Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Well the weekend. It is welcome aboard. You're at home
with Garriye Selvin. This hours brought to you by roto
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Speaker 2 (00:55):
You can certainly check them out and go accordingly see
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We thank them for their sponsorship today. As we continue
through the weekend getting a few things done around the home.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Our phone number is eight hundred eighty two three eight
two five five.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We've kind of talked about warm weather projects and also
start talking about things you might want to be tackling
inside the home and colder days. And we've had a
couple of calls about mold today. I've also indicated a
couple of times that it's relatively dry where I am
(01:39):
and I saw in Tennessee. I saw in Arizona. More
deluge of rain. And you know, when you have lots
of rain and warmer temperatures and humidity inside our home,
mold is you know, it can become prevalent. And as
(02:01):
a person taught me a long time ago, and I
think this is very very true. If it smells like mold,
or it smells stagnant, there's a good chance you have mold.
And thank goodness, a number of years ago. Rear the contenter,
whether they still have them, the container stores, all the
plastic bins and everything.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Boy, that is just such the ticket. If you're storing
things in the basement area or in a cross space area,
don't use cardboard boxes. They just absorb water, vapor.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
They smell by themselves, and if they get wet or
even damp, mold can grow on that cardboard so easily.
So if you are storing anything in a basement or
get them elevated. Get the boxes elevated if you're gonna
(03:00):
use boxes. But I'd highly recommend, quite honestly, just using
plastic containers. And you hear when I talk about the.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Easy breathe, I know easy breathe right now, if you
buy an easy breath they're giving you two humidistats because
if you have that smell in that basement, or you're
running high humidity in the basement, an easy breathe isn't
going to take water out of the air. It's pulling
(03:31):
the air with the water outside. So it's helping you
control that.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And when you control it, it's not gonna smell. So
you might even look into that, and they're giving you
two umidistats, and it's a stair stepping Humidity is a
stair stepping issue in houses. So let's say, and it's
dry here, so I can't really use our house for
(04:01):
a good example, but let's say right now, and I
probably am running about forty eight percent humidity, and which
is good, and I go downstairs and it's seventy percent.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
That's not good, And.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
You would probably smell that basement t smell. And you know,
you got a choice of a deumidifier, and they're expensive
to operate, and those deumidifiers do not last long. And
this year I don't I don't think I ever turned
my deumidifier on, which is awesome. And humidity has been very,
(04:40):
very constant in the house. That's good. It's been comfortable,
but having too. You know, whether you buy an easy
breathe or not, that's really not the point. The point is,
if you're curious how healthy your home is, mention the
humidity levels. If you got good umidity on the first
(05:03):
floor and not so good on the basement, that's not
real healthy. And when that first cold snap hits, maybe
you turn on the furnace, you turn on a fan,
and you.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Blow all that stuff all over the house and we
shut down the windows and everything, and everybody gets sick,
or it tends to be that everybody gets sick. Oh,
it's just that first of fall cold. I got a
cold today, but windows are open, so there anyway, if
you've got a question regarding that, because I think humidity
(05:36):
plays in a role, and some of the smells that
we have in our home, in the pollution we have
in our home, and that same thing takes place in
cross spaces and a lot of things. People don't realize too,
whether you have an underground garage or a basement or
(05:59):
cross space, that water vapor that's coming through the walls
is driving that U minutey up. So one of the
neat things you can do is you can tighten your
basement up from a standpoint of water intrusion, even rate
on intrusion into the home. You've heard me talk about
a product called dry lock, and dry Lock has a
(06:20):
cementatious synthetic rubber paint which can be put on port,
concrete or block and it can hold back ten pounds
of square ten pounds per square inch of water, drastically
minimizing the water vapor that's coming through the wall, which
(06:40):
has been known to be you know, gallons and gallons
during the course of a day. And they make it
clear for the floor. If your floor is not covered
with something, obviously you can seal that floor. If you
got cracks in the floor. People got I got a
crack in the floor. Do I have to patch it? Now?
(07:03):
You don't have to, but water vapor, rate on, maybe
insects all could be coming through that crack. So yeah,
go ahead and seal it. You can get a jug
of crack seal it's like a milkshake and just self leveling.
Just kind of pour it over that crack, Let it
(07:24):
weep into that crack. Let it seal that crack, and
you know, you'll you'll tighten that up. You'll make that basement,
more healthy, certainly more livable, certainly less odor. So you
might want to put that on your list. All right,
(07:44):
our phone number eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. That's eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. Go ahead and join us if you would
talk about your home project. Maybe a question you have
as far as controlling the moisture we're putting in the air,
and we are all the time, whether it's baths or showers, cooking,
(08:11):
is those fans and especially in the kitchen. I'd like you,
if it's been a while or maybe never, taking that
filter out of where that fan is, whether it's an
you know, a down draft fan or an updraft fan,
there's a filter in there, usually made of aluminum. Get
(08:33):
that out and some down soap and a scrub rush
and clean that. Or a jaw's kitchen to grease or
that does great too, get that clean because if you
had we were talking about fire safety, if you had
a fire on the top of that stove, on the
stove top. I've seen a lot of fires that will
quickly catch that filter on fire above the stove and
(08:56):
at that point the way it goes as far as
a bathroom fan. Remember, it can only suck out wet,
foggy air, moisture in the air. It can only suck
it out and up and out of the house. If
it has air that can replace the air you're gonna
(09:18):
pull out. So here's a little assignment. Close the door
in the bathroom and see if there's a gap at
the bottom of that door. If there is no, you're
probably gonna run that fan and probably not evacuating that
air very much at all. A lot of times there
(09:40):
will be carpet are that door will be sliding on
the carpet. I mean, it's kind of sealed up. Unless
you crack a window and run that fan, or open
that door and run that fan, it's probably not effective.
So oh, how big of a gap? Oh, I don't know.
Just three coards of it and say or more, that
would be enough to pull air in and evacuate moisture
(10:02):
laden air out. All right. The phone numbers eight hundred
eight two three, eight, two five five Grab a line
You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Home Improvement one oh one with Gary Sullivan Every weekend.
Classes began at one eight hundred and eight two three
Tap You're at home with Gary Sullivan, Hey.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
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(12:51):
back at it we go at Home with Gary Sullivan
taking your calls at eight hundred eight two three A
two five five. Feel free to jump on board. Happy
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go to Mark. Mark welcome.
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All right, very good Mark, Thanks, take care, bye bye.
