September 29, 2024 • 26 mins
Dean answers listener questions about damage to a wood burning fireplace insert, a roof replacement, how to get hot water to more faucets in the house quicker and solar panels on a clay tile roof.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KF I am six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp
the House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Custom
home Builder, Custom Home Designer Today, I want to talk
to you about what's going on with your house. I
have no agenda but to talk with you and see
if I can help. Okay, y'all, shall we jump into it.
Do we have some calls on the board.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Let's see if I can fit one in before we're
done here, let's talk to Perry. Hey, Perry, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
So I do have a fireplace question. A couple of
years ago, I had a wood burning Answert installed in
my traditional fireplace, and it does a great efficient job
of burning wood and heating. But the problem is that
heat is just concentrated in that one room, which happens
to be in the den, which is the farthest corner
(00:50):
of the house. So I would love to be able
to circulate that heat throughout the rest of the house.
But what I've been doing is I'll run my circulation
span on my HVAC. But I found I really have
to build up quite a bit of heat in that
room in order for to reach that intake vent, and
(01:11):
it does a decent job. But what I would really
like to be able to do, and I don't know
if it's even legal or possible, is extend the intake
vent with a duck to in the den above the fireplace,
so that way I could more efficiently circulate that extra
heat throughout the house.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Okay, very creative thinking, And so let me give you
a couple of guidelines there. So just so everybody knows,
an insert that you place into a wood burning and
already woodburning fireplace, a wood burning insert is basically kind
of turning your open hearth fireplace into a wood stove.
And wood stoves are so much more heat efficient than
(01:52):
the way that they handle heat than an open hearth fireplace.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And so that's what Perry has.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Done, and he's getting plenty of heat in theo but
not in the rest of the house. So here are
a couple of things. Number One, I am not aware
of any wood burning inserts that are predesigned to have
ducting and venting coming directly off of them, So that's
one thing they might be out there. I'm not aware
of it myself. I could see some problems with that,
(02:19):
But when it comes to fumes and exhaust and those
kinds of issues. Number two, if you want to creatively
bring your HVAC ducting over nearer the fireplace where the
heat is rising and have a fan unit tied in there,
I don't think there are any codes against that, as
long as in no way you are touching that heat
(02:42):
that woodburning fireplace. In other words, those ducks cannot get
intimately involved with it. If it's just a matter of
reconfiguring ducts in a room, that's one thing, and nobody's
going to give you any guff for that. There aren't
any code issues with just rearranging where ducts and fans
are located in your house when it comes to that.
But do not think of tying ducting into in any
(03:06):
way directly into the wood burning unit, because then you
get into a whole slew of issues, like I said,
with chemical exhaust, gaseous exhaust and the like. The other
thing that I would tell you though, in lieu of that,
is there are many companies that make direct vent sealed
(03:30):
combustion chamber fireplaces now that are completely legal in every
state including California, completely sealed off gas inserts that could
work inside that as well. Those many of them are
pre designed to be able to have small heating ducts
(03:52):
extended off them. They can come with kits with blowers
and with ducts that will actually allow you if you've
got a place to run these ducks a chase to
run them will allow you to actually do exactly what
I said not to do with your wood burning unit,
which is run those ducks up through and into various
other rooms as direct heat ducts into other rooms. Okay,
(04:17):
those are out there now. Whether you're gonna find one
that fits your fireplace directly or whether there have to
be some modifications, that's an issue that gets into the
weeds that we can't cover while we're on the phone together.
But I will tell you there are direct vent sealed
combustion chamber fireplaces. I believe Napoleon makes some. I know Majestic,
(04:38):
the company Majestic makes some that will actually allow you
to duct out of that firebox into other rooms. And
they're set up specifically for that. So you know there
are a couple of options for you.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Very good.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
What I'm looking at doing is, see the fireplace is
in a corner, and the heat is concentrated in that corner.
There currently is an HVAC outlet vent above that fireplace,
and I'm thinking, what could I just put an intake
vent up above that in the ceiling and then run
a duct over to my HVACTE intake and then just
(05:16):
draw that excess heat that's building up there and circulate
it throughout the house using my fan.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's a very creative idea.
You'd basically be turning that outlet duct into a return
air vent. Yeah, bring that to the like a return
air You would bring that into the return air planum
on your unit and then recirculate through that through the house.
And that might actually work well. And like I said,
if you don't make contact with the fireplace, you should
be in good shape with that. I don't see any
(05:44):
reasons why code wise, at least it shouldn't work for
you and be completely legal and approved. Perry, thank you
so much for your call, buddy. Very very interesting question
and good thinking in terms of getting creative with distributing
heat through the house.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Really good question.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Most importantly today, your guide to turning your ordinary house
into something truly extraordinary. I tell you what we're doing today.
It's an all calls day.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
It is it.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
You set the agenda anything that is going on with
your home, whether it be construction issues, DIY questions, design concerns,
anything at all. The phone lines are open. I am
here to help you sort it all out. We'll put
our heads together and we'll get it sorted. I promise.
