August 23, 2025 • 23 mins
Dean Sharp kicks off All Calls Saturday by opening the phone lines for listeners’ home questions. He shares a lighthearted exchange with KFI’s Heather Brooker, who proudly recounts her DIY fix of a broken toilet handle—before the conversation turns humorous with stories about bidets. Dean then takes his first caller, Gabriel, who manages apartments with aluminum windows that don’t slide properly. Dean explains why WD-40 isn’t the best solution and recommends a product designed specifically for aluminum tracks, along with advice on maintenance. The hour closes with another call about air return systems in desert condos, where Dean warns against improper venting that pulls hot attic air into the AC and explains the right way to insulate or condition attic spaces.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listenings KFI AM six forty the Bill handles show
on demand on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
F Good morning and welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the
house whisper, custom home builder, custom home designer, and of
course your guide to better understanding that place where you live.
Today on the show, as we do every Saturday morning,
(00:27):
it's your calls. You are going to tell me what
today's show is about, because I want to talk to
you about whatever has got you scratch in your head
about your home design, construction, DIY, inside, outside, landscape, hardscape,
anything regarding your home decor architecture. Did I always say architecture? No,
(00:49):
all right? All that stuff if it's in your home,
if it's on your property, then you and I can
talk about it. The number to reach me and the
phone lines are open right now eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three three the numeral to ask Dean
A three three to ask Dean. It's just that simple.
(01:12):
Matt is standing by ready to uh take your call,
tell you everything you need to know. Pop you into
the queue. You can listen to the show while you wait.
Traffic's always light on a Saturday morning, As I always
say so, first calls in usually get right on the air.
So there you go, eight three three to ask Dean,
all right, while we're waiting for the callboard to warm up,
(01:34):
here waiting for you. You know, I'm just waiting for you. Yeah,
I'm still waiting. Okay. While we're doing that, let's say
good morning to Sam. Hey, Sam, how's it? Good morning, Dean?
How's it going? Things are good? Things are good? How
is our Do we have a live studio audience this morning?
We do have a live studio audience. They're running little behind.
(01:55):
Give me one second. Okay, Oh there they are close.
Que They're always so enthusiastic. They bring those loves, That's
what I've noticed they do. They do bring the love
great awesome. Heather Brooker, Good morning. Heather was giving me
(02:16):
a hard time on Conway the other night. I was
he's given me a hard time because she said that, Oh,
you know, because the show was syndicated in San Diego,
I can't talk to you anymore on Sunday mornings. But
it's Saturday morning. We didn't talk about the fact that
Saturday mornings we can still talk.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
That's right, look out, I'm gonna be just chatting it up.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Now there you go. How are you this morning, my friend?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Good?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
You'll be so proud of me. I actually did like
a DIY kind of a thing this week, and I'm
really proud of myself. My toilet handle has been kind
of broken for a while in our main bathroom, and
it was one of those situations where you had to
push it, like really hard down in order to get
the toilet to full leaf flush. And I was like,
(03:01):
you know what, I'm going to Dean sharp this and
I'm going to go to the home depot or to
the store wherever, whoever's sponsoring, whoever wants to sponsor. Now
I'm like, I went to home Depot and I bought
a universal like toilet handle because I wasn't trying to
get too tricky with it. And I replaced my toilet
handle with a really nice new toilet handle and it
(03:21):
flushes beautifully. And I've never felt more proud of myself.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, I am proud of you too. I have to
warn you. I got to warn you though, toilets toilet repair,
it's a gateway. It's a gateway.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Di w am I going to start adding on to
my toilet? What's next?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You might you me next week, Dean Dean, Let's let's
get a toilet update from Heather Brooker.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I've got a seat warmer now, or like, where I
draw the line is bidets. That's where I draw the line.
That's not really, that's not for me personal No, No,
the first time that I tried it, it was a
surprise beidat and I was not ready and I will
never do that again.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
All right, Well, okay, all right, you can talk about.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
The benefits of bidets sometime if you want, but like
it's I don't know if it's for me.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, you might want to give it a try when
it's not a surprise. That's that's all I'm saying. Okay,
that's all I'm saying. You know what, Tina completely anti
bidet for the longest time for no reason because well,
I mean just for the reason that when you think
about the process, you're like, uh no. But finally, finally
(04:35):
I got her to commit to at least try one out.
In fact, when we remodel, I'm like, I'm putting a
dat seat in the in our bathroom on our toilet.
