September 6, 2025 • 40 mins
Gary takes your calls. We also hear from our friends at 3 Day Kitchen and Bath.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, the best time of the day. I get to say,
good afternoon. Welcome now number four. You're at home with
Gary Sullivan. The sun's out, a little breeze out there,
and a great day for getting a few things done
around the home. I don't know, I found myself this
year even procrastinating a little bit more than I normally do.
Wait a minute, you yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes I get
(00:20):
a little too crazy. I just tackle too many projects
this year kind of I don't know, just I think
the weather was kind of just didn't have me fired
up to any boy, I understand. All right, let's get
back to the phones. By the way, if you'd like
to join us, it's eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five and Robert welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, Gary, thanks for taking by call. I have a
toilet problem. Black ring. Black ring forms on the top
of the water level in the toilet. I noticed I
cleaned underneath the rim, which was black. Okay, I cleaned that,
and then later on down the road it comes back.
(01:03):
Is there anything that I could do to prevent that
ring developing underneath the rim?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, sometimes what I have found is the rubber components
inside the closet of the toilet is just beginning to decay. Now,
some people say it's the magnesium count in the water.
But if you got like a rubber float or a
rubber ball or a rubber flapper, which we all have
(01:32):
one of those in that toilet, especially older toilets, you
might just you know, shut off the water kind of
grab that and see if you get a black film
on your hand. I'm gonna guess you probably will, and
if that's the case, I would replace, you know, that flapper.
You can also check the washes around the bolts that
(01:55):
hold the tank to the toilet, but I think that's
what is. It's just that that rubber is just degrading
and as you're flushing, it's going in the holes around
the rim of the toilet. It's just staining that porcelain,
which can be removed. Did you have any trouble removing that.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Or the porcelain? No, No, I hadn't. I just put
some of the bathroom cleaner on it. Now, you and
a brush to clean and then the underneath of the rim.
What I did. I used that, uh the sandpaper pad,
and I cleaned that with it and came off real good.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay, okay, And that was the kind of pad that
breaks down real easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, all right, yeah,
you'll be fine. I would do that though, you know,
just check the flapper of the ball, any rubber components
inside that tank, and if again, if you touch them
(02:56):
or rub them real tight and you get a little
film on your hand, I'd go ahead and replace that component.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah. I'm surprised because that the toilet is maybe two
years old.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh really, I thought you're gonna tell me it was
an older one. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, no, it sits about two years old, two and
a half someplace in that area.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, and never had the problem in the past. No, Well,
reacting to some Well, do my little test. Let's just see.
I mean, I don't have the information on the magnesium
in the water that's reacting to something. If you want
to go ahead and try and follow that path and
(03:38):
look that up, that that maybe I don't know, do
you got a water softener at all?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
No?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Okay, so I guess that could be a possibility, but
I personally would probably check the rubber components inside that tank,
just double check.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I thought I could buy some of those cakes you
know that you put in the.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, you can try. They're tough. They're tough on the
rubber components inside the toilet. To be honest with you, Okay,
so I.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
There that that attached to the rim.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Uh. Well, as you can tell, I don't really have
an answer outside of just cleaning it. And I'm not
a big fan of those cleaners. But I mean, if
you want to go ahead and try it, you know,
go ahead. I don't know that it's going to help,
and I don't really know if it's gonna do any
I know they're tough on rubber components, so I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Okay, Gary, thank you for your info.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Very You're quite welcome. Thank you, bye bye. You know,
one thing on the inside of the toilet bowl often
is what we get is mineral deposits and and I
don't know what it is. I can't see it. Mold,
bacteria build up U And again I remember years and
(05:04):
years ago my dad had this problem. And what is
going on here? I said, I guarantee it's probably your
old flapper inside that toilet. Now he's got a newer toilet,
so I kind of get that maybe that's not it.
But man, we turn off that water, we flush that toilet,
We grabbed that thing and it was like a ball
black grease. I mean, it wasn't just a little bit.
It was in a big state of the decay. But
(05:26):
it's a possibility that's causing that stain. And by the way,
and the inside the toilet, I found this out too.
Barkeeper's friend does a good job of cleaning. That's why
they asked if he had got that cleaned off. And
what he was talking about that that brick to clean
it off. Yeah, yeah, that works too. That Jaw's Cream
(05:46):
cleanser does a tremendous job on that on that stain
on the toilet. So just throwing that out there, that's
probably the easiest thing I've ever used for that particular problem. Dennis, Welcome,
good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, sir, I'm in Cleveland, Ohio. I had a driveway
tore out about three years ago and replacing in an
asphalt driveway.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, And I'm getting.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
From you know, vehicles driving up and down and I'm
getting cracks all up and down it. So something I
should be putting inside of.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That inside, oh inside, How long ago did you had
this asphalt put in?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
About three years ago?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Three years ago. It's a little concerning, do you know
what kind of base they used on that or do
you remember how they I mean, all things cracked, but
it just seems like three years. It's kind of kind
of bothered by that.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well they put about three inches of like a filler,
m okay, and then then about four inches of an asphalt.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Well, that's more than enough. That's that. That's that sounds
like a great job, to be honest with you, Mike.
So are they just hairline cracks?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, so you there. There is a filler. I talk
about the crack and seal product for concrete. They make
a crack and seal product for asphalt too. It's black
probably the same stuff. It's a latex crack filler. Pretty
Much any concrete or asphalt product line, including the Blackjack
(07:28):
products that I talk about. A lot has a crack filler.
It's a viscosity of probably like a nice milkshake. It's
a court jug. It's got a spout on it, and
literally just make sure it's clean and use that as
your filler. Right, But it sounds like, no, you won't
even it won't. It'll be self leveling. It's like I
(07:51):
said about the consistency of a milkshake, So it will
self level out.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Okay, so I set up the still inside the go
into the crack.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Right right right, it'll weep into the crack and then
just kind of level out once it fills out. I mean,
it's a good product. I was just a little concern
that you're going to tell me they put an inch
of stone in there and then an inch and a
half asphalt, because uh oh, yeah, it sounds like it's
it's you know, I mean, things don't crack unless they're moving.
(08:22):
Concrete shrinks, so concrete is guaranteed to crack. Asphalt not
as much unless there's a problem with the base. But
keep an eye on it. But keep it filled too.
With that.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Like shocking. So we got a ups drive almost every
single day coming up down the driveway.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Well, that could be your problem, to be honest with you.
You know, like concrete, I mean the apron of that
concrete is usually like six thousand psi. Your driveway is
usually four thousand psi. And you know, I'm guessing and
I'm guessing that that driveway is not to those standards.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Gotcha. Okay, one more quick question for you. Sure, friend
of mine's doing a bar inside the house and he
wants me to put a wood top on it. Should
I use like a marine varnish on top of that
for stealer.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, well it wouldn't have to be a marine. You
could use a poly euthane inside. I'd probably do two
or three codes. It's alcohol resistant, there's no you know,
it's not outside, so we don't have to worry about
the UV rays. But you know, a poly yourthane will
be fine on that. Just give it two or three codes,
preferably three.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right, Okay, all right, that's it, Gary, thank you, all right.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Thank you, my friend, take care of have a good weekend,
and we'll continue with your calls. Mike, you'll be up next,
and you're at home with Gary Salvan right here, fifty
five K see the tux all right? Back in it
we go in twelve twenty. It is on your weekend.