(06:39):
Here is the number to reach me, and these lines
are open.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean on that note, how about we go to it.
So let's get to it, Hey, Rose, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
Hi. My question is I need a roof replacement, and
I'm not sure of which manufacture to go with Owens Corning, GAF,
and I recently heard of another manufacturer, a Malarkey. I
also wanted to get your thoughts on a preference for
(07:16):
California Valley or a metal valley.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Good question. Okay, all right, So, first of all, what
kind of roof? Owen's Corning, GAF, Marlarky all excellent roofing manufacturers.
So when you are faced with completely reliable roofing manufacturers
of the highest caliber like these three are, then the
decision is no longer a construction decision. The decision then
(07:46):
becomes a design decision. This is exactly how I make
these decisions when it comes to this kind of stuff
as well, We're like, okay, they're all fine, They're all excellent.
It's like buying a high end appliance for your kitchen.
You know which is better, Mela Wolf Viking sub Zero.
It's like, well, okay, at this point, they're all great.
(08:06):
So the question is which one is the right look,
which one adds to.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
The design of the house.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
So I want to free you up rows to simply
start looking at the roofing patterns, the styles, the color combinations,
and make the decision based on that. You know, like, oh,
this one, this series right here, I think this is
going to be the best look for our home, and
then you just go with that one. One addendum onto
that is, please, when we're we're having a conversation about roofing,
(08:35):
we don't want to just focus on the surface material.
We also want to talk to our roofer about the
quality of the under layment, because the underlayment is half
the ballgame, right there, the stuff that you never see.
So you could take, for instance, a Owen's Corning or
a GAF, you know, excellent roofing product and install it
(08:57):
just using roofing paper, which is the old way of
doing it. A lot of roofers still do it though,
install it using old roofing paper and not have as
great or a long term of a roof as you
would a lesser surface product. Put on a better, higher
quality underlayment, which is really ultimately the last best shield
(09:22):
of waterproofing your home. So anyway, don't forget to have
a conversation about the quality of the underlayment as well. Now,
as far as the valleys are concerned, and everybody, a
valley is where one roof plane meets another and creates
kind of an inside corner. Most roofers that I know
are going to encourage you towards a metal valley as
(09:46):
opposed to a California valley. California valley is where you
just weave the roofing material across to create the valley.
There's something to be said for that esthetically, but that material,
if it's going to bridge that, it's going to break down.
It will start to break down. Ultimately, metal valleys have
kind of proven themselves to be longer term more durable,
(10:09):
more reliable, and so on. So I would tell you
a metal value. By the way, a metal valley doesn't
have to be a huge gaping sheet of metal running
down the roof. A metal valley when it's installed properly,
the roofing material still comes within a couple of inches
of that inside seam, so it's really really hardly noticeable,
but it gives a nice crisp line and it reinforced.
(10:32):
Its a piece of critical flashing that really reinforces one
of those vulnerable points in the roof. So rose there
you go. I hope that helps. I think it does
make your decision based on design when you're faced with
equal manufacturers, think about the underlayment, and I'd probably point
you towards the metal valley as opposed to the material
(10:55):
weave in the valleys, because I just think it's more reliable.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
There you go. Let's talk to Cheryl. Welcome.
Speaker 7 (11:05):
Hi, Hi d Thanks for taking my call. I really
enjoy your show. A couple of times you've mentioned ways
to get your hot water from like your bathroom sink quicker,
because I'm trying to be water conserve water and it
takes a while. From on the heat up. And I
heard you mentioned something about something under the sink that
can make it get hotter quicker.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Yes, you're absolutely right, And this is perfect because I
can answer this one really quick, Cheryl. Yeah, it is
a you want to look for. You can search this
on the internet. You can also find them these days
at the big box stores or a plumbing supply house.
But you're looking for a point of use recirculation pump
or under counter pump. And what it basically does, it
(11:47):
mounts right underneath your sink and you connect the hot
water line to it, and in a tricky way, it
actually connects into the cold water line. And what it
does is it bleeds hot water water through it. It
pumps hot water and pumps it into the cold line.
So it draws all that non hot water that has
(12:08):
cooled down in the hot water line. It draws all
that off and pumps it into the cold line. So
you're not actually wasting the water. The water is still
in your house, it's just over in the cold line
and not the hot so it doesn't waste water, and
it draws the new fresh hot water closer to the sink. Now,
those are activated by a switch of some sort either
(12:29):
a switch that you literally, when you walk into the bathroom,
knowing that you're going to be using the sink, you
go ahead and push the button and get that pump going,
or a motion sensor switch so that when you walk
into the bathroom the pump starts running. It's still gonna
take a minute or two if it takes. So let
me make this clear. If it takes two minutes for
you to turn on the faucet and to bring hot
(12:50):
water instead of cold to the hot it's still going
to take a couple of minutes for the pump to
do this. The difference is what you mentioned. Instead of
that two minutes of cold water just going down the
drain and out and wasting that water, that two minutes
of cold water is going to get pumped over into
the cold water side still there. You've already paid for it.
