June 14, 2025 • 27 mins
Dean takes listener calls about home remodeling and design. Callers ask Dean about how to insulate an older home without resorting to pulling apart the walls, water spots on the ceiling (a lot of them) and how to cover them up, whether or not replacing a 20 year old roof with solar is a good investment vs, building an ADU, how to fix scratches on an engineered wood floor, what's the best way to replace a mirror with a mirror / medicine cabinet combo for a master bathroom and when you're painting your home and use an accent color, should you use that accent color for all exterior doors or just one?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I am pick forty live dreaming you make Dean everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, Dean Sharp. The House Whisper
here with you live every Saturday and Sunday morning. Hey,
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(00:24):
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You can listen to it anytime, anywhere on demand. Hundreds
of episodes, all searchable by topic. It is a home
improvement reference library that we've been building for you for
years and years now. And if your home is in
(00:46):
need of some more personal house Whisper attention. If you
think to yourself, you know what we need? Those guys
standing in our living room staring at the problem, well
you can do that too. You can book an in
home design consult with us. Just go to how Whisperer
dot design for more information.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
All right, it is.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Saturday morning, Saturday Morning live, as we do here, and
as we do we are taking your calls. The number
to reach me eight three to three two, ask Dean
eight three three the numeral to ask Dean. We've got
room on the callboard for you. It's a light traffic
morning this morning. Eight three three to ask Dean. Whatever
(01:26):
you got to scratch in your head about your home,
design questions, architectural issues, construction issues, DIY concerns, you name it.
If it's got you in a quandary, give me a call.
We'll put our heads together and we will figure it out.
Producer Michelle standing by, ready to take your calls. All right,
(01:49):
let's go back to the phones. I want to talk
to JJ AYJJ welcome home.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Hi.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I am well, how are you?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Sorry, I'm great. So I have a question about putting
some installation into my house. I have an older home
and it has no insulation in it whatsoever. It does
have that blown installation in the attic. It's about, you know,
maybe an answer to now, but I was wondering, can
(02:22):
you put the insulation in the walls from the top
of the attic? Can you just like remove the plywood
at the path and just like blow it down, or
put some of that styrophone installation and just slide in there?
Speaker 5 (02:37):
Is that.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Done?
Speaker 5 (02:40):
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It's a really good question.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Let me ask you, JJ, just just before I get
to a more thorough answer about that, what kind of
what's on the outside of your home?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Is it stucco? Is it sighting?
Speaker 5 (02:56):
What you?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah, stuck, I have stucco and in the very very front,
not a lot, but.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Okay, some siding all right.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So generally the answer is no, we don't want to
approach insulating retrofit insulating through the attic because we don't
want to disturb because back up retrofit insulation involves drilling
a lot of holes in the house. Okay, we got
(03:27):
to get into those wall cavities, every single wall cavity,
every single stud cavity in the home on the exterior wall,
we need access to to get insulation in there. Now,
it used to be we used to blow in cellulose insulation.
There are still companies that do that. The one that
I recommend more than anything, though, is to pump in
(03:48):
expansing foam insulation for the walls. It is just absolutely
the best. The best. It ends up you end up
with a home that's better insulated than a home got
insulated first time around with regular fiberglass bat insulation. It
just is well worth the effort and the trouble. But
(04:09):
we don't want to do those holes through the top
plates of the walls, because those top plates of your
walls are what is holding your house together. It's a
band that it already has some holes in it for
plumbing vents and drain lines and some water lines. But
we're talking about putting a good hole in every single
(04:32):
stud bay, which means every sixteen inches along that and
we don't want to compromise the top plates of the
house that much. So very rarely do you find anybody
recommending going that way. What we typically do is we
start on the exterior the wall, or, if you're more
comfortable with it, on the interior with holes in the
(04:53):
dry wall. So either we're keeping the interior attacked and
we're putting holes in the stucco small holes, small like
one inch holes in the stucco, or we're taking off
a piece of horizontal siding. That's usually optimal if you've
got siding on your house, we can take off one
strip of siding, drill the holes underneath it, patch them up,
(05:14):
and then put the siding back on. Either way, it
gets a little messy at some points, but it is
well worth doing the insulation for the exterior of the home.
