Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, the best time of the day, I guess, say,
good afternoon, Welcome nour number four. You're at home with
Gary Sullivan and we're talking a little home maintenance and repair.
Feel free to join us. It's eight hundred eight two
three eight two five five. Got a lot to talk about,
and I know we got a maybe a pretty good
weekend to get a few things done around the home,
(00:22):
especially when it comes to doing repairs or even bigger projects.
So feel free to join us. Again. It's eight hundred
eight two three eight two five five. All right, so
we certainly have a heat wave going on, I would
say for the last week, another hot one today. And
(00:45):
I'm sure our friends doing air conditioning and are very busy,
very busy. And one of the things I was thinking
about today is just little things that you and I
can do, not in terms of repairing air conditioning, but
maybe making them a little bit more efficient. And it's
(01:10):
kind of the things I worked on not long, but
took notice of in the last week or so. And
number one, starting on the outside of the home. And
I see this a lot, but where your compressor is
outside and you got bushes, maybe even have a fence,
(01:30):
maybe you have you know, a wild grass or mental grass,
and you have it real close to the compressor on
the outside, and you're blocking the airflow. You're not helping
your air conditioning at all. And I didn't have anything
(01:54):
that was really super impeding the airflow, but there was
certainly some bushes that were a little bit closer to
the compressor than I went ahead and trimmed those back,
just got the air flow doing a little bit better
around that than it was previously going inside the home.
(02:17):
And I talk about this a lot also, and that
is a simple little process of changing out the air
filter and in a timely manner. And what type of
air filters you want to use. They all have one.
Some of them have electronic ones, some of them have
(02:38):
four inch thick ones, some have one inch thick, some
have ultra allergen filters. Bottom line is you just want
to have good airflow through the air handler. So I'd
say the most popular filter on the market is a
pleated air filter. Now pleated air filters recommended changing them
(03:04):
every ninety days. In the summertime, we got probably more
people coming in and out of the house. I'm kind
of looking at moving and changing mind out about every
sixty days just to increase that airflow to all the
rooms if you let it go, say one hundred and
(03:25):
twenty days, or you have one of these ultra allergen
filters that have more filtering material, and your fan is
running and it's moving the air if it's you know,
got that filter that's clogged and that air is not
moving like it should. Those outer reaches, bedrooms upstairs, all
(03:49):
the way at the other end of the house than
where the air handler is, they're gonna suffer. And if
it happens to be an area that's suffering where the
therma stat is, it's going to run longer than you
want it to be running, which is going to be
costing you more money than you wanted to be running.
(04:11):
Another thing that we've started incorporating this year at our house,
just because of the price of electricity I think scheduled
to go up like about twenty percent, was incorporating our
shades to do some shading inside our home. We've got
(04:33):
the Allure shades. They're easy to use. Maybe got many blinds,
they're easy to use too, And we've been maybe not
shutting down all the shades twenty four hours a day,
but during the heat of the day, just kind of
pulling the shades closed. And I'll tell you what, it
has made a huge difference. I can feel it. I
(04:56):
have the thermostats set up higher than it was in
previous years. So I know a lot of times we
talk about heat mered glass and eglass and all this
and new windows and energy of fish it is. But
if you can incorporate shade into your home, even trees
(05:24):
on the outside, just creating that shade, minimizing the radiant
energy will really really help you. And so we've been
working shades, making sure the air field is clean and
like I said, cleaned up around the compressor and made
a significant change and the comfort of the house. And
(05:49):
then the next thing is always working on the humidity.
And I talk about the humidity a lot, and our
humidity this year has been outstanding inside the house. Again,
if you're looking for optimum, optimum humidity inside your home
in the summertime would be you know, fifty to fifty
(06:12):
five percent, that'd be optimum. Now maybe in the basements,
maybe you're running sixty or something like that, but we
have not, and I give it credit to how I
run the fan on the central air and I know
(06:35):
a lot of people, including me, for years, just turn
that fan on in the summertime. And I checked with
a lot of HVAC people, and you know that was okay.
And I had a caller one time. I've told this
story but bears repeating, and they said, you know, when
(06:55):
you're taking all the moisture out of the air with
the coils in the air handler, those coils are soop
and wet. If you have that fan running all the time,
it never really has a chance to dry it. And
you just blowing that moisture right back up up and
through your through the duckworking into your house. And I
was struggling with controlling the humidity, and so I was
(07:16):
running between the shades being up and running the fan
on full. I had a thermostat down seventy one to
seventy two degrees. Now I'm seventy six and comfortable, and
I got the fan on auto, which means it only
(07:37):
turns on when the air conditioner cook turns on, which
means those coils get a chance to dry out. I'm
not throwing all that moisture back into the air. And
so if if you are feeling like boy, air conditioner
is really running a lot this year. I encourage you
to try that. Or gee, those back bedrooms are just
(07:59):
some much warmer even though I got the even let's
say I've got the temperature at seventy three and it's
just not comfortable in here, and I looked at my
humidity and it was sixty five percent. Yeah, you got
to work on controlling these things in there. With that knowledge,
they're easy to control. And I encourage you if you're
(08:20):
struggling with trying to keep that humidity level around fifty
to fifty five percent, you take my advice on that
fan and just running on auto. And if you just
feel like that air conditioners going all the time and
you can feel radiant energy entering your home through windows
is using those shades, I think you'll really be ahead
(08:42):
of the game. And you know, way before we get
into talking about insulation and addicts, you know those that
does settle. A lot of it settles, a lot of
it gets moved around. And you ever wonder what your
attic temperature is on a day like today is like
ninety degrees right now, with good adequate ventilation, your attic
(09:09):
should probably be one hundred and ten. So it's still warm.
Obviously maybe a little less, but it's probably about one
hundred and ten. Without adequate ventilation up there, it could
be one hundred and forty. And if it's running one
(09:29):
hundred and forty and you got inadequate insulation, you got
a problem. You're just wasting a lot of money. So
one of the things that I encourage you to do,
and not today, not when it's one hundred and forty.
I don't want anybody climbing up in that attic unless
they absolutely have to. But you get a cooler evening
(09:50):
or a cooler stretch of time to get up or
get somebody to get up in that attic and just
see where you are on insulation and see where you
are on ventilation, even if you want to have somebody
inspect that, and even if you get surprised with a
higher than normal energy bill, I think those things would
(10:16):
be two good things to inspect. I mean, if it's
been twenty five years since you lived in that house
and you've never added insulation and you've never really got
up in the attic to inspect it, the ventilation or
the insulation, I think that would be money well spent
(10:36):
getting somebody up there if you can't do it and
figure out exactly where you are. If you want to
measure the depth of insulation and it's say cellulose or
it's fiberglass, remember in our value, Department of Energy in
our area says you know, in R forty two and
for every inch of fiberglass or whatever cellulose insulation you
(10:59):
get about it are two point five per inch of thickness.
