Did
you use any type of like a mild acid or anything.
There's an efflorescence and rust remover that Quick Creek makes,
which is very good. Uh. The reason I'm saying that
is you can clean that efflorescence up, and the better
you clean it, the longer it will stay clean because
(25:58):
efflorescence is being caused by salts and lime and water,
so over the course of years. Sometimes it never happens.
Other times it's kind of like it's breaking down. It's starting,
(26:20):
you know, it's getting old, and you start having this
the salt crustaceans on the surface. So if you scrape
all those off and then use a scrubbrush and an
efflorescence remover, you've kind of got what's bloomed. I'm going
to keep using that word because that's what it reminds
me of. And it'll take a while. You know, it
(26:41):
could take a year, it could take ten years. It
just depends if those blocks are holding water. It's reacting
with the limes and the salts in that block, and
that that crustacean blooms, those salts bloom, and that's what
the effluorescences. So as good as we can get it off,
(27:04):
the better off you'll be.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Excellent. All right, So I think, Okay, appreciate your time, Gary,
have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Thank you, sir, appreciate it. Take care all right again.
It's eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five
and let's go to Todd Todd Welcome.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
Hi Gary. I called you a couple of years I
called you a couple of years ago and I had
a problem in the basement with a mold mildew and
you said you what forget? And I used it to
work perfectly, And now the base the same half basement
has a very high humidity level. I use a deumidifier
(27:48):
and it always reads eighty and when I use it,
it'll fill up in about an hour and a half
two hours and read fifty seven sixty one. But it
just keeps doing it. It's been going on for a
month or so. I don't know why. And the water
bill I got recently was was average, so I don't
think it's op wow.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
So yeah, that's a really good question. Now why is
why do we have such high humidity? How long can
you keep it down there at fifty seven sixty one?
Speaker 6 (28:18):
It'll stay that way for about If I put it
back on it, check it again, in half an hour,
it's back up.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I think, d do you amidifiers working?
Speaker 6 (28:29):
You say it stills it stills up?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Yeah, huh, and no water that you can see? Correct?
Speaker 6 (28:41):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (28:42):
What's the humidity on the first floor of the house.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
Fifty five in there.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
That's really weird. I know you don't.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Be the mulch, so I removed the mulsh on the
outside of the wall. Yeah, it's as an evaporation problem
or no.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
I don't think it would matter one way or the other,
to be honest, No wet spots on the floor that
you see, correct? Is there a Is there a cross
space connected to that basement?
Speaker 6 (29:21):
No?
Speaker 1 (29:21):
No, it's no, and there's no. I don't know. I
don't know why you would have that much water. I
was thinking the same thing when you said that. I
thought broken pipe maybe underneath. But you know, if that happens,
usually you get a wet spot on the floor too.
You know, I have no idea. And I'm also shocked
(29:45):
at it's not creeping its way up to the first floor,
because humidity works in a stack effect. You know, once
it's eighty percent downstairs, it starts moving up the steps
your home, your You're humidity on that next floor should
be esque elating. Also, it should be going fifty five
sixty seventy seventy five. So I don't know where the
(30:09):
there's no hose or spicking outside that's leaking right on
the foundation, or one of those weep hoses that's just weeping.
Speaker 6 (30:22):
I have those on the sides of the house to
convert the water because the house itself was fairly high,
and then the the hoses divert the water out so
it doesn't back up that way, and they work well.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And you've never had any water issues in that basement,
just just a humidity issue.
Speaker 6 (30:48):
Correct, well, not water, but I had what I said
about two years ago to the mold and that waitn't
forget took care of that.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yeah, well, mold's a byproduct of the problem, right, I mean,
you know we've got organic material. I mean dust is
organic material, and we got mold spoors in our house
all the time. Whether it's growing mold or not doesn't
happen until we add a certain amount or we add water.
(31:21):
And water can be water vapor which is humidity, or
it can be water like a flood.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
I just looked at my my h it's seventy in
the upper level and I just checked it.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Okay, yeah, so it's it is high elsewhere. Yes, Okay,
do you have a do you have a you have
a humidifier going? Do you have this is a silly question.
But do you have a humidifier that's on the furnace
that maybe isn't turned off.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
I do have EVE on the first Yes, okay, it
shouldn't be turned off. I can check it.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Just make sure. I'd run into that every now and then. Okay,
so just just don't check it. And then I'm gonna
tell you another story. Again. I don't know if this
is It seems extreme, but it's possible, especially if it
has you know, come up onto the second floor when
you run your air conditioners. So your air conditioner is
(32:26):
probably the best do you medifier in the world? Okay,
you know, so when we get a portable d emidifier
that just supplements the air conditioner. Okay, So when you
have that on, is the fan on?