We just don't go through the top plate, that's all.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Oh okay, I got it.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
What about the flooring.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Do you recommend anything to do in insulate like the
flooring the bottom Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
No, if you've got a raised foundation house. In other words,
if you're not on a slab and you're on a
crawl space underneath your house, that can be gotten to
very easily by an insulation company. And yes, I do
recommend insulating your subfloor as well, that you can just
buy bats for and get somebody under there, crawling under
(06:00):
the house, getting those things put up into place. That
doesn't require any kind of disruption of the house, and
it's easy to get to and it's well worth it.
A lot of people are like, well, why you know
he goes up Dean. No, no, no, no, no. The
entire envelope of the house is what we want to
try and insulate to maintain energy inside the house, whether
(06:22):
it's heating or cooling either way. So yeah, the subfloor situation,
if you're on a slab, there's nothing can be done
about that. But if you have a crawl space underneath
your house, then get somebody under there and putting bats
up into place. That's the easy part. That's the easiest
part of insulating of everything that you've mentioned by way
of retrofit insulation, no mess, and it can be done
(06:46):
very very quickly.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
JJ.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Thank you for your call and your question. Thanks for
holding on as long as you have, and good luck
with that. Get two or three different bids from insulating
companies when it comes to that, and mostly be concerned
about what they're putting in and how they're going to
patch you up after the fact. It can be totally done,
(07:07):
totally totally done at the hands of a company that
knows what they're doing, and it is well well worth it.
You'll pay for it in heating and cooling costs in
a very very short a matter of time. All right,
when we come back, more of your calls. The number
to reach me, it's an all calls Saturday morning eight
three three two Ask dean eight three three the numeral two.
(07:32):
Ask dean say.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
If I teen sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
At your service as I am every Saturday morning from
six to eight for you early risers who are looking
to get the edge on getting your honeydew list done
for the weekend, staring at your home thinking, oh my goodness,
what are we going to do at this place? We
need some help. We better call Dean. That's why we
(07:58):
take calls on Sat. Any mornings. The number to reach
me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight three three
the numeral two. Ask Dean eight three three two, Ask Dean.
It just rolls off the tongue. It's that simple, all right.
Back to the phones we go. Let's talk to John. Hey, John,
welcome home. Hello, Hello sir, How can I help you?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yes, I had a leaking roof, and so I have
a lot of water spots in the ceiling. I mean
a lot of you know, something close to probably about
ten percent of the ceiling. And now, of course I've
(08:47):
replaced the roof. How do I deal with the water spots? Oh,
it's very white, pop white popcorn type roof. Best ceiling.
Excuse me?
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Okay, right, so you've got acoustic ceiling up there. All right,
So two things, just to be sure you've had a
lot of water damage, and so before you do the
easy thing, and it is a very easy thing to
deal with water spots on the ceiling. I just want
you to make sure that you either you yourself get
up there, or whoever's inspecting this or doing the work
(09:22):
for you, gets up there and poke around a little
bit with your finger, just to make sure that none
of those water stains are indicative of a failure in
the drywall. In other words, you've had a lot of
water up there. Sometimes water can do more than just
make a stain on the ceiling. Sometimes it can actually
(09:44):
begin to really affect the integrity of the drywall. And
the drywall is soft and mushy, and if that's the case,
then some of that drywall needs to be replaced and
changed out. Now I'm not saying that's the case in
your situation. I just want you to make sure that
that isn't the case, because I don't want to put
you know, makeup on something that is systemically a deeper problem,
(10:06):
all right, And it's not like drywall replacement where water
damage has happened is all that expensive. I just want
to make sure that you're addressing it the right way.
So assuming, assuming that we've got no drywall damage, we
just have staining, then it's a very simple solution, and
it's very simply that you start the repainting effort with
(10:28):
a stain capturing or a stain covering primer, and they're
out there. The ones that I recommend probably the most
often are made by zinzer Zi in s s Er
and Kills k I l Z great primers before you paint.
(10:51):
I think I recommend the Zinser more often than anything
because we've just had really good luck with it. And
it is literally called cover stain. It is a stain
blocking stained ceiling primer and it's not just for water
spot stains, by the way. It's the kind of primer
that are used by restoration companies when they come in
(11:11):
after a disaster. It covers over nicotine and tar, it
covers over smoke damage, it seals out odors as well.