Hope you're having a good one. A few things done
around the home, and let's go to Mike. Mike, welcome, Yeah,
(10:06):
how are you doing fine?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Thanks? I've got a lawn more.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
I pushed one. It doesn't have an engine. You just
push it and the blades are horizontal and turn vertically,
you know, around in a circle. But I guess they're
dull and they won't cut. And I was told that
(10:34):
you have to have a special shop with a special
tool sharpened the blades. But the closest place that does
that is one hundred and twenty miles away, and they're
kind of expensive. So do you know have a way
to sharpen them at home?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I don't. I don't. My background, Mike, is quite honestly,
it's in the hardware business. And as soon as you
were talking about the manual push mower, I'm thinking, boy,
that's a specialty thing. I remember people coming in and
we even had a pretty big sharpening department where we
sharpened everything. We didn't have the mechanism to actually sharpen those,
(11:13):
so I really, you know, it's it's a kind of
an art form, I think, to sharpen those. So I
really really can't help you with that. I don't know.
You call all the hardware stores in the area, and
maybe lawn shops just to make sure that was the
only place you could take it to.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Well, I didn't call all of them, but I.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Used to. I used a regular file metal file and
that didn't work.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Yeah, well, it's even hard to get to it takes
a special apparatus to really sharpen those things. I do
remember is it was quite a specially and of course
push mowers you know now they're just not that common. No,
I have to admit an Ambud's ever used one is
probably the best mower you can buy in terms of
(12:07):
a true cut, but you do have to keep him
sharp and there isn't many people that sharpen them. So
sorry I couldn't help you. It might be worth the trip, though,
if that's the direction you want to still maintain. And
I get it, but I think I think I would
take advantage of somebody that can do it rather than
(12:28):
try and do it yourself. I think the jake you
need is beyond just purchasing that and then getting it done.
All right, if you'd like to join us, you can.
I have a guest, Sam Tidwell. You may be familiar
with him, and he is the owner of a company
called Three Day Kitchen in Bath. And of course we
(12:51):
always want to say, can you really can you really
redo a kitchen in three days? And yes you can,
but you got to be organized and we'll take you
through the whole process because I think it's just a
great answer. Whether you have a family that's all residing
(13:12):
in the same house, or you just want to get
it and you want to get it done and you
don't want to have a contractor in that house for
you know, six or eight weeks. You know, we're doing
a little bit of work here and then this thing's
back ordered or we got to change here. I mean
that job starts when he's got everything. Anyway, it's a
great business concept. And we'll be talking to Sam at
(13:37):
the bottom of the hour. And I know a lot
of people and even if you are just starting to
plan for maybe a kitchen remodel, this might be something
you want to just take a listen to because there's
a lot of things to consider for that particular project.
It's a big project, a big part of your house.
That'll be in about seven minutes. In the meantime, Teresa.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
Welcome, Thank you for taking my call. We recently cut
down a very very large locust tree maybe last fall
or early spring, and now we have a yard full
of little locust trees coming up. Oh yeah, coming up
(14:20):
under our barn porch between the wood.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
That's what locust trees do.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
I did not know.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
That I got a big old locust tree in mine too,
and you know, they grow fast and they're kind of
you know, they drop those bracts of leaves and everything else.
But there are certain trees, and you can certainly check
with my buddy Ron Wilson and get his perspective on landscaping.
But they're in a survival mode. Okay, you cut the
(14:48):
tree down, and you know how big those roots are
in those locust trees, and they spread out probably twenty
five feet in every direction. They raise above the ground
and they're scarfing nutrients out of the soil and they're
pushing they're surviving. The roots are alive, so they're surviving
(15:09):
and they're pushing up gross. So you know, the only
way I know to I mean, you can certainly keep
spraying them with you know, different type of vegetation killers.
But I had a I had a oh, what the
heck Aristocrat pair in the backyard. Actually it's a Cleveland pair.
I cut it down. I did not ground the stump out,
(15:33):
so that might be something that would help you. They did. Yeah,
so the roots still alive and and it'll just keep
pushing up and pushing up. So it's either just keep
trying to kill the I mean, this might take five years.
All right, I'm not telling you it's gonna go away. Yeah. Yeah,
(15:55):
So you're either gonna your choices are you're either gonna
keep spraying a vegetation killer and just keep killing them
because you don't want when they when they push up
a survivor, they're getting nutrients from you know, the sun,
they're they're you know, they're they're living. They're living until
(16:16):
you chop those roots out, and that's a big job
or spray stuff. It's just going to keep pushing, pushing
those survivors up.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Okay, but you don't do you know a product that
would be good for that, because I want to kill
them bad.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well. Yeah, and there's different types of round up. Now
we all heard the stories and of of you know
what round up that's been reformulating different things. But that
vegetation killer is what you're gonna need, okay, okay, and uh,
you know you're gonna spray it, and you know you're
(16:53):
probably gonna get some on the grass. It'll kill the
grass too, So you know you want to really pinpoint it,
it's probably right at the top of those roots. It's
you know, it is what it is. As they like
to say, you got roots in there that are alive
and they're trying to survive, so they send up volunteers
to get the nutrients and at your job to either
(17:15):
chop them off, cut them up, you know, whatever you
need to do and starve them out is basically what
you're going to do.
Speaker 6 (17:23):
All right, Thank you so much. I appreciate your program.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
All right, thank you, take care and I'll tell you what.
Let's take a break, and like I said, we're going
to talk about remodeling and a big project and remodeling
a kitchen or a bath. But boy, what a home
changer that is. And there's hard ways to do it,
(17:50):
and there's some easy ways to do it. Sam Tidwell,
in my opinion, does it the easier way and a
whole lot more maybe not more expensive at all. So
we'll learn about that. That's next. You're at home with
Gary Salvin right here in fifty five care see the
talk station. All right, The big question today is do
you have any projects set aside? Maybe not, well, maybe
(18:12):
for this fall, maybe winter, maybe next spring. Have you
started researching, say, redoing a kitchen that requires a little
bit of thought, maybe even a budget kind of what
you want to do, or what your dream is or
how big you want it to be. Well, joining us
now is Sam Tidwell. He is with three day kitchen
in bath. He's going to help us with all those questions. Sam,
(18:35):
how are you?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
I'm doing well, Garrett, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Oh, you're quite welcome. You're quite welcome. House business and
people investing in their homes. Is it a little slow
or where do we stand?
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Yeah? No, business has been good.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
We continue to help people who you know, got a
project or a room there, tick of and ready to redo,
and we love to help them with it.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah. I feel the same thing. I think. You know,
real estate, we've all heard the stories kind of sluggish,
you know, or you know, the supply, the inventory isn't there,
and people reinvesting in their home and that's right down
your alley. So I guess the one thing we got
to get this right away? Can you really do a
kitchen and bath in three days?
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (19:25):
It's funny. I get that question a lot and over.
You know, we've been at this here in Cincinnati for
almost ten years. Wow, and it just feels normal at
this point when we look in a job. That's how
we're going to do it, but I you know, I
can understand, you know, the averaging. You know, a kitchen
model can go on for months and months, so a
little bit of a unique approach, but the answer, yes,
(19:47):
we absolutely can do that.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah, folks. And by the way, Sam's business the three
Day Kitchen in Bath. This isn't just painting your cabinets
or doing acrylic overlay for your bet of I mean
doing kind of give us an example of the range
of work you can do and redoing a kitchen. I
mean there's somethings is extensive in some things maybe just
(20:14):
here and there, so talk to me about that.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Yeah. So I mean I can at least just give
you an example. Just recently, we did a remodel over
on the east side of town and it was a
kitchen and they were just like, you know, this kitchen
is thirty years old and we want to update it.