She's like, fine, I'm never going to use it. All right,
Then the day I can remember the day she came in.
She walked into the office and she said, Okay, I
just tried out the biday seat. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Now she's team the day.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Oh my gosh, she is. She's the biggest bidet advocate.
Now we're we're you know, we're designing projects for people,
and she's telling clients like, oh, of course you're getting
a beday. Oh my, oh no, we're putting that on there.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Okay, I will, I will at some point give it
another try. But for me, it was a little bit unexpected.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
No, I feel no believe me, believe me, no one.
You know, when you're sitting down there, all vulnerable, no
one should be surprising you with a stream of water.
That's just that's like a that's like a joke. Okay,
that's like a practical joke. And nobody laughs at me.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I think I even like screamed.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I was like, whoa.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
All right, Well, well, good morning everyone.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
We will continue as the weeks roll on, we will
continue checking in on Heather's toilet project. But I'm just
telling but but but I'm proud of you. Good, good
for you, thanks for doing it. There you go, all right, y'all?
Uh uh, where am I oh, yeah, yeah, the show. Yeah,
(06:07):
that's it you're thinking about. Yeah, I know, I just
said the day break. That's the problem. Uh. The number
to reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight
three three, the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three
two Ask Dean. It's an all calls morning, waiting for
you to call. We've got a couple of calls coming
up on the board, so right after the break we
(06:29):
will go to the phones. You're listening to Home with
Dean Sharp. The house whisper Dean Sharp, the house whisper,
good morning to you, Good Saturday morning to you. I'm
here to help you take your home to the next level,
like we do every week. Every week. It is an
all calls Saturday morning, as we do. The number to
(06:50):
reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight three three,
the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three two Ask Dean.
It's just that simple. Give me a call. Anything that's
got you scratching your head about your home. I am
anxious to talk to you. You get I love Saturday
mornings because you you tell me what the show is
all about. All right, let's go to the phones. I
(07:12):
want to talk to Gabriel Hey, Gabriel, welcome home. Hey bean, Hello, yes,
sir out, Yeah, I'm here, I'm here.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Oh okay, well wow, first time caller. It's great to
talk to.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
So.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
I'm in property management and I have an apartment that
has aluminum windows. There's a sliding windows in the kitchen
and the sash windows, the up and down ones in
the bedrooms, and they don't open easily. They don't slide easily.
(07:51):
I gotta like pop them, you know, force them, and
then even then they just don't slide.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Good.
Speaker 5 (07:59):
I was wondering affairs, anything you can suggest that could
help with that.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Uh yeah, well, I mean there may be two levels
to the issue. But how how old are these windows
as far.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
As getting two thousand and five?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Okay, well, they're not ancient. They're not ancient windows. Okay. Yeah.
So the here's the easy the easiest one is, uh,
there's a there's a groovy little product out there that's
made just for pretty much just for aluminum windows. So
you've lucked out, my friend, You've won the lottery of
(08:36):
window problems.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
I was arguing before I go, let's w D forty
the world you know, yeah, well, you know what it's.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
It's it's it's right along those lines. Except the thing
with w D forty and w D forty is great.
I mean, it's like w D forty has become like
my duct tape of spring things right. But the problem
with w D forty is that it also cleans them,
which is not a problem. But w D forty is
a lubricant and a solvent both and so as good
(09:06):
a job as it does, it won't last as long.
It's just not going to get it all done as long. Okay,
So you may want to use a little w D
forty on the windows and then wipe them all up.
In other words, if there's gunk on them, then the
w D forty will help loosen that up, just to
free them up. But afterwards, afterwards, you must employ this.
(09:28):
You can, I think you can get this at the depot. Yeah,
let me wait, let me check. Yep, Yep, you can
find it at the depot. Alluma Slick. That's I'm not
making that up. That's actually the name of the product,
Alluma Slick, Premium aluminum lubricant. Spray Bury it done. We've
(09:49):
we've you know, we've encountered this before. There's something about
open cell aluminum that as it ages, it tends to
just kind of get a little porous on the microporosity
on the surface, and then next thing, you know, it's
just it just grabs onto itself, the window, grabs onto
the track, the track, you know, it just they get
a little clunky. This stuff is specifically designed for aluminum
(10:13):
sliding doors and windows and hurricane shutters, all right, now.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
It's just awesome, Imus, Yes, So let's.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Just cross our fingers and hope that that's the case.