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(14:46):
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But it's awesome, literally and it's ah h som me
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Speaker 5 (15:08):
Welcome, Hi Gary, thank you for taking my call. I
have a water system that I think has needs to
be replaced. It's been working great for me for about
twenty years, but I am getting information coming across my phone. Ads.
(15:29):
You know for these salt free water systems they install
in the home. Now, do you know anything about those?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I do? I do? I do. Let me ask you
one question. When you say your water software or your
water system. When you got that water software, what did
you buy it for?
Speaker 5 (15:51):
I have well water and I have a lot of iron. Okay, okay,
so you know, done a good job taking care.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Of that, yes, But also let.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Me add to this. I'm I'm elderly now pushing eighty
and carrying those salt eggs around. I know, not much
longer I'm going to want to do that.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah. Well, those particular systems they work well, but I
think sometimes the marketing isn't is. I hate to use
the word honest because then it sounds like a scam.
They're just different, they do different things. Okay, so we
know what a water softener does, right. It takes the
(16:35):
hard water and softens it by taking things out of
that water. So it makes our clothes feel better. It doesn't,
you know, it doesn't dry out our skin. It doesn't
allow for hard water accumulation on in pipes or showers
or and soft water feels different, it feels wetter. Okay,
(16:59):
so that's what a water softener does. Then these solt
free Yeah, that's what you call it. Let's use that word,
the salt free softeners. They don't really soften the water,
but they do. What they do is they charge the particles,
(17:20):
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Speaker 2 (17:39):
With you know, not having an accumulation of hard water
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Speaker 1 (17:47):
The shower doors and on the walls. A lot of
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And they go right down the drain. It doesn't really
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(18:32):
just try to explain to how they do it. But
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Speaker 5 (18:44):
Okay, Well that's a great tip, wonderful information. And I
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That is good stuff, isn't it fantastic? That is good stuff.
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appreciate it. Coming up ron Krueger from a one pest
control be my guest. I'll tell you all those little
(19:13):
cutters outside they're looking for a home for the winter time,
and don't let it be yours. That's next. You're at
home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well, I talk a lot lot about products that can
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(20:21):
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(21:47):
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and Forget window and screen cleaner. As promised. Ron Krueger
(22:13):
from A Plus Wildlife Control would joining us today and Ron, welcome,
it's been four months.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
Welcome again, Happy Fall, Gary, Happy fall. Things changing, yes, thanks,
colors are changing, the temperature changing, and the behavior of
wildlife is changing too.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
And you know what that is the exact thought I
had this morning about six o'clock in the morning, Heaven breakfast,
and I thought, you know what, I got to call
Ron see if he's available today. So thanks a bunch.
I mean, you know, we got all kinds of wildlife
and uh it's they too are looking for a nice
place to winner over. I guess they certainly are.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
They certainly are We're finding lots of different things happening
right now. Yeah, with all this change a temperature, it
seems to come real quick this year, maybe even a
little early with the drought. Animals are changing their behaviors.
And right now we're starting to get the calls for
the scratching and the ceilings, the scratching in the walls,
the running around and scampering above your head, and all
(23:16):
these are indications that something's going on up.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
There, something you don't want to ignore. I will you know,
I'm not studying wildlife like you are. You're living it
every day. But the one thing I've noticed in my
wife and I've been talking about we have probably a
forty foot pinnoak in our backyard, and about two weeks
ago we started seeing the little clusters of leaves and
(23:41):
some pretty heavy squirrel activity underneath and in that oak tree.
And in the last week it's gotten ferocious. I mean,
I cut grass yesterday. I couldn't believe all the clusters
of leaves and little twigs that were coming out of
that oak tree.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
And sometimes that's just from fall, but a lot of
times the squirrels are actually making nests. They go out
to the very ends of the more succulent ends of
the tree, and they nip them off with their sharp teeth. Yeah,
and usually they keep them in their teeth and carry
them down or take them to where they're going to nest.
Sometimes they lose their grip and that falls to the ground.
And you'll see a lot of nipped ends of trees
(24:22):
at the end of summer early every fall.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, there's a bunch of them. And I'm starting to
see even some acorn shells and things like that. So
I don't know what do we do as homeowners. I'm
not worried about the leaves. I just want to make
sure those animals and those squirrels, and you can tell
me about the other animals and what they're showing. I
(24:44):
want to make sure they stay outside.
Speaker 6 (24:47):
Well, that's the important thing. We've talked many times over
the many years we've done this, and this is the
time right now while the weather is still decent, because
pretty soon it's not going to be fit for man
or beast outside. It's kind of too late to do
anything because workers can't get up there to work on slippery,
you know, wet and frosty roofs with snow and ice
(25:08):
on it. So now it's the time to look go
outside and walk around, takes ten minutes and just get
a good survey of your house. And what you're looking
for is gutters that are kind of tipps funky. Maybe
you've got some soffets that are pushed up or fall
and or missing pieces. Those are all indications that your
house is having issues and open to wildlife. It's like
(25:30):
an open invitation to wildlife. Sometimes the wildlfe's actually caused
the damage. So it's time to basically get up there,
have an inspection done, find out if there's wildlife activity,
and if there is, you set traps or professional stet
traps to remove the animals and to make the proper
repairs to You want your house as solid, rock solid
as you possibly can get, because you can't stop wildlife
(25:53):
from being around, but you can, sure, in the heck's
try to stop them from getting there.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Sure, sure, and gosh, I maybe you'll disagree with this statement,
but when you get wildlife in your home, maybe the
easy part's getting rid of it. But there's a mess
up there, there's a repair that needs to be made
of the house. I mean, it's a three step process.
Speaker 6 (26:15):
It is so the animal's gotta it's got to be identified.
You got you gotta find out. You got to monitor
to see, hey, is this an active area. Sometimes damage
is old and maybe not currently active. But if the
homeowner's hearing things scratching, thumping, bumping middle of the night,
waking you up, something's happening. So the animals. The process
is you got to monitor, get the animals trapped and removed,
(26:38):
monitor to make sure there's no further activity. And because
you know, the last thing you ever want to do
is find a hole or an opening and just willy
nilly go up and just seal it, right, because if
you just seal it, open soft it or a bad
part of the roof and fix it and you're not
sure if there's something living in there, really only bad
things can occur after that. You're potentially locked animal in
(27:00):
your attic. That's not a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Ron When they're in the attic and you hear them moving,
regardless of what it is you hear the movie are
they they're they're coming and going right, So I mean
there should be a lot of activity.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Yeah, animals, don't you just store a lot of food
in your in your attic now The only ones that
would do that is something like the red squirrel, the
pine squirrel. They're known to store I've been in attics
where they've the bays of the insulation area is just
packed full of walnuts and stuff like that. But they're
one of the few that do that. Everything else they
come and go a lot, and so. Yeah, so they're
using the house as a hardbridge to keep out of
(27:37):
the weather, and they've got that nice fluffy insulation up there.
