September 20, 2025 • 26 mins
Dean talks about SoCal fire defensible spaces (ember resistant zones within 5 feet of the home), and takes your calls on electrical problems that can effect your home.
He's the House Whisperer for a reason, folks!
He's the House Whisperer for a reason, folks!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Good morning
and welcome home, my friend. I am Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper, Custom home Builder, custom home Designer and every
(00:21):
week your guide to better understanding that place where you live.
Today on the show, very special guest in studio, that
would be you. Because yeah, it's Saturday morning and it
is our all calls Saturday morning, So I'm just sitting
around here waiting for our phone board to light up
(00:43):
and then we'll start talking about what's going on with
your home. The number to reach me eight three three
to ask Dean eight three three. The numeral two ask
Dean eight three three to ask Dean. Whatever has you
scratch in your head about your home, whether it's design, construction,
DIY stuff inside, outside, landscape, hardscape. I got you. We'll
(01:06):
put our heads together, we will get it all figured out.
Sound good? All right? Phone lines are open and we'll
just wait for you to give me a call and
then we'll start the show. In the meantime, I'm gonna
say good morning to our engineer, Sam. Good morning Sam,
Good morning Dean. How you doing. I'm good, bud. You
(01:27):
know I was down with the VID with the COVID
this last week. The studio audience that you're here, right,
they are loving it. Yeah, that last week we you know,
we had every intention of being live, and we were
not because I was barely alive and Tina was no help.
(01:49):
She was just shoes. She actually gave it to me.
I think she was two or three days ahead of me.
And so anyway, that is over. Now. There may be
a little residual brain fun but hopefully no one will
notice compared to my normal everyday life brain fog. So
it shouldn't be a big deal either way. But I'm
glad you're here and I'm looking forward to a good show.
(02:13):
Let's talk to Heather Brooker, my buddy sitting at the
news desk. Heather, what's going on?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Good morning, Hey, slowly slowly waking up. I forgot to
do traffic this morning. Sam was like, did you forget
to do traffic? And I was like, oh my god.
So we're getting there, guys, we're getting there.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
And now all of southern California is mad.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, they don't know where to go and what like,
heatherdon tell us what to do. Wes, We'll get there eventually,
but maybe by ten eleven.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
You subbed in on a wake up call yesterday morning.
Get you and I. This is our second morning in
a row that we've gotten I know.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, like what I actually was thinking about the zone
fire story that we talked about, and I was like,
that's such an important issue and I'm so glad we
had the opportunity to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, we're going to talk about it a little bit
more this morning, just to let all of our listeners,
you know, in on what's going on with that. And
you know, I'm trying. I hate, I hate. It's not
for me to be political, you know, to I just don't.
I don't like it. And not it's not like this
is an issue that's a it's not one of those
(03:22):
it's not a red thing or a blue thing or
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But it's more like a policy. It's a policy issue.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And again you know, well, you know,
we're going to talk about that in just a bit
and so I'll kind of explain what it's all about,
what you and I talked about yesterday. I talked with
anwy about it on Thursday night, and I just want
everybody to know about it so that they can react,
because I'm not thrilled with what's happening in regards to this.
(03:49):
I think there's I think it's too much for what
needs to be done. But anyway, if you don't know
what I'm talking about, the zero policy, Yeah, just teasing.
Just hang tight with me.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It's like on the edge of their seat. What is
what has gotten Dean so riled up this morning?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What is going on?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Sitting across the table from me, my design partner, my
better half, true, absolutely true, most importantly, my best friend
in all the world. There's her spirit animal right there.
Tina is here, welcome home. You and I were supposed
to celebrate our anniversary this last week, which we did
(04:28):
laying on the couch just moaning. Yes, it was just
staring up at the sky.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I'm sorry, sir, what what just laying on the couch moaning.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
We had.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Had cod It was like this is a family show.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
So it was COVID.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
We're very ill. Not a fun way to celebrate the universary.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Here's what it sounded like.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Like aching pains.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Are you still there?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I'm still there? All right?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
What year is it for you? What year is it
for you guys?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Twenty nine?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, happy anniversary. That's a huge accomplishment.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
We are now in our thirtieth year. We're headed toward
our third big three to zerho.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Wow. Wow, I'm not far behind. My twenty fifth is
next year. But oh, I still fantastic. I still am
always so impressed.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Like we did it, you know, you know they say statistically,
I look this up. If you make it to thirty,
your odds of divorcing after thirty are like points zero
one nine.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Oh wow, right, so we've got so I'm looking forward
to that eleven months.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Still. Tina's like, so you're telling me I still got
a shot. I still got a shot. You can do it.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
We believe in you.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
All right, y'all, listen, we got a lot to talk
about this morning. Your calls included. Here's the number again,
eight three three two, ask Dean, eight three three the
numeral two, asked Deane. It's an all calls Saturday morning
when we come back. If I don't have a couple
more calls on the board, and that's still on you,
by the way, so just give me a call. But
I do want to talk about what I was talking
(06:05):
to Conway and to Heather about this week, which is
the new zone zero ordinance that many people in the
state are hoping are going is going to go into effect,
get passed, and go into effect in twenty twenty six.