You don't need it for those purposes. You just need
the water spot to go away. And so for you,
my friend, it's going to be just cover stain and
then paint the room or the ceiling whatever color you
(11:35):
plan on painting it, and you are good to go.
My friend, John, thank you for your call. Sometimes the
solution is very very simple, but as I said at
the beginning, sometimes you need to just make sure you
do your deal due diligence, make sure that the damage
(11:55):
isn't just visible, or make sure that the damage is
just visible. So when you've got water stains on your
ceilings or your walls, I just want you to feel around,
and you don't have to be an expert at this.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
You'll know.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
You'll know as you're feeling around the drywall, you know
what normal drywall feels like. And as you're poking around,
all of a sudden, you're like, wow, it's kind of
soft and bubbly here. It just doesn't feel right. That
would be water getting too too saturated into the drywall.
Drywall is made out of gypsum, which is a very
(12:28):
very soft mineral, and once the paper and the saturation
has gone too far, then what we end up with
is a bailed drywall. And we don't want to just
paint over that. We want to actually cut that out
and replace it. Not that big of a deal, but
it's worth doing, all right. When we return more of
your calls, The number to reach me a three to
(12:49):
three two. Ask Dean A three to three the numeral
two Ask Dean. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Can I.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Dam pits forty like streaming and eighth everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. If you didn't know that, you don't have
to listen to us in AM. You can listen to
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Speaker 2 (13:26):
You're home with.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Dean Sharp the house whisper Saturday morning. We are taking calls.
I want to go back to the phones. The number
to reach me eight three three two, Ask Dean eight
three three the numeral two ask Dean eight three three
to ask Dean. Let's talk to James. Hey, James, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Hey, get to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
How can I help you, sir? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we
can hear you. Just mine, all right.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
I have a house. I've boned it over to twenty five years.
I'm retired now, and there are a lot of options
out there for rewriffing. But at the same time, I
do not have solar and things have changed in the
past few years, and you can't tell your excess electricity
(14:19):
back like you used to be able to. And I
have a garage that I could put a grandmother apartment
on top of but I don't know which direction to go.
I don't know if the solar's can save me enough
money to help me build the addition, or if I
(14:39):
should just not do solar and worry about the addition.
I'm confusing. I figure you've been in the business, you
could give me the straight scoop on whether to install solar.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
It's a good question, James, And in your situation, I
can tell you you are a little bit confused about it.
They really are kind of apples and oranges, those two subjects.
But if we're talking about bottom line money savings, let
me be clear about this. Yeah, solar has changed a
(15:15):
lot over the years that it has, and it's not
that solar has changed so much as it is. I
don't know how to describe this best. It's as if
we want to move forward with something good, and at
the same time, utility companies don't want to lose profits,
(15:35):
and they have a lot of They've got a lot
of leverage with state and local governments, and so you know,
it's like two steps forward, one step back. It just
it's it's kind of a pain in the booty when
it comes to that butt is solar still worth it,
and can you still save money with solar? Yes, the
(15:57):
answer is yes. Okay, everybody has to get a quote
and evaluate this for their own home, get a couple
of quotes from different solar companies. But the fact of
the matter is solar saves you money on your energy
costs period.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
It's not as simple and straightforward as it used to be.
As far as it just used to be. You know,
you would you would get in on a level plan
and you would sell back to the utility company, you know,
your over production amounts. That is still the case. Okay,
it's still the case. But the situation now is that
(16:35):
everybody is on a timed tiered plan and so a
solar set up these days in California, at least a
solar setup it absolutely must come with backup batteries, intelligent
backup batteries as a part of the system, because what
we want to be doing is in order to make
(16:57):
up the savings, we've got a store that energy into
the batteries and discharge the batteries at the right time
during the day so that it knocks it so that
we're selling our energy back to the energy company, the
utility at the right time, and we're using the power
in our backup batteries to buffer that at the right
(17:19):
time during the day. So it's more confusing, it's more
complex than it used to be, but it's still totally
totally doable. The key is a smart solar system with
backup batteries, and then you get the added benefit of
having a backup battery, which means that you've got the
backup power when the power goes out or during disasters
(17:40):
or what have you. So is solar still worth it?