While they're up there, you know, they're biological forces will
effect up there too. They're they're defecating and urinating and
doing things and also chewing and gnawing on things. We
just helped the lady up here in the Akron area
that she had a ton of squirrels, had them for
(27:57):
a long time getting through a ridge event. Believe it
or not, the ridgement had an open end and we
got in there. The squirrel droppings were just enormous in
the ceiling of this house and we got them out.
She was also complaining that her lights and fixtures stopped working,
and she got electrician and boy, what happened was from
(28:18):
a simple repair it turned into something major where they
had to start cutting into open ceilings because the squirrels
got into the inaccessible areas and chewed all the romans
wiring potential fire hazards. So they got it fixed in
time without an issue.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
And I'm sure you've seen it where they've chewed through
plastic piping water pipe.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
I had a customer where every time on the second
floor they would run the sink or flush a toilet,
it would flood downstairs. And what happened was is they
chewed a hole in the plastic PBC plastic pipe venting.
It was actually the vent stack, but it was in
where the water went when they flushed, and it made
(28:59):
a mess and they had to do some searching to
find it. They had to cut open a wall to
locate that, and they did. And yeah, so squirrels were
the main culprit for that. I've seen that quite a
few times.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
To be honest with you, is squirrel Is that the
number one animal? I mean, I know we'd need to
be concerned about all, but you run into squirrels more
than other animals this time of year.
Speaker 6 (29:20):
For roofs and addics, we typically get squirrels and raccoons.
Raccoons they're kind of like, you know, the behemoths, they
get up there. If they don't have a hole and
they want in, they'll actually make one. And actually squirrels
will do that too, they'll chew an on on punky
and old wood. The raccoons will go up to like
a dormer. The things to look at if you've got
a dormer in your house, where you got that softet
(29:42):
roof connection, that pinch point up there, It is the
weakest spot on a house for animal entry. I don't
care what it is. It could be mice, bats, squirrels, raccoons,
they all will utilize that gap in that spot because
the soappits are usually weakest there. And they'll a raccoon
literally get up there, just push they're strong, or pull
(30:03):
it out all together, right, And once they're in that soppet,
they have access to here. And that's so yeah, and
that's that's what we always look There's usually evidence. Do
you see muddy pawp prints going up and down your
you know there's there mud on your down spot? You know,
those are things we look for during an inspection.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
So yes, and and so really what a homeowner can do,
two things that come to mind. Number one is what
you said, take that walk around the house and really
pay attention to what's going on, even if you're on
the ground with a pair of binoculars. I guess if
you see squirrels hanging out around your ridge vent, you
definitely want to use your binoculars and see if there's
(30:45):
any damage. And I guess one of the biggest things
is if you hear, don't ignore it. It's not going
to go well.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Exactly. Usually what we hear this time of year, and
the only thing it could be too this time of
year is mice, mice or rolling in the houses left
and right. So we go into an inspection. We're hearing scratching,
or they're hearing scratching, they're hearing some scampering, and sometimes
we get there it's not maybe a wildlife issue, but
we determine hey, they got a mouse issue, and so
(31:16):
it could be everything. So take the time now to
seal your house, cocking, ceiling, replacing wood, doing anything you
can while the weather is good will save you a
lot of problems in the winter time.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Ron's businesses A plus wildlife control. You're an a accron
Cleveland area, and I.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Know there's people listening, says Oh my squirrels. I can
trap those. I'm not here just to sell ron services.
There's a reason. I mean, you know so much about
wildlife and behaviors. Do you see home owners that have
tried to resolve it and get themselves a little bit
(31:59):
over their head?
Speaker 6 (32:00):
Well of all types. Yes, and we're okay with that
to some extent, sure to do it. But being f
on a thirty foot ladder or forty foot ladder or
twenty five foot ladder trying to catch you know, squirrels
on a gutter, or or trying to get a raccoon out,
you know, you get you get a twenty pound raccoon
in a cage up on your roof and you're trying
(32:23):
to pull it off the roof and it's banging across,
you know, back and forth. You can lose your balance.
It's not safe. So you know, you got to have
somebody who can get up on a roof work the areas.
You know, you can always set a trap on the ground,
but you're never knowing if you're going to get the
right raccoon or the right squirrel. You're just catching things.
You want to solve the issue, not to catch all
(32:43):
the wildlife. But yeah, it's it's you know, it's dangerous.
You get them the attic, you find a lot of mess.
Raccoons will leave a horrible mess in an attic that
usually needs professional clean out. Their feces can be what's
a toxic but it has zoonotic disease issues with it
that you don't want to mess with, you don't, you know?
And so yeah, and and so those are the things
(33:05):
that you just kind of go up and you just
got to say, yep, no, beyond our skill set, and
it's time to call somebody.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
How about homeowner's insurance? We just soon and I just
reviewed all ours and really went through it, and I
asked that particular question quite honestly, because it's always there's
a fear there with animals getting into the attic and
expense and a lot of companies have different writers and
I guess some cover some don't. Correct, Yeah, they do.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
You got to read through it know what you're getting into.
The long ten fifteen to twenty years ago, many times
damage from wildlife issues usually were covered. No and more
now they're not. And they kind of put in the
language legally, is you know that they're going to exclude
all the damage caused by vermin, which basically is a
catch off phrase for anything that causes damage. It's an
(33:54):
animal is going to be a no go and you're
going to be responsible for So that's why the important
thing is to do the maintenance. It's a lot less
and expensive than actually making repairs in the future. You know,
an attic clean out can fix an attic insulation and
damage and contaminated and all that stuff could be you know,
five ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Sure, that's a lot of work.
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Yeah, you know where maybe h three hundred dollars repair
on a gutter right with us solve that issue.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, now I kind of close our eyes to some
of that maintenance issues. Ron Up, thanks so much for
joining us on real short notice. We'll try to have
you on again before the end of the year. We
always get you on in the winter when they all
start waking up and dog gone it. I'm sure you've
saved a lot of folks of money. I had a
caller today say she reached out and you gave her
some great information and I appreciate that too. She surely
(34:47):
did no problem.