And what we even ended up doing was kind of
taking out a closet and redoing the layouts, cabinets, counters,
(20:39):
paint backsplash lighting, everything was new. And that's kind of
within our normal thing that there are a lot of
companies who can reface and do good job painting and
that's all well and good. It's just not what we're
typically doing. The same thing with bathrooms, you know, if
we're just basically emptying the room, redesigning it, going in
with everything new, that's that's usually what we were good at.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
You bring up a great point too, because people live
different lifestyles than they did twenty years ago, ten years ago,
fifty years ago. And some of these houses, you know,
they were built in the twenties, thirties, forties, so there
are different space demands. I was just reading an article, Sam,
and it was talking about the newer homeowner or the
(21:26):
newer remodeler is not all crazy about dishwashers. And I thought, what,
I can't believe that. And it was an article basically
saying because of the energy efficiency in dishwashers and you
have a decent sized family, that it's not fast enough.
It fills up and then it takes three years or
(21:48):
three years three hours to clean, you know, all the dishes.
And that doesn't fit in my lifestyle. And I've known
people that have remodeled and put in two dishes washers
so that it does fit their lifestyle. So we really
do live differently in our spaces. And that's something you
can help with people with because you work on the
(22:11):
design and everything correct.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Yeah, Yeah, that's exactly right. And that's reminding me. I
met a couple just last week and it's very similar
to this. They built their house thirty years ago, and
but their life has changed quite a bit, and you know,
they're like, well, we want to have it this way
for when our kids come in to visit, and we're
not now we're planning to not move. We decided we're
(22:35):
going to spend the rest of our lives probably in
this house. So you know, now they're thinking about the
house differently, and it makes sense to redo some things
from when they originally built it.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, and especially you know, if you want more space
as a gathering space. I know our kitchen when we
built the house twenty five years ago, that was really important.
I'm not going to shrink my kitchen. I love it
when family comes visits. But if we can enlarge that area,
(23:06):
that seems like what a lot of people are looking at.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yeah, and you know one thing that I see just
with these big projects, whether you're redoing a kitchen or
a bathroom, like it's a big project, so you really
want to know ahead of time that you're going to
be happy with the final result. So I just really
think it's worth some time in that planning stage of
going through you know, pictures of examples of projects that
(23:33):
you like or what's been done kind of in your
style of house before and drawing up some plans and options,
because you know, you just want to be feel good
that if you're going to go through the expense and
going to go through the inconvenience of it, that it's
going to be worth it in the end, right.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
And as a homeowner, you got to take responsibility. You
got to do your homework. If you were to coach
a potential client, you haven't met this person yet, you
haven't seen their house, you haven't seen their kitchen, what
kind of things you know, what's the top three four
(24:11):
things that you tell them? Like, think about this before
I come and we sit down and we start designing,
and what do you tell them?
Speaker 4 (24:21):
So sometimes I've met Gary, I've come and met people
who have just recently purchased their house, and then a
lot of times I will be talking to them about
what they're thinking about for redoing the kitchen, and a
lot of times I end up saying, you know what,
maybe it's better to wait six months or a year
and just live with this thing and find out what
really is annoying about it.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
But because once you've been in your house, you know,
a lot of people don't remodel. So they've lived in
their house for fifteen twenty plus years, they know, right
they they are sick of going to the basement for
their U what her instant pot or the hired that
the bathroom is just I can't send another in there
when they come over, I can't get a clean They
know exactly what needs to happen, sure, And that's really
(25:05):
where it's fun to work for somebody because you really
solve them the.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Problem well, Sam, And there's also so many materials and
so many ideas. So once you kind of coach the
potential client and you have your first meeting, h walk
me through that process.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah. So, I mean, typically for us, if somebody calls
with the project like this that they want, or at
least they're exploring redoing one of their bathrooms or you know,
we'll go out and meet with them. I still do that.
I still meet with people and we'll just kind of
try to get from them, like what do you have
in mind already and what's kind of your ideas. Of
(25:47):
course you have to talk about budget. Unfortunately it's always uncomfortable,
but we have to talk about like what are they
trying to accomplish? And then usually what's pretty helpful is
to just go through some examples. Here's another bathroom we
did similar to yours. Here's what they wanted. And like
you're saying, there's so many different materials and there's always
(26:08):
new suppliters of things coming out that we're keeping up
with on our end that we can come and say, look, people,
you know, I keep getting complaints about grout lines or whatever,
and here's something we're using, and that seems to be
pretty helpful for people.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Boy, even when you think about all the different types
of countertops are available now, the different types of lighting.
You mentioned flooring that there's incredible differences in floorings. We
haven't even touched the cabnetry. So you're kind of the designer,
the coach, the facilitator, and you're going to execute the plan.
So it is kind of nice doing the whole one
(26:46):
stop shop.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Yeah, and I will say, you know, some people, the
biggest that I've met with Ben worked for the biggest
holdback for them to doing a big project. It's just
that it's a little bit overwhelming because you have to
decide so many things about do I take this wall
out or do I not? Will this look good if
I add this pantry, or will these colors? Will these
(27:10):
woods mixed together? So a lot of times that's the
most valuable thing we can do for somebody. It's just
helped them get through that design part of it, so
they're confident that they're making something that is sitting their style,
if it's a classic, timeless or more modern or more rustic,
or whatever it is that they're going for.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
So this is the most important part of the remodeling
process is having this type of communication. So once you
get their ideas, you put it on paper at some
point or on a computer at some point, and then
you visit again.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Yeah. Yeah, that's usually what we will do. If we
are basically headed towards doing a project for somebody, we
will get all of the Like I'll give an example.
We just did a job a couple months ago up
in the north side of town, and it was a
big job. It was a kitchen, it was the whole
first floor. Actually they had a few two bathrooms, and
(28:14):
we know we got all that drawn into the computer
and came out and showed them each room and then
got their input it Okay, well let's change this. And
it's a little bit of back and forth there so
that we could see ahead of time. Okay, here's how
we're gonna do this. There's no misunderstandings, and everybody loves
(28:35):
the plan that we're looking at.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
So when the plan is this has kind of been
talk in ideas and agreements, but when it comes to
choosing the materials, they're gonna do that, right, I mean,
because you don't know whether you may have suggested that
this is the kind of flooring, but there's different colors
(28:58):
and flooring. How does that take place?
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (29:02):
So what we do for that A lot of times
when we've met with somebody, they've already done some homework.
They may have gone to a few showrooms or stores
or just looked online at pictures of kind of what
they like. But when it's time to actually make the decisions,
we have a kind of a mobile showroom deal that
we bring out to our house, and so we just
(29:24):
have collected all sorts of suppliers from around the US
of the cabinets and flooring, encounters and everything, and we
just got it all in one place. So we bring
it there, go out in the driveway, you know, spend
an hour or whatever it takes, and just go through
the list. Okay, here's our cabinet, there's our floor, here's
our counter. Take all, take them all inside, you know,
(29:46):
go back if okay, change that one. Make sure that
we've got something that they're going to be happy with.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
And I'm sure there's somebody that's going to say I
want something different. Yeah, yeah, probably that's gonna happen, whether
it's a faucet, whether it's a cabinet, whether it's flooring
in how do you treat that? But I'd love the
whole concept of bringing the showroom to the customer. I mean, yeah, that's.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
The goal, is to make it easier and less overwhelming. Yeah,
like you're saying, the most important thing is that they
are happy with the final product, right, that's from everything. Sure,
So if we have to make another trip or find
another tile or whatever it is, we will do it.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Good for you, Good for you. All right, let's take
a break. We'll come by and now we'll have to
get the nitty gritty. The name of the company is
three Day Kitchen and Bass. So we've had all the
or not we but Sam has had all these conversations
with the potential or with the homeowner regarding to Bath,
(30:49):
regarding the kitchen, remodeling, the remodeling project. And folks, if
you've ever went through one of these jobs, not with
three Day Kitchen and Bath but a basic contractor you
might be living with a for twelve weeks. So we're
going to see how Sam actually pulls off the magic
that's coming up next. You're at home with Gary Salvan
right here in fifty five care see de talk station.