(13:12):
You don't pay for it twice, and you have hot
water underneath. These, by the way, are now required in
Southern California, required for new construction or major remodels for
every sink and faucet setup that is more than fifty
linear pipe feet away from the hot water heater. That's
(13:33):
how efficient they are and how effective they are. It
is simply a part of new builds now in California,
so that's why you can find them virtually everywhere. So
you could call up, you know, Plumbing Supply Low's home
depot and they'll point you in the right direction.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on Demand from
KFI AM six forty Dennis Welcome home.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Hello there, Did I have a question about installing solar panels.
My roof is clay s tiles, and they've had two
roofers look at it, and they say that in order
to put the solar panels on, the tiles have to
come off, and they have to put down a new
asphalt composition roof, and then the tiles go back over
(14:22):
that new roof. And the dispute comes with one roofer
saying you leave about an eighteen inch gap all the
way around the panels so you can get up there
and clean them, and the other roofer says, no, you
butt the tiles right up against the panels. If they
need to be cleaned, it's just a light spray with
(14:43):
a garden hose. Or if you've got to get bird
stuff off of there, you can get a window planer
with an extending pole and do that, and you don't
want that look of a big gap all around your panels.
So I'm just wondering which is the correct answer.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Okay, Well, in the short answer is the second guy
is correct. Okay, the second guy. You don't need to
leave an eighteen inch gap all the way around. Not
that there's anything wrong with that, but it's ugly so
and it's unnecessary. So, you know, the from a design perspective,
we don't want to do that. Now, let me be clear. Yeah,
(15:21):
I know you've been talking to roofers and that's a
good way to go, but I want to be clear
when it comes to solar panels. There's two different ways
of installing solar panels on a heavily tiled roof. You
have an s tile roof, kind of a modified Spanish tile.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Roof, that's a thick roof. Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
One way to do it without removing any of the
tiles at all, except for just a few, is to
mount those solar panels on taller stanchions or you know, risers,
so that the solar panels are actually up rising up
above the tile roof. Now, that would be the way
that typically most solar companies who would even attempt it.
(15:59):
And and I'm not trying to imply that this is
a difficult thing, but it does tend to be. Tile roofs,
especially Spanish tile roofs, tends to be the line of
demarcation between solar companies who really know what they're doing
and solar companies who are like, we'd really rather not
just bother with that for you, so we just say, oh,
you can't. I've literally had folks tell me my solar
(16:21):
company told me you can't in style solar on a
tile roof. I'm like, okay, that they they should not
be your solar company. I remember the Sunlux guys. One
of the things that impressed me about Sunlux very first
installation I ever saw them do before I committed to
them on my roof, they invited me out to a
local neighbor out here of mine, who a friend and
(16:42):
a neighbor who has a traditional Spanish tile roof, and
they invited me out specifically so that they could show
me how they were going to install this on this roof.
And they did the embedding process, which is what you're
talking about. And I think that's the best look as
opposed to having the solar panels up above the tile,
(17:02):
which you can totally do by the way. Okay, then
you're only removing tiles for the risers themselves, and then
you know, cutting in around them and replacing. But what
I like in a Spanish tile roof, when you're committing
to solar you might as well just go for it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
You remove the.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Tiles in the area that the panels are going to go.
And yes, you don't just leave the underlayment exposed. What
they're going to put down is like an asphalt composition
roof there, and then they're going to set the tiles
low over that so that the tiles more or less
kind of start to flush out with the top surface.
It's an embedded solar panel install. That's the kind of
(17:41):
thing you're talking about. And no, we would never think
unless there was some bizarre special circumstance of leaving an
eighteen inch gap all because then you have to look
at the asphalt composition shingle as well as the Spanish
tile and the solar panel. So no, we run the
solar We run the tiles nice and tight right up
(18:02):
against the edge of the solar panel because and let
me just put it this way, Dennis, it is. It's
a misnomer that solar panels need to be cleaned regularly.
You know. You wash it down with a hose from
the ground, you know, once a year, give it a
nice little rinse. You know, unless you live literally next
to like a constant dust storm, the you'll find that.
(18:26):
Most solar companies will tell you dust that accumulates on
your solar panel at some point, I mean at some
point I guess if you get a half an inch
of dust up there, yeah, it's gonna affect performance. But
generally speaking, a dirty solar panel, you know, it's it's
the performance differential is so fractionally minute it just really
(18:47):
doesn't matter. I tell you the truth. On my panels
on my house, there's only one reason I clean them,
and that's because at some point they look dusty and
I don't like the look, and so I washed them off.
