Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well, the weekend's upon us. Welcome. You're at home with
Gary Slivan. By the way, this sur is brought to
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dot com. And as I look out the window, there's
a locust, which is you know, leaves didn't well, they
start changing a little yellow. I don't know whether it's
kind of the drought we're experiencing or whether it's fall,
but leaves they're only about the size of your thumbnail
and they're falling like it's like in the middle of winter.
(01:17):
It looks like yellow snow falling from the skies. So anyway,
we're about that time of year, so talking about gutter
blush certainly isn't too early. Keeping those gutters clearing and
free flowing. I guess that's looking forward to. I've got
a list of things. I got a divided paper. Tomorrow's
(01:38):
first day autumn officially to nineteen where I'm at, and well,
it is time to look at some of the things
that you should probably be looking at around your home.
It's not really ever too early, whether it's looking at
protecting pipes from freezing, whether it's looking about adding insulation
(02:01):
or even ventilation. I mean, we can go on and on,
and the other half of the paper is talking about
all the things that well, we talked about getting done
for the during the summertime in springtime, but we just
haven't quite got it done. So whatever you'd like to
talk about, Danny Boy is ready to take your calls.
And again our number is eight hundred eight two three
(02:23):
eight two five five Where I am. We're out of
our flagship stations out of Cincinnati, Ohio. And we had
a coolish, very coolish spring, very wet late spring, early summer,
and then we got into a drought. I mean, the
amount of moisture has very greatly, probably not great if
you're a farmer or you love landscaping, but also can
(02:46):
show some problem areas, maybe around the house. We haven't
had a great amount of humidity in the last month
or two, which means our homes have dried out. It's
I think one of the first years, I haven't had
to run the doumidifier at all. Now we got an
(03:08):
easy breathe, which is an air exchanging unit, but we
made a couple adjustments of how we used a fan
on the central air. Plus it's been pretty dry. But
you may be experiencing that same thing. And when our
homes dry out, we start seeing issues like nail pops
in the ceiling of a drywall ceiling new homes or
(03:31):
older homes, tape, drywall tape maybe peeling back a little bit.
These problems can be remedied in a lot of cases
if it is nailed up and not screwed up. I'm
talking about the drywall going right next to that now
and running a drywall screw into it and then setting
(03:53):
the nail and using some topping compound over there will
hide it fairly nice. And there's nothing worse than really
seeing just ahead of the nails just kind of popping out,
sometimes even a little rusty. But you can take care
of that issue pretty easily. The other thing is, and
(04:13):
I'll be preaching this probably for about the next eight weeks,
and that is kind of especially if you've been new
to a particular home. If you've been in a home
twenty five years, you probably know where the bodies are
buried in terms of like which pipes freeze when it
gets really cold, and you know, you kind of know
(04:35):
where the problem area is. But if you you know,
been in a home five years and you haven't really
had a really hard cold snap, you might really just
take a look and look at the plumbing pipes and
what kind of temperature they could be exposed to. I'm
talking about in crawl spaces, maybe in a low gray
(04:57):
garage where pipes would be run across the ceiling. But
try to identify where there could be some issues of
exposed pipes and then, you know, spend an hour or
so and just get them wrapped. Those foam sleeves make
that project so much easier than wrapping fiberglass around it.
(05:18):
But try to identify these areas. Now, maybe you know
they're not real long projects. It's more of a maintenance
thing and it can be accomplished in a relatively short
period of time. So that's one thing you might want
to focus on. Also, of course, I think we've all
experienced utility bills, at least in my locale, utility bills
(05:44):
that have been. I'm not going to say staggering. I'm
not trying to scare you, but there's been a sizable jump,
especially in the electric rates where I am, and as
we enter winter, maybe we to just kind of reassess
that's where we are in insulation. It might require getting
(06:05):
up into the attic. It might require you getting someone
to get up into the attic with a yardstick and
just see what kind of depth of insulation you have
up there. Usually, if you've got fiberglass insulation, you're probably
between a point or two point five and three R
value per inch of thickness. Where I'm at, it's I
(06:29):
think for remodels, it's recommended by a Department of Energy
of an R forty two. You can find that information
on the Department of Energy website, or you can go
to your local big box store and look at all
the big rolls of insulation. They usually have the insulation
map right on the bag. And again, if it's fiberglass,
(06:49):
just go ahead and figure two point five to three
R value per inch of thickness. If you already have
some batting up in the attic, that's fine. You can
get loose fill right on top of that. You can
get unfaced batting right on top of that. The only
way you're really gonna get in trouble is if you
start using a batting with a vapor barrier and you're
(07:12):
putting it on top of insulation that you know, six
eight inches deep, and you already got a vapor barrier
on the other side of it. You don't want to
have two vapor barriers. That's going to cause you problems
with moisture. So we don't want to do that. We
don't want to cover up the soft venting around the
perimeter of the attic itself because that gets into a
whole ventilation issue. And you know, another thing is you know,
(07:39):
again looking at things whether they're right or wrong. Those screens.
We've had several calls over the last month where the
ventilation the sofft screening that you can see from the outside,
underneath the gutters and the soffit and the facia, there's
a screening which brings air into the attic. And over
(08:01):
the last few weeks I've had multiple people get in
there and inspect it because we start talking about it
and you look to make sure the screen hasn't been
painted over. That happens insects, spiders put webs in. They
kind of dirty back in there, and it's really cutting
down some of the ventilation. Somebody insulated and they covered
(08:24):
up that opening. But one of the things we've had is, well,
there's a there's a soffid, there's a wood strip or
a metal strip or a vinyl strip with holes in
it to bring in the soffot ventilation. And they found
that out behind that there's no opening, so it's useless.
(08:47):
So my point being is making sure that you have
ventilation down underneath the gutters. That's pushing the air up
into the attic which allows the warmer air to escape
out to the top. And that's a good idea in
the summer. It's a great idea in the summer time.
It is a good idea in the winter time, So
(09:07):
put that on your list. Also, you definitely want to
check into that. All right, phone lines are open, our
phone numbers eight hundred eight two three eight two, five
to five will take a break, And Sam, you're going
to lead us off year at home with Gary solid weekends.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I mean, I'm never writing list of things to.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Do around your home.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Get help at one eight hundred eighty two three talk.