(31:12):
All right, back to my interview Sam Tidwell through Day
Kitchen in Bath. All right, we've talked about it. We
got all the planning, we got all the scoop, we
got all the drawings, they got the money, you got
the workers. Let's get to work. How do we do
it in three days?
Speaker 4 (31:28):
Yep? So that's kind of part of the part of
the deal is how do we take a big project
and shrink it down enough to you know, just efficiency wise,
get it done quickly. So, I mean honestly, so before
I run this business. I was just doing traditional remodels,
and so I would do kitchens and bathrooms and basements
(31:49):
and additions and all sorts of things, and everything took
two or three months, absolutely, And one of the problems was, like,
you've started the job, but we haven't quite made that
final color selection on which white are going to use
on the cabinets or exactly how this corner is going
to work out. And so the problem was, you know,
(32:13):
you've started the job, you've done your demo, and then
the electrician has started in there, and then you finally
figure that detail out, you order your cabinets, Okay, we'll
be back in six weeks when those come, and so
there just ends up being all these gaps of waiting.
You know, it's not really like there's two or three
months of constant work, right Whereas so when we're planning.
(32:36):
Part of the reason we can do these jobs in
just a few days is because once we've got through
the planning, we have decided everything. And that's part of
what the customer basically helps make this possible because they
go through all the decisions with us, and if they
give us the thumbs up, yep, we're good. Let's do it.
Then we literally go and build every cabinet ahead of time,
(32:59):
order all this slight where all the materials, get them
set up in our shop so that by the time
it comes to actually do the work, there are not
any of those delays.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
So you're getting all the legos and then you show
up at the house.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, and we do you know the
other thing too. Of course, we're scheduling our team, we're
setting up like we just did a kitchen and I
think it was like two months ago, and basically we
just said, hey, we would like to come and work late.
Would you please, pretty please let us put you up
(33:36):
for a few nights. And they were like sure.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I mean they even just went, oh yeah, get out
this house for sure.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Yeah, Because we told them we're like, look, the dumpster's
going to be here, your your driveway is going to
be full of trucks and trailer and we're going to
be here at least twelve hours every day and it's
going to be a mess. And they were like totally
fine to have about it. So we did. And of
course a lot of people like to still come visit.
They'll come by and check and take progress. Picture or
(34:03):
something like that. But what that lets us do is,
you know, get everybody scheduled in right work you've long hours,
we need to and I mean it works.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
So the magic sauce is your ability to plan and design,
because that's the time consuming part assembly seems you got
that refined. You know exactly what you're going to do.
You're not going to call a customer at eight o'clock
on Thursday morning and say, oh, by the way, we're
(34:34):
not going to be there tomorrow and the next day
because such and such. You know, this particular material isn't
coming in, so you don't see a worker for five days.
You don't have those issues.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Yeah, we we don't because we have only one crew,
so we only do one job at a time. So
we're really not the world's biggest business, right and we
have this all kind of planned out ahead of time.
And really this it kind of only works if the
customer lets us do it that way, right. We are
willing to make those decisions ahead of time, right and
(35:08):
willing to. But then if they are, it works because
everybody's pre scheduled we come in. I mean we've been
at this, like I said, for almost ten years.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Ten years and you've learned along the way too.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
Three hundred remodels or whatever it is, and we're doing them.
We're doing them on time, we're doing them when we
say we're going to do them. And as much as
I hate to brag about our own, guys like these
guys are amazing and we're just thrilled with what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Well. It intrigued me when I first met you, Sam,
and I love that it's been a successful business and
it certainly fills a nice need because this day and age,
we all want it now, and if you can plan ahead,
you can have it now. I mean that that is
always the key. It's always been the key in construction too,
(35:58):
is the ability to communicate with your contractor. And you're
just doing it in one big old classroom setting before
we start swinging the hammer. So congratulations on that. What
you do Northern Kentucky. Also you do southern Ohio. Northern Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
Yep, we're just a little bit of the eastern Indiana
Ohio here, southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky. That around the
loop kind of thing. Maybe maybe like you know, thirty
miles forty miles out of maybe something like that it's
pretty normal.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
That's awesome. So where are we in projects?
Speaker 4 (36:33):
How?
Speaker 1 (36:34):
When when do we book? How long does that particular
process takes you? You're doing one remodel at a time,
which I respect and I love that concept and don't
get too big. You kind of lose handle on that sometimes.
So I love that whole idea. So how far out
should we be looking so.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
One thing with I mean, sometimes that depends on products,
so certain cabinets take longer to make like that, and
then sometimes it will depend on just how many things
we have scheduled. But because our jobs are usually you know,
done within a Monday through Friday, we don't ever get
too far out. But like even now, I think we're
(37:15):
already doing We're trying to get things in before the
holidays right now, we're trying to get some stuff in
November there, but pretty soon here it's going to just
be planned for next year.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Yeah, I agree. I've been actually I've been preaching that
for probably the last six weeks, mainly for outside work,
nothing to do with your company, but I was going, like,
with all the weather changes we've had this year, you know,
things just don't you know, there's got to be a
waiting time in the better you are, the usually the
longer the wait time. So I respected you'll try to
(37:47):
get it in the holidays, but we'll see. We'll see
what your requirements are and what products are. But it
doesn't hurt to make the phone call and start talking though.
We can always do that.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
Yeah, yeah, you can always. Yeah, because you don't really
want to rush any of the planning. Make sure you're
making good decisions.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
On that too. Take your time. You're going to live
with this for a while, so not the not the
execution of the plan, but you're going to live with
this kitchen that you're creating, and uh.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Exciting thing. You know a lot of people we work
for they've been thinking about this remodel for you know,
however long, and then finally at the place where the
time has worked out or they can finally do it,
and you know, let's let's make it something that they
really are And.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Once you got that design in your hand, man, as
a home owner, you're like, come on, let's go, let's go.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Once we get job scheduled, it's like, gosh,
can we just get this yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Yeah, here. You but you've been at for a long time,
you understand. So folks, by the way, it's the number
three day Kitchen dot com and of course they do
best too, but it's the number three day Kitchen dot com.
You can learn them more information there and can they
call you also, Sam, and kind of get the ball rolling.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
Yep, they can call us seven days a week. Our
phone numbers five one, three, two two nine eight eight
two nine. And then, like you mentioned the website, three
Day Kitchen dot Com, if they send us a message,
me and the other owner Michael will get it and
we will call them and see if we can help
(39:26):
them with their project.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Sam. It sounds great. Thank you so much for joining
us today. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
I appreciate you having me Gary.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
All right, take care, Sam, Sam tidwell, Three Day Kitchen
and Bath again, it's number three Day Kitchen dot com. Well,
I'll tell you what has been a great and a
busy day. I will tell you what the broadcast will
be tomorrow. We will be going to the Indianapolis Convention
Center for the Do It Best Hardware Show and we'll
(39:56):
be in the booth at Dumont Global. You've heard me
talking about their they're smart strip products and they're a
do it Best retailer. It's available there. It's available as
Sherwan Williams will be in the Dumont Global Booth and
they'll be demonstrations and we'll be doing interviews on all
kinds of things. I don't even know yet because we're
(40:17):
gonna be heading up there and talking to some folks
and we'll be looking at talking to some folks that
have products that can really make our projects go a
little bit easier. So that's tomorrow show, all three hours.