It has nothing to do with the performance of the
solar So the point being, yes, you're right if you
can reach them from the ground with a nice spray
(19:09):
hose or you know, a window washer, a squeegee or
brush with an extension on it, don't go with the
walkable perimeter eighteen inches, by the way, is awkward and
weird anyway to you know, for access, it's no guarantee
that somebody isn't going to misstep onto a tile.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
So there you have it.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Good run those tiles tight, keep that roof looking awesome,
and then you know, just occasionally rinse those panels down.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You're good to go.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Perfect. Thank you very much of you.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You are very welcome, my friend, and good luck with
solar on your roof.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Hey, welcome to home where every week we help you
better understand that place where you live. I am Dean Sharp,
the house whisper. Here we are at the end of
another three hour program. My thanks to all of our
callers today. Such a privilege and a pleasure to speak
with you, and just for everybody who's listening to just
(20:14):
to be able to come into your home and have
these meaningful conversations about your home every week. My thanks
to the crew and everybody who was involved to make
it a very very special show. Appreciate you all. And
now I'm gonna do my little bit to add a
little special.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
To the end. I'm gonna leave you with this thought today.
Did I already mention this?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
That TEENA and I celebrated our twenty eighth wedding anniversary
just a couple of weeks ago, nearly thirty years?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
How does it go by in a blink?
Speaker 6 (20:45):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Now we have a little trip planned to aid in
the celebration, Like we do. Trips look a little different
now than they used to, but at their heart, they're
still the same. The ultimate goal is just to drop
off the map and rest for a bit. I prefer
to call it going on holiday instead of going on vacation,
just because one I am a word nuance nerd, and
(21:10):
vacation definitely implies that vacating the premises is required, not
so of a holiday. Holiday means holy day, a sacred day,
a day set apart for something, and going on holiday
without leaving town is something that we learned to do
a long time ago, when we were young and money
was tight, and we mastered the art of staycations. Now,
(21:34):
one thing a staycation does is force you to find
rest right where you are, and to this day, the
lesson holds with us. We love traveling. I mean we
love it, but after nearly thirty years of adventures, I
can honestly say we never feel a deep need to
get away from this place and rest in that way,
(21:57):
because we spend a lot of time resting right here,
and we've also made it a pact between us, Tina
and I to build a life that doesn't require vacationing
from Life is full always, Schedules are full, always, and
rightly so. There's so much to do and be and
see and learn and enjoy this life. So most days
we are all about it. We are busy, but we
(22:20):
make it our goal never to be too busy. If
by busy you mean preoccupied or too distracted to breathe deeply,
smell the roses and enjoy the moments as they pass by,
and in our line of work, though I suspect this
is true for everybody, it turns out not being too
busy is very very important. Downtime, quiet time, stillness, simplicity
(22:45):
is often where we'll end up solving the biggest problems
and giving birth to the most creative ideas.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
But you don't do it for that reason.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
The trick is, if you intentionally go searching for answers
in your rest, then you're you're gonna be back at
work again, and you're not resting. So Tina and I
we schedule downtime just as religiously as we schedule work.
We work very, very hard, and then we just don't work.
(23:14):
Like rowing a boat on a river, we like to
think there's a time to sweat and strain and row
and row, and sometimes you row with the current, sometimes
against it. Sometimes you're just trying to stay off the rocks.
But then when it's time to stop rowing, we pull
in the oars and we sit back. We let the
river take us where it will. We just drift. Now,
(23:36):
drifting may seem like you're losing ground, but actually it's
where an entire section of my brain starts to fire
on parts that don't get attention when we're rowing. A
lot of folks avoid drifting.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
For instance, if you spend your life running from certain
thoughts or feelings and you stop for a while, well yeah,
they catch up with you. And at first that may
seem terrifying, but in the end it's probably just what
the doctor ordered. Actually. The philosopher Blaze Pascal once wrote
one of my favorite quotes, all of humanity's problems stem
from man's inability to sit quietly in.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
A room alone. Yeah, I tend to agree.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
One of my heroes and one of California's heroes, the
great naturalist John Muir, he knew how to drift. Oh yeah.
Muir was concerned about people chasing material wealth but ending
up time poor.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
That's what he called it.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
What he called and I quote, the deathlike apathy of
weary civilized people in whom natural curiosity has been quenched
in toil and care, to time poor to enjoy the
keenest delights of which Earth can offer you. Now, since
time is the only truly limited resource in all of
(24:54):
our lives, I am willing to say this is me.
Time equals wealth, and time poverty, which I think most
materially wealthy people suffer from in some form or another,
is probably the worst kind of poverty. And I'm not
talking about comparing it to hunger or starvation. I'm just saying,
mentally and soulishly, to not have time to be you,
(25:18):
there couldn't be something worse than that. Tina and I
have always feared time poverty much more than material poverty.
That's probably because we've not lacked that much of it. Admittedly,
but we've kept our material life as simple and undemanding
as possible. For that reason, and as often as possible,
we drift. Drifting is not without cost. It's an intentionally
(25:44):
simple life. Will probably cost some material wealth, maybe some
professional advancement, but what you get in return is the
only thing that's ever been truly yours. You get you
my advice. Take time to get healthy, take time to
(26:04):
face your demons, Take time to notice the little things,
because most of life is the little things. Take time
to rest and recreate. Take time just to drift, and
then if you do, you'll have time to build yourself
a beautiful life.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Everybody, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Get out there and enjoy the day, and we will
see you right back here next week. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app.