Speaker 6 (32:45):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Okay, turn that to manual.
Speaker 6 (32:51):
Okay, or hold it?
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Turn that to auto. I said it wrong, Yeah, so
turn that to auto. Don't leave it on, and I'll
tell you why here in a second. So when that
air conditioner is going and it's sucking the humidity out,
which is doing ten times more than that deumidifier, but
(33:13):
sometimes we need a supplemental um. The coils are real wet.
There's a condensation tube that's taking the condensation into the drain.
And if it's on on and the air conditioner turns off,
the fan keeps blowing that moisture back up into the house.
(33:37):
It never expels it all. So turn that to I
almost said it again, turn that to auto. And when
the air conditioner quits running, the fannel quit running, the
coils are dry out. When it kicks back on. It
might take a week or so to get you to
(33:58):
where it's a little more powerful. But I'll tell you
what happened in my home. Struggled, I got an easy breathe,
I had a do you meidifier going, I had my
air conditioner on on. It was running all the time.
And most contractors that I've talked to is say, that's great,
(34:18):
keep that air moving. And one guy called this show
three years ago and said, no, no, no, no, you
won't turn that off, and gave the same explanation. And
I said to him, I said, it makes sense to me,
but I've never ever ever heard of that. I've never
ever had a professional tell me that, and I've asked
a question. I got off the show. I turned that
(34:39):
thing to otto, and to this day I do not
use a do you meidifier? I do have the easy
breathe which has a humidistat on there, which doesn't run
all the time, and my humidity is insistently between fifty
(35:02):
and fifty five in the summer.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
I've been told the same thing.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yes, yeah, so I get that. It would mean it's
a grasp at straws because that's really high humidity. But
at one time I was running humidity it was seventy
five percent in the basement. Now, it didn't come back
as fast as yours is coming back, but it took
a week or two and I got it down. I mean,
(35:28):
I got it down where it's supposed to be. I'll
do that, all right. Let me know how that works,
will you. I appreciate it, all right. Let's take a break,
and when we come back, we got a couple of
people running. Bob and You're at home with Gary Sullivant.
Helm for your home.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Is just a click away at Garysullivan online dot com.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
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Dumont Smart, safe and proven, So do it yourself with Demon. Hey,
how's your water heater? Is it running out of hot
water faster than it used to? Does it leak or
maybe make weird noises? Hey? Gary Salvin here for Roto
Router Plumbing and water clean up. The team that can fix,
tune up, or replace any brand of water heater, whether
it's gas, electric, conventional or tankless. Well's. I don't like
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this year, I called Roto Ruter and had a new
one installed right away. For water heater service called one
eight hundred, Get rodo all right, back to edit we
(38:36):
go and uh, let's get back to the phone's here
and wrap kind of things up for the weekend. Bob, welcome, Hi.
Speaker 7 (38:44):
Do you hear me?
Speaker 6 (38:45):
All?
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Right, I can.
Speaker 7 (38:47):
Okay, I heard most but not all of the What
about the guy with the mysterious amount of moisture in
the basement, right, I think we're speculating on what could
be the source of the water. It talked about water
underneath somehow. He was talking about an exterior wall perhaps
(39:08):
with a lot of water out there. So my thought was,
if you get a handheld boister meter that you can
it has a setting for concrete, a setting for plaster,
or a setting for wood. If you put on there
in the in the spot where you where you have
the dehumidifier, and then you kind of make a map
and you take readings on the floor and the walls.
(39:32):
And then my hearing would be if there's a whole
lot of water in one place, you would see high
readings and decreasing readings. It'd be kind of like concentric
surfles or something like that. You might then be able
to be a detective and find a source of water that.
Speaker 6 (39:50):
You can't see.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Yeah, that is a great, great idea, Bob, and all seriousness,
I appreciate that. I'm It'll be really I just think, gosh,
that was so high. I would I would just think
you'd be able to see it, feel it, or mold
would be growing there already. But it's certainly it's certainly
(40:13):
worth a play. My end result in the end of
the conversation, when I was talking about the the fan
on auto or on on, I mean I had a
problem that was similar. It didn't happen that fast like
his did. I'd be really interested. If that's it too.
Speaker 7 (40:35):
Oh yeah, well I'll.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Get he'll he'll let me know and or hopefully he
lets me know it. I'll certainly pass that along. But
I love the idea of the moisture meter. Even if
it doesn't work for him, it's a great tip for
other people that are struggling where they're finding, you know,
a high humidity level, but he's got it high with situation.