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(12:00):
Almost almost twenty minutes after the top of they are
taking your calls talking a little home improvement. Grab a
line that's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
Sam lead us off.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Welcome, Well, good morning, Gary. I hope you're going well today,
doing well? Thank you great Hey. I've been listening to
you for a couple of years now, and first I
am amazed and want to thank you for the patients
that you show your callers well.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
It's it's nice to hear somebody take their time and
try to understand the issues before they start giving information out. Also,
I have used multiple products that you have mentioned and
methods of filling woods, et cetera. The problem I'm having
(12:50):
is more of an information question regarding a crack in
drywall at the joint between the ceiling and the wall
that has happened from settling, and it hasn't gotten any
wider or longer. So I'm at a point where I'd
like to repair it, but I'm not quite sure in
(13:11):
the method use.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, so is it a crack or is it the
seam between the wall and ceiling.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
It's the scene between the wall and the ceiling, okay,
and it's gotten to be about oh, at least a
quarter inch at this point.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Okay. Originally there was probably tape put on there between
the ceiling and the wall. In other words, there would
be the drywall would be hung, there would be some
topping compound put on there. There would be a tape,
you know, inch and a half tape, and then there
(13:48):
would be more mud put on that. And then usually
when there's some lift, that tape will actually get a
tear down the center of it, where the seams on
the side will become exposed. There wasn't any tape, can
can you help me there?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
You know what? There wasn't any.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Cheap okay, So so we just have two pieces of
drywall that are butted up, I guess is the best.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Way pretty much, all right?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
All right, So we could do a couple of things here.
You could leave it as is in terms of having
that open seam and use like an acrylic siliconized colcking
and just fill that which would have good adhesion and
some flexibility. It might not even be settling. It actually
(14:38):
might be trust lifting. It's actually pulling the ceiling up,
which happens a lot, so that calking would be you know,
be like cocking a bathtub, right, I mean you might
be able to see the cocking. It would be hard
to get it really super smooth, but it's an option.
Another option would be too, let's put the tape up,
(15:01):
so we would mud the both the ceiling and the
wall and put this tape up. It's just non adhesive
tape because you're going to put a trial that's at
a ninety degree angle and you're just going to run
that down where you're going to have that you're so
(15:22):
you're basically adding a piece of paper which is going
to cover it up, and then you would come back
and use a topping compound on top of that tape
and then wet sand and then prime and pain.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Okay, so we're getting into a more of a professional.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Yeah. It depends on what you're comfortable doing obviously, you know,
I mean, you know, but you know there's companies like
where you're at in Cincinnati, same city I'm in. There's
a company called Cincinnati Drywall and they do drywall repair
just like that.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Okay, And I'm familiar with them and also pretty handy
with a cocking gun. And being able to put a
halfway decent beams. Okay, that silicon ized may be the
way to go.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yes, So again, make sure it's acrylic silicon ized cocking.
Don't use straight silicon because A it won't hold paint
and B it's a lot more difficult to put on.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Oh it's a half so it's a mess.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, yeah, but the siliconized you know you can you know,
they'll wet your finger and smooth it. How it works
with a siliconized acrylic. Plus, it's very painful.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Right, And it's a it's a it's a raised ceiling,
so we're talking about fifteen up to a twenty foot point,
so it's not like people are going to be, you know,
eight feet away from it looking.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Right right right, probably never be noticeable, but you know
that seems there. So that's what that's what's getting you crazy.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Well, exactly, I know it's there. I see it every
time I sit in the great room. I'd looked at it.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Right. I got some crown molding in a big hallway
which is probably eighteen feet in the air too, and
I got a little trust lift where it pulls that
drywall up away from that crown molding, and man, I
think I got it finally fixed up. There's probably enough
calking in there now where it's not going to be
pulled apart. But I knew it was there, understand nobody
(17:27):
else did. But I've finally got her fixed. I feel better.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
About it, right, And every time you walk by.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
You look right exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
A listen again. I thank you for your patients and
your show. You do a wonderful service.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Well, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Sam.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Thanks all right, if you'd like to join us with
maybe an issue you have. That is when I was
talking about that crown Oin that is a total or
was a total winter project for me. You know, it
would come, it would would really kind of settle down
in the summertime humidity temperatures, and then when it would
(18:06):
get dry and cold, that trust lift would occur on
that ceiling and they'd pull it, pull that drywall up,
and man, that's when I'd get the cacking gun in
and eventually I'm gonna guess there's just enough cocking up
there's you know, it's just not breaking through that cocking.
It's not lifting that cock anymore. But it was multiple
(18:28):
applications over a period of time, that's for sure. And
maybe we just haven't had that super cold weather. And
because super cold weather is what causes that trust lift,
and you can get straps to pull those trusts down,
or you can calk and seal it that way. All
right again, our phone number and we got open lines.
(18:50):
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
We're looking forward today thinking about the things we got
to do to maintenance to add to our home. As
the first day of fall tomorrow, so we've got to
start thinking about those fall projects. And we still have
plenty of time to get those summer projects done. So
join us. Happy to chat with you about your home projects.
(19:12):
And you're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
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 time you're at home
with Gary Sullivant.
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(22:14):
got your deck sealed and clean this summer if it
was on your list, or maybe that crack in the
concrete repaired. If not, plenty of time to accomplish that
particular project. We had a lot of calls, not a lot,
but we had several calls yesterday talking about concrete driveways,
concrete slabs where they have the salt cuts or the
(22:38):
expansion joints in slabs of concrete maybe ten by ten,
eight by ten, whatever, the larger things. Those are designed
to make that part of the concrete the weakest link.