I am not so happy about this idea. So we'll
talk about that and start taking calls when we return
(06:28):
your home with Dean Sharp, the house whisper. Dean Sharp,
the house whisper here to help you take your home
to the next level. Hey, Heather, did you hear that?
Do you hear Neil do that little promo for the
Union Rescue Mission. They're going to throw him off at
twenty five story building, I know, to raise money.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
And Amy King's doing you too.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Oh, they're gonna throw Amy off.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Too, both of them going over the edge.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Wow. Yeah, it seems like a lot. It's a lot.
That's all dangerous, right, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Amy said, she's afraid of heights too, And she out
there and took a look at it, and she she
looked over and she's done it before though, but she
still gets a little nervous.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
She said. So, yeah, I used to I used to
rock climb a lot back in my back in my day,
back in our u And yeah, repelling is actually the
funnest part of the whole thing, honestly, But you got
to get over the whole looking Oh you know, it's
that one step over the edge, it really is. It's
that that's the first one. Once you're on the once
(07:27):
you're on the side of the building or the side
of the rock wall, and that you're looking up. Actually
you're not looking down at that point. You're looking up,
and it's like, Oh, that's no big deal.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I am very afraid of heights, So I could not
do anything like that. If somebody had a fundraiser that
was like, let's go to the mall and go shopping.
Sign me up, let's do that that I can help.
I can do like give me a car, a credit card,
and I will run through the mall and get all
of the things.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It doesn't seem like that involves the same level of tension.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
No, maybe you're right. Yeah, maybe it's a different different level.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Oh there's a Oh, Tina told me there's a rope involved,
So I guess they're not just throwing Neil off the building.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yes, yeah, they do get to have a rope. There
will be a rope, right, it's a really good video.
Check it out.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
When I like Neil, I like Neil so great, good good.
I'm I'm glad it wasn't a one and done thing,
because that's a that's a that's a big commitment.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
That'd be a big story of the day too.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, exactly, all right. Uh, we're going to get to
the phones in just a bit. We got a couple
of calls on the board. There's still room for you,
by the way, on our all calls Saturday morning, A
three three two, ask Dean A three three the numeral
to ask Dean. All right. So I spent some time
talking about Neil just I just wanted to draw attention
that because I think it's a really really good cause
(08:40):
and I'm proud of him for getting thrown off a
building for the Union Rescue mission. Uh. The zone zero
thing that you heard me talking about, that Heather and
I talked about yesterday and I talked to Conway about
on Thursday. It's this, Uh. Zone zero is you may
or may not know the in counting zones numbering zones
(09:04):
from your house outward across your property that are fire
resistance and fire preparation, defensible space zone, zone zero is
the first one. It is the first five feet away
from your home. That is zone zero from the wall
of your house out five feet and there's a big
concern now and issues with the State Board of Forestry
(09:29):
and the and fire protection committees. There is a zone
zero advisory committee that right there kind of frightens me
because anywhere time there's an advisory committee on something, I
just you know, I always I questioned it. I just
questioned it. But the point is this. They just had
(09:50):
a public meeting at Capacity and a convention center on Thursday.
I'm still waiting to find out details on how that
went because I was not able to go. But it's
about this proposed rules starting in twenty twenty six for
fire defensible spaces or ember resistant zones within the first
five feet, and that concept I am so in favor of.
(10:15):
But here is the thing that I struggle with. I
struggle with the amount of regulations in this and what
they are addressing, because we're talking about things like removing
all combustible material, including plants, including well watered plants. It's
not even an issue now well watered feature trees. It's
very very sketchy whether or not it's actually in the regulations.
(10:39):
And my point is this, there are a lot of
things that can be done to a home to get
it emberproof, namely emberproof vents for attic spaces and crawl spaces. Absolutely,
you hear me talk about that all the time. But
so many of the items on these regulations are going
(10:59):
to cost homeowner's money and are really, in my opinion,
majoring in the miners and may ultimately do damage to
our environment. I don't mean from I mean from a
sense that we need as many plants and trees growing
in southern California as we can in order to keep
the temperatures down in order to keep the air from
being so dry and to prevent wild fire spread in
(11:21):
the first place. All Right, we're up against the break.
When I come back, a few more comments, and then
we're going to go to the phone. So I want
to tell you just that this is out there. I
want you to be made aware of it, and then
I want you to look into it and speak up
if you feel the need to, because it's coming. All right,
more and your calls when we return. You're listening to
(11:42):
Home with Dean Shark the house Whisper. You're listening to
home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Dean Sharp, the house whisper here to help you transform
your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. All Right, we're
going to be going to the phones in just a second.
I just want to finish up this conversation about Zone
(12:05):
zero and the Zone Zero Advisory Committee that's making plans
for California and making plans in a way that you know.
Here's the thing. I know there are I'm sure, I'm
sure I'm gonna think the best of this. That there
are lots of good, well meaning people involved in this.