Speaker 7 (41:01):
I had a situation where I used one of those
because I had a bathroom leaking above the dining room,
real old, thick plaster ceiling. But what I found off
it seemed like I knew where the toilet and everything
was upstairs. And I think that when the water leaked
over time, it would then be contained within you. If
(41:24):
you think of the ceiling joys as a trough, then
could travel along the trough. So you might have a
you know, sixteen inch wide a high moisture in the plaster,
but then the trough over to the right of the
left wouldn't have it because it wouldn't the water wouldn't
be in that trough because it was you know, you
(41:45):
know what I'm saying, right, So that was sort of
a mapping technique that I used with the moisture to
kind of fare you know, where the moisture was in
a great, big ceiling.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Well, I'm going to embed that in my little brain.
I try to remember that I've used the moisture meter
for wood in the past about moisture is behind drywall
in a basement. But that was a great idea in
all honesty, I thank you very much. Hopefully we'll get
to the bottom of it, that's for sure. Yeah, all right,
(42:18):
thanks Bob, take care you bet very good, very good.
One of the great pleasures of doing this show day
in and day out is having that type of participation
and say, hey, what about this idea, and there's yeah,
I've been doing this for thirty now almost forty years,
(42:40):
and there's a lot of answers to a lot of questions.
You're not going to know all the answers, but with
a little help, it's just another angle to take a
look at and somebody's experience. I've had several people that
have answered questions that I was absolutely closed, no idea
how in the world I was going to help that person.
Somebody would call and say, listen, I had that exact
(43:04):
problem thirty five years ago, and I can't even remember
what the answer was, but it was some obscure thing
that it was. And this guy chased this problem for
years and solved the problem, and lo and behold the
problem solving. What a little bit of experience can do
(43:26):
for you. All right, So thank you all for joining
me this weekend. I hope you got some information that
I'll help your home improvement project go a little bit easier. Danny,
thank you very much for both days. Yes, we stayed
busy enough today, that's for sure, and busy enough all right,
good Lord Willing. We'll be back next weekend for more
(43:47):
at Home with Gary Solivle.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
If you don't have a list of things to do
around the house, Gary will find something for you. At
one eight hundred eighty two three tak You're at Home
with Gary Sullivan
Tell you what, those lights are pretty dog gone cool.
And I know one of the things we were talking
about earlier was getting projects done. I know this heat
not so much from a lighting standpoint, But if I've
been trying to warn people about this, there's probably quite
a few companies, maybe in concrete repair, maybe in roofing,
(00:24):
I don't know, exterior painting, those type of outdoor projects
very well could be being pushed back. In other words,
maybe they're unable to do it because of temperature. Maybe
you don't want to do it because of temperature, but
(00:46):
maybe you're not gonna do it all now, you'll get
somebody to do it in the fall. Plan ahead. With
the heat and stuff. I just think everybody's gonna rush
at one time. I can I feel it building. So
if you're thinking about an outdoor project, and I stand
(01:07):
to say this truthfully, the best time for outdoor projects
is the fall. It's not necessarily a springtime. It's the fall.
And if you're planning on doing one of those, please
start now and get that booked because I think this
season in a lot of parts of the country is
going to be compressed fairly, fairly significantly compressed. So get
(01:33):
to work on that. Start lining your people up, start
lining up your projects, start doing your your research. I
think that'd be a great idea. One of those things
chatted about yesterday. Somebody was talking about their chimney and
I was they had taken out, I guess a stove
(01:55):
in their firebox and they were getting odors and talking
about how to remove the odors and just different questions
regarding that. Now would be a great time to schedule that.
They a lot of chimney repair companies. They do a
lot of work in the summertime, talking about substantial works,
(02:16):
maybe a liner, maybe taking care of some flashing or
some bricks, and you know, things like that the crown
wash at the top of the chimney. Even if you
don't suspect you have a problem, if you haven't had
a chimney clean for a year or two, get somebody
out there and inspect that chimney. Now again, if we
(02:42):
push it off and we start calling those types of companies,
you know, maybe before Halloween because it started getting called out. Yeah,
they can get to you, but they're not gonna get
to you for a while. I don't know what it'll be.
But if it's a good it's gonna be for a while.
(03:02):
So I would inquire about those projects right now and
get that on your list. Also, if you're burning wood,
I drove by a place the other day that was
selling firewood and just mountains and mountains of split firewood.