Looking forward to that. Danny Boy is usual, great job,
good Lord Willing. We'll both be back tomorrow for more
At Home with Gary Sullivan
Well, the best time of the day. I get to say,
good afternoon. Welcome now number four. You're at home with
Gary Sullivan. The sun's out, a little breeze out there,
and a great day for getting a few things done
around the home. I don't know, I found myself this
year even procrastinating a little bit more than I normally do.
Wait a minute, you yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes I get
(00:20):
a little too crazy. I just tackle too many projects
this year kind of I don't know, just I think
the weather was kind of just didn't have me fired
up to any boy, I understand. All right, let's get
back to the phones. By the way, if you'd like
to join us, it's eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five and Robert welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, Gary, thanks for taking by call. I have a
toilet problem. Black ring. Black ring forms on the top
of the water level in the toilet. I noticed I
cleaned underneath the rim, which was black. Okay, I cleaned that,
and then later on down the road it comes back.
(01:03):
Is there anything that I could do to prevent that
ring developing underneath the rim?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, sometimes what I have found is the rubber components
inside the closet of the toilet is just beginning to decay. Now,
some people say it's the magnesium count in the water.
But if you got like a rubber float or a
rubber ball or a rubber flapper, which we all have
(01:32):
one of those in that toilet, especially older toilets, you
might just you know, shut off the water kind of
grab that and see if you get a black film
on your hand. I'm gonna guess you probably will, and
if that's the case, I would replace, you know, that flapper.
You can also check the washes around the bolts that
(01:55):
hold the tank to the toilet, but I think that's
what is. It's just that that rubber is just degrading
and as you're flushing, it's going in the holes around
the rim of the toilet. It's just staining that porcelain,
which can be removed. Did you have any trouble removing that.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Or the porcelain? No, No, I hadn't. I just put
some of the bathroom cleaner on it. Now, you and
a brush to clean and then the underneath of the rim.
What I did. I used that, uh the sandpaper pad,
and I cleaned that with it and came off real good.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay, okay, And that was the kind of pad that
breaks down real easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, all right, yeah,
you'll be fine. I would do that though, you know,
just check the flapper of the ball, any rubber components
inside that tank, and if again, if you touch them
(02:56):
or rub them real tight and you get a little
film on your hand, I'd go ahead and replace that component.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah. I'm surprised because that the toilet is maybe two
years old.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh really, I thought you're gonna tell me it was
an older one. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, no, it sits about two years old, two and
a half someplace in that area.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, and never had the problem in the past. No, Well,
reacting to some Well, do my little test. Let's just see.
I mean, I don't have the information on the magnesium
in the water that's reacting to something. If you want
to go ahead and try and follow that path and
(03:38):
look that up, that that maybe I don't know, do
you got a water softener at all?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
No?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Okay, so I guess that could be a possibility, but
I personally would probably check the rubber components inside that tank,
just double check.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I thought I could buy some of those cakes you
know that you put in the.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, you can try. They're tough. They're tough on the
rubber components inside the toilet. To be honest with you, Okay,
so I.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
There that that attached to the rim.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Uh. Well, as you can tell, I don't really have
an answer outside of just cleaning it. And I'm not
a big fan of those cleaners. But I mean, if
you want to go ahead and try it, you know,
go ahead. I don't know that it's going to help,
and I don't really know if it's gonna do any
I know they're tough on rubber components, so I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Okay, Gary, thank you for your info.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Very You're quite welcome. Thank you, bye bye. You know,
one thing on the inside of the toilet bowl often
is what we get is mineral deposits and and I
don't know what it is. I can't see it. Mold,
bacteria build up U And again I remember years and
(05:04):
years ago my dad had this problem. And what is
going on here? I said, I guarantee it's probably your
old flapper inside that toilet. Now he's got a newer toilet,
so I kind of get that maybe that's not it.
But man, we turn off that water, we flush that toilet,
We grabbed that thing and it was like a ball
black grease. I mean, it wasn't just a little bit.
It was in a big state of the decay. But
(05:26):
it's a possibility that's causing that stain. And by the way,
and the inside the toilet, I found this out too.
Barkeeper's friend does a good job of cleaning. That's why
they asked if he had got that cleaned off. And
what he was talking about that that brick to clean
it off. Yeah, yeah, that works too. That Jaw's Cream
(05:46):
cleanser does a tremendous job on that on that stain
on the toilet. So just throwing that out there, that's
probably the easiest thing I've ever used for that particular problem. Dennis, Welcome,
good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, sir, I'm in Cleveland, Ohio. I had a driveway
tore out about three years ago and replacing in an
asphalt driveway.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Okay, And I'm getting.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
From you know, vehicles driving up and down and I'm
getting cracks all up and down it. So something I
should be putting inside of.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That inside, oh inside, How long ago did you had
this asphalt put in?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
About three years ago?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Three years ago. It's a little concerning, do you know
what kind of base they used on that or do
you remember how they I mean, all things cracked, but
it just seems like three years. It's kind of kind
of bothered by that.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well they put about three inches of like a filler,
m okay, and then then about four inches of an asphalt.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Well, that's more than enough. That's that. That's that sounds
like a great job, to be honest with you, Mike.
So are they just hairline cracks?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, so you there. There is a filler. I talk
about the crack and seal product for concrete. They make
a crack and seal product for asphalt too. It's black
probably the same stuff. It's a latex crack filler. Pretty
Much any concrete or asphalt product line, including the Blackjack
(07:28):
products that I talk about. A lot has a crack filler.
It's a viscosity of probably like a nice milkshake. It's
a court jug. It's got a spout on it, and
literally just make sure it's clean and use that as
your filler. Right, But it sounds like, no, you won't
even it won't. It'll be self leveling. It's like I
(07:51):
said about the consistency of a milkshake, So it will
self level out.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Okay, so I set up the still inside the go
into the crack.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Right right right, it'll weep into the crack and then
just kind of level out once it fills out. I mean,
it's a good product. I was just a little concern
that you're going to tell me they put an inch
of stone in there and then an inch and a
half asphalt, because uh oh, yeah, it sounds like it's
it's you know, I mean, things don't crack unless they're moving.
(08:22):
Concrete shrinks, so concrete is guaranteed to crack. Asphalt not
as much unless there's a problem with the base. But
keep an eye on it. But keep it filled too.
With that.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Like shocking. So we got a ups drive almost every
single day coming up down the driveway.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Well, that could be your problem, to be honest with you.
You know, like concrete, I mean the apron of that
concrete is usually like six thousand psi. Your driveway is
usually four thousand psi. And you know, I'm guessing and
I'm guessing that that driveway is not to those standards.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Gotcha. Okay, one more quick question for you. Sure, friend
of mine's doing a bar inside the house and he
wants me to put a wood top on it. Should
I use like a marine varnish on top of that
for stealer.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, well it wouldn't have to be a marine. You
could use a poly euthane inside. I'd probably do two
or three codes. It's alcohol resistant, there's no you know,
it's not outside, so we don't have to worry about
the UV rays. But you know, a poly yourthane will
be fine on that. Just give it two or three codes,
preferably three.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right, Okay, all right, that's it, Gary, thank you, all right.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Thank you, my friend, take care of have a good weekend,
and we'll continue with your calls. Mike, you'll be up next,
and you're at home with Gary Salvan right here, fifty
five K see the tux all right? Back in it
we go in twelve twenty. It is on your weekend.