There are also big money from insurance companies who I
(12:28):
think are concerned about one thing and one thing only
about saving their own rear ends when it comes to
these kinds of things. But the new Zone Zero Advisory
Committee and the proposals that are being made to be
you know, affirmed into law starting in twenty twenty six
in the years following, I think is just overreach and
(12:52):
I think it's too much. It's too much majoring on
the miners too. It's too much of a blunt instrument
and the damage that it could do by asking Southern Californians,
especially to remove all sorts of plant material around their homes.
That is doing a good job of keeping homes cool
(13:15):
and keeping home shaded and keeping the environment around us
the temperatures down, which only helps to prevent the spread
of wildfires. I just think it's too much and it's
not specific enough, all right, the regulations that are being proposed,
And this is my opinion. Okay, Please don't email me
and argue with me about it, because I'm not arguing.
(13:37):
I'm just sharing my thoughts on this that it's simply
too much. Now. Do I want you to have a
bunch of combustible junk leaning up against your home?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
No?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I tell you every year get that stuff away. Do
I want you to have, you know, Italian cypress trees
that have all that dead woodiness stuff, you know, three
feet away from your house, rubbing up against your house. No,
there are some trees that are going to go up
like roman candles during a wildfire event. Palm trees, cypress trees,
(14:07):
eucalyptus trees, old pine trees. Right, these are trees. I'm
not saying you can have them around in your yard,
but right up next to your house that poses a
major danger. Not because of the embers from the trees,
if you've got if you've ember proof the attic, but
because the tree could burn down, fall over, break open
your roof, and then now you have a big hole,
(14:28):
and now the house's gonna burn. So the point is this,
There are some trees, but not all trees. There are
some plants that shouldn't be near your home, but not
all plants. And this ruling is just a broad sweep
saying let's not even get picky about it. Let's just
have everybody not have any plant material within five feet
of their house. It's not that extreme, but I'm summarizing
(14:52):
and generalizing, and believe me, it really does kind of
amount to that in most situations. And my issue is
on top of the beauty of it, on top of
the loss of environment and habitat that that creates. My
real issue is there are not studies that support the
idea that most fires in homes are created from plant
(15:17):
to home transmission. Home to home during a wildfire event,
but not plant to home transmission. So anyway, the thing is,
it's out there. It's called the Zone Zero Advisory Committee.
You should look it up, read some stories on it,
get yourself in formed. See how it might apply to
your home, and then you know, talk to whoever you
need to talk to or don't. I'm not telling you
(15:39):
which way to go. I just want you to be aware.
With everything else that's crazy in the world right now,
this one is kind of sliding silently through California, and
it's going to affect us in a big, big way
if if it isn't at least refined, in my opinion,
at least refined or toned down in a big way.
(15:59):
So there you go, all right, Okay, Yeah, I took
the entire segment to do that, but I thought it
was important. It was important enough to talk to Conway
and to Heather about it this week on their shows,
and so I just wanted to make sure you're aware
of it. I just want you to be informed, that's all. Okay.
(16:19):
When we return, we've got a call, a board full
of callers, and I promise we're going to the phones,
and you, my friend, will set the agenda from here
on out. This morning. The number to reach me eight
three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two.
Ask Dean your home with Dean Sharp the house whisper
(16:41):
Dean Sharp the house whisper here to remind you when
it comes to transforming your home design matters most Yes,
take the time, do the design. I did not mean
for that to rhyme. Oh my gosh, that went rhyme too.
Look at that. I'm just rolling this morning? Is that
just my COVID brain? Good covid ultra my brain? And
now I am a poet and didn't know it. I
(17:02):
don't know. You be the judge. All right, we're taking calls.
It's an all call Saturday morning. I want to go
to the phones, and I want to talk to Rebecca. Hey, Rebecca,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
This is Rebecca Hydiene.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
How are you? I'm good? How can I help you?
My friend?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Well, I got a question for you. About six months ago,
inherited house, my dad passed, and about three months after naturally,
the insurance policy expired was up for renewal, and even
though my name was on it with my dad, they
(17:44):
demanded a rewrite, not just a renew They wouldn't let
me renew it. And with the demand came we want
a new roof, we want new electrical, we want new plant,
the whole nine yards, all of it.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
They threw the freaking.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Book at me, and I was like, are you kidding me?
I do not have the money for any of those.
So luckily I found another company, Bamboo, who would take
it as is. And I was shocked that I found it,
but I but I did.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But now I'm wondering.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
You know, the house is one hundred years old in
nineteen thirty. It was built in nineteen thirty, and so
in twenty whatever we're in five years or it's going
to be a hundred years old. So I'm wondering. My
question is other than just simply to get a policy,
because I'm gonna probably want to switch companies soon, because
even though I got this policy, I don't know. I'm
(18:43):
not sure how great they are. But I'm wondering, how
necessary is it to make the electrical panel upgraded?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Okay, you know, I get it. I get it. So
the electrical panel breaker or fuses.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
They wanted the whole thing. But a handy guy come
out and look.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
The existing panel is it? Is it a fuse box
or they're breakers? Breaker switches?