And you want to get up to an R forty two.
So if you get up and you find six inches
of insulation, that's not adequate enough. That's not even half
of what you're supposed to have up there. And I'm
not saying that's what you will find, but you're not
(11:19):
gonna know what it is unless you go up there
and see if settling is taking place or if they've
been moved around and not to make a tail horrid.
You know, you might also find other surprises like maybe
we had some squirrels or something along nose lines up
in the attic and have made a mess. So that's
(11:40):
an area that you need to pay attention to. You
need to check out periodically from energy, you know, conservation,
and you just see what's going on up there, it's
a big area of the house, right that's often just
out of sight, out of mind. All right, let me
give you the phone number. You can grab a line.
(12:01):
We got open lines. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. We'll continue with your calls. Twelve nineteen,
it is, and you're at home with Gary Sullivan right
here in fifty five care see the talk station. All right?
Back in it we go, twelve twenty two, at home
with Gary Sullivan taking your calls regarding your home. Donovan's
(12:22):
will take your calls about your car. So it's all
about our home right now. As I said many times today,
our biggest investment that pays to protect it and maintain it.
Our number is eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
And let's go to ed Ed Welcome, Yeah, thank you
for taking my call. I'm in Lbyville, Kentucky. All right,
little concrete floor and a screen day in luminum porch
with screen all around. When it rains, everything comes in
through the screen and puddles on the concrete in the corners.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
What can I do before our power wash areas?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Can I put something on the mill dude to get
that of it? Sure? Sure, you can use. I talk
a lot about an oxygenated bleach cleaner, which is excellent
for molds mildews in an enclosed environment like a screen porch.
It is a liquid or a crystal that's mixed with
(13:21):
water and applied to the surface, either with a sprayer
or just poured on. Just let it sit there for
I'd say ten to fifteen minutes. And then if you
got like a streak, broom and just agitate it. And
at that point if you want to rise it and
it'll remove it. It'll clean up very nicely.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay. Do I get that big box store like clothes
or someplace.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, just oxygenated bleach.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oxygenated bleach very safe. Is it does kill the molds
and mildews, and yeah, just clean things up for you.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay, Gary, thank you. About to have a safe, cool day.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Thank you, sir. You do the same, Take care bye bye.
All right, then let's go to Betty. Betty, welcome, Hi Gary,
how are you doing fine? Thanks?
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I'll tell you what my problem is, and I think
I know the answer, but I don't know how I
fix it. It's my gat I'm sorry, it's my electric
dryer down in the basement. During the day when it's
hime like this, it's stamping side inside the drum, but
of course at night it's not. Is that condensation? And
what can I do about it?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah? I would think that is condensation. So we got
a uh um, you know, the vent pipe goes up
and it goes outside right, correct, and there's probably warm
air going down that vent pipe. And then we got it. Yeah,
And then we got the dryer sitting in a basement
(14:55):
which is usually cool and damp in the summertime. So
it's just we's in that water out of it, and
that's kind of what going on. So there's I don't
know if there's a lot we can do about there.
There's some things I guess we could do about it.
There is a I don't know what kind of shape
the uh the vent pipe is. There's usually a hood
(15:18):
a pipe and then it has like a little hood
and has a little flapper.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
Correct, And I had somebody come out and make sure
that it was all connected. And he even went and
put an extra beat of copying around the little hood
that you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So it wasn't that okay. So, so is there like
little louvers that open up or a little like pie
pan inside that hood that opens up when the dryer's running.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Right there is it's like the size of I don't know,
half a dollar, And whenever the dryer's on, the flapper
goes in and out.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Okay, and it is functioning then right, correct, that's good.
Uh yeah. I was thinking maybe that was missing or
broken or stuck open or something allowing that hot air
to come in. So if so, that's about all you
can do with that, okay. And then the other thing
is maybe finding out exactly I mean, we're not the
(16:16):
basement's going to be cool. There's nothing we're going to
do about that. But maybe it's a little humid in
that basement, which could be contributing to that. See, temperatures,
when they're cold, they don't like to hold as much moisture,
so it kind of rings the moisture out of the
hot air. So if we're running temperatures in a basement
(16:38):
of say seventy degrees and a humidity level of sixty
seventy percent, I'd probably work on lowering the humidity inside
that basement. I catcha.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
I do have a dehumidifier running over there.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, yeah, that's good. Do you have a humidity gauge
down there? That can you can tell me what the
humidity is down there?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
No, I don't, but I'm thinking them to buy one.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, if you can, you know, it's I'd like to
get it below sixty percent if you can. Uh, and
you know, maybe it's already there. I don't know, but
it's already there. I don't know what else to tell you.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Oh, I appreciate your help.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
All right, very good, take care, Thank you, bye bye.
All right again the number eight hundred eight two three
A two five five, and uh, let's take a little break,
we come back, we'll take D and we'll continue. You're
at home with Gary Salvn right here in fifty five
care see detalk station. Hope you're having a great weekend
(17:45):
getting a few things done around the home. Glad you
could join me as we talked a little bit about
our homes and uh, if you'd like to join us,
do so. Let's go to d D.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Welcome hi, with your with your what is your opinion,
your pros and cons of heat pumps in an area
like North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Are you in the mountains or you're down in the.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Plateau plateau closer to the ocean.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, it's a perfect place heat ocean. I'm sorry, it's
the perfect place for heat pumps. Oh it really is. Yeah,
it's absolutely perfect. Yeah, you got that perfect climate to
make them very very energy efficient, all electric or gas
(18:41):
power either or either or I mean either or. They
will function extremely efficient on temperatures that are near freezing
less efficiency if you're down into the twenties, but in
your climate, I would say, you know, for both heating
and cooling and eliminating the need for you know, separate
(19:04):
furnaces and air conditioners and everything else. And some of
the newer high efficiency models. You know, I don't know
what you're looking at at this point in terms of
seer ratings, but you know, the higher the seer rating,
and you can get seer ratings up at around twenty
now very efficient and there's not only will you save
(19:29):
on your energy bill. I'm assuming you've got Duke as
a provider, there's probably energy rebates. I know there's some
federal tax credits on you know, installing them, but yeah,
I would definitely pursue check them into them. It sounds
like you're just getting ready to start the hunt on
what you want to do there.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
Yes, my air conditioner failed, so I must replace it.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yes, you must.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Understanding, Yeah, I understand. The condenser must operate year round,
therefore it should have a lot lesser lifespan.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That's true. But they've gotten so much better. Geez. I
remember the first time my air conditioned in the house
had a heat pump on it, a long time ago.