Speaker 6 (34:49):
Happy to help anytime. Gary, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
You do the same. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
My friend take care, bye bye. It's an A plus
wildlife control out of the Cleveland Acron area. Great guy,
great cam and man does he know what he's talking about?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
All right, let's take it, raak. We'll come back get
some questions answered. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
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(37:00):
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(37:43):
at home with Gary Salvin again. A special thanks to
Ron Krueger from a one Pest Control for joining us
and talking about uh, well, wildlife that gets into our homes.
He said one really really well. He said a lot
of really important things, but one thing that was really
important that I always pay attention to. And I know,
folks that you know living in area, you got a
(38:04):
lot of pine trees and maple trees that are hanging
over the house, and squirrels are jumping from tree to tree.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Man, make sure you periodically invest in a tree company
to cut those branches back. Don't let those branches just
hang all over the house because that is a highway
for squirrels. And I know he always talks about it.
If you see squirrels running across the ridge of the house,
(38:32):
all the time, pay attention to what's going on, and
if you hear issues in an attic or in the wall,
get somebody in there to investigate.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
That the amount. And I think Ron always does just
a great job of explaining the amount of damage they
can do. And by the way, Ron, as I said,
he's in from the Cleveland acronym area. If you are
in other areas and you're going like, well, he's not
gonna be able to help me, that's true, that's true.
(39:07):
There is an association for Wildlife Control. It's nw CoA
dot com nw CoA dot com and they have a
list of qualify not only qualified but certified wildlife control specialist.
(39:28):
Do check that website and probably find somebody as competent
as run in your area, and probably not something we
should mess around with ourselves, all right. You can grab
a phone line there open. It's eight hundred eight two
three A two five five. Eight hundred eight two three
A two five five.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
If you're wondering about the type of clocking, you know
he's talking about softwag boards and different things. Obviously there's seams,
there's miter cuts where the facia boards meet. You go
through areas dry areas the shrink age it starts having
a crevice. Squirrels raccoons pull that board out and gain
entry quickly. Calking it is a really good idea. It's
(40:12):
a really first elementary one oh one wildlife proving your home.
And you would use an acrylic siliconized calking wood on wood,
fiberboard on fiberboard, same type materials, expansion rates pretty much
the same. It's paintable, it's easy to use, comes out
(40:35):
of the cocking gun nicely. That's what I'd recommend. Everybody
makes one DAP white lightning, you name it. If you
have mixed substrates metal of wood, wood to brick, you
can use that. Also if you're really looking for the
(40:57):
best adhesion and the best flexibility, a your thing colcking
not silicone, a eurothing cocking it is paintable. Silicone is
usually not. I say usually because they make a paintable silicon,
but it's very much a specialty product and you'll pay
(41:17):
for its specialty. So you had to calk up those
joints in doning nor sounds that are up in the
attic yesterday. I know I preached a lot. I could
tell by the emails I got. I preached a lot,
and this cold hasn't helped me preaching. But about getting
in the attic, there's so much we can learn.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
We talk so much about walking around the home and
then we address how to fix it, But in the attic,
same thing. You might be surprised what you find.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
I have a air handler up in the attic, and when
I get it serviced a couple times a year, just inspected.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
I always shudder what they're going to find. And I
always tell them, I say, while you're up there, just
kind of, you know, flashlight, just a glance around. There
are certainly things that occur. And those things that occur
can be insulation that has drifted from wind going through
(42:20):
your attic, that happens dead animals. Of course you can
find that. Luckily I have not. You can see if
animals have been there. But ask a fella or gal
or whoever's doing it. It's ever up in nanny. Just
kind of shine a flesh slight along. If you can't
(42:40):
get up in an attic, get somebody to do that.
Let them just check a couple things, like the depth
of your insulation, also making sure that it's not covering
soft inventing, making sure you can see light at the
perimeters of the house that you do have soft inventing,
(43:01):
but getting somebody up there and not do a heavy
duty inspection, but just an observation of the area would
be very very helpful and kind of let you know
what needs to be done. If you know, if you're
in the Midwest or the Northeast, and you see you
got four inches of insulation, that's not good enough. You're
(43:24):
probably in the area of fifteen, sixteen, maybe even eighteen
inches of insulation. And you can always add insulation on
top of installation. We can also talk about that. All right,
So we got Mary, Kim and Mike sit tight. We're
gonna break at the top of the hour, and I
promise I'll come back. We'll have a discussion with you
about your home projects. If you'd like to join us,
(43:46):
do so. It's eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. We'll continue with your calls. You're at Home
with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Solutions to your home improvement are as easy as calling
one eight hundred eighty two three talk. This is at
Home with Gary Sullivan.
Well the weekend. It is welcome aboard. You're at home
with Garriye Selvin. This hours brought to you by roto
Router and boy, I'll tell you what. If you've got
problems with clog drains or leaky faucets, make a little list.
Maybe you want a new toilet or a new sump pump.
You can just go right to rotoruter dot com. You
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can book the appointment right there, or you can give
them a call. Plus lots of great videos on do
it yourself projects all at rotrouter dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
You can certainly check them out and go accordingly see
how comfortable you feel like about tackling that project yourself.
We thank them for their sponsorship today. As we continue
through the weekend getting a few things done around the home.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Our phone number is eight hundred eighty two three eight
two five five.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We've kind of talked about warm weather projects and also
start talking about things you might want to be tackling
inside the home and colder days. And we've had a
couple of calls about mold today. I've also indicated a
couple of times that it's relatively dry where I am
(01:39):
and I saw in Tennessee. I saw in Arizona. More
deluge of rain. And you know, when you have lots
of rain and warmer temperatures and humidity inside our home,
mold is you know, it can become prevalent. And as
(02:01):
a person taught me a long time ago, and I
think this is very very true. If it smells like mold,
or it smells stagnant, there's a good chance you have mold.
And thank goodness, a number of years ago. Rear the contenter,
whether they still have them, the container stores, all the
plastic bins and everything.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Boy, that is just such the ticket. If you're storing
things in the basement area or in a cross space area,
don't use cardboard boxes. They just absorb water, vapor.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
They smell by themselves, and if they get wet or
even damp, mold can grow on that cardboard so easily.