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Oh? Oh sorry, yes it is breakers.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Okay, and and everything working in good working order as
far as you know. Have you had it inspected and
looked at not just by an insurance company.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I had my handy guy, who knows a little bit
about everything, come out and look at it. He said,
it's currently at what they call one hundred amps. And
as far as I know, everything in the house works
pretty darn well. I do get flickering and stuff, you know,
from time to time, and a lot of the lights
are on like dimmer switches, but I don't mind that.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Okay, okay, all right, So here's the story, and you know,
I'll take it with a grain of salt, because there's
always a chance that there's something mouths going on that
we can't see. But I actually get this question a lot,
and that is, you know, because we do we do
a lot of work on restoring you know, century homes,
(20:10):
and southern California is aging out and we've got a
lot of we've got a lot, a lot a lot
of older homes now. And the question is, yeah, what
about my wiring? So obviously you don't have knob and
tube wiring through the house because that would just be
not that would be problematic from day one. But what
you have is cabled electrical wiring, which is a cloth
(20:34):
sheathed cables and electrical conductors running into the boxes and
running to the panel. Now, whether or not there's two
issues here, whether or not the house could use a
panel upgrade, okay, And what we mean by that is
a service upgrade, because typically these days, a brand new
(20:54):
home that we build, just even a modest size is home.
We would put a two hundred amp panel in a
one damp panel. But that's asking the power company for
a service upgrade and changing the panel out. Really isn't
that big of a deal. It really isn't. It's just
swapping out the panel. It does not mean taking all
the wires out of the house and rerunning new wires.
(21:15):
It's not like repiping your house for plumbing. Okay, It's
just the swap of a panel and an official power
upgate from the company. Should you want to add more circuits,
like you know, an EV charger or things like that,
I mean all those kinds of things. But the point
is this electrical by and large is what we call
a durable mechanical system in the house, meaning nobody really,
(21:40):
you know, work. The only moving parts of an electrical
system are the parts that are easily replaceable, like a switch.
You know, switches wear out, but then you can just
take a screwdriver and pull out the switch and swap
it out for a new switch. The main issue of
an electrical system that the tentacles, as it were, and
you know the tree brand inches. They are metal conductors,
(22:03):
and if they haven't been disturbed, and even though maybe
the rubber insulation on them has dried and they now
at pushing one hundred years, you shouldn't grab one of
those wires and wiggle it back and forth intensely, or
you might actually crack the insulation on the conductor. But
as they just sit there in the wall, the conductor
(22:23):
does its job because it conducts electricity. The insulation around
the conductor does its job even if it's brittle or
more brittle than it was ninety five years ago, And
the sheathing around it does its job if it isn't disturbed.
And so that's what we mean by a durable system,
because once it's in place, it takes a lot actually
(22:44):
to kind of screw with it and mess it up.
If it's got a fourteen gauge wire running through the house,
code has not got to the point where it's like, well,
those sized wires aren't acceptable anymore. No, that hasn't changed
in a long, long long time. So I would, for
peace of mind, have an electrician maybe come out. If
(23:06):
you trust your handy person for electrical but a license electrician,
have them come out and just say, listen, you know
it's been a year for me. Okay, buddy, it's been
a year. Here's what I'm interested in. I want this
house safe. I don't want it to be risky for
anybody to be in it. I don't want it to
be a danger, and I don't want it to burn down.
(23:26):
But I'm also not looking to do anything that I
don't need to do with the house. So give it
a once over. Check the conductivity on all of the lines,
check the panel, and tell me honestly whether or not
there are issues, Because if there aren't issues apparent, if
you've turned on light switches and lights and the lights
(23:48):
go on, then guess what chances are you're in very
very good shape. And that's the good news, Rebecca. Now
the older house gets, the more problematic things can become.
But generally speaking, electrical systems are very very durable, and
if people aren't messing with the wires, there's no reason
to assume that just because they're eighty ninety years old.
(24:11):
You know, they're copper wires. Copper is copper, copper will
be copper. That same copper will still be copper one
hundred years from now, and it will still carry electricity
through it and do its job. And so that's the
point that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah, yeah, it definitely does. And thank you for I
think I will follow your advice and get an electrician
out of here to check that punnel.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, just get an electrician to you know, verify, check
it out and get eyes on and you know, get
a second opinion. It never hurts to get a second
opinion about it. And you may want to think about
upgrading the panel just to bring the house, you know,
but upgrading the panels, just changing the panel and the
breakers out the breaker is, getting new breakers in there
couldn't hurt. Absolutely couldn't. There Nothing that you could do
(24:59):
to electrosystem at this point would hurt. But the question
is how much needs to be done. I will tell you,
as somebody who has overseen the restoration of many century homes,
we rarely recommend going through the house and yanking out
all the wires or abandoning the old wires and running
new stuff. Not if after our tests we find that
(25:23):
everything is running per speck. It's just not a necessity
if it hasn't been messed with. Rebecca, I've got to
go to a break. Thank you for your call. It
sounds like that was a load off your chest. But yeah,
call an expert out. Let them evaluate it honestly, but
tell them you know, listen, I'm not looking to reinvent
(25:44):
the wheel here, but i want this house to be safe.
So give me an honest speck on it, and I
think you'll have a lot of peace of mind about it.