I think that's probably going to be the case, because
they're not really old. Wind. If you told me that
they were forty year old aluminum windows, then you might
have an actual issue with the rollers underneath, and that's
getting harder and harder to find those replacement rollers. But yeah,
I'm guessing. I'm guessing they just need to get looped
(10:44):
up a little bit, and this is the stuff to
do it. Allumas slick you cannot you can. You know,
it's exactly the product designed specifically for your problem, Gabriel,
So go for it, my friend.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Awesome, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You are so welcome. All right, So right off, right
off the bat, right off the bat, right off the bat,
right just just right out of the park. Home run period,
boom done. All right? How are we on time? Where
are we on time? Are we good? Can we take no?
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Well?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You know what, We're right up against a break. Why
don't we do this? We'll take a quick break. We'll
come back and more of your calls. The number to
reach eight three to three two. Ask Dean eight three
three the numeral two. Ask Dean eight three three two
Ask Dan. It's an all calls Saturday morning. Here on home.
I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KF I
am six forty.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Dean Sharp, the house Whisper, here every week to help
you transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. We
are taking calls today as we do. It's an all
calls Saturday morning. I should also say this, You know,
if you listen to the show and you enjoy the advice,
and you think, man, man, we need some of this
(12:05):
advice in our own place. If your home needs some
personal house Whisper attention, you could book an in home
design console. That's yeah, that's with me and T standing
in your living room looking at the problem or wherever
the problem is. Actually, if we can't see it from
the living room, I promise we'll move to another room.
Just go to house whisper dot Design for more info
(12:27):
House whisper dot Design. All right. The number to reach
me today eight three three two. Ask dean eight three
to three the numeral two ask dean A three three
to ask Dean. It's just that simple. Anything that's got
you scratching your head about your home? All right, let's
go back to the board. Let's talk to Bill. Hey, Bill,
(12:50):
welcome home, Good morning Deane.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I have a condo in a desert that a single
story as flat roof with the AC in on it,
and I recently found out that the air returned when
it coner's attic space, which is approximate only twenty between
(13:17):
the ceiling and the roof the flat roof. This area
isn't accessible, But I found that the air return when
an owner the addict is not directly connected to the
conveyance to the roof, so it's mixing the air in
(13:37):
hot air in the attic with that return, and the
AC has a time trying to cool the innitt down
when it's warm. Onto this right now? And is that
a common design?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
No, that's a huge mistake, giant mistake. Not good at all. Now,
maybe somebody did it intentionally thinking that the turn air
event would help to cool the attic down in lieu
of attic insulation. But that no, that's no, no, no, no,
no no, that's not how we want to do it
(14:18):
at all. Just so everybody understands, an air conditioning system
is a closed system, closed system, meaning it does not
share air with the outside world. It doesn't share air
with the attic space. It is simply recirculating the air
inside the habitable space of your home. So the return
(14:41):
air vent its job is to suck the air out
of your house that the other supply vents have put
in and put it back into the system. It takes
a cycle through, it goes back through. As the air
warms up, it comes back in through the air the
return air vent back up to the the cooler, the
evaporator coil. It gets cooled off again and sent back
(15:04):
into the house. And yeah, of course it has a
hard time heating up the place, I mean cooling down
the place, because it is sitting there picking up unconditioned
air from the attic, which in the desert is blazing hot.
Leaking into the system. So no, that is not supposed
to be that way. Bill. If it was somebody's brilliant idea,
(15:28):
and I use that word in air quotes to somehow
cool off the attic, that's not the way to do it.
That's not the way to do it. It is far better,
far far better to super insulate the attic go crazy.
I mean, you've got a twenty four inch attic space,
it could go crazy and just fill it up with
the blown in cellulose insulation or spray foam insulation insulate
(15:52):
the attic space so it's doing its job. But the
return air vent for the AC unit needs to make
positive contact uninterrupted contact with the rest of the circuit.
So it means to lead directly back to the unit
on the roof without any air intrusion from any other place.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
If the attic does not have a vent to the outside,
so in other words, it's completely closed off to the outside.
If I were to somehow get a direct connection, would
the attic gets so hot that it may cause issues.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Well, the attic has to be handled one of two ways.
The attic either has to be vented to the outside, okay,
so that it has a place for that air, for
that hot air to go. Okay, that's just that's code.