So if you are storing anything in a basement or
get them elevated. Get the boxes elevated if you're gonna
(03:00):
use boxes. But I'd highly recommend, quite honestly, just using
plastic containers. And you hear when I talk about the.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Easy breathe, I know easy breathe right now, if you
buy an easy breath they're giving you two humidistats because
if you have that smell in that basement, or you're
running high humidity in the basement, an easy breathe isn't
going to take water out of the air. It's pulling
(03:31):
the air with the water outside. So it's helping you
control that.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And when you control it, it's not gonna smell. So
you might even look into that, and they're giving you
two umidistats, and it's a stair stepping Humidity is a
stair stepping issue in houses. So let's say, and it's
dry here, so I can't really use our house for
(04:01):
a good example, but let's say right now, and I
probably am running about forty eight percent humidity, and which
is good, and I go downstairs and it's seventy percent.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
That's not good, And.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
You would probably smell that basement t smell. And you know,
you got a choice of a deumidifier, and they're expensive
to operate, and those deumidifiers do not last long. And
this year I don't I don't think I ever turned
my deumidifier on, which is awesome. And humidity has been very,
(04:40):
very constant in the house. That's good. It's been comfortable,
but having too. You know, whether you buy an easy
breathe or not, that's really not the point. The point is,
if you're curious how healthy your home is, mention the
humidity levels. If you got good umidity on the first
(05:03):
floor and not so good on the basement, that's not
real healthy. And when that first cold snap hits, maybe
you turn on the furnace, you turn on a fan,
and you.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Blow all that stuff all over the house and we
shut down the windows and everything, and everybody gets sick,
or it tends to be that everybody gets sick. Oh,
it's just that first of fall cold. I got a
cold today, but windows are open, so there anyway, if
you've got a question regarding that, because I think humidity
(05:36):
plays in a role, and some of the smells that
we have in our home, in the pollution we have
in our home, and that same thing takes place in
cross spaces and a lot of things. People don't realize too,
whether you have an underground garage or a basement or
(05:59):
cross space, that water vapor that's coming through the walls
is driving that U minutey up. So one of the
neat things you can do is you can tighten your
basement up from a standpoint of water intrusion, even rate
on intrusion into the home. You've heard me talk about
a product called dry lock, and dry Lock has a
(06:20):
cementatious synthetic rubber paint which can be put on port,
concrete or block and it can hold back ten pounds
of square ten pounds per square inch of water, drastically
minimizing the water vapor that's coming through the wall, which
(06:40):
has been known to be you know, gallons and gallons
during the course of a day. And they make it
clear for the floor. If your floor is not covered
with something, obviously you can seal that floor. If you
got cracks in the floor. People got I got a
crack in the floor. Do I have to patch it? Now?
(07:03):
You don't have to, but water vapor, rate on, maybe
insects all could be coming through that crack. So yeah,
go ahead and seal it. You can get a jug
of crack seal it's like a milkshake and just self leveling.
Just kind of pour it over that crack, Let it
(07:24):
weep into that crack. Let it seal that crack, and
you know, you'll you'll tighten that up. You'll make that basement,
more healthy, certainly more livable, certainly less odor. So you
might want to put that on your list. All right,
(07:44):
our phone number eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. That's eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. Go ahead and join us if you would
talk about your home project. Maybe a question you have
as far as controlling the moisture we're putting in the air,
and we are all the time, whether it's baths or showers, cooking,
(08:11):
is those fans and especially in the kitchen. I'd like you,
if it's been a while or maybe never, taking that
filter out of where that fan is, whether it's an
you know, a down draft fan or an updraft fan,
there's a filter in there, usually made of aluminum. Get
(08:33):
that out and some down soap and a scrub rush
and clean that. Or a jaw's kitchen to grease or
that does great too, get that clean because if you
had we were talking about fire safety, if you had
a fire on the top of that stove, on the
stove top. I've seen a lot of fires that will
quickly catch that filter on fire above the stove and
(08:56):
at that point the way it goes as far as
a bathroom fan. Remember, it can only suck out wet,
foggy air, moisture in the air. It can only suck
it out and up and out of the house. If
it has air that can replace the air you're gonna
(09:18):
pull out. So here's a little assignment. Close the door
in the bathroom and see if there's a gap at
the bottom of that door. If there is no, you're
probably gonna run that fan and probably not evacuating that
air very much at all. A lot of times there
(09:40):
will be carpet are that door will be sliding on
the carpet. I mean, it's kind of sealed up. Unless
you crack a window and run that fan, or open
that door and run that fan, it's probably not effective.
So oh, how big of a gap? Oh, I don't know.
Just three coards of it and say or more, that
would be enough to pull air in and evacuate moisture
(10:02):
laden air out. All right. The phone numbers eight hundred
eight two three, eight, two five five Grab a line
You're at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Home Improvement one oh one with Gary Sullivan Every weekend.
Classes began at one eight hundred and eight two three
Tap You're at home with Gary Sullivan, Hey.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Gary Sullivan here for Zlar Pumps. Zalor's been keeping home
safe and DRYSIS nineteen thirty nine, and their passion for
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water protection system when installed by a factory certified installer.
To find your installer today, go to Zalor Pumps dot com. Well,
it's fall and that means smart homeowners are preparing their
homes for winter, especially they're plumbing. Hi this Scary Salvin
for Roto Router plumbing and water cleanup. I want you
to go outside, unscrew your garden hose and check those
(11:20):
outdoor fuscets for drips. Listen. If they're leaking now, they
could freeze and burst this winter, causing expensive water damage
and plumbing repairs. The time to fix dripping hose bibs
is right now. Call Rotor Router at one eight hundred
git Roto for fast, reliable plumbing service. Hey Gary Salvin
here another happy odor Exit comment. I bought the perfect
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use cars, except at rika a smoke smell. I scrubbed,
I sprayed, even left the windows open for days, and
nothing got rid of the smell. Then I found oto
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dot com, Amazon, Walmart, or your favorite retailer. All right
(12:51):
back at it we go at Home with Gary Sullivan
taking your calls at eight hundred eight two three A
two five five. Feel free to jump on board. Happy
to talk to you about your home project. And let's
go to Mark. Mark welcome.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
Yes, I've heard about Awesome, but I never got a
U felling for it. To look it up on awesome
dot com.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, it's a H H S O M A S
O M E O M E. We try to give
it out, but you're right.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I got tricked on that one time too, So well, I'll.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Give them a call and I appreciate the information.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Man.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
All right, very good Mark, Thanks, take care, bye bye.
If you're not familiar with what Awesome is, it is,
it's a really great product. It kills biofilm. What's biofilm? Biofilm?