Hope you're having a good one. A few things done
around the home, and let's go to Mike. Mike, welcome, Yeah,
(10:06):
how are you doing fine?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Thanks? I've got a lawn more.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
I pushed one. It doesn't have an engine. You just
push it and the blades are horizontal and turn vertically,
you know, around in a circle. But I guess they're
dull and they won't cut. And I was told that
(10:34):
you have to have a special shop with a special
tool sharpened the blades. But the closest place that does
that is one hundred and twenty miles away, and they're
kind of expensive. So do you know have a way
to sharpen them at home?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I don't. I don't. My background, Mike, is quite honestly,
it's in the hardware business. And as soon as you
were talking about the manual push mower, I'm thinking, boy,
that's a specialty thing. I remember people coming in and
we even had a pretty big sharpening department where we
sharpened everything. We didn't have the mechanism to actually sharpen those,
(11:13):
so I really, you know, it's it's a kind of
an art form, I think, to sharpen those. So I
really really can't help you with that. I don't know.
You call all the hardware stores in the area, and
maybe lawn shops just to make sure that was the
only place you could take it to.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Well, I didn't call all of them, but I.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Used to. I used a regular file metal file and
that didn't work.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Yeah, well, it's even hard to get to it takes
a special apparatus to really sharpen those things. I do
remember is it was quite a specially and of course
push mowers you know now they're just not that common. No,
I have to admit an Ambud's ever used one is
probably the best mower you can buy in terms of
(12:07):
a true cut, but you do have to keep him
sharp and there isn't many people that sharpen them. So
sorry I couldn't help you. It might be worth the trip, though,
if that's the direction you want to still maintain. And
I get it, but I think I think I would
take advantage of somebody that can do it rather than
(12:28):
try and do it yourself. I think the jake you
need is beyond just purchasing that and then getting it done.
All right, if you'd like to join us, you can.
I have a guest, Sam Tidwell. You may be familiar
with him, and he is the owner of a company
called Three Day Kitchen in Bath. And of course we
(12:51):
always want to say, can you really can you really
redo a kitchen in three days? And yes you can,
but you got to be organized and we'll take you
through the whole process because I think it's just a
great answer. Whether you have a family that's all residing
(13:12):
in the same house, or you just want to get
it and you want to get it done and you
don't want to have a contractor in that house for
you know, six or eight weeks. You know, we're doing
a little bit of work here and then this thing's
back ordered or we got to change here. I mean
that job starts when he's got everything. Anyway, it's a
great business concept. And we'll be talking to Sam at
(13:37):
the bottom of the hour. And I know a lot
of people and even if you are just starting to
plan for maybe a kitchen remodel, this might be something
you want to just take a listen to because there's
a lot of things to consider for that particular project.
It's a big project, a big part of your house.
That'll be in about seven minutes. In the meantime, Teresa.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
Welcome, Thank you for taking my call. We recently cut
down a very very large locust tree maybe last fall
or early spring, and now we have a yard full
of little locust trees coming up. Oh yeah, coming up
(14:20):
under our barn porch between the wood.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
That's what locust trees do.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
I did not know.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
That I got a big old locust tree in mine too,
and you know, they grow fast and they're kind of
you know, they drop those bracts of leaves and everything else.
But there are certain trees, and you can certainly check
with my buddy Ron Wilson and get his perspective on landscaping.
But they're in a survival mode. Okay, you cut the
(14:48):
tree down, and you know how big those roots are
in those locust trees, and they spread out probably twenty
five feet in every direction. They raise above the ground
and they're scarfing nutrients out of the soil and they're
pushing they're surviving. The roots are alive, so they're surviving
(15:09):
and they're pushing up gross. So you know, the only
way I know to I mean, you can certainly keep
spraying them with you know, different type of vegetation killers.
But I had a I had a oh, what the
heck Aristocrat pair in the backyard. Actually it's a Cleveland pair.
I cut it down. I did not ground the stump out,
(15:33):
so that might be something that would help you. They did. Yeah,
so the roots still alive and and it'll just keep
pushing up and pushing up. So it's either just keep
trying to kill the I mean, this might take five years.
All right, I'm not telling you it's gonna go away. Yeah. Yeah,
(15:55):
So you're either gonna your choices are you're either gonna
keep spraying a vegetation killer and just keep killing them
because you don't want when they when they push up
a survivor, they're getting nutrients from you know, the sun,
they're they're you know, they're they're living. They're living until
(16:16):
you chop those roots out, and that's a big job
or spray stuff. It's just going to keep pushing, pushing
those survivors up.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Okay, but you don't do you know a product that
would be good for that, because I want to kill
them bad.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well. Yeah, and there's different types of round up. Now
we all heard the stories and of of you know
what round up that's been reformulating different things. But that
vegetation killer is what you're gonna need, okay, okay, and uh,
you know you're gonna spray it, and you know you're
(16:53):
probably gonna get some on the grass. It'll kill the
grass too, So you know you want to really pinpoint it,
it's probably right at the top of those roots. It's
you know, it is what it is. As they like
to say, you got roots in there that are alive
and they're trying to survive, so they send up volunteers
to get the nutrients and at your job to either
(17:15):
chop them off, cut them up, you know, whatever you
need to do and starve them out is basically what
you're going to do.
Speaker 6 (17:23):
All right, Thank you so much. I appreciate your program.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
All right, thank you, take care and I'll tell you what.
Let's take a break, and like I said, we're going
to talk about remodeling and a big project and remodeling
a kitchen or a bath. But boy, what a home
changer that is. And there's hard ways to do it,
(17:50):
and there's some easy ways to do it. Sam Tidwell,
in my opinion, does it the easier way and a
whole lot more maybe not more expensive at all. So
we'll learn about that. That's next. You're at home with
Gary Salvin right here in fifty five care see the
talk station. All right, The big question today is do
you have any projects set aside? Maybe not, well, maybe
(18:12):
for this fall, maybe winter, maybe next spring. Have you
started researching, say, redoing a kitchen that requires a little
bit of thought, maybe even a budget kind of what
you want to do, or what your dream is or
how big you want it to be. Well, joining us
now is Sam Tidwell. He is with three day kitchen
in bath. He's going to help us with all those questions. Sam,
(18:35):
how are you?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
I'm doing well, Garrett, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Oh, you're quite welcome. You're quite welcome. House business and
people investing in their homes. Is it a little slow
or where do we stand?
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Yeah? No, business has been good.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
We continue to help people who you know, got a
project or a room there, tick of and ready to redo,
and we love to help them with it.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah. I feel the same thing. I think. You know,
real estate, we've all heard the stories kind of sluggish,
you know, or you know, the supply, the inventory isn't there,
and people reinvesting in their home and that's right down
your alley. So I guess the one thing we got
to get this right away? Can you really do a
kitchen and bath in three days?
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (19:25):
It's funny. I get that question a lot and over.
You know, we've been at this here in Cincinnati for
almost ten years. Wow, and it just feels normal at
this point when we look in a job. That's how
we're going to do it, but I you know, I
can understand, you know, the averaging. You know, a kitchen
model can go on for months and months, so a
little bit of a unique approach, but the answer, yes,
(19:47):
we absolutely can do that.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah, folks. And by the way, Sam's business the three
Day Kitchen in Bath. This isn't just painting your cabinets
or doing acrylic overlay for your bet of I mean
doing kind of give us an example of the range
of work you can do and redoing a kitchen. I
mean there's somethings is extensive in some things maybe just
(20:14):
here and there, so talk to me about that.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Yeah. So I mean I can at least just give
you an example. Just recently, we did a remodel over
on the east side of town and it was a
kitchen and they were just like, you know, this kitchen
is thirty years old and we want to update it.