The attic has to be vented to the outside. The
only exception is if we're going to do what we
call a conditioned attic space, which you have currently half
(16:58):
of right now. A conditioned attic space, especially for the desert,
is something that well, I actually I love them. I
love the idea. I hope that all new construction eventually
switches over to conditioned attic spaces. And that is very
simply this that instead of insulating the layer in between
(17:22):
the habitable space in the apartment or the house and
the attic, instead of insulating there and protecting the one
from the other, we would insulate the upper layer of
the attic up against the roof, the outside envelope of
the house, and we would leave the attic. We'd treat
the attic like a room any other room in the house.
(17:43):
But that doesn't mean just the return air vent bleeding
off in there, and that's not how it's done. By
the way, we still don't want that gap in the
return air system, but we would put a small return
air vent in there, dedicated line, and a small supply
vent in there, so that actual cold air is being
circulated in the attic like it's being done in the
(18:05):
rest of the unit, and that's how that's done. So
you basically you're moving the insulation line from the ceiling
of the main habitable zone from in between the ceiling
and the attic, you're moving that up to the roof itself. Now,
the reason why most people don't commit to that, well,
number one, most people don't realize it can be done
that way. But number two, the rafter or the roof
(18:28):
line up there is not deep enough to get your
standard fluffy insulation to get your R thirty grating that
you really really want, and so in doing so, because
you don't have that kind of depth, you can't just
pile it up on the attic floor like we can
when we're doing a standard install. In order to get
that depth or the adequate insulation up there, we're going
(18:50):
to need to use spray foam insulation against the roof
rafters there and that'll work for fine. About four inches
or so of spray insulation will give you the R
thirty you need, and then the attic space can be conditioned,
at which point there is no need nor desire for venting.
We'll discuss it all your home with Dean Sharp, the
(19:13):
house Whisper. Dean Sharp, the house Whisper here to remind
you if design matters most when it comes to transforming
your home. We want to apply all the best ideas,
all the best principles of design. We want to be intentional.
We want to take our time because at the end
of the day, design matters most. Oh it does, all right.
(19:36):
I ran a little late last segment, so we're running
a little short this one. Let's just see if we
can at least get a call started here and then
we'll take it from there. We might roll it over
a bit. Let's talk to Henry. Hey, Henry, welcome home,
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Question about water heaters. Is there a way of knowing
if your water heater is about to go? Or should
you just replace it every x number of years as
a routine.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Ah, that's a good question. So how do you know
your water heaters about to go? Well, it stops giving
you hot water. Thanks for your call, Henry. Okay, So
here's the thing I really wasn't I was half joking
and half serious. Water heaters when they start, when they
(20:23):
start going, they start there could be a number of
different issues. They could be giving you what hot water intermittently, Okay,
the quality of the heat in the water could just
be dropping down lower. In other words, you're like, wow,
I turned up that thermost out on that hot water heater,
but the water is just not as hot as it
used to be. That's inevitably a sign that the inside
(20:47):
of the water heater has got scale build up on it,
mineralization on it, and as a result, it's having trouble
transmitting that mineralization. It's like a blanket and it absorbs
that heat and it doesn't allow to get into the water.
The same way, there could be issues with the actual
boiler plate down at the bottom, a lot of excessive
(21:09):
popping and cracking, and it sounds like when the water
heaters going like there's like sand being in a washing
machine rolling around in there. Again, all of this comes
from mineralization in our water. Another thing, too, is whether
or not you well, let me just back it up
here and just say this. That being the case, and
(21:32):
of course parts can go bad, but that's not really
the water heater going bad. That's just a part replacement.
When the water heater goes bad, when it's time to
replace it. It means that the tank and the burner
have failed irreparably. It's leaking, or the burner at the
bottom is so corroded and scaled over that it's not
(21:52):
getting its job done anymore. That's essentially what it comes
down to. How you can check and see is number one,
have you ever flushed this thing out? Do you flush
it out regularly? It should get flushed about once a year.
And everybody's like, what are you kidding me? I didn't
even know you were supposed to do anything to the
water heater. It's been like a decade and a half.
(22:14):
I get it. That's pretty much the typical thing. I'm
just saying it should be drained, fleshed out so that
some of those minerals can get out of there out
of the tank. Also, if you're handy and you don't
want to call a plumber in for this, you could
have you grab a wrench and take a look at
the sacrificial anode. What is that? You know what, Henry,
(22:38):
I'm going to put you on hold and I'll tell
you all about it right on the other side of
the break. This is something I'm talking about tomorrow on
the show too. By the way, we're talking about deferred maintenance,
so this is a really good question. It kind of
falls right in line with that when we come back.