If you had a bowl of jelly, not jelly, a
bowl of jello and it was black, that's what biofilm
(14:01):
looks like. And biofilm accumulates in closed plumbing systems, washer, dishwasher,
a garden, bathtub, hot tubs. And you will take this
and you will run it through the system like a
(14:22):
teaspoon or so for a washer, not much, and you
will not believe the gunk that comes out of there.
I used it the very first time I used it.
I found it on the internet, right a little bit
about it ordered some because I had a washer that
smelled bad and I used it, and dang did it
(14:46):
work good. In fact, it was kind of gross with
all the gunk it cleaned out of the pipes, to
be honest, and called the folks up there and learned
a little bit more about it, and they are now
a sponsor.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
But it's awesome, literally and it's ah h som me
dot com, Karen.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
Welcome, Hi Gary, thank you for taking my call. I
have a water system that I think has needs to
be replaced. It's been working great for me for about
twenty years, but I am getting information coming across my phone. Ads.
(15:29):
You know for these salt free water systems they install
in the home. Now, do you know anything about those?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I do? I do? I do. Let me ask you
one question. When you say your water software or your
water system. When you got that water software, what did
you buy it for?
Speaker 5 (15:51):
I have well water and I have a lot of iron. Okay, okay,
so you know, done a good job taking care.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Of that, yes, But also let.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Me add to this. I'm I'm elderly now pushing eighty
and carrying those salt eggs around. I know, not much
longer I'm going to want to do that.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah. Well, those particular systems they work well, but I
think sometimes the marketing isn't is. I hate to use
the word honest because then it sounds like a scam.
They're just different, they do different things. Okay, so we
know what a water softener does, right. It takes the
(16:35):
hard water and softens it by taking things out of
that water. So it makes our clothes feel better. It doesn't,
you know, it doesn't dry out our skin. It doesn't
allow for hard water accumulation on in pipes or showers
or and soft water feels different, it feels wetter. Okay,
(16:59):
so that's what a water softener does. Then these solt
free Yeah, that's what you call it. Let's use that word,
the salt free softeners. They don't really soften the water,
but they do. What they do is they charge the particles,
(17:20):
the hard particles in the water, which allows it to
pass through with it with a positive charge, so it
does not accumulate, so it's not really taking it out,
but it is putting it down the drain. So it
does help.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
With you know, not having an accumulation of hard water
deposits in pipe, on.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
The shower doors and on the walls. A lot of
people will get water softeners for that because those particles
are charged.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
And they go right down the drain. It doesn't really
feel like soft water. So if that's an issue, it
doesn't really do that much for the skin or clothing.
But as far as you know, not screwing up your
water heater or your dishwasher or dirty and shower doors.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It does that. It does that, so you know, it's
just a different way, and so it's different, but it's viable.
Some people swear to it, swear about it. Other people
go like, oh, I don't like as much as it's
the other. So I don't know how to answer. I
(18:32):
just try to explain to how they do it. But
it does keep those hard water deposits from accumulating in
plumbing systems and refrigerators and all that good stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Okay, Well that's a great tip, wonderful information. And I
just want you to know I've tried the product Jaws
and I love it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
That is good stuff, isn't it fantastic? That is good stuff.
I can tell you my wife was the first one
to say this stuff is really good, so thank you
appreciate it. Coming up ron Krueger from a one pest
control be my guest. I'll tell you all those little
(19:13):
cutters outside they're looking for a home for the winter time,
and don't let it be yours. That's next. You're at
home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at Home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well, I talk a lot lot about products that can
make your life easier, and I use and love ter
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So grab a bottle of Terra Mender. Halloween's right around
the corner. It's one product you gotta have around your home.
It's a must have for all your Halloween decoration repairs,
no so costumes, and fall crafts. Terra Menders available at
(20:21):
your local hardware store Amazon or find a store at
tear mender dot com and find more great make do
and men's solutions and ideas well. Here's an idea make
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picking up a can or two of Blaster Industrial Strengths
silicon lubricin. It's perfect for snowshovels and snowblowers to keep
snow from sticking and clogging. Use it on your car
(20:42):
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and Forget window and screen cleaner. As promised. Ron Krueger
(22:13):
from A Plus Wildlife Control would joining us today and Ron, welcome,
it's been four months.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
Welcome again, Happy Fall, Gary, Happy fall. Things changing, yes, thanks,
colors are changing, the temperature changing, and the behavior of
wildlife is changing too.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
And you know what that is the exact thought I
had this morning about six o'clock in the morning, Heaven breakfast,
and I thought, you know what, I got to call
Ron see if he's available today. So thanks a bunch.
I mean, you know, we got all kinds of wildlife
and uh it's they too are looking for a nice
place to winner over. I guess they certainly are.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
They certainly are We're finding lots of different things happening
right now. Yeah, with all this change a temperature, it
seems to come real quick this year, maybe even a
little early with the drought. Animals are changing their behaviors.
And right now we're starting to get the calls for
the scratching and the ceilings, the scratching in the walls,
the running around and scampering above your head, and all
(23:16):
these are indications that something's going on up.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
There, something you don't want to ignore. I will you know,
I'm not studying wildlife like you are. You're living it
every day. But the one thing I've noticed in my
wife and I've been talking about we have probably a
forty foot pinnoak in our backyard, and about two weeks
ago we started seeing the little clusters of leaves and
(23:41):
some pretty heavy squirrel activity underneath and in that oak tree.
And in the last week it's gotten ferocious. I mean,
I cut grass yesterday. I couldn't believe all the clusters
of leaves and little twigs that were coming out of
that oak tree.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
And sometimes that's just from fall, but a lot of
times the squirrels are actually making nests. They go out
to the very ends of the more succulent ends of
the tree, and they nip them off with their sharp teeth. Yeah,
and usually they keep them in their teeth and carry
them down or take them to where they're going to nest.
Sometimes they lose their grip and that falls to the ground.
And you'll see a lot of nipped ends of trees
(24:22):
at the end of summer early every fall.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, there's a bunch of them. And I'm starting to
see even some acorn shells and things like that. So
I don't know what do we do as homeowners. I'm
not worried about the leaves. I just want to make
sure those animals and those squirrels, and you can tell
me about the other animals and what they're showing. I
(24:44):
want to make sure they stay outside.