And what we even ended up doing was kind of
taking out a closet and redoing the layouts, cabinets, counters,
(20:39):
paint backsplash lighting, everything was new. And that's kind of
within our normal thing that there are a lot of
companies who can reface and do good job painting and
that's all well and good. It's just not what we're
typically doing. The same thing with bathrooms, you know, if
we're just basically emptying the room, redesigning it, going in
with everything new, that's that's usually what we were good at.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
You bring up a great point too, because people live
different lifestyles than they did twenty years ago, ten years ago,
fifty years ago. And some of these houses, you know,
they were built in the twenties, thirties, forties, so there
are different space demands. I was just reading an article, Sam,
and it was talking about the newer homeowner or the
(21:26):
newer remodeler is not all crazy about dishwashers. And I thought, what,
I can't believe that. And it was an article basically
saying because of the energy efficiency in dishwashers and you
have a decent sized family, that it's not fast enough.
It fills up and then it takes three years or
(21:48):
three years three hours to clean, you know, all the dishes.
And that doesn't fit in my lifestyle. And I've known
people that have remodeled and put in two dishes washers
so that it does fit their lifestyle. So we really
do live differently in our spaces. And that's something you
can help with people with because you work on the
(22:11):
design and everything correct.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Yeah, Yeah, that's exactly right. And that's reminding me. I
met a couple just last week and it's very similar
to this. They built their house thirty years ago, and
but their life has changed quite a bit, and you know,
they're like, well, we want to have it this way
for when our kids come in to visit, and we're
not now we're planning to not move. We decided we're
(22:35):
going to spend the rest of our lives probably in
this house. So you know, now they're thinking about the
house differently, and it makes sense to redo some things
from when they originally built it.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, and especially you know, if you want more space
as a gathering space. I know our kitchen when we
built the house twenty five years ago, that was really important.
I'm not going to shrink my kitchen. I love it
when family comes visits. But if we can enlarge that area,
(23:06):
that seems like what a lot of people are looking at.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yeah, and you know one thing that I see just
with these big projects, whether you're redoing a kitchen or
a bathroom, like it's a big project, so you really
want to know ahead of time that you're going to
be happy with the final result. So I just really
think it's worth some time in that planning stage of
going through you know, pictures of examples of projects that
(23:33):
you like or what's been done kind of in your
style of house before and drawing up some plans and options,
because you know, you just want to be feel good
that if you're going to go through the expense and
going to go through the inconvenience of it, that it's
going to be worth it in the end, right.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
And as a homeowner, you got to take responsibility. You
got to do your homework. If you were to coach
a potential client, you haven't met this person yet, you
haven't seen their house, you haven't seen their kitchen, what
kind of things you know, what's the top three four
(24:11):
things that you tell them? Like, think about this before
I come and we sit down and we start designing,
and what do you tell them?
Speaker 4 (24:21):
So sometimes I've met Gary, I've come and met people
who have just recently purchased their house, and then a
lot of times I will be talking to them about
what they're thinking about for redoing the kitchen, and a
lot of times I end up saying, you know what,
maybe it's better to wait six months or a year
and just live with this thing and find out what
really is annoying about it.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
But because once you've been in your house, you know,
a lot of people don't remodel. So they've lived in
their house for fifteen twenty plus years, they know, right
they they are sick of going to the basement for
their U what her instant pot or the hired that
the bathroom is just I can't send another in there
when they come over, I can't get a clean They
know exactly what needs to happen, sure, And that's really
(25:05):
where it's fun to work for somebody because you really
solve them the.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Problem well, Sam, And there's also so many materials and
so many ideas. So once you kind of coach the
potential client and you have your first meeting, h walk
me through that process.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah. So, I mean, typically for us, if somebody calls
with the project like this that they want, or at
least they're exploring redoing one of their bathrooms or you know,
we'll go out and meet with them. I still do that.
I still meet with people and we'll just kind of
try to get from them, like what do you have
in mind already and what's kind of your ideas. Of
(25:47):
course you have to talk about budget. Unfortunately it's always uncomfortable,
but we have to talk about like what are they
trying to accomplish? And then usually what's pretty helpful is
to just go through some examples. Here's another bathroom we
did similar to yours. Here's what they wanted. And like
you're saying, there's so many different materials and there's always
(26:08):
new suppliters of things coming out that we're keeping up
with on our end that we can come and say, look, people,
you know, I keep getting complaints about grout lines or whatever,
and here's something we're using, and that seems to be
pretty helpful for people.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Boy, even when you think about all the different types
of countertops are available now, the different types of lighting.
You mentioned flooring that there's incredible differences in floorings. We
haven't even touched the cabnetry. So you're kind of the designer,
the coach, the facilitator, and you're going to execute the plan.
So it is kind of nice doing the whole one
(26:46):
stop shop.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Yeah, and I will say, you know, some people, the
biggest that I've met with Ben worked for the biggest
holdback for them to doing a big project. It's just
that it's a little bit overwhelming because you have to
decide so many things about do I take this wall
out or do I not? Will this look good if
I add this pantry, or will these colors? Will these
(27:10):
woods mixed together? So a lot of times that's the
most valuable thing we can do for somebody. It's just
helped them get through that design part of it, so
they're confident that they're making something that is sitting their style,
if it's a classic, timeless or more modern or more rustic,
or whatever it is that they're going for.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
So this is the most important part of the remodeling
process is having this type of communication. So once you
get their ideas, you put it on paper at some
point or on a computer at some point, and then
you visit again.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Yeah. Yeah, that's usually what we will do. If we
are basically headed towards doing a project for somebody, we
will get all of the Like I'll give an example.
We just did a job a couple months ago up
in the north side of town, and it was a
big job. It was a kitchen, it was the whole
first floor. Actually they had a few two bathrooms, and
(28:14):
we know we got all that drawn into the computer
and came out and showed them each room and then
got their input it Okay, well let's change this. And
it's a little bit of back and forth there so
that we could see ahead of time. Okay, here's how
we're gonna do this. There's no misunderstandings, and everybody loves
(28:35):
the plan that we're looking at.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
So when the plan is this has kind of been
talk in ideas and agreements, but when it comes to
choosing the materials, they're gonna do that, right, I mean,
because you don't know whether you may have suggested that
this is the kind of flooring, but there's different colors
(28:58):
and flooring. How does that take place?
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (29:02):
So what we do for that A lot of times
when we've met with somebody, they've already done some homework.
They may have gone to a few showrooms or stores
or just looked online at pictures of kind of what
they like. But when it's time to actually make the decisions,
we have a kind of a mobile showroom deal that
we bring out to our house, and so we just
(29:24):
have collected all sorts of suppliers from around the US
of the cabinets and flooring, encounters and everything, and we
just got it all in one place. So we bring
it there, go out in the driveway, you know, spend
an hour or whatever it takes, and just go through
the list. Okay, here's our cabinet, there's our floor, here's
our counter. Take all, take them all inside, you know,
(29:46):
go back if okay, change that one. Make sure that
we've got something that they're going to be happy with.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
And I'm sure there's somebody that's going to say I
want something different. Yeah, yeah, probably that's gonna happen, whether
it's a faucet, whether it's a cabinet, whether it's flooring
in how do you treat that? But I'd love the
whole concept of bringing the showroom to the customer. I mean, yeah, that's.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
The goal, is to make it easier and less overwhelming. Yeah,
like you're saying, the most important thing is that they
are happy with the final product, right, that's from everything. Sure,
So if we have to make another trip or find
another tile or whatever it is, we will do it.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Good for you, Good for you. All right, let's take
a break. We'll come by and now we'll have to
get the nitty gritty. The name of the company is
three Day Kitchen and Bass. So we've had all the
or not we but Sam has had all these conversations
with the potential or with the homeowner regarding to Bath,
(30:49):
regarding the kitchen, remodeling, the remodeling project. And folks, if
you've ever went through one of these jobs, not with
three Day Kitchen and Bath but a basic contractor you
might be living with a for twelve weeks. So we're
going to see how Sam actually pulls off the magic
that's coming up next. You're at home with Gary Salvan
right here in fifty five care see de talk station.