(03:25):
And again when you're buying firewood and you're gonna if
you're new to this, if you if you're not new
to this, you already know, but you want to buy
well seasoned firewood. And you don't want to buy the
firewood that's cut and split and it just got cut
down last week and burn it this year. You want
(03:46):
it from last year. So you can tell the difference
sometimes a lot of times just by the weight of
it dropping it on the concrete sidewalk. And if it
goes thud, it's got some moisture in it. If it
goes ping, it's probably pretty dry. If it's split on
the ends cracks is pretty dry. But if you're thinking
(04:11):
about purchasing split wood, I would get to work on
that too, Start figuring out what kind of would they have,
how long it's been seasoned. Those all come into play. Also,
if you have lots of abundance of trees and woods
and you do your own wood, that's fine, you know
this story. But I know a lot of fire pits
(04:32):
out there. I know a lot of people getting inserts
once again. And that kind of goes by that whole
energy savings concept that we're talking about. This summer is
going to carry on into this winter, so I think
it'll be a busy year for fireplaces and fire stoves
(04:54):
and things like that. So plan ahead, plan ahead, and
get those projects at least started. Start doing a little inquiring.
And if you get the wood, don't pile it inside
your house. Okay, it goes away from the house, and
preferably not in the garage. Away from the house. Don't
(05:17):
cover it in plastic. You want the wind to blow
through it. If you want to cover the top eighteen
inches of that with you know, a tarp or something
along those lanes, that's fine, but prefer to have the
wind blow through that and really dry that out properly
(05:40):
and allow you to enjoy it. And the type of
wood you're buying too, Remember you're looking for hardwood. You're
not looking to bind burned pine or spruce or pressure
treated wood. Those are all no nose. But you know,
walnut and apple and oak. Those are maple. Those are good,
good firewoods to burn. All right again, our phone number
(06:02):
is eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five,
and we start off the day talking about painting, indoor painting,
and certainly I hope you cut some of that. By
the way, today's been kind of a slow day on calls,
So if you've been trying to get through, you know,
(06:22):
in the past weeks, today it'd be a great day
to get through. Also, if you want to know about
some information on paints, types of paints, types of tools
for painting, i'd encourage you to take a look at
the iHeart app just said at home with Gary Salvan,
(06:45):
our number one. We did a whole pretty much a
whole section on you know, quality paints and quality tools
and why and how it's so important. So I encourage
you to take a look at that. And oh, excuse me,
we've got well one color. We'll get David on here
(07:05):
in just a minute. David, you there, I'm here. There
you go, Thanks for calling them, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Well, here's my situation. My wife inherited her mother's house
building the seven nineteen seventies, and it's a try level
with a basement. The problem is we've been experiencing flooding
in the basement. And I'm talking after you know, some
of the Midwestern range we've had. We've had maybe two
(07:33):
feet of water, three feet of water in there, and
it seems to be coming pretty much about a foot
or two below the foundation walls with a clay tile.
And I don't know if that was the way they
sealed them back then. They just butted them up against
each other, wrapped the black tar paper around them, and
(07:55):
back filled it with peat gravel. Well, probably over time
it's settled some. I mean, it will flow crystal clear water,
It'll flow like a river, and then once it comes
up over that twitter, then it floods the basement. Any ideas,
is there a sleeve that you can put inside?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Well, you can put into waste lines. I don't know
about a lot of times. What happens on those tiles
and those clay pipes is with the clay in your
area in Indiana, once they separate, they don't always align,
(08:39):
so the liner becomes you know, you can't really use
the liner. The only way you'll know that, David, is
you know, you get a waterproofing company out there or
a plumbing company out there, have them run or rent
the machine where you can run a cable through it
and see exactly what kind of shape those pipes are in.
(09:00):
They could be crushed, they could be misaligned, or maybe
they just separate a little bit. If they just separate
a little bit, yeah, they could probably be lined.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So there isn't a product that that they could put
in there that maybe I don't know, one half inch
PBC to run it through there, or some kind of
flexible pipe as opposed to digging down.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
We're talking, well, well, first you'd have to gain you'd
have to gain Yeah, I know. First of all, you've
got to gain entrance to that pipe, to that opening.
And and what what they would do with a waist line,
not necessarily you know, the foot or drains, but a waistline,
and sometimes they can is kind of what I'm saying.
(09:42):
It's not a very good answer, but that's what I'm saying.