Speaker 6 (24:47):
Well, that's the important thing. We've talked many times over
the many years we've done this, and this is the
time right now while the weather is still decent, because
pretty soon it's not going to be fit for man
or beast outside. It's kind of too late to do
anything because workers can't get up there to work on slippery,
you know, wet and frosty roofs with snow and ice
(25:08):
on it. So now it's the time to look go
outside and walk around, takes ten minutes and just get
a good survey of your house. And what you're looking
for is gutters that are kind of tipps funky. Maybe
you've got some soffets that are pushed up or fall
and or missing pieces. Those are all indications that your
house is having issues and open to wildlife. It's like
(25:30):
an open invitation to wildlife. Sometimes the wildlfe's actually caused
the damage. So it's time to basically get up there,
have an inspection done, find out if there's wildlife activity,
and if there is, you set traps or professional stet
traps to remove the animals and to make the proper
repairs to You want your house as solid, rock solid
as you possibly can get, because you can't stop wildlife
(25:53):
from being around, but you can, sure, in the heck's
try to stop them from getting there.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Sure, sure, and gosh, I maybe you'll disagree with this statement,
but when you get wildlife in your home, maybe the
easy part's getting rid of it. But there's a mess
up there, there's a repair that needs to be made
of the house. I mean, it's a three step process.
Speaker 6 (26:15):
It is so the animal's gotta it's got to be identified.
You got you gotta find out. You got to monitor
to see, hey, is this an active area. Sometimes damage
is old and maybe not currently active. But if the
homeowner's hearing things scratching, thumping, bumping middle of the night,
waking you up, something's happening. So the animals. The process
is you got to monitor, get the animals trapped and removed,
(26:38):
monitor to make sure there's no further activity. And because
you know, the last thing you ever want to do
is find a hole or an opening and just willy
nilly go up and just seal it, right, because if
you just seal it, open soft it or a bad
part of the roof and fix it and you're not
sure if there's something living in there, really only bad
things can occur after that. You're potentially locked animal in
(27:00):
your attic. That's not a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Ron When they're in the attic and you hear them moving,
regardless of what it is you hear the movie are
they they're they're coming and going right, So I mean
there should be a lot of activity.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Yeah, animals, don't you just store a lot of food
in your in your attic now The only ones that
would do that is something like the red squirrel, the
pine squirrel. They're known to store I've been in attics
where they've the bays of the insulation area is just
packed full of walnuts and stuff like that. But they're
one of the few that do that. Everything else they
come and go a lot, and so. Yeah, so they're
using the house as a hardbridge to keep out of
(27:37):
the weather, and they've got that nice fluffy insulation up there.
While they're up there, you know, they're biological forces will
effect up there too. They're they're defecating and urinating and
doing things and also chewing and gnawing on things. We
just helped the lady up here in the Akron area
that she had a ton of squirrels, had them for
(27:57):
a long time getting through a ridge event. Believe it
or not, the ridgement had an open end and we
got in there. The squirrel droppings were just enormous in
the ceiling of this house and we got them out.
She was also complaining that her lights and fixtures stopped working,
and she got electrician and boy, what happened was from
(28:18):
a simple repair it turned into something major where they
had to start cutting into open ceilings because the squirrels
got into the inaccessible areas and chewed all the romans
wiring potential fire hazards. So they got it fixed in
time without an issue.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
And I'm sure you've seen it where they've chewed through
plastic piping water pipe.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
I had a customer where every time on the second
floor they would run the sink or flush a toilet,
it would flood downstairs. And what happened was is they
chewed a hole in the plastic PBC plastic pipe venting.
It was actually the vent stack, but it was in
where the water went when they flushed, and it made
(28:59):
a mess and they had to do some searching to
find it. They had to cut open a wall to
locate that, and they did. And yeah, so squirrels were
the main culprit for that. I've seen that quite a
few times.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
To be honest with you, is squirrel Is that the
number one animal? I mean, I know we'd need to
be concerned about all, but you run into squirrels more
than other animals this time of year.
Speaker 6 (29:20):
For roofs and addics, we typically get squirrels and raccoons.
Raccoons they're kind of like, you know, the behemoths, they
get up there. If they don't have a hole and
they want in, they'll actually make one. And actually squirrels
will do that too, they'll chew an on on punky
and old wood. The raccoons will go up to like
a dormer. The things to look at if you've got
a dormer in your house, where you got that softet
(29:42):
roof connection, that pinch point up there, It is the
weakest spot on a house for animal entry. I don't
care what it is. It could be mice, bats, squirrels, raccoons,
they all will utilize that gap in that spot because
the soappits are usually weakest there. And they'll a raccoon
literally get up there, just push they're strong, or pull
(30:03):
it out all together, right, And once they're in that soppet,
they have access to here. And that's so yeah, and
that's that's what we always look There's usually evidence. Do
you see muddy pawp prints going up and down your
you know there's there mud on your down spot? You know,
those are things we look for during an inspection.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
So yes, and and so really what a homeowner can do,
two things that come to mind. Number one is what
you said, take that walk around the house and really
pay attention to what's going on, even if you're on
the ground with a pair of binoculars. I guess if
you see squirrels hanging out around your ridge vent, you
definitely want to use your binoculars and see if there's
(30:45):
any damage. And I guess one of the biggest things
is if you hear, don't ignore it. It's not going
to go well.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Exactly. Usually what we hear this time of year, and
the only thing it could be too this time of
year is mice, mice or rolling in the houses left
and right. So we go into an inspection. We're hearing scratching,
or they're hearing scratching, they're hearing some scampering, and sometimes
we get there it's not maybe a wildlife issue, but
we determine hey, they got a mouse issue, and so
(31:16):
it could be everything. So take the time now to
seal your house, cocking, ceiling, replacing wood, doing anything you
can while the weather is good will save you a
lot of problems in the winter time.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Ron's businesses A plus wildlife control. You're an a accron
Cleveland area, and I.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Know there's people listening, says Oh my squirrels. I can
trap those. I'm not here just to sell ron services.
There's a reason. I mean, you know so much about
wildlife and behaviors. Do you see home owners that have
tried to resolve it and get themselves a little bit
(31:59):
over their head?
Speaker 6 (32:00):
Well of all types. Yes, and we're okay with that
to some extent, sure to do it. But being f
on a thirty foot ladder or forty foot ladder or
twenty five foot ladder trying to catch you know, squirrels
on a gutter, or or trying to get a raccoon out,
you know, you get you get a twenty pound raccoon
in a cage up on your roof and you're trying
(32:23):
to pull it off the roof and it's banging across,
you know, back and forth. You can lose your balance.
It's not safe. So you know, you got to have
somebody who can get up on a roof work the areas.
You know, you can always set a trap on the ground,
but you're never knowing if you're going to get the
right raccoon or the right squirrel. You're just catching things.