The lifespan on those were about six seven years. Oh,
and now they're you know, fifteen and twenty years.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
Here's fifteen. My last air conditioner was forty years.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Well, good for you. You did good. My son's first
house it looked like it was forty years when he
moved in. I told him you better replace it. I
think he uh, he lived in that house for about
six years and he never did replace it.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
Oh, didn't take your advice.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Wow. Nah, it's good. You know you're not gonna listen.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
But he'll do a great job for you. I'd definitely
encourage you to take a look at that for sure.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Okay, thanks, all right.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Thank you, bye bye. All right. If you'd like to
join us, do so. Our phone number is eight hundred
eight two three eight two five five. You know we
were talking when we started to show. Today we were
talking about roofing and a fellow called and said, you know,
he had three estimates and you know, big swing and
(21:29):
prices and different things. Heating and air is another one.
You really want to get multiple estimates to really learn
about what your options are. I mentioned seer ratings, low
seer rings. There's man mandated different what they gotta be,
(21:51):
but you can go above and beyond that also and
get them, you know, and compare the pricing of stepping up.
You're also talking about different speeds of the motor and
the air handler, different brands, different warranties. I mean, there's
a lot to consider. And again when there's big purchases,
(22:16):
bringing in a couple of companies and really working with
them to see exactly what your needs are and what's
the more economical one not just the price of the unit,
but the long term cost of running the unit, and
different savings and tax credits and rebates through the energy company.
(22:39):
All those exist and without bringing in you know, you
got to do a little bit of your own research.
But if I have many people's town, I don't even
know where to start. Well, you can start actually by
just bringing in folks to give you quotes, you don't
have to buy anything. Maybe we waited too long. I know,
when they're doubt, when they units down and it's the
(23:01):
middle of the summer, bang, you've got to make a
decision fast. But you know, when you're not in the
heat of the season, there's certainly, you know, quotes that
can be studied and questions that can be asked. And
that brings me to another thing, not to say, if
your unit breaks down when it's hot, like right now,
(23:23):
it's Is it because it wasn't maintained. Is it because
it just broke and it was maintained. I don't know.
But HEAVN and air conditioning, heating system serviced, you know
once a year has added benefits. And again it's all
about finances too, But there's been studies out there that
(23:46):
just about the increased lifespan of a unit when you're
servicing them on a yearly basis is substantial, I mean,
like thirty to forty percent longer. And along with that
extended lifespan also comes discounts on parts, also on more
(24:08):
timely service. A lot of times, if you have a
relationship with a heating company or cooling company, you go
to the top of the list of getting your unit serviced,
and when it's extreme temperatures, you better believe it's worth it.
(24:29):
So something to consider, especially if you're in the process
of getting a new air conditioner. But yeah, you know
these service people, they're so good and there's so many
of them that are so good that they're really looking
for your best answer for your home and asking a
(24:49):
lot of questions. The ones I've dealt with over the years,
I'll tell you they've been wonderful and they'd love to
edge you, kate the consumer and give you options. That's
that's really what we're all looking for, right is just
give me some options of what am I buying? What
(25:11):
do I need to look out for? Do I need
a variable speed blower on my AC unit or is
a single speed going to be good? And so anyway,
for what that's worth, those big investments were not all
experts and everything in our homes and asking questions is
a great way to learn for sure. All right, let's
(25:33):
go to Beth Beth. Welcome, Hi there, Gary.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
I wanted to ask you. I want to ask you
to or give you a hip and also ask a question.
First off, I wondered about painting. I have new cupboards
in my dining area, and I didn't think to make
have them make them the open shelves the same color
as the whole body of the shelving. So now I
(26:00):
want to paint those open shelves. They're more of a
cannish particle board looking thing. Okay, and I figured you
can be water based, but you maybe need to prime first.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
So so what what kind of shove is it? Water?
Is it like chipboard or it's.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
Like and it looks like when I see the ends,
it looks like particle board. Of course they have a
wood grain on the contact paper stuff they have on it. Okay, okay, yeah,
I always call it because it's really that's basically what
it's kind of, I guess. So, yeah, it feels like it. Yeah,
(26:39):
I thought, you know, I wanted to be sure. I
thought i'd prime good with you know, one of the
primers I have. I have a good primer, and then paint.
I'll get the paint color matched to the cupboards themselves.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Okay, So if if you're going to paint it, and
I'm just so, it's probably a for mica or a
laminate cover over the particle board. So what I would
do is, yeah, she would want a primate. I would
also take a there are some paints that are also
(27:13):
self priming that would work. I would just first of all,
just lightly sand that to get it dull. Yeah, there's
a little bit of sheen on there, and it's a
really expensive paint for paint, but it's tremendous and it's
what I'm going to recommend you look into. Sherman Williams
(27:36):
has one called uh Emerald eu Athane trimming NEMO and
Emerald U a thane trimming nemel. Okay, okay, And it
brushes out or rolls out like the old oil base
(27:57):
and it's really super hard and for shelving, I think
you want it really super hard. It'll be easy to clean,
it won't dead or chip, and that would be outstanding
for something like that.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Okay, Yeah, it's only really one had cupboards on both
sides of the This is a upper portion and then
I have a decorative shelve and shelson there so I
just decorate for holidays and things like that. So it's
not not much weird, but I still do want to
make it.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Last, want to do it, and it'll it has a
great finish on it. It really does. And the one
thing I would ask I believe that one is self priming.
So if you go to Sherwan Williams, you may not
ask them about the primer it. I think that one
is self priming. You got to use two codes in there.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
They always know what they're talking about, so helpful.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, you got to use two codes, but I think
you might get by with just two coats of that.
They recommend a primer do so. Uh. And it would.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
Perma white. Yeah, that I used to prime practically everything
and everything. Some are perma white. It's kind of hard
to find. It's let's see, I've done it in bathrooms,
mold and mildew proof, interior paint. Yeah, and boy, stuff
is just tremendous. Yeah, And I use the white. I
like the nice bright white on so many things. And
(29:24):
I did our bathroom at our house that way. I
even did I did the walls and everything. Was it
because I wanted to be able to change colors to
anything I wanted to have. So if you have a
white background, you can add red, you can add pp,
you can add orange.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yeah, you go.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
And now my other thing is thanks for the advice
I wanted to say when you were talking about think
about think ahead when when you're buying something. I noticed
people don't seem to think ahead when they're buying something
that's going to take bulbs various bulbs, and bulbs can
be really expensive light bulbs, and if you really think
of white, you know ahead, what am I going to
(30:02):
need to invest to continue to keep these this five
light or ten light chandelier going? And absolutely, you know
what do I need in the future. I really did
a lot of that at our house before we moved
here to the condo. And you know, there are so
many things when we remodeled that I really had to
think through because you've got maintenance in the future, and
(30:22):
what is that going to cost me to keep up
with it? And it really does make a difference. I mean,
I know, those Edison bulbs are really cool and everybody
likes them, and maybe you're willing to make that investment
and continue to invest as they go out, but you're not.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yep, and so many of the bulbs, you know, with
the LEDs and everything, they last so much longer, they're
more it's the same old thing costs more upfront, but
with the longevity of them kind of ahead of the
game too. But yeah, you know, all that information is
on packages of bulbs too, and a lot of people
don't realize. You know, they're rated by hours. And it
(31:00):
used to be an old incandescent ball, the hours, the
hours of life in every incandescent BALLB was seven hundred
and fifty hours, and now it's like thirty thousand hours.