They'll put and they will examine the see if they
can get that pipe all the way through. And it's
not really a pipe. What it is is like a
really long sock that is then put in there, blown
up and heated, and it's it's got like a fifty
(10:05):
year warranty and it's as hard as you know PVC
and and that's what they'll use to line it. Uh So,
but they got to get you know, they're gonna have
to get entrance. But yeah, it's a little a lot
easier than digging you know, that whole thing up for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, that'll be wood, putting a sump pit in, going
down there and digging down below with that foot or that,
putting in one of the sump pits that has the
and the out so that as the water comes through,
that clay tile goes into the pit and some pump
pumps it out and the rest of it flows out
the other end.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yep. That that's an option. I'll tell you. Another thing
that we've seen is we actually they'll actually cut the
floor in the basement and they'll bring it out like
twelve inches okay, and they'll they'll dig that out and
they'll put in a pipe that goes, you know, uh
below the slab, which is catching the water and then
(11:05):
routing it to the sump pit and pumping it out
from the inside. I've seen that done also.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Well, this one runs underneath the stairway and it's in
the crawl space. It doesn't run into the foundation, but
are into the flour It just adjacent to it. So
it's talk about when it when it rains.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Boy, so it's pretty much a cross space issue. I mean,
that's where that's the why, that's that's where it originates.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Uh, it originates. I assume in the backyard of the house.
The way the house is in the subdivision. It's probably
one of it's at the end of the elevation wise.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
It's the lowest part. Okay, so we.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Get else's drainage. It comes down through. Sure, I've never
seen three feet of water in the basement.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
I'll tell you what if it was. I mean, you
sound like you kind of want to do some of
that work yourself. But I'd contact a couple uh waterproofing companies,
maybe an excavator, get their idea. You know, there's exterior,
like you said, somep wells that can be utilized. There's
underground French drains that could you know, minimize the amount
(12:15):
of water to minimize the uh water table. Those could
be Yeah. I think you'll just get some options. I
would be surprised even if you contacted you know, several people,
you would you would have the same option. I think
you'd be given several different types of options by each individual.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Well, we had a plumber out and he said, I'm
afraid to break that line open. With the volume of
water coming, I I don't think we could pump it
fast enough. Yeah, he said, wait, we gotta wait till
we have a drought in Indiana.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
But well, it'll be coming, trust me.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well I'm praying for it because grass.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, you and me both, all right, David, keep me posted,
will you? I appreciate it. All right, let's take a break. Michael,
you'll be up first. You can join us. You're at
home with Gary Salt.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Start a project and don't know how to finish it?
Call Gary at one eight hundred and eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary Solid.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Hi, this is Gary Salvin for Easy Breathe. I know
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(13:51):
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(15:57):
and to of the funds we go as we talk
a little home improvement. Michael, welcome, Hell, are you doing
doing fine? Thanks?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Hey, I got a couple of things. And it's kind
of a weird thing is that it's the outside and
basically I would have an older house that has a
lot of gravel all the way around the whole property
and they put down of membering underneath the gravel. To
keep the weeds from not coming up. Next has bought me?
This is that I just filled up my whole truck
full of weeds just this year. So where I'm at
(16:29):
and I just bought this house, this is that how
should I kill it? And I'm kind of worried about
up roundup because of all the lawsuits against round up. Yeah,
in that kind of thing. Yeah, I'm looking for some suggestion.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Well, they've changed the round up that the old round
up is gone. There's a name that's still out there,
but it's it's the newer variety. So that's you know,
a weeding grass killer is what you're going to need.
Now underneath that gravel. I don't know what kind of
wheat barrier they put in, but a lot of people
(17:03):
put like the black plastic four mil black plastic. Is
that is that what's underneath the air.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Or it's actually a black match, like a situation.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
A black wet mesh. Oh okay, all right, all right,
all right, good because a lot of times the plastic
gets down there and just gets dry, rot cracks, and
the weeds come up. So you know, if it's been
a while, I don't know that that mesh will usually
keep it out or maybe they put it in upside
(17:37):
down if it never really worked. I'm trying to figure
out why it's not working, because it it should work.
I've got some down in mind. It's been there eight years,
and I might have an occasional piece on nuts edge
grow up through it, but nothing of consequence. But I'll
just use a wheat and grass. I think I have
(17:57):
an Ortho whedon grass killer as the one I use,
and I you know for other weeds in the landscaping
nut in the area house just talking about, but just
spot weeding and I'll use that and that seems to
be very effective.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
But I got like eight foot sunflowers going out through
this stuff, you know what I'm saying. So it's like
it's crazy. And as I said, I.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Thought, well that's why I'm saying, I'm not so sure
your your wheat fabric is working anymore. If you got
something of that magnitude growing, I'm going to bet something
along the line that that's split, torn or compromised, or
you wouldn't have that unless there's been some soil that's
washed over washed over that, which also could be the issue.
(18:42):
All right, thank you much, thanks for the call. You're
at home with Gary.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Sullivan's weekends I mean a never writing list of things
to do.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Around your home.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Get help at one eight hundred and eighty two three
Talk You're at home with Gary Sullivant.