You want to solve the issue, not to catch all
(32:43):
the wildlife. But yeah, it's it's you know, it's dangerous.
You get them the attic, you find a lot of mess.
Raccoons will leave a horrible mess in an attic that
usually needs professional clean out. Their feces can be what's
a toxic but it has zoonotic disease issues with it
that you don't want to mess with, you don't, you know?
And so yeah, and and so those are the things
(33:05):
that you just kind of go up and you just
got to say, yep, no, beyond our skill set, and
it's time to call somebody.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
How about homeowner's insurance? We just soon and I just
reviewed all ours and really went through it, and I
asked that particular question quite honestly, because it's always there's
a fear there with animals getting into the attic and
expense and a lot of companies have different writers and
I guess some cover some don't. Correct, Yeah, they do.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
You got to read through it know what you're getting into.
The long ten fifteen to twenty years ago, many times
damage from wildlife issues usually were covered. No and more
now they're not. And they kind of put in the
language legally, is you know that they're going to exclude
all the damage caused by vermin, which basically is a
catch off phrase for anything that causes damage. It's an
(33:54):
animal is going to be a no go and you're
going to be responsible for So that's why the important
thing is to do the maintenance. It's a lot less
and expensive than actually making repairs in the future. You know,
an attic clean out can fix an attic insulation and
damage and contaminated and all that stuff could be you know,
five ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Sure, that's a lot of work.
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Yeah, you know where maybe h three hundred dollars repair
on a gutter right with us solve that issue.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, now I kind of close our eyes to some
of that maintenance issues. Ron Up, thanks so much for
joining us on real short notice. We'll try to have
you on again before the end of the year. We
always get you on in the winter when they all
start waking up and dog gone it. I'm sure you've
saved a lot of folks of money. I had a
caller today say she reached out and you gave her
some great information and I appreciate that too. She surely
(34:47):
did no problem.
Speaker 6 (34:49):
Happy to help anytime. Gary, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
You do the same. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
My friend take care, bye bye. It's an A plus
wildlife control out of the Cleveland Acron area. Great guy,
great cam and man does he know what he's talking about?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
All right, let's take it, raak. We'll come back get
some questions answered. You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
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(37:43):
at home with Gary Salvin again. A special thanks to
Ron Krueger from a one Pest Control for joining us
and talking about uh, well, wildlife that gets into our homes.
He said one really really well. He said a lot
of really important things, but one thing that was really
important that I always pay attention to. And I know,
folks that you know living in area, you got a
(38:04):
lot of pine trees and maple trees that are hanging
over the house, and squirrels are jumping from tree to tree.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Man, make sure you periodically invest in a tree company
to cut those branches back. Don't let those branches just
hang all over the house because that is a highway
for squirrels. And I know he always talks about it.
If you see squirrels running across the ridge of the house,
(38:32):
all the time, pay attention to what's going on, and
if you hear issues in an attic or in the wall,
get somebody in there to investigate.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
That the amount. And I think Ron always does just
a great job of explaining the amount of damage they
can do. And by the way, Ron, as I said,
he's in from the Cleveland acronym area. If you are
in other areas and you're going like, well, he's not
gonna be able to help me, that's true, that's true.
(39:07):
There is an association for Wildlife Control. It's nw CoA
dot com nw CoA dot com and they have a
list of qualify not only qualified but certified wildlife control specialist.
(39:28):
Do check that website and probably find somebody as competent
as run in your area, and probably not something we
should mess around with ourselves, all right. You can grab
a phone line there open. It's eight hundred eight two
three A two five five. Eight hundred eight two three
A two five five.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
If you're wondering about the type of clocking, you know
he's talking about softwag boards and different things. Obviously there's seams,
there's miter cuts where the facia boards meet. You go
through areas dry areas the shrink age it starts having
a crevice. Squirrels raccoons pull that board out and gain
entry quickly. Calking it is a really good idea. It's
(40:12):
a really first elementary one oh one wildlife proving your home.
And you would use an acrylic siliconized calking wood on wood,
fiberboard on fiberboard, same type materials, expansion rates pretty much
the same. It's paintable, it's easy to use, comes out
(40:35):
of the cocking gun nicely. That's what I'd recommend. Everybody
makes one DAP white lightning, you name it. If you
have mixed substrates metal of wood, wood to brick, you
can use that. Also if you're really looking for the
(40:57):
best adhesion and the best flexibility, a your thing colcking
not silicone, a eurothing cocking it is paintable. Silicone is
usually not. I say usually because they make a paintable silicon,
but it's very much a specialty product and you'll pay
(41:17):
for its specialty. So you had to calk up those
joints in doning nor sounds that are up in the
attic yesterday. I know I preached a lot. I could
tell by the emails I got. I preached a lot,
and this cold hasn't helped me preaching. But about getting
in the attic, there's so much we can learn.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
We talk so much about walking around the home and
then we address how to fix it, But in the attic,
same thing. You might be surprised what you find.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
I have a air handler up in the attic, and when
I get it serviced a couple times a year, just inspected.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
I always shudder what they're going to find. And I
always tell them, I say, while you're up there, just
kind of, you know, flashlight, just a glance around. There
are certainly things that occur. And those things that occur
can be insulation that has drifted from wind going through
(42:20):
your attic, that happens dead animals. Of course you can
find that. Luckily I have not. You can see if
animals have been there. But ask a fella or gal
or whoever's doing it. It's ever up in nanny. Just
kind of shine a flesh slight along. If you can't
(42:40):
get up in an attic, get somebody to do that.
Let them just check a couple things, like the depth
of your insulation, also making sure that it's not covering
soft inventing, making sure you can see light at the
perimeters of the house that you do have soft inventing,
(43:01):
but getting somebody up there and not do a heavy
duty inspection, but just an observation of the area would
be very very helpful and kind of let you know
what needs to be done. If you know, if you're
in the Midwest or the Northeast, and you see you
got four inches of insulation, that's not good enough. You're
(43:24):
probably in the area of fifteen, sixteen, maybe even eighteen
inches of insulation. And you can always add insulation on
top of installation. We can also talk about that. All right,
So we got Mary, Kim and Mike sit tight. We're
gonna break at the top of the hour, and I
promise I'll come back. We'll have a discussion with you
about your home projects. If you'd like to join us,
(43:46):
do so. It's eight hundred eight two three eight two
five five. We'll continue with your calls. You're at Home
with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Solutions to your home improvement are as easy as calling
one eight hundred eighty two three talk. This is at
Home with Gary Sullivan.
At Home with Gary Sullivan News
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