And the reason you need a weak link is as
there is always some settling, you kind of can will
(23:00):
wear that crack in the concrete forms and it'll form
in that joint. And we had several people talking about
should that be repaired, and you can, you can, and
probably not a real bad idea, especially in areas of
(23:21):
cold weather or maybe even really wet areas with clay soils,
not so much sandy soils, but clay soils where it
holds that moisture. And what you can do is in
preparation is always the key. Whenever we're using calkings or
patches or anything on the paints. You got to clean
(23:43):
that crevice out because if it's cracked in that joint,
there's probably some weeds growing up through, probably animal aren't
the animals ants tunneling in there and you see little
piles of sand. Get all that gunk out of there,
get a shop back out there and maybe a putty
(24:03):
knife and scrape that in there and get all that
dirt and debris out of there. And then once you
get it out of there, depending on the size of
the crack some of the cracked sealers for you know
eighth inch quarter inch cracks so easy to use. It's
just a latex self leveling crack filler comes in a
(24:24):
quart jug, a little spout on it. You're literally just
filling it. And you may ask why, Well, if you
don't fill it and you get a whole bunches of
rain and snow with ice and Nick gets it down
in that crack and it freezes, you could create some
additional erosion underneath that slab, So sealing that up will
(24:48):
help prevent that. It'll also you won't have vegetation growing
up in those seams of the driveway, which can kind
of be unsightly. There is you know, there is no
downside to it. It'll be down in that crevice you're
not even going to see if it slightly doesn't match,
you're not going to be able to see that. So
(25:10):
I would definitely put that on your list. And if
you have not sealed that concrete driveway for five years,
put that on your list too. Sealers is it's just
minimizes the amount of moisture penetration you get into that concrete.
And if it's just regular texture concrete, you won't even
(25:36):
be able to tell that anything's on there, and it
will minimize the absorption of water that goes into that concrete.
And again in cold weather climates, that moisture that gets
into that concrete may also be ladened with road salt
that you drove in on with your car or you
used on your driveway, which over the course of time
(25:59):
can become very corrosive. So sealing the concrete again another
easy task and something that should be considered even if
you have a brick home, taking a look at the
brick and seeing if you are missing some mortar, or
(26:24):
there's cracks in the brick, or it hasn't been sealed
for a while. Again, a breathable ceiler is what you want.
I call it kind of gortex for concrete and brick.
It's going to minimize the moisture penetration into those substrates,
but it will also allow moisture to escape through them.
(26:47):
So it's pretty cool stuff and certainly will increase the
life of your brick or your concrete. And you know,
they started putting spacers behind brick and the substrate of
the home probably in the late seventies. Before that, it
was brick right on to the substrate, and if water
got behind that brick because of missing mortar, you can
(27:10):
end up with wood rod. You can get moisture penetration
of the home. Newer homes with brick with brick ties
extend off the shell of the house and there is
vents down at the bottom where that moisture can escape.
And you know, still I would seal it. Brick can
(27:34):
absorb a lot of moisture, but it does have a
way out in a lot of cases if there's not
mortar blocking it. So it's less of an issue, but
still something you might consider. Dolly welcome, Yes, good morning morning.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
I have questions about ons corning shingles. My daughter had
her roof done about four years ago, and I was
wondering if any of your listeners has had trouble with
them splitting. They are splitting in the half all the
way across the front of our house and it is
a big roof.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
And we've heard of and we've heard of one other
case up here that Cole Stowen's cornering twenty seven thousand
dollars to replace. And they're trying to say that it's
the man that put him on. But the man that
put him on, they're perfect what he done. He'd done
his job. But they're just splitting, you know, down under
(28:33):
and they've got a whole streak along their house.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah, I do remember Owen's Corring. By the way, Owen's
Corning makes a tremendously good shingle. Now let's not to
say the key problems, but it is a really good shingle.
They had problems I'm going to guess ten or fifteen
years ago with some of their presidential shingles, if I'm
(28:58):
not mistaken, which they've since rectified. I haven't heard of anything,
you know, lately. That's not to say there isn't. I mean,
I don't know the insides of every company, so I
haven't seen where that is much of a problem. So
you had the people from Corning come out and look
(29:19):
at that roof, correct.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
No, sir, they were supposed to get hold of somebody
to come and look. And my son in law is
retired and he can't climb on the ladder anymore. He
had a big issue with that. Uh huh. But there's
the architectural shingles, and it was Owens Owens Corning, right
that was put on there some twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
So well, twenty years ago, like I was saying, you know,
you know fifteen years ago, twelve years ago is when
they had some issues. But you said that they said
it wasn't the shingle's fault, it was the roof of
who installed him? Who is who is that person?
Speaker 5 (30:03):
He's an independent company.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Well you need to go right to Corning, that's what
you need to do. Or that roofer that originally installed
installed them. You need him to be your advocate to
get a rep from Corning out to look at your roof.
And that roof that's doing this, you said was four
(30:28):
years old. Is that correct?
Speaker 5 (30:30):
Yeah? Okay, so and we haven't had a lot of
inclement weathered causing problems.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Yeah, well I haven't known this Corning roof that is
six years old architectural shingle and mine are not splitting.
So we gotta find You have every right. You gotta
lean ask that roofer to contact Corning or you start
contacting Corning and there there is a warranty on it,
(31:00):
and there's also disclaimers on warranties on roofing shingles. So
could it be installation? It could be, But I don't know.
I can't see it, they don't know your roof and
all that good stuff. But get with Owen's Corning. They'll
send reps out to the house to inspect it. And
(31:23):
believe me, those kind of companies, they want to solve
the problem. I mean, they would like to know what's
going on. Now. If he put that roof on top
of an existing older roof, I can tell you it's
not going to be covered. That a voids the warranty,
no runn over.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Top of another, and it was stripped off and new
we had had a storm. Insurance covered the whole thing,
and they just went from scratch out. And anyhow do
you or any of your listeners know who am I
to hold us at Owens Corning or just.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Don't you can the company?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, you go on their website, They'll there'll be a
little tab that says contact us and you just write
your story in there and you know, leave your email.
A company of that size, and especially Owen's Corning, I
feel certain they will respond to you. And you know,
ask your Rufer if they have different degrees of other words,
(32:29):
they have certified Rufer's four Owens Corning products. If he's
a certified Owen's Corning uh Rufer. He may be able
to help you with a contact name too.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Well, we're gonna keep working on it because it is unsucked.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yep, you definitely need to keep working on Dolly. Thank
you much for the call. I appreciate it. If you'd
like to join us, do so. Fred You'll be up
first when we come back. If you'd like to join us,
do so. It's eight hundred and eighty two three eight
two five five. You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
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(33:47):
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(35:36):
I hope your weekend's going, uh, just fine. We're talking
a little home improvement, maint and some repair of your home.
Always a big investment in our lifetime, so it certainly
pays to take care of it. If you'd like to
join us, we've got a spot for you. It's eight
hundred eighty two three eight two five five and let's
go to Fred. Fred.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
Welcome, Hey, good morning, Gary morning.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Hey.