What is the sacrificial anode? Can you see it on
your body right now? And what should you do if
(23:00):
it's in trouble. We'll discuss it all your home with
Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI A
M six forty
You're listenings KFI AM six forty the Bill handles show
on demand on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
F Good morning and welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the
house whisper, custom home builder, custom home designer, and of
course your guide to better understanding that place where you live.
Today on the show, as we do every Saturday morning,
(00:27):
it's your calls. You are going to tell me what
today's show is about, because I want to talk to
you about whatever has got you scratch in your head
about your home design, construction, DIY, inside, outside, landscape, hardscape,
anything regarding your home decor architecture. Did I always say architecture? No,
(00:49):
all right? All that stuff if it's in your home,
if it's on your property, then you and I can
talk about it. The number to reach me and the
phone lines are open right now eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three three the numeral to ask Dean
A three three to ask Dean. It's just that simple.
(01:12):
Matt is standing by ready to uh take your call,
tell you everything you need to know. Pop you into
the queue. You can listen to the show while you wait.
Traffic's always light on a Saturday morning, As I always
say so, first calls in usually get right on the air.
So there you go, eight three three to ask Dean,
all right, while we're waiting for the callboard to warm up,
(01:34):
here waiting for you. You know, I'm just waiting for you. Yeah,
I'm still waiting. Okay. While we're doing that, let's say
good morning to Sam. Hey, Sam, how's it? Good morning, Dean?
How's it going? Things are good? Things are good? How
is our Do we have a live studio audience this morning?
We do have a live studio audience. They're running little behind.
(01:55):
Give me one second. Okay, Oh there they are close.
Que They're always so enthusiastic. They bring those loves, That's
what I've noticed they do. They do bring the love
great awesome. Heather Brooker, Good morning. Heather was giving me
(02:16):
a hard time on Conway the other night. I was
he's given me a hard time because she said that, Oh,
you know, because the show was syndicated in San Diego,
I can't talk to you anymore on Sunday mornings. But
it's Saturday morning. We didn't talk about the fact that
Saturday mornings we can still talk.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
That's right, look out, I'm gonna be just chatting it up.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Now there you go. How are you this morning, my friend?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Good?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
You'll be so proud of me. I actually did like
a DIY kind of a thing this week, and I'm
really proud of myself. My toilet handle has been kind
of broken for a while in our main bathroom, and
it was one of those situations where you had to
push it, like really hard down in order to get
the toilet to full leaf flush. And I was like,
(03:01):
you know what, I'm going to Dean sharp this and
I'm going to go to the home depot or to
the store wherever, whoever's sponsoring, whoever wants to sponsor. Now
I'm like, I went to home Depot and I bought
a universal like toilet handle because I wasn't trying to
get too tricky with it. And I replaced my toilet
handle with a really nice new toilet handle and it
(03:21):
flushes beautifully. And I've never felt more proud of myself.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, I am proud of you too. I have to
warn you. I got to warn you though, toilets toilet repair,
it's a gateway. It's a gateway.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Di w am I going to start adding on to
my toilet? What's next?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You might you me next week, Dean Dean, Let's let's
get a toilet update from Heather Brooker.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I've got a seat warmer now, or like, where I
draw the line is bidets. That's where I draw the line.
That's not really, that's not for me personal No, No,
the first time that I tried it, it was a
surprise beidat and I was not ready and I will
never do that again.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
All right, Well, okay, all right, you can talk about.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
The benefits of bidets sometime if you want, but like
it's I don't know if it's for me.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, you might want to give it a try when
it's not a surprise. That's that's all I'm saying. Okay,
that's all I'm saying. You know what, Tina completely anti
bidet for the longest time for no reason because well,
I mean just for the reason that when you think
about the process, you're like, uh no. But finally, finally
(04:35):
I got her to commit to at least try one out.
In fact, when we remodel, I'm like, I'm putting a
dat seat in the in our bathroom on our toilet.
She's like, fine, I'm never going to use it. All right,
Then the day I can remember the day she came in.
She walked into the office and she said, Okay, I
just tried out the biday seat. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Now she's team the day.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Oh my gosh, she is. She's the biggest bidet advocate.