Speaker 6 (31:14):
Yeah, the days. Yeah, that's right, and there's so much
more efficient and you don't have to eat coming off
of a you with incandescent ball.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
You're right.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
Yeah, I wanted to ask your advice about the paint
and give a little hints there about you know, think
him head for the future. What's going to cost to
maintain something? Thanks so much, Gary.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Thanks all right, Bet, thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
All right, let's take a little break. We'll have pat
and if you'd like to jump on board, do so.
We got a little bit more time going up to
the top of the hour. You're at home with Gary
Salvan right here in fifty five care see detalk station.
All right, back at it. We go about ten minutes
(31:55):
before the one o'clock hour at home with Gary Salvin
and back to the phones. We go Pat.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Welcome, Yeah, yeah, Gary, hope you're having a good fifth at.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
July, I am, sir, thank you.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Are you enjoying a fifth or just enjoying.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Us old life? Have a fifth on the fourth?
Speaker 5 (32:16):
Yea.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
And the person who called in about the HVA systems
and do get multiple bids and trying to I say,
stay away from the big box contractor. I had my
system completely replaced six years ago and went with the
(32:40):
local contractor, and you know, we crawled under the crawl
space because I was going to have duck work done,
went through the attic, you know, and had return ducks
put in. It's an old house. And then about a
week and a half goat started blowing hot air and
(33:02):
they said, okay, we can have someone out that afternoon. Sure,
fifteen minutes later the owner showed up and he got
the ac going and did follow a return as a
but do shop multiple contractors because one of them didn't
(33:23):
even get out of the truck to give me a bed,
you know, and that ain't good.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Well, I find it interesting with some heating and air
conditioning companies that you know, they'll size they'll size the
unit on the computer, you know, they won't come to
your home. And you know, there's so many factors that
go into the sizing of it, and I'm sure those
(33:50):
questions are prompted, but you know, I prefer talking to
somebody like how old are the windows, how much insulation?
You know, just because the old one was two and
a half time unit doesn't mean your next one will be.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah. Now, the previous lady that was talking about the paint,
she mentioned red paint, reminded me of a story you
told about having red paint in a house m and
trying to paint over it and it kept bleeding the room.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, even on some of them. Again,
you know, these self priming paints have kind of changed
a lot of that, some of the quality paints with
the amount of sids, they've kind of changed that. But yeah,
back in the day, I still remember my brother called
(34:43):
me and wanted me to I think it was red
or green, I can't remember anymore, but he was calling
up to complain to me that he was on his
fifth code of paint and I said, well, what did
you buy? Well, he didn't know, you know, and not
buying quality uncertain paints certainly can be a problem. And
(35:06):
that pain I recommended that lady for that. Ere Thane
Triminamo is some outstanding stuff. It really is not cheap,
but it's good stuff.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Yeah, couse, we've got some painting we're going to have
to do and it's like pink. Yeah, I'm gonna think
about that right right.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Well, like I said, some of those higher quality pain
is just so much different just in the last probably
five to ten years. The coverage, the finish, the scrubability.
I mean, we're now using flat finished, high end self
priming paints in kitchens in bass which was always had
(35:48):
a sheen and stuff like that, but it doesn't have
to be anymore. They're that scrubbable and that dog gone
good with covered. So yep, quality will always pay off paint,
for sure.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
It's very good. I enjoy the rest of your fifth
and hopefully doing halfway through.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
There you go, Thank you, my friend, Take care all right?
So that was phrase. I just laughing when I heard
him say that. One other thing and then we'll be
on our way. That I did want to cover. We've
covered some condensation, We've covered cover a lot of things
(36:30):
about saving money on energy usage. I briefly mentioned about
smells in homes in mold and I mentioned a cross
space and in basements. We talked a little about condensation
in a lot of cases, this is primo weather, uh
(36:51):
for that issue. And you know, if you somebody told
me one time, if it smells like mold, there's mold.
That makes sense. Another thing I talk about is getting
a humidity gauge and see where your humidity level is.
That'll kind of tip the hand of what's causing this problem.
(37:18):
So if the if you had a basement and you
have a cross space, you know part of that basement
maybe off to the backside of it, and it gets
stronger back in that near that cross space area. And
we've had a lot of rain, we've had a lot
of heat, and it's just perfect for mold and mildew growth.
(37:39):
We talked about getting up in the attic and checking
for you know, how the insulation's doing. Do you have
enough insulation? Another nasty maybe place to check. It's a
cross space and I'm not telling you got to scoot
back in there and see what's going on. But if
you've got a really strong stagnant smell or mold smell
(38:00):
in the basement area and you got access to the
cross base. It's certainly at the very least, get yourself
a good flash light and shine back into that cross
space and see what you see. A couple of things
I want you to check for is check the floor area.
Many of us have plastic down on the floor, maybe
(38:21):
rocks to hold the plastic in place, but some it's
just dirt. And you know, with bad soil on the
outside of the home not properly sloped negative slope into
the house, you can find puddles of water inside of
cross space, which is not good. Certainly, adding to that
(38:42):
smell issue. Sometimes the soil is dry, but the humidity
is high, and where there's humidity high or standing water.
The other things I would check with that flashlight is
check the joys, check the insulation underneath the floor, and
(39:02):
check for mold and mildew. You might be able to
see it, but if you can smell it, it's there.
If you can smell it, it's a problem. And if
you can see it, then you know you really got
to delve into it and find out what's going on.
Probably the biggest thing in crawl spaces right now, and
we always seem to separate basements and crawl spaces, but
(39:25):
actually they both have a tendency to suffer from the
same thing, and controlling that moisture level is certainly key.
And one of the things we're doing with crawl spaces
now is what they talk about total encapsulation. We're not
really putting the insulation on the ceiling of a cross space.
We're really encapsulating the floor, encapsulating the walls, and we're checking,
(39:52):
you know. So we got insulation and we got some
waterproofing in there, and that's how we're controlling that. But
you know, don't ignore it. At the very least. You
can experiment with things, and you know, the deomidiphars and everything,
but the many down the basement I try and keep
a blow sixty percent for sure in the summertime. All right,
(40:13):
So it's going to wrap up today, and Danny Boy,
thank you very much. It's a been a while since
we worked together. Kind of enjoyed it, yes, sir, and
good Lord Willing. We'll be back tomorrow for more At
Home with Gary Sullivan
Well, the best time of the day, I guess, say,
good afternoon, Welcome nour number four. You're at home with
Gary Sullivan and we're talking a little home maintenance and repair.