Speaker 6 (36:01):
I had a question about I live near River in
North Carolina and we have a lot of copperheads and
black snakes, all that kind of stuff that come out.
What's something I can spray on the yard that's going
to stay, you know once it rains. I know, natural
stuff will gloway, it'll stay.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
And yeah, well there's there's a it's not really a spray.
There's a product called snake Away. I haven't used it,
if memory serves me correct, though, it is a pellet
that is, you know, sprinkled whether where you usually see them.
And okay, also, you know snakes especially, they love places
(36:40):
to hide, you know, So all right, old leaves, behind
the stacks of wood, you know, all you know, low
hanging bush branches like okay, you know where just where
it's where it's cool, where it's you know, god little
you know, old dead vegetation maybe didn't get raked up
(37:03):
all the way. They just love those areas.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
Okay, And I understand what about mouth balls, you know,
I don't know. I've always heard that, but I don't
know if it's true.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Mothballs get rid of different things. In fact, I thought,
I can't say for sure. I thought I saw a
chipmunk scurry out from underneath my stoop the other day.
I couldn't find them though, And That's that's how I cure.
People always say. But then somebody told me, why would
you put mothballs there? Gary, Your whole front entrance to
your home's gonna smell like mothballs. And I've changed the environment.
(37:39):
But the snake away I have had, I think that's
the name that they got, like snake away, rabbit be gone.
They you know, those type of things, And I believe
they're pellets they've used to rabbit one. It's all made
by the same company. I can't remember which one was.
And it was very effective. You'd have to replace it
about every thirty days, but uh, it was. It was effective.
(38:02):
But take a look at that at the garden store
or the hardware store, and also just kind of do
a visual inspection of different areas and see if we
can clean up, especially if it's by a river too,
because you know, you have some flooding and you know,
stuff gets washed up and gets behind vegetation and that
becomes a nice little habitat for him.
Speaker 6 (38:24):
I understand. Okay, well, great, thank you for your advice.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
All right, very good, Fred, Thanks take care, bye bye,
And we take those calls a lot. You know, we
share we share our yard with wildlife and pest and
everything else, and like everything else, if you can change
the environment, they're they're there for a reason, and the
(38:47):
reason is usually food shelter, and if it's convenient from
a standpoint of sheltering for wildlife, you need to work
on changing. I know when we always talk about in
just the time of year, we talk about stacking firewood,
(39:08):
getting firewood in preparation for fall and winter. And where
you put it is good for the wood and also
good for your house and also maybe bad for the wildlife.
So where you want to stack that is not against
the house because that's great shelter and leaves get behind
(39:29):
there and it's a wonderful place for wildlife, so and
not good for the wood because you want that wood
to dry out. I'm kind of covering two tips at
one time, but that's okay. If you can stack that
away from the house and don't cover it up with
plastic all the way to the ground. That's a big,
(39:50):
big mistake. I see people do that all the time.
Don't do that because the ground moisture. You'll basically have
a greenhouse. That moistureill stay in there, that wood won't
dry out. You can put plastic on the top and
have it down maybe ten inches and strap that, but
not all the way down to the ground. That's a
(40:11):
no no. But if you stack it away from the
house where the prevailing wind is kind of blown through that,
first of all, you're not going to have the clutter
around there, so you're not going to have a habitat
for you know, animals, and you're also going to be
drying the wood properly. So consider that another thing underneath decks,
(40:33):
underneath sheds, underneath stoops front porches, I mean animals that burrow.
They love those areas, and like the stoop that I have.
I had a sidewalk at one time had settled and
I had it lifted, and it needs to be lifted again.
(40:59):
And lifting is when they pump with somementatious crowd in there.
A lot of people like that. I'll just I'll shovel
some dirt in there and put some stone in there.
Trust me, that little chipmunk or whatever is underneath, they're skunk.
It'll kick that stuff out faster than you can fill
it up. So don't waste your time on that. And
(41:19):
I eliminated I had a bad problem with that number
of years ago, had it, you know, the grout pumped
underneath that drill holes in the slab, pumping underneath fill
it lifted. Perfect problem gone. It's probably been eight or
ten years and for some reason that particular area, that
(41:39):
soil loves to settle there. Maybe from the day they
you know, dug a hold a plan a house, it's
still settling. Or maybe uh limestone we read about sinkholes.
You can have that if you got a little limestone
in your area of the country. And it may not
(42:02):
just be once and done. Heck, you could tear that
whole thing out and put a good base in and
put more concrete in. You could still have that problem
because it's subject to what's going on underneath that slab.
But you see where the issues are. You got to
stay on top of it. That's another maintenance issue. I mean,
(42:25):
for sure, it's a maintenance issue. And taking care of
that first of all, knowing that it is a problem
area and then taking care of it is key. But
I did when I was out there just blowing some
leaves off the sidewalk and stuff, I noticed that it
had dropped about an inch and then I out of
(42:46):
the corner of my eye I thought I saw something
scurry out from underneath there. I went and looked and
could not find it. But then I looked on the
side of that slab where it had settled, and there
was still a gap. So my gas us is that
little guy's back to work, all right. Let me give
you the phone number you can jump on board. Love
(43:06):
to talk to you about your home projects, maintenance or repair.
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
Kind of concentrating on things to look down the road,
things that we need to accomplish before colder weather hits.
And also happy to talk about wrapping up those summertime
projects because we always always have those. I don't think
(43:30):
we ever run out of things that take care of
around our home. I'm always talking about favorite products, and
of course Wet and Forget as one of those. They
have the Wet and Forget exterior window and screen cleaner.
It cleans the windows through the screens and it cleans
the screens. One bottle cleans up to thirty five windows.
You just wet the windows, spray on the product, let
(43:52):
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The Wet and Forget outdoors so you can reach up
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available at Low's, Walmart, Ace and Blaine. Check that out.
Good stuff. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give
him a call at one eight hundred and eighty two
three Talk. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Well, the weekend's upon us. Welcome. You're at home with
Gary Slivan. By the way, this sur is brought to
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dot com. And as I look out the window, there's
a locust, which is you know, leaves didn't well, they
start changing a little yellow. I don't know whether it's
kind of the drought we're experiencing or whether it's fall,
but leaves they're only about the size of your thumbnail
and they're falling like it's like in the middle of winter.