Now we're we're you know, we're designing projects for people,
and she's telling clients like, oh, of course you're getting
a beday. Oh my, oh no, we're putting that on there.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Okay, I will, I will at some point give it
another try. But for me, it was a little bit unexpected.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
No, I feel no believe me, believe me, no one.
You know, when you're sitting down there, all vulnerable, no
one should be surprising you with a stream of water.
That's just that's like a that's like a joke. Okay,
that's like a practical joke. And nobody laughs at me.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I think I even like screamed.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I was like, whoa.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
All right, Well, well, good morning everyone.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
We will continue as the weeks roll on, we will
continue checking in on Heather's toilet project. But I'm just
telling but but but I'm proud of you. Good, good
for you, thanks for doing it. There you go, all right, y'all?
Uh uh, where am I oh, yeah, yeah, the show. Yeah,
(06:07):
that's it you're thinking about. Yeah, I know, I just
said the day break. That's the problem. Uh. The number
to reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight
three three, the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three
two Ask Dean. It's an all calls morning, waiting for
you to call. We've got a couple of calls coming
up on the board, so right after the break we
(06:29):
will go to the phones. You're listening to Home with
Dean Sharp. The house whisper Dean Sharp, the house whisper,
good morning to you, Good Saturday morning to you. I'm
here to help you take your home to the next level,
like we do every week. Every week. It is an
all calls Saturday morning, as we do. The number to
(06:50):
reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight three three,
the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three two Ask Dean.
It's just that simple. Give me a call. Anything that's
got you scratching your head about your home. I am
anxious to talk to you. You get I love Saturday
mornings because you you tell me what the show is
all about. All right, let's go to the phones. I
(07:12):
want to talk to Gabriel Hey, Gabriel, welcome home. Hey bean, Hello, yes,
sir out, Yeah, I'm here, I'm here.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Oh okay, well wow, first time caller. It's great to
talk to.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
So.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
I'm in property management and I have an apartment that
has aluminum windows. There's a sliding windows in the kitchen
and the sash windows, the up and down ones in
the bedrooms, and they don't open easily. They don't slide easily.
(07:51):
I gotta like pop them, you know, force them, and
then even then they just don't slide.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Good.
Speaker 5 (07:59):
I was wondering affairs, anything you can suggest that could
help with that.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Uh yeah, well, I mean there may be two levels
to the issue. But how how old are these windows
as far.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
As getting two thousand and five?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Okay, well, they're not ancient. They're not ancient windows. Okay. Yeah.
So the here's the easy the easiest one is, uh,
there's a there's a groovy little product out there that's
made just for pretty much just for aluminum windows. So
you've lucked out, my friend, You've won the lottery of
(08:36):
window problems.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
I was arguing before I go, let's w D forty
the world you know, yeah, well, you know what it's.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
It's it's it's right along those lines. Except the thing
with w D forty and w D forty is great.
I mean, it's like w D forty has become like
my duct tape of spring things right. But the problem
with w D forty is that it also cleans them,
which is not a problem. But w D forty is
a lubricant and a solvent both and so as good
(09:06):
a job as it does, it won't last as long.
It's just not going to get it all done as long. Okay,
So you may want to use a little w D
forty on the windows and then wipe them all up.
In other words, if there's gunk on them, then the
w D forty will help loosen that up, just to
free them up. But afterwards, afterwards, you must employ this.
(09:28):
You can, I think you can get this at the depot. Yeah,
let me wait, let me check. Yep, Yep, you can
find it at the depot. Alluma Slick. That's I'm not
making that up. That's actually the name of the product,
Alluma Slick, Premium aluminum lubricant. Spray Bury it done. We've
(09:49):
we've you know, we've encountered this before. There's something about
open cell aluminum that as it ages, it tends to
just kind of get a little porous on the microporosity
on the surface, and then next thing, you know, it's
just it just grabs onto itself, the window, grabs onto
the track, the track, you know, it just they get
a little clunky. This stuff is specifically designed for aluminum
(10:13):
sliding doors and windows and hurricane shutters, all right, now.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
It's just awesome, Imus, Yes, So let's.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Just cross our fingers and hope that that's the case.
I think that's probably going to be the case, because
they're not really old. Wind. If you told me that
they were forty year old aluminum windows, then you might
have an actual issue with the rollers underneath, and that's
getting harder and harder to find those replacement rollers. But yeah,
I'm guessing. I'm guessing they just need to get looped
(10:44):
up a little bit, and this is the stuff to
do it. Allumas slick you cannot you can. You know,
it's exactly the product designed specifically for your problem, Gabriel,
So go for it, my friend.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Awesome, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You are so welcome. All right, So right off, right
off the bat, right off the bat, right off the bat,
right just just right out of the park. Home run period,
boom done. All right? How are we on time? Where
are we on time? Are we good? Can we take no?