Feel free to join us. It's eight hundred eight two
three eight two five five. Got a lot to talk about,
and I know we got a maybe a pretty good
weekend to get a few things done around the home,
(00:22):
especially when it comes to doing repairs or even bigger projects.
So feel free to join us. Again. It's eight hundred
eight two three eight two five five. All right, so
we certainly have a heat wave going on, I would
say for the last week, another hot one today. And
(00:45):
I'm sure our friends doing air conditioning and are very busy,
very busy. And one of the things I was thinking
about today is just little things that you and I
can do, not in terms of repairing air conditioning, but
maybe making them a little bit more efficient. And it's
(01:10):
kind of the things I worked on not long, but
took notice of in the last week or so. And
number one, starting on the outside of the home. And
I see this a lot, but where your compressor is
outside and you got bushes, maybe even have a fence,
(01:30):
maybe you have you know, a wild grass or mental grass,
and you have it real close to the compressor on
the outside, and you're blocking the airflow. You're not helping
your air conditioning at all. And I didn't have anything
(01:54):
that was really super impeding the airflow, but there was
certainly some bushes that were a little bit closer to
the compressor than I went ahead and trimmed those back,
just got the air flow doing a little bit better
around that than it was previously going inside the home.
(02:17):
And I talk about this a lot also, and that
is a simple little process of changing out the air
filter and in a timely manner. And what type of
air filters you want to use. They all have one.
Some of them have electronic ones, some of them have
(02:38):
four inch thick ones, some have one inch thick, some
have ultra allergen filters. Bottom line is you just want
to have good airflow through the air handler. So I'd
say the most popular filter on the market is a
pleated air filter. Now pleated air filters recommended changing them
(03:04):
every ninety days. In the summertime, we got probably more
people coming in and out of the house. I'm kind
of looking at moving and changing mind out about every
sixty days just to increase that airflow to all the
rooms if you let it go, say one hundred and
(03:25):
twenty days, or you have one of these ultra allergen
filters that have more filtering material, and your fan is
running and it's moving the air if it's you know,
got that filter that's clogged and that air is not
moving like it should. Those outer reaches, bedrooms upstairs, all
(03:49):
the way at the other end of the house than
where the air handler is, they're gonna suffer. And if
it happens to be an area that's suffering where the
therma stat is, it's going to run longer than you
want it to be running, which is going to be
costing you more money than you wanted to be running.
(04:11):
Another thing that we've started incorporating this year at our house,
just because of the price of electricity I think scheduled
to go up like about twenty percent, was incorporating our
shades to do some shading inside our home. We've got
(04:33):
the Allure shades. They're easy to use. Maybe got many blinds,
they're easy to use too, And we've been maybe not
shutting down all the shades twenty four hours a day,
but during the heat of the day, just kind of
pulling the shades closed. And I'll tell you what, it
has made a huge difference. I can feel it. I
(04:56):
have the thermostats set up higher than it was in
previous years. So I know a lot of times we
talk about heat mered glass and eglass and all this
and new windows and energy of fish it is. But
if you can incorporate shade into your home, even trees
(05:24):
on the outside, just creating that shade, minimizing the radiant
energy will really really help you. And so we've been
working shades, making sure the air field is clean and
like I said, cleaned up around the compressor and made
a significant change and the comfort of the house. And
(05:49):
then the next thing is always working on the humidity.
And I talk about the humidity a lot, and our
humidity this year has been outstanding inside the house. Again,
if you're looking for optimum, optimum humidity inside your home
in the summertime would be you know, fifty to fifty
(06:12):
five percent, that'd be optimum. Now maybe in the basements,
maybe you're running sixty or something like that, but we
have not, and I give it credit to how I
run the fan on the central air and I know
(06:35):
a lot of people, including me, for years, just turn
that fan on in the summertime. And I checked with
a lot of HVAC people, and you know that was okay.
And I had a caller one time. I've told this
story but bears repeating, and they said, you know, when
(06:55):
you're taking all the moisture out of the air with
the coils in the air handler, those coils are soop
and wet. If you have that fan running all the time,
it never really has a chance to dry it. And
you just blowing that moisture right back up up and
through your through the duckworking into your house. And I
was struggling with controlling the humidity, and so I was
(07:16):
running between the shades being up and running the fan
on full. I had a thermostat down seventy one to
seventy two degrees. Now I'm seventy six and comfortable, and
I got the fan on auto, which means it only
(07:37):
turns on when the air conditioner cook turns on, which
means those coils get a chance to dry out. I'm
not throwing all that moisture back into the air. And
so if if you are feeling like boy, air conditioner
is really running a lot this year. I encourage you
to try that. Or gee, those back bedrooms are just
(07:59):
some much warmer even though I got the even let's
say I've got the temperature at seventy three and it's
just not comfortable in here, and I looked at my
humidity and it was sixty five percent. Yeah, you got
to work on controlling these things in there. With that knowledge,
they're easy to control. And I encourage you if you're
(08:20):
struggling with trying to keep that humidity level around fifty
to fifty five percent, you take my advice on that
fan and just running on auto. And if you just
feel like that air conditioners going all the time and
you can feel radiant energy entering your home through windows
is using those shades, I think you'll really be ahead
(08:42):
of the game. And you know, way before we get
into talking about insulation and addicts, you know those that
does settle. A lot of it settles, a lot of
it gets moved around. And you ever wonder what your
attic temperature is on a day like today is like
ninety degrees right now, with good adequate ventilation, your attic
(09:09):
should probably be one hundred and ten. So it's still warm.
Obviously maybe a little less, but it's probably about one
hundred and ten. Without adequate ventilation up there, it could
be one hundred and forty. And if it's running one
(09:29):
hundred and forty and you got inadequate insulation, you got
a problem. You're just wasting a lot of money. So
one of the things that I encourage you to do,
and not today, not when it's one hundred and forty.
I don't want anybody climbing up in that attic unless
they absolutely have to. But you get a cooler evening
(09:50):
or a cooler stretch of time to get up or
get somebody to get up in that attic and just
see where you are on insulation and see where you
are on ventilation, even if you want to have somebody
inspect that, and even if you get surprised with a
higher than normal energy bill, I think those things would
(10:16):
be two good things to inspect. I mean, if it's
been twenty five years since you lived in that house
and you've never added insulation and you've never really got
up in the attic to inspect it, the ventilation or
the insulation, I think that would be money well spent
(10:36):
getting somebody up there if you can't do it and
figure out exactly where you are. If you want to
measure the depth of insulation and it's say cellulose or
it's fiberglass, remember in our value, Department of Energy in
our area says you know, in R forty two and
for every inch of fiberglass or whatever cellulose insulation you
(10:59):
get about it are two point five per inch of thickness.