All right, my friends, when we return more of your
calls your home Dean Sharp the house Whisper. You're listening
to Home with d Sharp on demand from K five
a M six forty
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Good morning
and welcome home, my friend. I am Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper, Custom home Builder, custom home Designer and every
(00:21):
week your guide to better understanding that place where you live.
Today on the show, very special guest in studio, that
would be you. Because yeah, it's Saturday morning and it
is our all calls Saturday morning, So I'm just sitting
around here waiting for our phone board to light up
(00:43):
and then we'll start talking about what's going on with
your home. The number to reach me eight three three
to ask Dean eight three three. The numeral two ask
Dean eight three three to ask Dean. Whatever has you
scratch in your head about your home, whether it's design, construction,
DIY stuff inside, outside, landscape, hardscape. I got you. We'll
(01:06):
put our heads together, we will get it all figured out.
Sound good? All right? Phone lines are open and we'll
just wait for you to give me a call and
then we'll start the show. In the meantime, I'm gonna
say good morning to our engineer, Sam. Good morning Sam,
Good morning Dean. How you doing. I'm good, bud. You
(01:27):
know I was down with the VID with the COVID
this last week. The studio audience that you're here, right,
they are loving it. Yeah, that last week we you know,
we had every intention of being live, and we were
not because I was barely alive and Tina was no help.
(01:49):
She was just shoes. She actually gave it to me.
I think she was two or three days ahead of me.
And so anyway, that is over. Now. There may be
a little residual brain fun but hopefully no one will
notice compared to my normal everyday life brain fog. So
it shouldn't be a big deal either way. But I'm
glad you're here and I'm looking forward to a good show.
(02:13):
Let's talk to Heather Brooker, my buddy sitting at the
news desk. Heather, what's going on?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Good morning, Hey, slowly slowly waking up. I forgot to
do traffic this morning. Sam was like, did you forget
to do traffic? And I was like, oh my god.
So we're getting there, guys, we're getting there.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
And now all of southern California is mad.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, they don't know where to go and what like,
heatherdon tell us what to do. Wes, We'll get there eventually,
but maybe by ten eleven.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
You subbed in on a wake up call yesterday morning.
Get you and I. This is our second morning in
a row that we've gotten I know.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, like what I actually was thinking about the zone
fire story that we talked about, and I was like,
that's such an important issue and I'm so glad we
had the opportunity to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, we're going to talk about it a little bit
more this morning, just to let all of our listeners,
you know, in on what's going on with that. And
you know, I'm trying. I hate, I hate. It's not
for me to be political, you know, to I just don't.
I don't like it. And not it's not like this
is an issue that's a it's not one of those
(03:22):
it's not a red thing or a blue thing or
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
But it's more like a policy. It's a policy issue.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And again you know, well, you know,
we're going to talk about that in just a bit
and so I'll kind of explain what it's all about,
what you and I talked about yesterday. I talked with
anwy about it on Thursday night, and I just want
everybody to know about it so that they can react,
because I'm not thrilled with what's happening in regards to this.
(03:49):
I think there's I think it's too much for what
needs to be done. But anyway, if you don't know
what I'm talking about, the zero policy, Yeah, just teasing.
Just hang tight with me.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It's like on the edge of their seat. What is
what has gotten Dean so riled up this morning?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What is going on?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Sitting across the table from me, my design partner, my
better half, true, absolutely true, most importantly, my best friend
in all the world. There's her spirit animal right there.
Tina is here, welcome home. You and I were supposed
to celebrate our anniversary this last week, which we did
(04:28):
laying on the couch just moaning. Yes, it was just
staring up at the sky.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I'm sorry, sir, what what just laying on the couch moaning.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
We had.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Had cod It was like this is a family show.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
So it was COVID.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
We're very ill. Not a fun way to celebrate the universary.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Here's what it sounded like.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Like aching pains.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Are you still there?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I'm still there? All right?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
What year is it for you? What year is it
for you guys?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Twenty nine?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, happy anniversary. That's a huge accomplishment.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
We are now in our thirtieth year. We're headed toward
our third big three to zerho.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Wow. Wow, I'm not far behind. My twenty fifth is
next year. But oh, I still fantastic. I still am
always so impressed.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Like we did it, you know, you know they say statistically,
I look this up. If you make it to thirty,
your odds of divorcing after thirty are like points zero
one nine.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Oh wow, right, so we've got so I'm looking forward
to that eleven months.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Still. Tina's like, so you're telling me I still got
a shot. I still got a shot. You can do it.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
We believe in you.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
All right, y'all, listen, we got a lot to talk
about this morning. Your calls included. Here's the number again,
eight three three two, ask Dean, eight three three the
numeral two, asked Deane. It's an all calls Saturday morning
when we come back. If I don't have a couple
more calls on the board, and that's still on you,
by the way, so just give me a call. But
I do want to talk about what I was talking
(06:05):
to Conway and to Heather about this week, which is
the new zone zero ordinance that many people in the
state are hoping are going is going to go into effect,
get passed, and go into effect in twenty twenty six.