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Well?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You know what, We're right up against a break. Why
don't we do this? We'll take a quick break. We'll
come back and more of your calls. The number to
reach eight three to three two. Ask Dean eight three
three the numeral two. Ask Dean eight three three two
Ask Dan. It's an all calls Saturday morning. Here on home.
I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KF I
am six forty.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Dean Sharp, the house Whisper, here every week to help
you transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. We
are taking calls today as we do. It's an all
calls Saturday morning. I should also say this, You know,
if you listen to the show and you enjoy the advice,
and you think, man, man, we need some of this
(12:05):
advice in our own place. If your home needs some
personal house Whisper attention, you could book an in home
design console. That's yeah, that's with me and T standing
in your living room looking at the problem or wherever
the problem is. Actually, if we can't see it from
the living room, I promise we'll move to another room.
Just go to house whisper dot Design for more info
(12:27):
House whisper dot Design. All right. The number to reach
me today eight three three two. Ask dean eight three
to three the numeral two ask dean A three three
to ask Dean. It's just that simple. Anything that's got
you scratching your head about your home? All right, let's
go back to the board. Let's talk to Bill. Hey, Bill,
(12:50):
welcome home, Good morning Deane.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I have a condo in a desert that a single
story as flat roof with the AC in on it,
and I recently found out that the air returned when
it coner's attic space, which is approximate only twenty between
(13:17):
the ceiling and the roof the flat roof. This area
isn't accessible, But I found that the air return when
an owner the addict is not directly connected to the
conveyance to the roof, so it's mixing the air in
(13:37):
hot air in the attic with that return, and the
AC has a time trying to cool the innitt down
when it's warm. Onto this right now? And is that
a common design?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
No, that's a huge mistake, giant mistake. Not good at all. Now,
maybe somebody did it intentionally thinking that the turn air
event would help to cool the attic down in lieu
of attic insulation. But that no, that's no, no, no, no,
no no, that's not how we want to do it
(14:18):
at all. Just so everybody understands, an air conditioning system
is a closed system, closed system, meaning it does not
share air with the outside world. It doesn't share air
with the attic space. It is simply recirculating the air
inside the habitable space of your home. So the return
(14:41):
air vent its job is to suck the air out
of your house that the other supply vents have put
in and put it back into the system. It takes
a cycle through, it goes back through. As the air
warms up, it comes back in through the air the
return air vent back up to the the cooler, the
evaporator coil. It gets cooled off again and sent back
(15:04):
into the house. And yeah, of course it has a
hard time heating up the place, I mean cooling down
the place, because it is sitting there picking up unconditioned
air from the attic, which in the desert is blazing hot.
Leaking into the system. So no, that is not supposed
to be that way. Bill. If it was somebody's brilliant idea,
(15:28):
and I use that word in air quotes to somehow
cool off the attic, that's not the way to do it.
That's not the way to do it. It is far better,
far far better to super insulate the attic go crazy.
I mean, you've got a twenty four inch attic space,
it could go crazy and just fill it up with
the blown in cellulose insulation or spray foam insulation insulate
(15:52):
the attic space so it's doing its job. But the
return air vent for the AC unit needs to make
positive contact uninterrupted contact with the rest of the circuit.
So it means to lead directly back to the unit
on the roof without any air intrusion from any other place.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
If the attic does not have a vent to the outside,
so in other words, it's completely closed off to the outside.
If I were to somehow get a direct connection, would
the attic gets so hot that it may cause issues.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Well, the attic has to be handled one of two ways.
The attic either has to be vented to the outside, okay,
so that it has a place for that air, for
that hot air to go. Okay, that's just that's code.
The attic has to be vented to the outside. The
only exception is if we're going to do what we
call a conditioned attic space, which you have currently half
(16:58):
of right now. A conditioned attic space, especially for the desert,
is something that well, I actually I love them. I
love the idea. I hope that all new construction eventually
switches over to conditioned attic spaces. And that is very
simply this that instead of insulating the layer in between
(17:22):
the habitable space in the apartment or the house and
the attic, instead of insulating there and protecting the one
from the other, we would insulate the upper layer of
the attic up against the roof, the outside envelope of
the house, and we would leave the attic. We'd treat
the attic like a room any other room in the house.