(01:17):
It looks like yellow snow falling from the skies. So anyway,
we're about that time of year, so talking about gutter
blush certainly isn't too early. Keeping those gutters clearing and
free flowing. I guess that's looking forward to. I've got
a list of things. I got a divided paper. Tomorrow's
(01:38):
first day autumn officially to nineteen where I'm at, and well,
it is time to look at some of the things
that you should probably be looking at around your home.
It's not really ever too early, whether it's looking at
protecting pipes from freezing, whether it's looking about adding insulation
(02:01):
or even ventilation. I mean, we can go on and on,
and the other half of the paper is talking about
all the things that well, we talked about getting done
for the during the summertime in springtime, but we just
haven't quite got it done. So whatever you'd like to
talk about, Danny Boy is ready to take your calls.
And again our number is eight hundred eight two three
(02:23):
eight two five five Where I am. We're out of
our flagship stations out of Cincinnati, Ohio. And we had
a coolish, very coolish spring, very wet late spring, early summer,
and then we got into a drought. I mean, the
amount of moisture has very greatly, probably not great if
you're a farmer or you love landscaping, but also can
(02:46):
show some problem areas, maybe around the house. We haven't
had a great amount of humidity in the last month
or two, which means our homes have dried out. It's
I think one of the first years, I haven't had
to run the doumidifier at all. Now we got an
(03:08):
easy breathe, which is an air exchanging unit, but we
made a couple adjustments of how we used a fan
on the central air. Plus it's been pretty dry. But
you may be experiencing that same thing. And when our
homes dry out, we start seeing issues like nail pops
in the ceiling of a drywall ceiling new homes or
(03:31):
older homes, tape, drywall tape maybe peeling back a little bit.
These problems can be remedied in a lot of cases
if it is nailed up and not screwed up. I'm
talking about the drywall going right next to that now
and running a drywall screw into it and then setting
(03:53):
the nail and using some topping compound over there will
hide it fairly nice. And there's nothing worse than really
seeing just ahead of the nails just kind of popping out,
sometimes even a little rusty. But you can take care
of that issue pretty easily. The other thing is, and
(04:13):
I'll be preaching this probably for about the next eight weeks,
and that is kind of especially if you've been new
to a particular home. If you've been in a home
twenty five years, you probably know where the bodies are
buried in terms of like which pipes freeze when it
gets really cold, and you know, you kind of know
(04:35):
where the problem area is. But if you you know,
been in a home five years and you haven't really
had a really hard cold snap, you might really just
take a look and look at the plumbing pipes and
what kind of temperature they could be exposed to. I'm
talking about in crawl spaces, maybe in a low gray
(04:57):
garage where pipes would be run across the ceiling. But
try to identify where there could be some issues of
exposed pipes and then, you know, spend an hour or
so and just get them wrapped. Those foam sleeves make
that project so much easier than wrapping fiberglass around it.
(05:18):
But try to identify these areas. Now, maybe you know
they're not real long projects. It's more of a maintenance
thing and it can be accomplished in a relatively short
period of time. So that's one thing you might want
to focus on. Also, of course, I think we've all
experienced utility bills, at least in my locale, utility bills
(05:44):
that have been. I'm not going to say staggering. I'm
not trying to scare you, but there's been a sizable jump,
especially in the electric rates where I am, and as
we enter winter, maybe we to just kind of reassess
that's where we are in insulation. It might require getting
(06:05):
up into the attic. It might require you getting someone
to get up into the attic with a yardstick and
just see what kind of depth of insulation you have
up there. Usually, if you've got fiberglass insulation, you're probably
between a point or two point five and three R
value per inch of thickness. Where I'm at, it's I
(06:29):
think for remodels, it's recommended by a Department of Energy
of an R forty two. You can find that information
on the Department of Energy website, or you can go
to your local big box store and look at all
the big rolls of insulation. They usually have the insulation
map right on the bag. And again, if it's fiberglass,
(06:49):
just go ahead and figure two point five to three
R value per inch of thickness. If you already have
some batting up in the attic, that's fine. You can
get loose fill right on top of that. You can
get unfaced batting right on top of that. The only
way you're really gonna get in trouble is if you
start using a batting with a vapor barrier and you're
(07:12):
putting it on top of insulation that you know, six
eight inches deep, and you already got a vapor barrier
on the other side of it. You don't want to
have two vapor barriers. That's going to cause you problems
with moisture. So we don't want to do that. We
don't want to cover up the soft venting around the
perimeter of the attic itself because that gets into a
whole ventilation issue. And you know, another thing is you know,
(07:39):
again looking at things whether they're right or wrong. Those screens.
We've had several calls over the last month where the
ventilation the sofft screening that you can see from the outside,
underneath the gutters and the soffit and the facia, there's
a screening which brings air into the attic. And over
(08:01):
the last few weeks I've had multiple people get in
there and inspect it because we start talking about it
and you look to make sure the screen hasn't been
painted over. That happens insects, spiders put webs in. They
kind of dirty back in there, and it's really cutting
down some of the ventilation. Somebody insulated and they covered
(08:24):
up that opening. But one of the things we've had is, well,
there's a there's a soffid, there's a wood strip or
a metal strip or a vinyl strip with holes in
it to bring in the soffot ventilation. And they found
that out behind that there's no opening, so it's useless.
(08:47):
So my point being is making sure that you have
ventilation down underneath the gutters. That's pushing the air up
into the attic which allows the warmer air to escape
out to the top. And that's a good idea in
the summer. It's a great idea in the summer time.
It is a good idea in the winter time, So
(09:07):
put that on your list. Also, you definitely want to
check into that. All right, phone lines are open, our
phone numbers eight hundred eight two three eight two, five
to five will take a break, And Sam, you're going
to lead us off year at home with Gary solid weekends.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I mean, I'm never writing list of things to.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Do around your home.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Get help at one eight hundred eighty two three talk.
You're at home with Gary sullivantor.