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(20:16):
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for more information. Blackjack protecting driveways for over one hundred years.
(21:50):
Well you're at home with Gary Sullivan. One of the
things we've learned from the last two callers really, and
I'm not joking, I mean nothing lasts forever. We talked
about the clay pipe and on that. You know, weeds, sunflowers,
I think he said, growing up through the weed fabric.
You know, the weed fabric that's allowing weeds to grow
(22:15):
up through it. I mean, what causes that? I think
I hit them all. One is the fabrics just deteriorated
it all over time breaks down and the weeds grow
through it. But also one of the things that you
may not realize is just improperly installed. And he didn't ask,
(22:36):
he didn't answer when I asked him how long it's
been in there. But you need to overlap that or
it has gaps in it. And of course weeds can
go through there and sneak right through soil and mulch
on the top. You know, if you got the weed
fabric underneath and is put in the right way, and
(22:57):
you got the rocks on top of that, if there's
some erosion taking place in the dirt, and you know,
mud wash over those rocks. That's a whole nother ballgame then,
because weed seeds can take or sunfire seas can take
root above the rocks. And then there's also some I
(23:20):
mentioned nuts edge those are real aggressive, and other ones
like thistle bermuda grass is real aggressive. It sometimes can
go around the edges of where the where the weed
fabric is. So you almost got to remove all the weeds,
I mean pull them out or kill them either way,
(23:41):
check replace or repair of the fabric, and then you
might you know, in making sure you don't have a
rosion going over the surface of it. That's about the
only way to keep that in check. All right, let's
go to the funes and by the way, you the
lines open, it's eight hundred and eighty two three eight
two five five. Brian, welcome, Hey, Brian, Hi, doing fine.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
I got some effluorescence on an out exterior wall. It
was caused by pool panels that were screwed into the
old roofing and there was water that actually came into
the house in one of the rooms. And I guess
in that wall that's all been remedied. We have a
(24:34):
metal roof. Now everything's good. There is no gutter on
that side of the roof. But I want to repaint
that wall. There's some efflorescence. So I've hosed it, I've
sanded it, and it looks like we're down to the
original blue color. And I do have the good Sherwan
Williams paint. Should I treat that before I put the
(24:55):
paint on?
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Well? So where's the I always say, efflorescence is like
it's blooming. Okay, It's coming out of a masonry type surface.
Is the blue? Is that a masonry wall?
Speaker 5 (25:13):
It's a block wall?
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Okay? Okay, So so this white powdery stuff's coming out
of that wall and you've removed all that, you say, correct?
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Pretty much? Yeah, with agitation and some posing. I was
even maybe gonna hit it with the pressure washer or
a day before I paint it.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Well, I don't know if I do that there. Did
you use any type of like a mild acid or anything.
There's an efflorescence and rust remover that Quick Creek makes,
which is very good. Uh. The reason I'm saying that
is you can clean that efflorescence up, and the better
you clean it, the longer it will stay clean because
(25:58):
efflorescence is being caused by salts and lime and water,
so over the course of years. Sometimes it never happens.
Other times it's kind of like it's breaking down. It's starting,
(26:20):
you know, it's getting old, and you start having this
the salt crustaceans on the surface. So if you scrape
all those off and then use a scrubbrush and an
efflorescence remover, you've kind of got what's bloomed. I'm going
to keep using that word because that's what it reminds
me of. And it'll take a while. You know, it
(26:41):
could take a year, it could take ten years. It
just depends if those blocks are holding water. It's reacting
with the limes and the salts in that block, and
that that crustacean blooms, those salts bloom, and that's what
the effluorescences. So as good as we can get it off,
(27:04):
the better off you'll be.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Excellent. All right, So I think, Okay, appreciate your time, Gary,
have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Thank you, sir, appreciate it. Take care all right again.
It's eight hundred eighty two three eight two five five
and let's go to Todd Todd Welcome.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
Hi Gary. I called you a couple of years I
called you a couple of years ago and I had
a problem in the basement with a mold mildew and
you said you what forget? And I used it to
work perfectly, And now the base the same half basement
has a very high humidity level. I use a deumidifier
(27:48):
and it always reads eighty and when I use it,
it'll fill up in about an hour and a half
two hours and read fifty seven sixty one. But it
just keeps doing it. It's been going on for a
month or so. I don't know why. And the water
bill I got recently was was average, so I don't
think it's op wow.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
So yeah, that's a really good question. Now why is
why do we have such high humidity? How long can
you keep it down there at fifty seven sixty one?
Speaker 6 (28:18):
It'll stay that way for about If I put it
back on it, check it again, in half an hour,
it's back up.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I think, d do you amidifiers working?