KF I am six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp
the House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Custom
home Builder, Custom Home Designer Today, I want to talk
to you about what's going on with your house. I
have no agenda but to talk with you and see
if I can help. Okay, y'all, shall we jump into it.
Do we have some calls on the board.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Let's see if I can fit one in before we're
done here, let's talk to Perry. Hey, Perry, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
So I do have a fireplace question. A couple of
years ago, I had a wood burning Answert installed in
my traditional fireplace, and it does a great efficient job
of burning wood and heating. But the problem is that
heat is just concentrated in that one room, which happens
to be in the den, which is the farthest corner
(00:50):
of the house. So I would love to be able
to circulate that heat throughout the rest of the house.
But what I've been doing is I'll run my circulation
span on my HVAC. But I found I really have
to build up quite a bit of heat in that
room in order for to reach that intake vent, and
(01:11):
it does a decent job. But what I would really
like to be able to do, and I don't know
if it's even legal or possible, is extend the intake
vent with a duck to in the den above the fireplace,
so that way I could more efficiently circulate that extra
heat throughout the house.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Okay, very creative thinking, And so let me give you
a couple of guidelines there. So just so everybody knows,
an insert that you place into a wood burning and
already woodburning fireplace, a wood burning insert is basically kind
of turning your open hearth fireplace into a wood stove.
And wood stoves are so much more heat efficient than
(01:52):
the way that they handle heat than an open hearth fireplace.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And so that's what Perry has.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Done, and he's getting plenty of heat in theo but
not in the rest of the house. So here are
a couple of things. Number One, I am not aware
of any wood burning inserts that are predesigned to have
ducting and venting coming directly off of them, So that's
one thing they might be out there. I'm not aware
of it myself. I could see some problems with that,
(02:19):
But when it comes to fumes and exhaust and those
kinds of issues. Number two, if you want to creatively
bring your HVAC ducting over nearer the fireplace where the
heat is rising and have a fan unit tied in there,
I don't think there are any codes against that, as
long as in no way you are touching that heat
(02:42):
that woodburning fireplace. In other words, those ducks cannot get
intimately involved with it. If it's just a matter of
reconfiguring ducts in a room, that's one thing, and nobody's
going to give you any guff for that. There aren't
any code issues with just rearranging where ducts and fans
are located in your house when it comes to that.
But do not think of tying ducting into in any
(03:06):
way directly into the wood burning unit, because then you
get into a whole slew of issues, like I said,
with chemical exhaust, gaseous exhaust and the like. The other
thing that I would tell you though, in lieu of that,
is there are many companies that make direct vent sealed
(03:30):
combustion chamber fireplaces now that are completely legal in every
state including California, completely sealed off gas inserts that could
work inside that as well. Those many of them are
pre designed to be able to have small heating ducts
(03:52):
extended off them. They can come with kits with blowers
and with ducts that will actually allow you if you've
got a place to run these ducks a chase to
run them will allow you to actually do exactly what
I said not to do with your wood burning unit,
which is run those ducks up through and into various
other rooms as direct heat ducts into other rooms. Okay,
(04:17):
those are out there now. Whether you're gonna find one
that fits your fireplace directly or whether there have to
be some modifications, that's an issue that gets into the
weeds that we can't cover while we're on the phone together.
But I will tell you there are direct vent sealed
combustion chamber fireplaces. I believe Napoleon makes some. I know Majestic,
(04:38):
the company Majestic makes some that will actually allow you
to duct out of that firebox into other rooms. And
they're set up specifically for that. So you know there
are a couple of options for you.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Very good.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
What I'm looking at doing is, see the fireplace is
in a corner, and the heat is concentrated in that corner.
There currently is an HVAC outlet vent above that fireplace,
and I'm thinking, what could I just put an intake
vent up above that in the ceiling and then run
a duct over to my HVACTE intake and then just
(05:16):
draw that excess heat that's building up there and circulate
it throughout the house using my fan.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's a very creative idea.
You'd basically be turning that outlet duct into a return
air vent. Yeah, bring that to the like a return
air You would bring that into the return air planum
on your unit and then recirculate through that through the house.
And that might actually work well. And like I said,
if you don't make contact with the fireplace, you should
be in good shape with that. I don't see any
(05:44):
reasons why code wise, at least it shouldn't work for
you and be completely legal and approved. Perry, thank you
so much for your call, buddy. Very very interesting question
and good thinking in terms of getting creative with distributing
heat through the house.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Really good question.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Most importantly today, your guide to turning your ordinary house
into something truly extraordinary. I tell you what we're doing today.
It's an all calls day.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
It is it.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
You set the agenda anything that is going on with
your home, whether it be construction issues, DIY questions, design concerns,
anything at all. The phone lines are open. I am
here to help you sort it all out. We'll put
our heads together and we'll get it sorted. I promise.
(06:39):
Here is the number to reach me, and these lines
are open.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean on that note, how about we go to it.