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(12:00):
Almost almost twenty minutes after the top of they are
taking your calls talking a little home improvement. Grab a
line that's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
Sam lead us off.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Welcome, Well, good morning, Gary. I hope you're going well today,
doing well? Thank you great Hey. I've been listening to
you for a couple of years now, and first I
am amazed and want to thank you for the patients
that you show your callers well.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
It's it's nice to hear somebody take their time and
try to understand the issues before they start giving information out. Also,
I have used multiple products that you have mentioned and
methods of filling woods, et cetera. The problem I'm having
(12:50):
is more of an information question regarding a crack in
drywall at the joint between the ceiling and the wall
that has happened from settling, and it hasn't gotten any
wider or longer. So I'm at a point where I'd
like to repair it, but I'm not quite sure in
(13:11):
the method use.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Okay, so is it a crack or is it the
seam between the wall and ceiling.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
It's the scene between the wall and the ceiling, okay,
and it's gotten to be about oh, at least a
quarter inch at this point.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Okay. Originally there was probably tape put on there between
the ceiling and the wall. In other words, there would
be the drywall would be hung, there would be some
topping compound put on there. There would be a tape,
you know, inch and a half tape, and then there
(13:48):
would be more mud put on that. And then usually
when there's some lift, that tape will actually get a
tear down the center of it, where the seams on
the side will become exposed. There wasn't any tape, can
can you help me there?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
You know what? There wasn't any.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Cheap okay, So so we just have two pieces of
drywall that are butted up, I guess is the best.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Way pretty much, all right?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
All right, So we could do a couple of things here.
You could leave it as is in terms of having
that open seam and use like an acrylic siliconized colcking
and just fill that which would have good adhesion and
some flexibility. It might not even be settling. It actually
(14:38):
might be trust lifting. It's actually pulling the ceiling up,
which happens a lot, so that calking would be you know,
be like cocking a bathtub, right, I mean you might
be able to see the cocking. It would be hard
to get it really super smooth, but it's an option.
Another option would be too, let's put the tape up,
(15:01):
so we would mud the both the ceiling and the
wall and put this tape up. It's just non adhesive
tape because you're going to put a trial that's at
a ninety degree angle and you're just going to run
that down where you're going to have that you're so
(15:22):
you're basically adding a piece of paper which is going
to cover it up, and then you would come back
and use a topping compound on top of that tape
and then wet sand and then prime and pain.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Okay, so we're getting into a more of a professional.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Yeah. It depends on what you're comfortable doing obviously, you know,
I mean, you know, but you know there's companies like
where you're at in Cincinnati, same city I'm in. There's
a company called Cincinnati Drywall and they do drywall repair
just like that.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Okay, And I'm familiar with them and also pretty handy
with a cocking gun. And being able to put a
halfway decent beams. Okay, that silicon ized may be the
way to go.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yes, So again, make sure it's acrylic silicon ized cocking.
Don't use straight silicon because A it won't hold paint
and B it's a lot more difficult to put on.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Oh it's a half so it's a mess.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, yeah, but the siliconized you know you can you know,
they'll wet your finger and smooth it. How it works
with a siliconized acrylic. Plus, it's very painful.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Right, And it's a it's a it's a raised ceiling,
so we're talking about fifteen up to a twenty foot point,
so it's not like people are going to be, you know,
eight feet away from it looking.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Right right right, probably never be noticeable, but you know
that seems there. So that's what that's what's getting you crazy.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Well, exactly, I know it's there. I see it every
time I sit in the great room. I'd looked at it.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Right. I got some crown molding in a big hallway
which is probably eighteen feet in the air too, and
I got a little trust lift where it pulls that
drywall up away from that crown molding, and man, I
think I got it finally fixed up. There's probably enough
calking in there now where it's not going to be
pulled apart. But I knew it was there, understand nobody
(17:27):
else did. But I've finally got her fixed. I feel better.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
About it, right, And every time you walk by.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
You look right exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
A listen again. I thank you for your patients and
your show. You do a wonderful service.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Well, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Sam.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Thanks all right, if you'd like to join us with
maybe an issue you have. That is when I was
talking about that crown Oin that is a total or
was a total winter project for me. You know, it
would come, it would would really kind of settle down
in the summertime humidity temperatures, and then when it would
(18:06):
get dry and cold, that trust lift would occur on
that ceiling and they'd pull it, pull that drywall up,
and man, that's when I'd get the cacking gun in
and eventually I'm gonna guess there's just enough cocking up
there's you know, it's just not breaking through that cocking.
It's not lifting that cock anymore. But it was multiple
(18:28):
applications over a period of time, that's for sure. And
maybe we just haven't had that super cold weather. And
because super cold weather is what causes that trust lift,
and you can get straps to pull those trusts down,
or you can calk and seal it that way. All
right again, our phone number and we got open lines.
(18:50):
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
We're looking forward today thinking about the things we got
to do to maintenance to add to our home. As
the first day of fall tomorrow, so we've got to
start thinking about those fall projects. And we still have
plenty of time to get those summer projects done. So
join us. Happy to chat with you about your home projects.
(19:12):
And you're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
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 time you're at home
with Gary Sullivant.
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(22:14):
got your deck sealed and clean this summer if it
was on your list, or maybe that crack in the
concrete repaired. If not, plenty of time to accomplish that
particular project. We had a lot of calls, not a lot,
but we had several calls yesterday talking about concrete driveways,
concrete slabs where they have the salt cuts or the
(22:38):
expansion joints in slabs of concrete maybe ten by ten,
eight by ten, whatever, the larger things. Those are designed
to make that part of the concrete the weakest link.
And the reason you need a weak link is as
there is always some settling, you kind of can will
(23:00):
wear that crack in the concrete forms and it'll form
in that joint. And we had several people talking about
should that be repaired, and you can, you can, and
probably not a real bad idea, especially in areas of
(23:21):
cold weather or maybe even really wet areas with clay soils,
not so much sandy soils, but clay soils where it
holds that moisture. And what you can do is in
preparation is always the key. Whenever we're using calkings or
patches or anything on the paints. You got to clean
(23:43):
that crevice out because if it's cracked in that joint,
there's probably some weeds growing up through, probably animal aren't
the animals ants tunneling in there and you see little
piles of sand. Get all that gunk out of there,
get a shop back out there and maybe a putty
(24:03):
knife and scrape that in there and get all that
dirt and debris out of there. And then once you
get it out of there, depending on the size of
the crack some of the cracked sealers for you know
eighth inch quarter inch cracks so easy to use. It's
just a latex self leveling crack filler comes in a
(24:24):
quart jug, a little spout on it. You're literally just
filling it. And you may ask why, Well, if you
don't fill it and you get a whole bunches of
rain and snow with ice and Nick gets it down
in that crack and it freezes, you could create some
additional erosion underneath that slab, So sealing that up will
(24:48):
help prevent that. It'll also you won't have vegetation growing
up in those seams of the driveway, which can kind
of be unsightly. There is you know, there is no
downside to it. It'll be down in that crevice you're
not even going to see if it slightly doesn't match,
you're not going to be able to see that. So
(25:10):
I would definitely put that on your list. And if
you have not sealed that concrete driveway for five years,
put that on your list too. Sealers is it's just
minimizes the amount of moisture penetration you get into that concrete.