And you want to get up to an R forty two.
So if you get up and you find six inches
of insulation, that's not adequate enough. That's not even half
of what you're supposed to have up there. And I'm
not saying that's what you will find, but you're not
(11:19):
gonna know what it is unless you go up there
and see if settling is taking place or if they've
been moved around and not to make a tail horrid.
You know, you might also find other surprises like maybe
we had some squirrels or something along nose lines up
in the attic and have made a mess. So that's
(11:40):
an area that you need to pay attention to. You
need to check out periodically from energy, you know, conservation,
and you just see what's going on up there, it's
a big area of the house, right that's often just
out of sight, out of mind. All right, let me
give you the phone number. You can grab a line.
(12:01):
We got open lines. It's eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five. We'll continue with your calls. Twelve nineteen,
it is, and you're at home with Gary Sullivan right
here in fifty five care see the talk station. All right?
Back in it we go, twelve twenty two, at home
with Gary Sullivan taking your calls regarding your home. Donovan's
(12:22):
will take your calls about your car. So it's all
about our home right now. As I said many times today,
our biggest investment that pays to protect it and maintain it.
Our number is eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
And let's go to ed Ed Welcome, Yeah, thank you
for taking my call. I'm in Lbyville, Kentucky. All right,
little concrete floor and a screen day in luminum porch
with screen all around. When it rains, everything comes in
through the screen and puddles on the concrete in the corners.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
What can I do before our power wash areas?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Can I put something on the mill dude to get
that of it? Sure? Sure, you can use. I talk
a lot about an oxygenated bleach cleaner, which is excellent
for molds mildews in an enclosed environment like a screen porch.
It is a liquid or a crystal that's mixed with
(13:21):
water and applied to the surface, either with a sprayer
or just poured on. Just let it sit there for
I'd say ten to fifteen minutes. And then if you
got like a streak, broom and just agitate it. And
at that point if you want to rise it and
it'll remove it. It'll clean up very nicely.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay. Do I get that big box store like clothes
or someplace.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, just oxygenated bleach.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oxygenated bleach very safe. Is it does kill the molds
and mildews, and yeah, just clean things up for you.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay, Gary, thank you. About to have a safe, cool day.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Thank you, sir. You do the same, Take care bye bye.
All right, then let's go to Betty. Betty, welcome, Hi Gary,
how are you doing fine? Thanks?
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I'll tell you what my problem is, and I think
I know the answer, but I don't know how I
fix it. It's my gat I'm sorry, it's my electric
dryer down in the basement. During the day when it's
hime like this, it's stamping side inside the drum, but
of course at night it's not. Is that condensation? And
what can I do about it?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah? I would think that is condensation. So we got
a uh um, you know, the vent pipe goes up
and it goes outside right, correct, and there's probably warm
air going down that vent pipe. And then we got it. Yeah,
And then we got the dryer sitting in a basement
(14:55):
which is usually cool and damp in the summertime. So
it's just we's in that water out of it, and
that's kind of what going on. So there's I don't
know if there's a lot we can do about there.
There's some things I guess we could do about it.
There is a I don't know what kind of shape
the uh the vent pipe is. There's usually a hood
(15:18):
a pipe and then it has like a little hood
and has a little flapper.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
Correct, And I had somebody come out and make sure
that it was all connected. And he even went and
put an extra beat of copying around the little hood
that you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So it wasn't that okay. So, so is there like
little louvers that open up or a little like pie
pan inside that hood that opens up when the dryer's running.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Right there is it's like the size of I don't know,
half a dollar, And whenever the dryer's on, the flapper
goes in and out.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Okay, and it is functioning then right, correct, that's good.
Uh yeah. I was thinking maybe that was missing or
broken or stuck open or something allowing that hot air
to come in. So if so, that's about all you
can do with that, okay. And then the other thing
is maybe finding out exactly I mean, we're not the
(16:16):
basement's going to be cool. There's nothing we're going to
do about that. But maybe it's a little humid in
that basement, which could be contributing to that. See, temperatures,
when they're cold, they don't like to hold as much moisture,
so it kind of rings the moisture out of the
hot air. So if we're running temperatures in a basement
(16:38):
of say seventy degrees and a humidity level of sixty
seventy percent, I'd probably work on lowering the humidity inside
that basement. I catcha.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
I do have a dehumidifier running over there.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, yeah, that's good. Do you have a humidity gauge
down there? That can you can tell me what the
humidity is down there?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
No, I don't, but I'm thinking them to buy one.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, if you can, you know, it's I'd like to
get it below sixty percent if you can. Uh, and
you know, maybe it's already there. I don't know, but
it's already there. I don't know what else to tell you.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Oh, I appreciate your help.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
All right, very good, take care, Thank you, bye bye.
All right again the number eight hundred eight two three
A two five five, and uh, let's take a little break,
we come back, we'll take D and we'll continue. You're
at home with Gary Salvn right here in fifty five
care see detalk station. Hope you're having a great weekend
(17:45):
getting a few things done around the home. Glad you
could join me as we talked a little bit about
our homes and uh, if you'd like to join us,
do so. Let's go to d D.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Welcome hi, with your with your what is your opinion,
your pros and cons of heat pumps in an area
like North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Are you in the mountains or you're down in the.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Plateau plateau closer to the ocean.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, it's a perfect place heat ocean. I'm sorry, it's
the perfect place for heat pumps. Oh it really is. Yeah,
it's absolutely perfect. Yeah, you got that perfect climate to
make them very very energy efficient, all electric or gas
(18:41):
power either or either or I mean either or. They
will function extremely efficient on temperatures that are near freezing
less efficiency if you're down into the twenties, but in
your climate, I would say, you know, for both heating
and cooling and eliminating the need for you know, separate
(19:04):
furnaces and air conditioners and everything else. And some of
the newer high efficiency models. You know, I don't know
what you're looking at at this point in terms of
seer ratings, but you know, the higher the seer rating,
and you can get seer ratings up at around twenty
now very efficient and there's not only will you save
(19:29):
on your energy bill. I'm assuming you've got Duke as
a provider, there's probably energy rebates. I know there's some
federal tax credits on you know, installing them, but yeah,
I would definitely pursue check them into them. It sounds
like you're just getting ready to start the hunt on
what you want to do there.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
Yes, my air conditioner failed, so I must replace it.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yes, you must.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Understanding, Yeah, I understand. The condenser must operate year round,
therefore it should have a lot lesser lifespan.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That's true. But they've gotten so much better. Geez. I
remember the first time my air conditioned in the house
had a heat pump on it, a long time ago.