So let's get to it, Hey, Rose, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
Hi. My question is I need a roof replacement, and
I'm not sure of which manufacture to go with Owens Corning, GAF,
and I recently heard of another manufacturer, a Malarkey. I
also wanted to get your thoughts on a preference for
(07:16):
California Valley or a metal valley.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Good question. Okay, all right, So, first of all, what
kind of roof? Owen's Corning, GAF, Marlarky all excellent roofing manufacturers.
So when you are faced with completely reliable roofing manufacturers
of the highest caliber like these three are, then the
decision is no longer a construction decision. The decision then
(07:46):
becomes a design decision. This is exactly how I make
these decisions when it comes to this kind of stuff
as well, We're like, okay, they're all fine, They're all excellent.
It's like buying a high end appliance for your kitchen.
You know which is better, Mela Wolf Viking sub Zero.
It's like, well, okay, at this point, they're all great.
(08:06):
So the question is which one is the right look,
which one adds to.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
The design of the house.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
So I want to free you up rows to simply
start looking at the roofing patterns, the styles, the color combinations,
and make the decision based on that. You know, like, oh,
this one, this series right here, I think this is
going to be the best look for our home, and
then you just go with that one. One addendum onto
that is, please, when we're we're having a conversation about roofing,
(08:35):
we don't want to just focus on the surface material.
We also want to talk to our roofer about the
quality of the under layment, because the underlayment is half
the ballgame, right there, the stuff that you never see.
So you could take, for instance, a Owen's Corning or
a GAF, you know, excellent roofing product and install it
(08:57):
just using roofing paper, which is the old way of
doing it. A lot of roofers still do it though,
install it using old roofing paper and not have as
great or a long term of a roof as you
would a lesser surface product. Put on a better, higher
quality underlayment, which is really ultimately the last best shield
(09:22):
of waterproofing your home. So anyway, don't forget to have
a conversation about the quality of the underlayment as well. Now,
as far as the valleys are concerned, and everybody, a
valley is where one roof plane meets another and creates
kind of an inside corner. Most roofers that I know
are going to encourage you towards a metal valley as
(09:46):
opposed to a California valley. California valley is where you
just weave the roofing material across to create the valley.
There's something to be said for that esthetically, but that material,
if it's going to bridge that, it's going to break down.
It will start to break down. Ultimately, metal valleys have
kind of proven themselves to be longer term more durable,
(10:09):
more reliable, and so on. So I would tell you
a metal value. By the way, a metal valley doesn't
have to be a huge gaping sheet of metal running
down the roof. A metal valley when it's installed properly,
the roofing material still comes within a couple of inches
of that inside seam, so it's really really hardly noticeable,
but it gives a nice crisp line and it reinforced.
(10:32):
Its a piece of critical flashing that really reinforces one
of those vulnerable points in the roof. So rose there
you go. I hope that helps. I think it does
make your decision based on design when you're faced with
equal manufacturers, think about the underlayment, and I'd probably point
you towards the metal valley as opposed to the material
(10:55):
weave in the valleys, because I just think it's more reliable.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
There you go. Let's talk to Cheryl. Welcome.
Speaker 7 (11:05):
Hi, Hi d Thanks for taking my call. I really
enjoy your show. A couple of times you've mentioned ways
to get your hot water from like your bathroom sink quicker,
because I'm trying to be water conserve water and it
takes a while. From on the heat up. And I
heard you mentioned something about something under the sink that
can make it get hotter quicker.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Yes, you're absolutely right, And this is perfect because I
can answer this one really quick, Cheryl. Yeah, it is
a you want to look for. You can search this
on the internet. You can also find them these days
at the big box stores or a plumbing supply house.
But you're looking for a point of use recirculation pump
or under counter pump. And what it basically does, it
(11:47):
mounts right underneath your sink and you connect the hot
water line to it, and in a tricky way, it
actually connects into the cold water line. And what it
does is it bleeds hot water water through it. It
pumps hot water and pumps it into the cold line.
So it draws all that non hot water that has
(12:08):
cooled down in the hot water line. It draws all
that off and pumps it into the cold line. So
you're not actually wasting the water. The water is still
in your house, it's just over in the cold line
and not the hot so it doesn't waste water, and
it draws the new fresh hot water closer to the sink. Now,
those are activated by a switch of some sort either
(12:29):
a switch that you literally, when you walk into the bathroom,
knowing that you're going to be using the sink, you
go ahead and push the button and get that pump going,
or a motion sensor switch so that when you walk
into the bathroom the pump starts running. It's still gonna
take a minute or two if it takes. So let
me make this clear. If it takes two minutes for
you to turn on the faucet and to bring hot
(12:50):
water instead of cold to the hot it's still going
to take a couple of minutes for the pump to
do this. The difference is what you mentioned. Instead of
that two minutes of cold water just going down the
drain and out and wasting that water, that two minutes
of cold water is going to get pumped over into
the cold water side still there. You've already paid for it.