I am not so happy about this idea. So we'll
talk about that and start taking calls when we return
(06:28):
your home with Dean Sharp, the house whisper. Dean Sharp,
the house whisper here to help you take your home
to the next level. Hey, Heather, did you hear that?
Do you hear Neil do that little promo for the
Union Rescue Mission. They're going to throw him off at
twenty five story building, I know, to raise money.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
And Amy King's doing you too.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Oh, they're gonna throw Amy off.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Too, both of them going over the edge.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Wow. Yeah, it seems like a lot. It's a lot.
That's all dangerous, right, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Amy said, she's afraid of heights too, And she out
there and took a look at it, and she she
looked over and she's done it before though, but she
still gets a little nervous.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
She said. So, yeah, I used to I used to
rock climb a lot back in my back in my day,
back in our u And yeah, repelling is actually the
funnest part of the whole thing, honestly, But you got
to get over the whole looking Oh you know, it's
that one step over the edge, it really is. It's
that that's the first one. Once you're on the once
(07:27):
you're on the side of the building or the side
of the rock wall, and that you're looking up. Actually
you're not looking down at that point. You're looking up,
and it's like, Oh, that's no big deal.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I am very afraid of heights, So I could not
do anything like that. If somebody had a fundraiser that
was like, let's go to the mall and go shopping.
Sign me up, let's do that that I can help.
I can do like give me a car, a credit card,
and I will run through the mall and get all
of the things.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It doesn't seem like that involves the same level of tension.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
No, maybe you're right. Yeah, maybe it's a different different level.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Oh there's a Oh, Tina told me there's a rope involved,
So I guess they're not just throwing Neil off the building.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yes, yeah, they do get to have a rope. There
will be a rope, right, it's a really good video.
Check it out.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
When I like Neil, I like Neil so great, good good.
I'm I'm glad it wasn't a one and done thing,
because that's a that's a that's a big commitment.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
That'd be a big story of the day too.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, exactly, all right. Uh, we're going to get to
the phones in just a bit. We got a couple
of calls on the board. There's still room for you,
by the way, on our all calls Saturday morning, A
three three two, ask Dean A three three the numeral
to ask Dean. All right. So I spent some time
talking about Neil just I just wanted to draw attention
that because I think it's a really really good cause
(08:40):
and I'm proud of him for getting thrown off a
building for the Union Rescue mission. Uh. The zone zero
thing that you heard me talking about, that Heather and
I talked about yesterday and I talked to Conway about
on Thursday. It's this, Uh. Zone zero is you may
or may not know the in counting zones numbering zones
(09:04):
from your house outward across your property that are fire
resistance and fire preparation, defensible space zone, zone zero is
the first one. It is the first five feet away
from your home. That is zone zero from the wall
of your house out five feet and there's a big
concern now and issues with the State Board of Forestry
(09:29):
and the and fire protection committees. There is a zone
zero advisory committee that right there kind of frightens me
because anywhere time there's an advisory committee on something, I
just you know, I always I questioned it. I just
questioned it. But the point is this. They just had
(09:50):
a public meeting at Capacity and a convention center on Thursday.
I'm still waiting to find out details on how that
went because I was not able to go. But it's
about this proposed rules starting in twenty twenty six for
fire defensible spaces or ember resistant zones within the first
five feet, and that concept I am so in favor of.
(10:15):
But here is the thing that I struggle with. I
struggle with the amount of regulations in this and what
they are addressing, because we're talking about things like removing
all combustible material, including plants, including well watered plants. It's
not even an issue now well watered feature trees. It's
very very sketchy whether or not it's actually in the regulations.
(10:39):
And my point is this, there are a lot of
things that can be done to a home to get
it emberproof, namely emberproof vents for attic spaces and crawl spaces. Absolutely,
you hear me talk about that all the time. But
so many of the items on these regulations are going
(10:59):
to cost homeowner's money and are really, in my opinion,
majoring in the miners and may ultimately do damage to
our environment. I don't mean from I mean from a
sense that we need as many plants and trees growing
in southern California as we can in order to keep
the temperatures down in order to keep the air from
being so dry and to prevent wild fire spread in
(11:21):
the first place. All Right, we're up against the break.
When I come back, a few more comments, and then
we're going to go to the phone. So I want
to tell you just that this is out there. I
want you to be made aware of it, and then
I want you to look into it and speak up
if you feel the need to, because it's coming. All right,
more and your calls when we return. You're listening to
(11:42):
Home with Dean Shark the house Whisper. You're listening to
home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Dean Sharp, the house whisper here to help you transform
your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. All Right, we're
going to be going to the phones in just a second.
I just want to finish up this conversation about Zone
(12:05):
zero and the Zone Zero Advisory Committee that's making plans
for California and making plans in a way that you know.
Here's the thing. I know there are I'm sure, I'm
sure I'm gonna think the best of this. That there
are lots of good, well meaning people involved in this.
There are also big money from insurance companies who I
(12:28):
think are concerned about one thing and one thing only
about saving their own rear ends when it comes to
these kinds of things. But the new Zone Zero Advisory
Committee and the proposals that are being made to be
you know, affirmed into law starting in twenty twenty six
in the years following, I think is just overreach and
(12:52):
I think it's too much. It's too much majoring on
the miners too. It's too much of a blunt instrument
and the damage that it could do by asking Southern Californians,
especially to remove all sorts of plant material around their homes.