Speaker 6 (28:29):
You say it stills it stills up?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Yeah, huh, and no water that you can see? Correct?
Speaker 6 (28:41):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (28:42):
What's the humidity on the first floor of the house.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
Fifty five in there.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
That's really weird. I know you don't.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Be the mulch, so I removed the mulsh on the
outside of the wall. Yeah, it's as an evaporation problem
or no.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
I don't think it would matter one way or the other,
to be honest, No wet spots on the floor that
you see, correct? Is there a Is there a cross
space connected to that basement?
Speaker 6 (29:21):
No?
Speaker 1 (29:21):
No, it's no, and there's no. I don't know. I
don't know why you would have that much water. I
was thinking the same thing when you said that. I
thought broken pipe maybe underneath. But you know, if that happens,
usually you get a wet spot on the floor too.
You know, I have no idea. And I'm also shocked
(29:45):
at it's not creeping its way up to the first floor,
because humidity works in a stack effect. You know, once
it's eighty percent downstairs, it starts moving up the steps
your home, your You're humidity on that next floor should
be esque elating. Also, it should be going fifty five
sixty seventy seventy five. So I don't know where the
(30:09):
there's no hose or spicking outside that's leaking right on
the foundation, or one of those weep hoses that's just weeping.
Speaker 6 (30:22):
I have those on the sides of the house to
convert the water because the house itself was fairly high,
and then the the hoses divert the water out so
it doesn't back up that way, and they work well.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And you've never had any water issues in that basement,
just just a humidity issue.
Speaker 6 (30:48):
Correct, well, not water, but I had what I said
about two years ago to the mold and that waitn't
forget took care of that.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yeah, well, mold's a byproduct of the problem, right, I mean,
you know we've got organic material. I mean dust is
organic material, and we got mold spoors in our house
all the time. Whether it's growing mold or not doesn't
happen until we add a certain amount or we add water.
(31:21):
And water can be water vapor which is humidity, or
it can be water like a flood.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
I just looked at my my h it's seventy in
the upper level and I just checked it.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Okay, yeah, so it's it is high elsewhere. Yes, Okay,
do you have a do you have a you have
a humidifier going? Do you have this is a silly question.
But do you have a humidifier that's on the furnace
that maybe isn't turned off.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
I do have EVE on the first Yes, okay, it
shouldn't be turned off. I can check it.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Just make sure. I'd run into that every now and then. Okay,
so just just don't check it. And then I'm gonna
tell you another story. Again. I don't know if this
is It seems extreme, but it's possible, especially if it
has you know, come up onto the second floor when
you run your air conditioners. So your air conditioner is
(32:26):
probably the best do you medifier in the world? Okay,
you know, so when we get a portable d emidifier
that just supplements the air conditioner. Okay, So when you
have that on, is the fan on?
Speaker 6 (32:45):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Okay, turn that to manual.
Speaker 6 (32:51):
Okay, or hold it?
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Turn that to auto. I said it wrong, Yeah, so
turn that to auto. Don't leave it on, and I'll
tell you why here in a second. So when that
air conditioner is going and it's sucking the humidity out,
which is doing ten times more than that deumidifier, but
(33:13):
sometimes we need a supplemental um. The coils are real wet.
There's a condensation tube that's taking the condensation into the drain.
And if it's on on and the air conditioner turns off,
the fan keeps blowing that moisture back up into the house.
(33:37):
It never expels it all. So turn that to I
almost said it again, turn that to auto. And when
the air conditioner quits running, the fannel quit running, the
coils are dry out. When it kicks back on. It
might take a week or so to get you to
(33:58):
where it's a little more powerful. But I'll tell you
what happened in my home. Struggled, I got an easy breathe,
I had a do you meidifier going, I had my
air conditioner on on. It was running all the time.
And most contractors that I've talked to is say, that's great,
(34:18):
keep that air moving. And one guy called this show
three years ago and said, no, no, no, no, you
won't turn that off, and gave the same explanation. And
I said to him, I said, it makes sense to me,
but I've never ever ever heard of that. I've never
ever had a professional tell me that, and I've asked
a question. I got off the show. I turned that
(34:39):
thing to otto, and to this day I do not
use a do you meidifier? I do have the easy
breathe which has a humidistat on there, which doesn't run
all the time, and my humidity is insistently between fifty
(35:02):
and fifty five in the summer.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
I've been told the same thing.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yes, yeah, so I get that. It would mean it's
a grasp at straws because that's really high humidity. But
at one time I was running humidity it was seventy
five percent in the basement. Now, it didn't come back
as fast as yours is coming back, but it took
a week or two and I got it down. I mean,
(35:28):
I got it down where it's supposed to be. I'll
do that, all right. Let me know how that works,
will you. I appreciate it, all right. Let's take a break,
and when we come back, we got a couple of
people running. Bob and You're at home with Gary Sullivant.