The lifespan on those were about six seven years. Oh,
and now they're you know, fifteen and twenty years.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
Here's fifteen. My last air conditioner was forty years.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Well, good for you. You did good. My son's first
house it looked like it was forty years when he
moved in. I told him you better replace it. I
think he uh, he lived in that house for about
six years and he never did replace it.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
Oh, didn't take your advice.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Wow. Nah, it's good. You know you're not gonna listen.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
But he'll do a great job for you. I'd definitely
encourage you to take a look at that for sure.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Okay, thanks, all right.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Thank you, bye bye. All right. If you'd like to
join us, do so. Our phone number is eight hundred
eight two three eight two five five. You know we
were talking when we started to show. Today we were
talking about roofing and a fellow called and said, you know,
he had three estimates and you know, big swing and
(21:29):
prices and different things. Heating and air is another one.
You really want to get multiple estimates to really learn
about what your options are. I mentioned seer ratings, low
seer rings. There's man mandated different what they gotta be,
(21:51):
but you can go above and beyond that also and
get them, you know, and compare the pricing of stepping up.
You're also talking about different speeds of the motor and
the air handler, different brands, different warranties. I mean, there's
a lot to consider. And again when there's big purchases,
(22:16):
bringing in a couple of companies and really working with
them to see exactly what your needs are and what's
the more economical one not just the price of the unit,
but the long term cost of running the unit, and
different savings and tax credits and rebates through the energy company.
(22:39):
All those exist and without bringing in you know, you
got to do a little bit of your own research.
But if I have many people's town, I don't even
know where to start. Well, you can start actually by
just bringing in folks to give you quotes, you don't
have to buy anything. Maybe we waited too long. I know,
when they're doubt, when they units down and it's the
(23:01):
middle of the summer, bang, you've got to make a
decision fast. But you know, when you're not in the
heat of the season, there's certainly, you know, quotes that
can be studied and questions that can be asked. And
that brings me to another thing, not to say, if
your unit breaks down when it's hot, like right now,
(23:23):
it's Is it because it wasn't maintained. Is it because
it just broke and it was maintained. I don't know.
But HEAVN and air conditioning, heating system serviced, you know
once a year has added benefits. And again it's all
about finances too, But there's been studies out there that
(23:46):
just about the increased lifespan of a unit when you're
servicing them on a yearly basis is substantial, I mean,
like thirty to forty percent longer. And along with that
extended lifespan also comes discounts on parts, also on more
(24:08):
timely service. A lot of times, if you have a
relationship with a heating company or cooling company, you go
to the top of the list of getting your unit serviced,
and when it's extreme temperatures, you better believe it's worth it.
(24:29):
So something to consider, especially if you're in the process
of getting a new air conditioner. But yeah, you know
these service people, they're so good and there's so many
of them that are so good that they're really looking
for your best answer for your home and asking a
(24:49):
lot of questions. The ones I've dealt with over the years,
I'll tell you they've been wonderful and they'd love to
edge you, kate the consumer and give you options. That's
that's really what we're all looking for, right is just
give me some options of what am I buying? What
(25:11):
do I need to look out for? Do I need
a variable speed blower on my AC unit or is
a single speed going to be good? And so anyway,
for what that's worth, those big investments were not all
experts and everything in our homes and asking questions is
a great way to learn for sure. All right, let's
(25:33):
go to Beth Beth. Welcome, Hi there, Gary.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
I wanted to ask you. I want to ask you
to or give you a hip and also ask a question.
First off, I wondered about painting. I have new cupboards
in my dining area, and I didn't think to make
have them make them the open shelves the same color
as the whole body of the shelving. So now I
(26:00):
want to paint those open shelves. They're more of a
cannish particle board looking thing. Okay, and I figured you
can be water based, but you maybe need to prime first.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
So so what what kind of shove is it? Water?
Is it like chipboard or it's.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
Like and it looks like when I see the ends,
it looks like particle board. Of course they have a
wood grain on the contact paper stuff they have on it. Okay, okay, yeah,
I always call it because it's really that's basically what
it's kind of, I guess. So, yeah, it feels like it. Yeah,
(26:39):
I thought, you know, I wanted to be sure. I
thought i'd prime good with you know, one of the
primers I have. I have a good primer, and then paint.
I'll get the paint color matched to the cupboards themselves.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Okay, So if if you're going to paint it, and
I'm just so, it's probably a for mica or a
laminate cover over the particle board. So what I would
do is, yeah, she would want a primate. I would
also take a there are some paints that are also
(27:13):
self priming that would work. I would just first of all,
just lightly sand that to get it dull. Yeah, there's
a little bit of sheen on there, and it's a
really expensive paint for paint, but it's tremendous and it's
what I'm going to recommend you look into. Sherman Williams
(27:36):
has one called uh Emerald eu Athane trimming NEMO and
Emerald U a thane trimming nemel. Okay, okay, And it
brushes out or rolls out like the old oil base
(27:57):
and it's really super hard and for shelving, I think
you want it really super hard. It'll be easy to clean,
it won't dead or chip, and that would be outstanding
for something like that.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Okay, Yeah, it's only really one had cupboards on both
sides of the This is a upper portion and then
I have a decorative shelve and shelson there so I
just decorate for holidays and things like that. So it's
not not much weird, but I still do want to
make it.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Last, want to do it, and it'll it has a
great finish on it. It really does. And the one
thing I would ask I believe that one is self priming.
So if you go to Sherwan Williams, you may not
ask them about the primer it. I think that one
is self priming. You got to use two codes in there.
Speaker 6 (28:48):
They always know what they're talking about, so helpful.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, you got to use two codes, but I think
you might get by with just two coats of that.
They recommend a primer do so. Uh. And it would.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
Perma white. Yeah, that I used to prime practically everything
and everything. Some are perma white. It's kind of hard
to find. It's let's see, I've done it in bathrooms,
mold and mildew proof, interior paint. Yeah, and boy, stuff
is just tremendous. Yeah, And I use the white. I
like the nice bright white on so many things. And
(29:24):
I did our bathroom at our house that way. I
even did I did the walls and everything. Was it
because I wanted to be able to change colors to
anything I wanted to have. So if you have a
white background, you can add red, you can add pp,
you can add orange.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yeah, you go.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
And now my other thing is thanks for the advice
I wanted to say when you were talking about think
about think ahead when when you're buying something. I noticed
people don't seem to think ahead when they're buying something
that's going to take bulbs various bulbs, and bulbs can
be really expensive light bulbs, and if you really think
of white, you know ahead, what am I going to
(30:02):
need to invest to continue to keep these this five
light or ten light chandelier going? And absolutely, you know
what do I need in the future. I really did
a lot of that at our house before we moved
here to the condo. And you know, there are so
many things when we remodeled that I really had to
think through because you've got maintenance in the future, and
(30:22):
what is that going to cost me to keep up
with it? And it really does make a difference. I mean,
I know, those Edison bulbs are really cool and everybody
likes them, and maybe you're willing to make that investment
and continue to invest as they go out, but you're not.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yep, and so many of the bulbs, you know, with
the LEDs and everything, they last so much longer, they're
more it's the same old thing costs more upfront, but
with the longevity of them kind of ahead of the
game too. But yeah, you know, all that information is
on packages of bulbs too, and a lot of people
don't realize. You know, they're rated by hours. And it
(31:00):
used to be an old incandescent ball, the hours, the
hours of life in every incandescent BALLB was seven hundred
and fifty hours, and now it's like thirty thousand hours.