(13:12):
You don't pay for it twice, and you have hot
water underneath. These, by the way, are now required in
Southern California, required for new construction or major remodels for
every sink and faucet setup that is more than fifty
linear pipe feet away from the hot water heater. That's
(13:33):
how efficient they are and how effective they are. It
is simply a part of new builds now in California,
so that's why you can find them virtually everywhere. So
you could call up, you know, Plumbing Supply Low's home
depot and they'll point you in the right direction.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on Demand from
KFI AM six forty Dennis Welcome home.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Hello there, Did I have a question about installing solar panels.
My roof is clay s tiles, and they've had two
roofers look at it, and they say that in order
to put the solar panels on, the tiles have to
come off, and they have to put down a new
asphalt composition roof, and then the tiles go back over
(14:22):
that new roof. And the dispute comes with one roofer
saying you leave about an eighteen inch gap all the
way around the panels so you can get up there
and clean them, and the other roofer says, no, you
butt the tiles right up against the panels. If they
need to be cleaned, it's just a light spray with
(14:43):
a garden hose. Or if you've got to get bird
stuff off of there, you can get a window planer
with an extending pole and do that, and you don't
want that look of a big gap all around your panels.
So I'm just wondering which is the correct answer.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Okay, Well, in the short answer is the second guy
is correct. Okay, the second guy. You don't need to
leave an eighteen inch gap all the way around. Not
that there's anything wrong with that, but it's ugly so
and it's unnecessary. So, you know, the from a design perspective,
we don't want to do that. Now, let me be clear. Yeah,
(15:21):
I know you've been talking to roofers and that's a
good way to go, but I want to be clear
when it comes to solar panels. There's two different ways
of installing solar panels on a heavily tiled roof. You
have an s tile roof, kind of a modified Spanish tile.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Roof, that's a thick roof. Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
One way to do it without removing any of the
tiles at all, except for just a few, is to
mount those solar panels on taller stanchions or you know, risers,
so that the solar panels are actually up rising up
above the tile roof. Now, that would be the way
that typically most solar companies who would even attempt it.
(15:59):
And and I'm not trying to imply that this is
a difficult thing, but it does tend to be. Tile roofs,
especially Spanish tile roofs, tends to be the line of
demarcation between solar companies who really know what they're doing
and solar companies who are like, we'd really rather not
just bother with that for you, so we just say, oh,
you can't. I've literally had folks tell me my solar
(16:21):
company told me you can't in style solar on a
tile roof. I'm like, okay, that they they should not
be your solar company. I remember the Sunlux guys. One
of the things that impressed me about Sunlux very first
installation I ever saw them do before I committed to
them on my roof, they invited me out to a
local neighbor out here of mine, who a friend and
(16:42):
a neighbor who has a traditional Spanish tile roof, and
they invited me out specifically so that they could show
me how they were going to install this on this roof.
And they did the embedding process, which is what you're
talking about. And I think that's the best look as
opposed to having the solar panels up above the tile,
(17:02):
which you can totally do by the way. Okay, then
you're only removing tiles for the risers themselves, and then
you know, cutting in around them and replacing. But what
I like in a Spanish tile roof, when you're committing
to solar you might as well just go for it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
You remove the.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Tiles in the area that the panels are going to go.
And yes, you don't just leave the underlayment exposed. What
they're going to put down is like an asphalt composition
roof there, and then they're going to set the tiles
low over that so that the tiles more or less
kind of start to flush out with the top surface.
It's an embedded solar panel install. That's the kind of
(17:41):
thing you're talking about. And no, we would never think
unless there was some bizarre special circumstance of leaving an
eighteen inch gap all because then you have to look
at the asphalt composition shingle as well as the Spanish
tile and the solar panel. So no, we run the
solar We run the tiles nice and tight right up
(18:02):
against the edge of the solar panel because and let
me just put it this way, Dennis, it is. It's
a misnomer that solar panels need to be cleaned regularly.
You know. You wash it down with a hose from
the ground, you know, once a year, give it a
nice little rinse. You know, unless you live literally next
to like a constant dust storm, the you'll find that.
(18:26):
Most solar companies will tell you dust that accumulates on
your solar panel at some point, I mean at some
point I guess if you get a half an inch
of dust up there, yeah, it's gonna affect performance. But
generally speaking, a dirty solar panel, you know, it's it's
the performance differential is so fractionally minute it just really
(18:47):
doesn't matter. I tell you the truth. On my panels
on my house, there's only one reason I clean them,
and that's because at some point they look dusty and
I don't like the look, and so I washed them off.