Helm for your home.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Is just a click away at Garysullivan online dot com.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
This He's at home.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
With Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
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(37:38):
Dumont Smart, safe and proven, So do it yourself with Demon. Hey,
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(38:01):
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(38:36):
go and uh, let's get back to the phone's here
and wrap kind of things up for the weekend. Bob, welcome, Hi.
Speaker 7 (38:44):
Do you hear me?
Speaker 6 (38:45):
All?
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Right, I can.
Speaker 7 (38:47):
Okay, I heard most but not all of the What
about the guy with the mysterious amount of moisture in
the basement, right, I think we're speculating on what could
be the source of the water. It talked about water
underneath somehow. He was talking about an exterior wall perhaps
(39:08):
with a lot of water out there. So my thought was,
if you get a handheld boister meter that you can
it has a setting for concrete, a setting for plaster,
or a setting for wood. If you put on there
in the in the spot where you where you have
the dehumidifier, and then you kind of make a map
and you take readings on the floor and the walls.
(39:32):
And then my hearing would be if there's a whole
lot of water in one place, you would see high
readings and decreasing readings. It'd be kind of like concentric
surfles or something like that. You might then be able
to be a detective and find a source of water that.
Speaker 6 (39:50):
You can't see.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Yeah, that is a great, great idea, Bob, and all seriousness,
I appreciate that. I'm It'll be really I just think, gosh,
that was so high. I would I would just think
you'd be able to see it, feel it, or mold
would be growing there already. But it's certainly it's certainly
(40:13):
worth a play. My end result in the end of
the conversation, when I was talking about the the fan
on auto or on on, I mean I had a
problem that was similar. It didn't happen that fast like
his did. I'd be really interested. If that's it too.
Speaker 7 (40:35):
Oh yeah, well I'll.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Get he'll he'll let me know and or hopefully he
lets me know it. I'll certainly pass that along. But
I love the idea of the moisture meter. Even if
it doesn't work for him, it's a great tip for
other people that are struggling where they're finding, you know,
a high humidity level, but he's got it high with situation.
Speaker 7 (41:01):
I had a situation where I used one of those
because I had a bathroom leaking above the dining room,
real old, thick plaster ceiling. But what I found off
it seemed like I knew where the toilet and everything
was upstairs. And I think that when the water leaked
over time, it would then be contained within you. If
(41:24):
you think of the ceiling joys as a trough, then
could travel along the trough. So you might have a
you know, sixteen inch wide a high moisture in the plaster,
but then the trough over to the right of the
left wouldn't have it because it wouldn't the water wouldn't
be in that trough because it was you know, you
(41:45):
know what I'm saying, right, So that was sort of
a mapping technique that I used with the moisture to
kind of fare you know, where the moisture was in
a great, big ceiling.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Well, I'm going to embed that in my little brain.
I try to remember that I've used the moisture meter
for wood in the past about moisture is behind drywall
in a basement. But that was a great idea in
all honesty, I thank you very much. Hopefully we'll get
to the bottom of it, that's for sure. Yeah, all right,
(42:18):
thanks Bob, take care you bet very good, very good.
One of the great pleasures of doing this show day
in and day out is having that type of participation
and say, hey, what about this idea, and there's yeah,
I've been doing this for thirty now almost forty years,
(42:40):
and there's a lot of answers to a lot of questions.
You're not going to know all the answers, but with
a little help, it's just another angle to take a
look at and somebody's experience. I've had several people that
have answered questions that I was absolutely closed, no idea
how in the world I was going to help that person.
Somebody would call and say, listen, I had that exact
(43:04):
problem thirty five years ago, and I can't even remember
what the answer was, but it was some obscure thing
that it was. And this guy chased this problem for
years and solved the problem, and lo and behold the
problem solving. What a little bit of experience can do
(43:26):
for you. All right, So thank you all for joining
me this weekend. I hope you got some information that
I'll help your home improvement project go a little bit easier. Danny,
thank you very much for both days. Yes, we stayed
busy enough today, that's for sure, and busy enough all right,
good Lord Willing. We'll be back next weekend for more
(43:47):
at Home with Gary Solivle.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
If you don't have a list of things to do
around the house, Gary will find something for you. At
one eight hundred eighty two three tak You're at Home
with Gary Sullivan
At Home with Gary Sullivan News
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