(17:43):
But that doesn't mean just the return air vent bleeding
off in there, and that's not how it's done. By
the way, we still don't want that gap in the
return air system, but we would put a small return
air vent in there, dedicated line, and a small supply
vent in there, so that actual cold air is being
circulated in the attic like it's being done in the
(18:05):
rest of the unit, and that's how that's done. So
you basically you're moving the insulation line from the ceiling
of the main habitable zone from in between the ceiling
and the attic, you're moving that up to the roof itself. Now,
the reason why most people don't commit to that, well,
number one, most people don't realize it can be done
that way. But number two, the rafter or the roof
(18:28):
line up there is not deep enough to get your
standard fluffy insulation to get your R thirty grating that
you really really want, and so in doing so, because
you don't have that kind of depth, you can't just
pile it up on the attic floor like we can
when we're doing a standard install. In order to get
that depth or the adequate insulation up there, we're going
(18:50):
to need to use spray foam insulation against the roof
rafters there and that'll work for fine. About four inches
or so of spray insulation will give you the R
thirty you need, and then the attic space can be conditioned,
at which point there is no need nor desire for venting.
We'll discuss it all your home with Dean Sharp, the
(19:13):
house Whisper. Dean Sharp, the house Whisper here to remind
you if design matters most when it comes to transforming
your home. We want to apply all the best ideas,
all the best principles of design. We want to be intentional.
We want to take our time because at the end
of the day, design matters most. Oh it does, all right.
(19:36):
I ran a little late last segment, so we're running
a little short this one. Let's just see if we
can at least get a call started here and then
we'll take it from there. We might roll it over
a bit. Let's talk to Henry. Hey, Henry, welcome home,
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Question about water heaters. Is there a way of knowing
if your water heater is about to go? Or should
you just replace it every x number of years as
a routine.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Ah, that's a good question. So how do you know
your water heaters about to go? Well, it stops giving
you hot water. Thanks for your call, Henry. Okay, So
here's the thing I really wasn't I was half joking
and half serious. Water heaters when they start, when they
(20:23):
start going, they start there could be a number of
different issues. They could be giving you what hot water intermittently, Okay,
the quality of the heat in the water could just
be dropping down lower. In other words, you're like, wow,
I turned up that thermost out on that hot water heater,
but the water is just not as hot as it
used to be. That's inevitably a sign that the inside
(20:47):
of the water heater has got scale build up on it,
mineralization on it, and as a result, it's having trouble
transmitting that mineralization. It's like a blanket and it absorbs
that heat and it doesn't allow to get into the water.
The same way, there could be issues with the actual
boiler plate down at the bottom, a lot of excessive
(21:09):
popping and cracking, and it sounds like when the water
heaters going like there's like sand being in a washing
machine rolling around in there. Again, all of this comes
from mineralization in our water. Another thing, too, is whether
or not you well, let me just back it up
here and just say this. That being the case, and
(21:32):
of course parts can go bad, but that's not really
the water heater going bad. That's just a part replacement.
When the water heater goes bad, when it's time to
replace it. It means that the tank and the burner
have failed irreparably. It's leaking, or the burner at the
bottom is so corroded and scaled over that it's not
(21:52):
getting its job done anymore. That's essentially what it comes
down to. How you can check and see is number one,
have you ever flushed this thing out? Do you flush
it out regularly? It should get flushed about once a year.
And everybody's like, what are you kidding me? I didn't
even know you were supposed to do anything to the
water heater. It's been like a decade and a half.
(22:14):
I get it. That's pretty much the typical thing. I'm
just saying it should be drained, fleshed out so that
some of those minerals can get out of there out
of the tank. Also, if you're handy and you don't
want to call a plumber in for this, you could
have you grab a wrench and take a look at
the sacrificial anode. What is that? You know what, Henry,
(22:38):
I'm going to put you on hold and I'll tell
you all about it right on the other side of
the break. This is something I'm talking about tomorrow on
the show too. By the way, we're talking about deferred maintenance,
so this is a really good question. It kind of
falls right in line with that when we come back.
What is the sacrificial anode? Can you see it on
your body right now? And what should you do if
(23:00):
it's in trouble. We'll discuss it all your home with
Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI A
M six forty
Home with Dean Sharp News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.