It has nothing to do with the performance of the
solar So the point being, yes, you're right if you
can reach them from the ground with a nice spray
(19:09):
hose or you know, a window washer, a squeegee or
brush with an extension on it, don't go with the
walkable perimeter eighteen inches, by the way, is awkward and
weird anyway to you know, for access, it's no guarantee
that somebody isn't going to misstep onto a tile.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
So there you have it.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Good run those tiles tight, keep that roof looking awesome,
and then you know, just occasionally rinse those panels down.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You're good to go.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Perfect. Thank you very much of you.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You are very welcome, my friend, and good luck with
solar on your roof.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Hey, welcome to home where every week we help you
better understand that place where you live. I am Dean Sharp,
the house whisper. Here we are at the end of
another three hour program. My thanks to all of our
callers today. Such a privilege and a pleasure to speak
with you, and just for everybody who's listening to just
(20:14):
to be able to come into your home and have
these meaningful conversations about your home every week. My thanks
to the crew and everybody who was involved to make
it a very very special show. Appreciate you all. And
now I'm gonna do my little bit to add a
little special.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
To the end. I'm gonna leave you with this thought today.
Did I already mention this?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
That TEENA and I celebrated our twenty eighth wedding anniversary
just a couple of weeks ago, nearly thirty years?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
How does it go by in a blink?
Speaker 6 (20:45):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Now we have a little trip planned to aid in
the celebration, Like we do. Trips look a little different
now than they used to, but at their heart, they're
still the same. The ultimate goal is just to drop
off the map and rest for a bit. I prefer
to call it going on holiday instead of going on vacation,
just because one I am a word nuance nerd, and
(21:10):
vacation definitely implies that vacating the premises is required, not
so of a holiday. Holiday means holy day, a sacred day,
a day set apart for something, and going on holiday
without leaving town is something that we learned to do
a long time ago, when we were young and money
was tight, and we mastered the art of staycations. Now,
(21:34):
one thing a staycation does is force you to find
rest right where you are, and to this day, the
lesson holds with us. We love traveling. I mean we
love it, but after nearly thirty years of adventures, I
can honestly say we never feel a deep need to
get away from this place and rest in that way,
(21:57):
because we spend a lot of time resting right here,
and we've also made it a pact between us, Tina
and I to build a life that doesn't require vacationing
from Life is full always, Schedules are full, always, and
rightly so. There's so much to do and be and
see and learn and enjoy this life. So most days
we are all about it. We are busy, but we
(22:20):
make it our goal never to be too busy. If
by busy you mean preoccupied or too distracted to breathe deeply,
smell the roses and enjoy the moments as they pass by,
and in our line of work, though I suspect this
is true for everybody, it turns out not being too
busy is very very important. Downtime, quiet time, stillness, simplicity
(22:45):
is often where we'll end up solving the biggest problems
and giving birth to the most creative ideas.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
But you don't do it for that reason.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
The trick is, if you intentionally go searching for answers
in your rest, then you're you're gonna be back at
work again, and you're not resting. So Tina and I
we schedule downtime just as religiously as we schedule work.
We work very, very hard, and then we just don't work.
(23:14):
Like rowing a boat on a river, we like to
think there's a time to sweat and strain and row
and row, and sometimes you row with the current, sometimes
against it. Sometimes you're just trying to stay off the rocks.
But then when it's time to stop rowing, we pull
in the oars and we sit back. We let the
river take us where it will. We just drift. Now,
(23:36):
drifting may seem like you're losing ground, but actually it's
where an entire section of my brain starts to fire
on parts that don't get attention when we're rowing. A
lot of folks avoid drifting.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
For instance, if you spend your life running from certain
thoughts or feelings and you stop for a while, well yeah,
they catch up with you. And at first that may
seem terrifying, but in the end it's probably just what
the doctor ordered. Actually. The philosopher Blaze Pascal once wrote
one of my favorite quotes, all of humanity's problems stem
from man's inability to sit quietly in.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
A room alone. Yeah, I tend to agree.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
One of my heroes and one of California's heroes, the
great naturalist John Muir, he knew how to drift. Oh yeah.
Muir was concerned about people chasing material wealth but ending
up time poor.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
That's what he called it.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
What he called and I quote, the deathlike apathy of
weary civilized people in whom natural curiosity has been quenched
in toil and care, to time poor to enjoy the
keenest delights of which Earth can offer you. Now, since
time is the only truly limited resource in all of
(24:54):
our lives, I am willing to say this is me.
Time equals wealth, and time poverty, which I think most
materially wealthy people suffer from in some form or another,
is probably the worst kind of poverty. And I'm not
talking about comparing it to hunger or starvation. I'm just saying,
mentally and soulishly, to not have time to be you,
(25:18):
there couldn't be something worse than that. Tina and I
have always feared time poverty much more than material poverty.
That's probably because we've not lacked that much of it. Admittedly,
but we've kept our material life as simple and undemanding
as possible. For that reason, and as often as possible,
we drift. Drifting is not without cost. It's an intentionally
(25:44):
simple life. Will probably cost some material wealth, maybe some
professional advancement, but what you get in return is the
only thing that's ever been truly yours. You get you
my advice. Take time to get healthy, take time to
(26:04):
face your demons, Take time to notice the little things,
because most of life is the little things. Take time
to rest and recreate. Take time just to drift, and
then if you do, you'll have time to build yourself
a beautiful life.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Everybody, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Get out there and enjoy the day, and we will
see you right back here next week. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app.
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