That is doing a good job of keeping homes cool
(13:15):
and keeping home shaded and keeping the environment around us
the temperatures down, which only helps to prevent the spread
of wildfires. I just think it's too much and it's
not specific enough, all right, the regulations that are being proposed,
And this is my opinion. Okay, Please don't email me
and argue with me about it, because I'm not arguing.
(13:37):
I'm just sharing my thoughts on this that it's simply
too much. Now. Do I want you to have a
bunch of combustible junk leaning up against your home?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
No?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I tell you every year get that stuff away. Do
I want you to have, you know, Italian cypress trees
that have all that dead woodiness stuff, you know, three
feet away from your house, rubbing up against your house. No,
there are some trees that are going to go up
like roman candles during a wildfire event. Palm trees, cypress trees,
(14:07):
eucalyptus trees, old pine trees. Right, these are trees. I'm
not saying you can have them around in your yard,
but right up next to your house that poses a
major danger. Not because of the embers from the trees,
if you've got if you've ember proof the attic, but
because the tree could burn down, fall over, break open
your roof, and then now you have a big hole,
(14:28):
and now the house's gonna burn. So the point is this,
There are some trees, but not all trees. There are
some plants that shouldn't be near your home, but not
all plants. And this ruling is just a broad sweep
saying let's not even get picky about it. Let's just
have everybody not have any plant material within five feet
of their house. It's not that extreme, but I'm summarizing
(14:52):
and generalizing, and believe me, it really does kind of
amount to that in most situations. And my issue is
on top of the beauty of it, on top of
the loss of environment and habitat that that creates. My
real issue is there are not studies that support the
idea that most fires in homes are created from plant
(15:17):
to home transmission. Home to home during a wildfire event,
but not plant to home transmission. So anyway, the thing is,
it's out there. It's called the Zone Zero Advisory Committee.
You should look it up, read some stories on it,
get yourself in formed. See how it might apply to
your home, and then you know, talk to whoever you
need to talk to or don't. I'm not telling you
(15:39):
which way to go. I just want you to be aware.
With everything else that's crazy in the world right now,
this one is kind of sliding silently through California, and
it's going to affect us in a big, big way
if if it isn't at least refined, in my opinion,
at least refined or toned down in a big way.
(15:59):
So there you go, all right, Okay, Yeah, I took
the entire segment to do that, but I thought it
was important. It was important enough to talk to Conway
and to Heather about it this week on their shows,
and so I just wanted to make sure you're aware
of it. I just want you to be informed, that's all. Okay.
(16:19):
When we return, we've got a call, a board full
of callers, and I promise we're going to the phones,
and you, my friend, will set the agenda from here
on out. This morning. The number to reach me eight
three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two.
Ask Dean your home with Dean Sharp the house whisper
(16:41):
Dean Sharp the house whisper here to remind you when
it comes to transforming your home design matters most Yes,
take the time, do the design. I did not mean
for that to rhyme. Oh my gosh, that went rhyme too.
Look at that. I'm just rolling this morning? Is that
just my COVID brain? Good covid ultra my brain? And
now I am a poet and didn't know it. I
(17:02):
don't know. You be the judge. All right, we're taking calls.
It's an all call Saturday morning. I want to go
to the phones, and I want to talk to Rebecca. Hey, Rebecca,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
This is Rebecca Hydiene.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
How are you? I'm good? How can I help you?
My friend?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Well, I got a question for you. About six months ago,
inherited house, my dad passed, and about three months after naturally,
the insurance policy expired was up for renewal, and even
though my name was on it with my dad, they
(17:44):
demanded a rewrite, not just a renew They wouldn't let
me renew it. And with the demand came we want
a new roof, we want new electrical, we want new plant,
the whole nine yards, all of it.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
They threw the freaking.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Book at me, and I was like, are you kidding me?
I do not have the money for any of those.
So luckily I found another company, Bamboo, who would take
it as is. And I was shocked that I found it,
but I but I did.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But now I'm wondering.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
You know, the house is one hundred years old in
nineteen thirty. It was built in nineteen thirty, and so
in twenty whatever we're in five years or it's going
to be a hundred years old. So I'm wondering. My
question is other than just simply to get a policy,
because I'm gonna probably want to switch companies soon, because
even though I got this policy, I don't know. I'm
(18:43):
not sure how great they are. But I'm wondering, how
necessary is it to make the electrical panel upgraded?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Okay, you know, I get it. I get it. So
the electrical panel breaker or fuses.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
They wanted the whole thing. But a handy guy come
out and look.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
The existing panel is it? Is it a fuse box
or they're breakers? Breaker switches?