(31:12):
All right, back to my interview Sam Tidwell through Day
Kitchen in Bath. All right, we've talked about it. We
got all the planning, we got all the scoop, we
got all the drawings, they got the money, you got
the workers. Let's get to work. How do we do
it in three days?
Speaker 4 (31:28):
Yep? So that's kind of part of the part of
the deal is how do we take a big project
and shrink it down enough to you know, just efficiency wise,
get it done quickly. So, I mean honestly, so before
I run this business. I was just doing traditional remodels,
and so I would do kitchens and bathrooms and basements
(31:49):
and additions and all sorts of things, and everything took
two or three months, absolutely, And one of the problems was, like,
you've started the job, but we haven't quite made that
final color selection on which white are going to use
on the cabinets or exactly how this corner is going
to work out. And so the problem was, you know,
(32:13):
you've started the job, you've done your demo, and then
the electrician has started in there, and then you finally
figure that detail out, you order your cabinets, Okay, we'll
be back in six weeks when those come, and so
there just ends up being all these gaps of waiting.
You know, it's not really like there's two or three
months of constant work, right Whereas so when we're planning.
(32:36):
Part of the reason we can do these jobs in
just a few days is because once we've got through
the planning, we have decided everything. And that's part of
what the customer basically helps make this possible because they
go through all the decisions with us, and if they
give us the thumbs up, yep, we're good. Let's do it.
Then we literally go and build every cabinet ahead of time,
(32:59):
order all this slight where all the materials, get them
set up in our shop so that by the time
it comes to actually do the work, there are not
any of those delays.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
So you're getting all the legos and then you show
up at the house.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, and we do you know the
other thing too. Of course, we're scheduling our team, we're
setting up like we just did a kitchen and I
think it was like two months ago, and basically we
just said, hey, we would like to come and work late.
Would you please, pretty please let us put you up
(33:36):
for a few nights. And they were like sure.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I mean they even just went, oh yeah, get out
this house for sure.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Yeah, Because we told them we're like, look, the dumpster's
going to be here, your your driveway is going to
be full of trucks and trailer and we're going to
be here at least twelve hours every day and it's
going to be a mess. And they were like totally
fine to have about it. So we did. And of
course a lot of people like to still come visit.
They'll come by and check and take progress. Picture or
(34:03):
something like that. But what that lets us do is,
you know, get everybody scheduled in right work you've long hours,
we need to and I mean it works.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
So the magic sauce is your ability to plan and design,
because that's the time consuming part assembly seems you got
that refined. You know exactly what you're going to do.
You're not going to call a customer at eight o'clock
on Thursday morning and say, oh, by the way, we're
(34:34):
not going to be there tomorrow and the next day
because such and such. You know, this particular material isn't
coming in, so you don't see a worker for five days.
You don't have those issues.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Yeah, we we don't because we have only one crew,
so we only do one job at a time. So
we're really not the world's biggest business, right and we
have this all kind of planned out ahead of time.
And really this it kind of only works if the
customer lets us do it that way, right. We are
willing to make those decisions ahead of time, right and
(35:08):
willing to. But then if they are, it works because
everybody's pre scheduled we come in. I mean we've been
at this, like I said, for almost ten years.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Ten years and you've learned along the way too.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
Three hundred remodels or whatever it is, and we're doing them.
We're doing them on time, we're doing them when we
say we're going to do them. And as much as
I hate to brag about our own, guys like these
guys are amazing and we're just thrilled with what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Well. It intrigued me when I first met you, Sam,
and I love that it's been a successful business and
it certainly fills a nice need because this day and age,
we all want it now, and if you can plan ahead,
you can have it now. I mean that that is
always the key. It's always been the key in construction too,
(35:58):
is the ability to communicate with your contractor. And you're
just doing it in one big old classroom setting before
we start swinging the hammer. So congratulations on that. What
you do Northern Kentucky. Also you do southern Ohio. Northern Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
Yep, we're just a little bit of the eastern Indiana
Ohio here, southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky. That around the
loop kind of thing. Maybe maybe like you know, thirty
miles forty miles out of maybe something like that it's
pretty normal.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
That's awesome. So where are we in projects?
Speaker 4 (36:33):
How?
Speaker 1 (36:34):
When when do we book? How long does that particular
process takes you? You're doing one remodel at a time,
which I respect and I love that concept and don't
get too big. You kind of lose handle on that sometimes.
So I love that whole idea. So how far out
should we be looking so.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
One thing with I mean, sometimes that depends on products,
so certain cabinets take longer to make like that, and
then sometimes it will depend on just how many things
we have scheduled. But because our jobs are usually you know,
done within a Monday through Friday, we don't ever get
too far out. But like even now, I think we're
(37:15):
already doing We're trying to get things in before the
holidays right now, we're trying to get some stuff in
November there, but pretty soon here it's going to just
be planned for next year.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Yeah, I agree. I've been actually I've been preaching that
for probably the last six weeks, mainly for outside work,
nothing to do with your company, but I was going, like,
with all the weather changes we've had this year, you know,
things just don't you know, there's got to be a
waiting time in the better you are, the usually the
longer the wait time. So I respected you'll try to
(37:47):
get it in the holidays, but we'll see. We'll see
what your requirements are and what products are. But it
doesn't hurt to make the phone call and start talking though.
We can always do that.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
Yeah, yeah, you can always. Yeah, because you don't really
want to rush any of the planning. Make sure you're
making good decisions.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
On that too. Take your time. You're going to live
with this for a while, so not the not the
execution of the plan, but you're going to live with
this kitchen that you're creating, and uh.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Exciting thing. You know a lot of people we work
for they've been thinking about this remodel for you know,
however long, and then finally at the place where the
time has worked out or they can finally do it,
and you know, let's let's make it something that they
really are And.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Once you got that design in your hand, man, as
a home owner, you're like, come on, let's go, let's go.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Once we get job scheduled, it's like, gosh,
can we just get this yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Yeah, here. You but you've been at for a long time,
you understand. So folks, by the way, it's the number
three day Kitchen dot com and of course they do
best too, but it's the number three day Kitchen dot com.
You can learn them more information there and can they
call you also, Sam, and kind of get the ball rolling.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
Yep, they can call us seven days a week. Our
phone numbers five one, three, two two nine eight eight
two nine. And then, like you mentioned the website, three
Day Kitchen dot Com, if they send us a message,
me and the other owner Michael will get it and
we will call them and see if we can help
(39:26):
them with their project.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Sam. It sounds great. Thank you so much for joining
us today. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
I appreciate you having me Gary.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
All right, take care, Sam, Sam tidwell, Three Day Kitchen
and Bath again, it's number three Day Kitchen dot com. Well,
I'll tell you what has been a great and a
busy day. I will tell you what the broadcast will
be tomorrow. We will be going to the Indianapolis Convention
Center for the Do It Best Hardware Show and we'll
(39:56):
be in the booth at Dumont Global. You've heard me
talking about their they're smart strip products and they're a
do it Best retailer. It's available there. It's available as
Sherwan Williams will be in the Dumont Global Booth and
they'll be demonstrations and we'll be doing interviews on all
kinds of things. I don't even know yet because we're
(40:17):
gonna be heading up there and talking to some folks
and we'll be looking at talking to some folks that
have products that can really make our projects go a
little bit easier. So that's tomorrow show, all three hours.
Looking forward to that. Danny Boy is usual, great job,
good Lord Willing. We'll both be back tomorrow for more
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