And if it's just regular texture concrete, you won't even
(25:36):
be able to tell that anything's on there, and it
will minimize the absorption of water that goes into that concrete.
And again in cold weather climates, that moisture that gets
into that concrete may also be ladened with road salt
that you drove in on with your car or you
used on your driveway, which over the course of time
(25:59):
can become very corrosive. So sealing the concrete again another
easy task and something that should be considered even if
you have a brick home, taking a look at the
brick and seeing if you are missing some mortar, or
(26:24):
there's cracks in the brick, or it hasn't been sealed
for a while. Again, a breathable ceiler is what you want.
I call it kind of gortex for concrete and brick.
It's going to minimize the moisture penetration into those substrates,
but it will also allow moisture to escape through them.
(26:47):
So it's pretty cool stuff and certainly will increase the
life of your brick or your concrete. And you know,
they started putting spacers behind brick and the substrate of
the home probably in the late seventies. Before that, it
was brick right on to the substrate, and if water
got behind that brick because of missing mortar, you can
(27:10):
end up with wood rod. You can get moisture penetration
of the home. Newer homes with brick with brick ties
extend off the shell of the house and there is
vents down at the bottom where that moisture can escape.
And you know, still I would seal it. Brick can
(27:34):
absorb a lot of moisture, but it does have a
way out in a lot of cases if there's not
mortar blocking it. So it's less of an issue, but
still something you might consider. Dolly welcome, Yes, good morning morning.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
I have questions about ons corning shingles. My daughter had
her roof done about four years ago, and I was
wondering if any of your listeners has had trouble with
them splitting. They are splitting in the half all the
way across the front of our house and it is
a big roof.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
And we've heard of and we've heard of one other
case up here that Cole Stowen's cornering twenty seven thousand
dollars to replace. And they're trying to say that it's
the man that put him on. But the man that
put him on, they're perfect what he done. He'd done
his job. But they're just splitting, you know, down under
(28:33):
and they've got a whole streak along their house.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah, I do remember Owen's Corring. By the way, Owen's
Corning makes a tremendously good shingle. Now let's not to
say the key problems, but it is a really good shingle.
They had problems I'm going to guess ten or fifteen
years ago with some of their presidential shingles, if I'm
(28:58):
not mistaken, which they've since rectified. I haven't heard of anything,
you know, lately. That's not to say there isn't. I mean,
I don't know the insides of every company, so I
haven't seen where that is much of a problem. So
you had the people from Corning come out and look
(29:19):
at that roof, correct.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
No, sir, they were supposed to get hold of somebody
to come and look. And my son in law is
retired and he can't climb on the ladder anymore. He
had a big issue with that. Uh huh. But there's
the architectural shingles, and it was Owens Owens Corning, right
that was put on there some twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
So well, twenty years ago, like I was saying, you know,
you know fifteen years ago, twelve years ago is when
they had some issues. But you said that they said
it wasn't the shingle's fault, it was the roof of
who installed him? Who is who is that person?
Speaker 5 (30:03):
He's an independent company.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Well you need to go right to Corning, that's what
you need to do. Or that roofer that originally installed
installed them. You need him to be your advocate to
get a rep from Corning out to look at your roof.
And that roof that's doing this, you said was four
(30:28):
years old. Is that correct?
Speaker 5 (30:30):
Yeah? Okay, so and we haven't had a lot of
inclement weathered causing problems.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Yeah, well I haven't known this Corning roof that is
six years old architectural shingle and mine are not splitting.
So we gotta find You have every right. You gotta
lean ask that roofer to contact Corning or you start
contacting Corning and there there is a warranty on it,
(31:00):
and there's also disclaimers on warranties on roofing shingles. So
could it be installation? It could be, But I don't know.
I can't see it, they don't know your roof and
all that good stuff. But get with Owen's Corning. They'll
send reps out to the house to inspect it. And
(31:23):
believe me, those kind of companies, they want to solve
the problem. I mean, they would like to know what's
going on. Now. If he put that roof on top
of an existing older roof, I can tell you it's
not going to be covered. That a voids the warranty,
no runn over.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Top of another, and it was stripped off and new
we had had a storm. Insurance covered the whole thing,
and they just went from scratch out. And anyhow do
you or any of your listeners know who am I
to hold us at Owens Corning or just.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Don't you can the company?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, you go on their website, They'll there'll be a
little tab that says contact us and you just write
your story in there and you know, leave your email.
A company of that size, and especially Owen's Corning, I
feel certain they will respond to you. And you know,
ask your Rufer if they have different degrees of other words,
(32:29):
they have certified Rufer's four Owens Corning products. If he's
a certified Owen's Corning uh Rufer. He may be able
to help you with a contact name too.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Well, we're gonna keep working on it because it is unsucked.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yep, you definitely need to keep working on Dolly. Thank
you much for the call. I appreciate it. If you'd
like to join us, do so. Fred You'll be up
first when we come back. If you'd like to join us,
do so. It's eight hundred and eighty two three eight
two five five. You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Hi everyone, I've been raving about the Wet and Forget
outdoor cleaner for years and now, for good reason, takes
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(33:47):
Purchase Wet and Forget Window and Screen Cleaner today at
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(34:52):
with all the cooler, damp weathers on the way, so
more rust and corrosion issues you're likely to have to
deal with, So buddy up with black. Yes, the folks
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(35:14):
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use Blaster products and work it like a pro. All right,
(35:36):
I hope your weekend's going, uh, just fine. We're talking
a little home improvement, maint and some repair of your home.