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Oh? Oh sorry, yes it is breakers.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Okay, and and everything working in good working order as
far as you know. Have you had it inspected and
looked at not just by an insurance company.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I had my handy guy, who knows a little bit
about everything, come out and look at it. He said,
it's currently at what they call one hundred amps. And
as far as I know, everything in the house works
pretty darn well. I do get flickering and stuff, you know,
from time to time, and a lot of the lights
are on like dimmer switches, but I don't mind that.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Okay, okay, all right, So here's the story, and you know,
I'll take it with a grain of salt, because there's
always a chance that there's something mouths going on that
we can't see. But I actually get this question a lot,
and that is, you know, because we do we do
a lot of work on restoring you know, century homes,
(20:10):
and southern California is aging out and we've got a
lot of we've got a lot, a lot a lot
of older homes now. And the question is, yeah, what
about my wiring? So obviously you don't have knob and
tube wiring through the house because that would just be
not that would be problematic from day one. But what
you have is cabled electrical wiring, which is a cloth
(20:34):
sheathed cables and electrical conductors running into the boxes and
running to the panel. Now, whether or not there's two
issues here, whether or not the house could use a
panel upgrade, okay, And what we mean by that is
a service upgrade, because typically these days, a brand new
(20:54):
home that we build, just even a modest size is home.
We would put a two hundred amp panel in a
one damp panel. But that's asking the power company for
a service upgrade and changing the panel out. Really isn't
that big of a deal. It really isn't. It's just
swapping out the panel. It does not mean taking all
the wires out of the house and rerunning new wires.
(21:15):
It's not like repiping your house for plumbing. Okay, It's
just the swap of a panel and an official power
upgate from the company. Should you want to add more circuits,
like you know, an EV charger or things like that,
I mean all those kinds of things. But the point
is this electrical by and large is what we call
a durable mechanical system in the house, meaning nobody really,
(21:40):
you know, work. The only moving parts of an electrical
system are the parts that are easily replaceable, like a switch.
You know, switches wear out, but then you can just
take a screwdriver and pull out the switch and swap
it out for a new switch. The main issue of
an electrical system that the tentacles, as it were, and
you know the tree brand inches. They are metal conductors,
(22:03):
and if they haven't been disturbed, and even though maybe
the rubber insulation on them has dried and they now
at pushing one hundred years, you shouldn't grab one of
those wires and wiggle it back and forth intensely, or
you might actually crack the insulation on the conductor. But
as they just sit there in the wall, the conductor
(22:23):
does its job because it conducts electricity. The insulation around
the conductor does its job even if it's brittle or
more brittle than it was ninety five years ago, And
the sheathing around it does its job if it isn't disturbed.
And so that's what we mean by a durable system,
because once it's in place, it takes a lot actually
(22:44):
to kind of screw with it and mess it up.
If it's got a fourteen gauge wire running through the house,
code has not got to the point where it's like, well,
those sized wires aren't acceptable anymore. No, that hasn't changed
in a long, long long time. So I would, for
peace of mind, have an electrician maybe come out. If
(23:06):
you trust your handy person for electrical but a license electrician,
have them come out and just say, listen, you know
it's been a year for me. Okay, buddy, it's been
a year. Here's what I'm interested in. I want this
house safe. I don't want it to be risky for
anybody to be in it. I don't want it to
be a danger, and I don't want it to burn down.
(23:26):
But I'm also not looking to do anything that I
don't need to do with the house. So give it
a once over. Check the conductivity on all of the lines,
check the panel, and tell me honestly whether or not
there are issues, Because if there aren't issues apparent, if
you've turned on light switches and lights and the lights
(23:48):
go on, then guess what chances are you're in very
very good shape. And that's the good news, Rebecca. Now
the older house gets, the more problematic things can become.
But generally speaking, electrical systems are very very durable, and
if people aren't messing with the wires, there's no reason
to assume that just because they're eighty ninety years old.
(24:11):
You know, they're copper wires. Copper is copper, copper will
be copper. That same copper will still be copper one
hundred years from now, and it will still carry electricity
through it and do its job. And so that's the
point that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah, yeah, it definitely does. And thank you for I
think I will follow your advice and get an electrician
out of here to check that punnel.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, just get an electrician to you know, verify, check
it out and get eyes on and you know, get
a second opinion. It never hurts to get a second
opinion about it. And you may want to think about
upgrading the panel just to bring the house, you know,
but upgrading the panels, just changing the panel and the
breakers out the breaker is, getting new breakers in there
couldn't hurt. Absolutely couldn't. There Nothing that you could do
(24:59):
to electrosystem at this point would hurt. But the question
is how much needs to be done. I will tell you,
as somebody who has overseen the restoration of many century homes,
we rarely recommend going through the house and yanking out
all the wires or abandoning the old wires and running
new stuff. Not if after our tests we find that
(25:23):
everything is running per speck. It's just not a necessity
if it hasn't been messed with. Rebecca, I've got to
go to a break. Thank you for your call. It
sounds like that was a load off your chest. But yeah,
call an expert out. Let them evaluate it honestly, but
tell them you know, listen, I'm not looking to reinvent
(25:44):
the wheel here, but i want this house to be safe.
So give me an honest speck on it, and I
think you'll have a lot of peace of mind about it.
All right, my friends, when we return more of your
calls your home Dean Sharp the house Whisper. You're listening
to Home with d Sharp on demand from K five
a M six forty
Home with Dean Sharp News
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