Speaker 6 (31:14):
Yeah, the days. Yeah, that's right, and there's so much
more efficient and you don't have to eat coming off
of a you with incandescent ball.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
You're right.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
Yeah, I wanted to ask your advice about the paint
and give a little hints there about you know, think
him head for the future. What's going to cost to
maintain something? Thanks so much, Gary.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Thanks all right, Bet, thanks for the call. Appreciate it.
All right, let's take a little break. We'll have pat
and if you'd like to jump on board, do so.
We got a little bit more time going up to
the top of the hour. You're at home with Gary
Salvan right here in fifty five care see detalk station.
All right, back at it. We go about ten minutes
(31:55):
before the one o'clock hour at home with Gary Salvin
and back to the phones. We go Pat.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Welcome, Yeah, yeah, Gary, hope you're having a good fifth at.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
July, I am, sir, thank you.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Are you enjoying a fifth or just enjoying.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Us old life? Have a fifth on the fourth?
Speaker 5 (32:16):
Yea.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
And the person who called in about the HVA systems
and do get multiple bids and trying to I say,
stay away from the big box contractor. I had my
system completely replaced six years ago and went with the
(32:40):
local contractor, and you know, we crawled under the crawl
space because I was going to have duck work done,
went through the attic, you know, and had return ducks
put in. It's an old house. And then about a
week and a half goat started blowing hot air and
(33:02):
they said, okay, we can have someone out that afternoon. Sure,
fifteen minutes later the owner showed up and he got
the ac going and did follow a return as a
but do shop multiple contractors because one of them didn't
(33:23):
even get out of the truck to give me a bed,
you know, and that ain't good.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Well, I find it interesting with some heating and air
conditioning companies that you know, they'll size they'll size the
unit on the computer, you know, they won't come to
your home. And you know, there's so many factors that
go into the sizing of it, and I'm sure those
(33:50):
questions are prompted, but you know, I prefer talking to
somebody like how old are the windows, how much insulation?
You know, just because the old one was two and
a half time unit doesn't mean your next one will be.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah. Now, the previous lady that was talking about the paint,
she mentioned red paint, reminded me of a story you
told about having red paint in a house m and
trying to paint over it and it kept bleeding the room.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, even on some of them. Again,
you know, these self priming paints have kind of changed
a lot of that, some of the quality paints with
the amount of sids, they've kind of changed that. But yeah,
back in the day, I still remember my brother called
(34:43):
me and wanted me to I think it was red
or green, I can't remember anymore, but he was calling
up to complain to me that he was on his
fifth code of paint and I said, well, what did
you buy? Well, he didn't know, you know, and not
buying quality uncertain paints certainly can be a problem. And
(35:06):
that pain I recommended that lady for that. Ere Thane
Triminamo is some outstanding stuff. It really is not cheap,
but it's good stuff.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Yeah, couse, we've got some painting we're going to have
to do and it's like pink. Yeah, I'm gonna think
about that right right.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Well, like I said, some of those higher quality pain
is just so much different just in the last probably
five to ten years. The coverage, the finish, the scrubability.
I mean, we're now using flat finished, high end self
priming paints in kitchens in bass which was always had
(35:48):
a sheen and stuff like that, but it doesn't have
to be anymore. They're that scrubbable and that dog gone
good with covered. So yep, quality will always pay off paint,
for sure.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
It's very good. I enjoy the rest of your fifth
and hopefully doing halfway through.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
There you go, Thank you, my friend, Take care all right?
So that was phrase. I just laughing when I heard
him say that. One other thing and then we'll be
on our way. That I did want to cover. We've
covered some condensation, We've covered cover a lot of things
(36:30):
about saving money on energy usage. I briefly mentioned about
smells in homes in mold and I mentioned a cross
space and in basements. We talked a little about condensation
in a lot of cases, this is primo weather, uh
(36:51):
for that issue. And you know, if you somebody told
me one time, if it smells like mold, there's mold.
That makes sense. Another thing I talk about is getting
a humidity gauge and see where your humidity level is.
That'll kind of tip the hand of what's causing this problem.
(37:18):
So if the if you had a basement and you
have a cross space, you know part of that basement
maybe off to the backside of it, and it gets
stronger back in that near that cross space area. And
we've had a lot of rain, we've had a lot
of heat, and it's just perfect for mold and mildew growth.
(37:39):
We talked about getting up in the attic and checking
for you know, how the insulation's doing. Do you have
enough insulation? Another nasty maybe place to check. It's a
cross space and I'm not telling you got to scoot
back in there and see what's going on. But if
you've got a really strong stagnant smell or mold smell
(38:00):
in the basement area and you got access to the
cross base. It's certainly at the very least, get yourself
a good flash light and shine back into that cross
space and see what you see. A couple of things
I want you to check for is check the floor area.
Many of us have plastic down on the floor, maybe
(38:21):
rocks to hold the plastic in place, but some it's
just dirt. And you know, with bad soil on the
outside of the home not properly sloped negative slope into
the house, you can find puddles of water inside of
cross space, which is not good. Certainly, adding to that
(38:42):
smell issue. Sometimes the soil is dry, but the humidity
is high, and where there's humidity high or standing water.
The other things I would check with that flashlight is
check the joys, check the insulation underneath the floor, and
(39:02):
check for mold and mildew. You might be able to
see it, but if you can smell it, it's there.
If you can smell it, it's a problem. And if
you can see it, then you know you really got
to delve into it and find out what's going on.
Probably the biggest thing in crawl spaces right now, and
we always seem to separate basements and crawl spaces, but
(39:25):
actually they both have a tendency to suffer from the
same thing, and controlling that moisture level is certainly key.
And one of the things we're doing with crawl spaces
now is what they talk about total encapsulation. We're not
really putting the insulation on the ceiling of a cross space.
We're really encapsulating the floor, encapsulating the walls, and we're checking,
(39:52):
you know. So we got insulation and we got some
waterproofing in there, and that's how we're controlling that. But
you know, don't ignore it. At the very least. You
can experiment with things, and you know, the deomidiphars and everything,
but the many down the basement I try and keep
a blow sixty percent for sure in the summertime. All right,
(40:13):
So it's going to wrap up today, and Danny Boy,
thank you very much. It's a been a while since
we worked together. Kind of enjoyed it, yes, sir, and
good Lord Willing. We'll be back tomorrow for more At
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