Always a big investment in our lifetime, so it certainly
pays to take care of it. If you'd like to
join us, we've got a spot for you. It's eight
hundred eighty two three eight two five five and let's
go to Fred. Fred.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
Welcome, Hey, good morning, Gary morning.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
Hey.
Speaker 6 (36:01):
I had a question about I live near River in
North Carolina and we have a lot of copperheads and
black snakes, all that kind of stuff that come out.
What's something I can spray on the yard that's going
to stay, you know once it rains. I know, natural
stuff will gloway, it'll stay.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
And yeah, well there's there's a it's not really a spray.
There's a product called snake Away. I haven't used it,
if memory serves me correct, though, it is a pellet
that is, you know, sprinkled whether where you usually see them.
And okay, also, you know snakes especially, they love places
(36:40):
to hide, you know, So all right, old leaves, behind
the stacks of wood, you know, all you know, low
hanging bush branches like okay, you know where just where
it's where it's cool, where it's you know, god little
you know, old dead vegetation maybe didn't get raked up
(37:03):
all the way. They just love those areas.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
Okay, And I understand what about mouth balls, you know,
I don't know. I've always heard that, but I don't
know if it's true.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Mothballs get rid of different things. In fact, I thought,
I can't say for sure. I thought I saw a
chipmunk scurry out from underneath my stoop the other day.
I couldn't find them though, And That's that's how I cure.
People always say. But then somebody told me, why would
you put mothballs there? Gary, Your whole front entrance to
your home's gonna smell like mothballs. And I've changed the environment.
(37:39):
But the snake away I have had, I think that's
the name that they got, like snake away, rabbit be gone.
They you know, those type of things, And I believe
they're pellets they've used to rabbit one. It's all made
by the same company. I can't remember which one was.
And it was very effective. You'd have to replace it
about every thirty days, but uh, it was. It was effective.
(38:02):
But take a look at that at the garden store
or the hardware store, and also just kind of do
a visual inspection of different areas and see if we
can clean up, especially if it's by a river too,
because you know, you have some flooding and you know,
stuff gets washed up and gets behind vegetation and that
becomes a nice little habitat for him.
Speaker 6 (38:24):
I understand. Okay, well, great, thank you for your advice.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
All right, very good, Fred, Thanks take care, bye bye,
And we take those calls a lot. You know, we
share we share our yard with wildlife and pest and
everything else, and like everything else, if you can change
the environment, they're they're there for a reason, and the
(38:47):
reason is usually food shelter, and if it's convenient from
a standpoint of sheltering for wildlife, you need to work
on changing. I know when we always talk about in
just the time of year, we talk about stacking firewood,
(39:08):
getting firewood in preparation for fall and winter. And where
you put it is good for the wood and also
good for your house and also maybe bad for the wildlife.
So where you want to stack that is not against
the house because that's great shelter and leaves get behind
(39:29):
there and it's a wonderful place for wildlife, so and
not good for the wood because you want that wood
to dry out. I'm kind of covering two tips at
one time, but that's okay. If you can stack that
away from the house and don't cover it up with
plastic all the way to the ground. That's a big,
(39:50):
big mistake. I see people do that all the time.
Don't do that because the ground moisture. You'll basically have
a greenhouse. That moistureill stay in there, that wood won't
dry out. You can put plastic on the top and
have it down maybe ten inches and strap that, but
not all the way down to the ground. That's a
(40:11):
no no. But if you stack it away from the
house where the prevailing wind is kind of blown through that,
first of all, you're not going to have the clutter
around there, so you're not going to have a habitat
for you know, animals, and you're also going to be
drying the wood properly. So consider that another thing underneath decks,
(40:33):
underneath sheds, underneath stoops front porches, I mean animals that burrow.
They love those areas, and like the stoop that I have.
I had a sidewalk at one time had settled and
I had it lifted, and it needs to be lifted again.
(40:59):
And lifting is when they pump with somementatious crowd in there.
A lot of people like that. I'll just I'll shovel
some dirt in there and put some stone in there.
Trust me, that little chipmunk or whatever is underneath, they're skunk.
It'll kick that stuff out faster than you can fill
it up. So don't waste your time on that. And
(41:19):
I eliminated I had a bad problem with that number
of years ago, had it, you know, the grout pumped
underneath that drill holes in the slab, pumping underneath fill
it lifted. Perfect problem gone. It's probably been eight or
ten years and for some reason that particular area, that
(41:39):
soil loves to settle there. Maybe from the day they
you know, dug a hold a plan a house, it's
still settling. Or maybe uh limestone we read about sinkholes.
You can have that if you got a little limestone
in your area of the country. And it may not
(42:02):
just be once and done. Heck, you could tear that
whole thing out and put a good base in and
put more concrete in. You could still have that problem
because it's subject to what's going on underneath that slab.
But you see where the issues are. You got to
stay on top of it. That's another maintenance issue. I mean,
(42:25):
for sure, it's a maintenance issue. And taking care of
that first of all, knowing that it is a problem
area and then taking care of it is key. But
I did when I was out there just blowing some
leaves off the sidewalk and stuff, I noticed that it
had dropped about an inch and then I out of
(42:46):
the corner of my eye I thought I saw something
scurry out from underneath there. I went and looked and
could not find it. But then I looked on the
side of that slab where it had settled, and there
was still a gap. So my gas us is that
little guy's back to work, all right. Let me give
you the phone number you can jump on board. Love
(43:06):
to talk to you about your home projects, maintenance or repair.
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two five five.
Kind of concentrating on things to look down the road,
things that we need to accomplish before colder weather hits.
And also happy to talk about wrapping up those summertime
projects because we always always have those. I don't think
(43:30):
we ever run out of things that take care of
around our home. I'm always talking about favorite products, and
of course Wet and Forget as one of those. They
have the Wet and Forget exterior window and screen cleaner.
It cleans the windows through the screens and it cleans
the screens. One bottle cleans up to thirty five windows.
You just wet the windows, spray on the product, let
(43:52):
it sit about a minute, and then rents same great nozzles.
The Wet and Forget outdoors so you can reach up
to a second story window without needing a ladder. It's
available at Low's, Walmart, Ace and Blaine. Check that out.
Good stuff. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
Time to get your hands dirty with Gary Sullivan. Give
him a call at one eight hundred and eighty two
three Talk. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
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