Can you still put in a solar system that is
what we call net zero solar, meaning at the end
of the year that your energy bill has been neutralized
taken out. And the answer to that question is yes,
absolutely now based on that, that's the goal, okay of
(18:02):
solar James is to is to neutralize your energy to
get rid of your your electric bill. Okay, whether or
not getting rid of your electric bill is the kind
of money savings that you're looking for. If that's enough
for you, then that's something you're gonna have to you
(18:23):
know evaluate. Okay, Now I'm comparing that now to the
you know, building an ADU. In fact, you know what
I want to give it a couple of more thoughts.
So James, you hold on. I'm going to pop you
on hold, and then we're gonna have this conversation on
the other side, because James asked a very interesting question.
Should he go solar and save money that way or
(18:44):
should he invest in uh, you know, an a du
uh And basically I'm assuming collect rent from it uh
And should he find savings that way or should he
do both or should he do neither. So let's talk
about that. I'm gonna par that out a little bit more,
but we'll do it right on the other side of
the break. So James, you hang tight, and my card
(19:07):
for House Whisper Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on
the program today. It is a privilege and a pleasure
as always to be invited into your home and into
your headspace to talk about all things home. Saturday morning,
we've been taking nothing but calls, as we do on
(19:28):
a Saturday morning, and I've got James on the line,
and James had an interesting question. He wanted to know.
It's his roof is kind of at the end of
its life, so he's thinking about reroofing he's gonna have
to reroof and the question is should he do solar
right now? Is that how he's gonna save the most money,
or should he potentially build a grandma unit an ADU
(19:52):
on top of the garage. Is that a better investment?
And James, So we talked about solar before the break,
but all ultimately, my friend, this is a matter of
doing the math, because they really are apples and oranges.
If you were to ask me to just shoot from
the hip, I would tell you long term that your
biggest money maker is going to be an ADU and
(20:13):
acessory dwelling unit, you know, a casita, a guesthouse, a
gramma flat, whatever you want to call them. They are
known in the industry as ADUs, accessory dwelling units. They're
easy to permit these days in California because California wants
them as a resolve of the housing crisis, and ADU
(20:36):
permits are by and large the biggest permit that is
getting pulled by way of quantity at the local building
department wherever you live. ADUs ultimately are going to be
after the initial investment, and the initial investment is significant
because you know you got building to do. But at
the end of the day, with California housing prices, especially
(20:59):
in California mental prices especially, you're going to be making
passive income. That, of course, is if you are willing
to and it works with you to rent out a
unit in your home. And a lot of people are like, well,
that sounds like a lovely idea, but I don't want
strangers on my property, and you know that's totally acceptable
(21:19):
as well. So it really comes down to a personal choice, James,
whether or not you are into the idea of supplementing
your income assively by having a renter in your home. Ultimately,
I will tell you there's no question that that's going
to make you the most money versus solar. Solar is
going to neutralize your electric bills, so whatever that is, okay.
(21:41):
So you know solar, you know, let's say you've got
five hundred dollars a month that you're paying an electricity
when you're all done with solar, and that's a great thing.
Solar will knock out that five hundred dollars a month.
But you know, as well as I do that, try
renting anything for five hundred dollars a month in California.
You might be able to rent a closet in an
(22:03):
apartment for five hundred dollars a month. So the point
is past your initial investment, the ADU, the Grandma unit,
that's going to be the biggest money maker long term
for you. The question though, is you know, when you
have solar knocking out your electric bill, maybe that's enough
and you don't have to put up with renters versus
(22:25):
the other. So it's kind of an apple an orange
is thing. But financially, ADUs make people money. Solar saves
people money, and that's how you have to kind of
look at it. James, thank you for your call. Do
I have time to squeak one more in here? I think,
so let's talk to Cameron. Hey, Cameron, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Hey, happy Saturday bean.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
You're welcome. I am calling. We are painting the exterior
of our home and I have an accent color that's
going to be used for the front door and then
for the vent frames up by the roof that are
kind of like a hexagon shape. But I have a
man's door in between my garage doors, and then I
have a door on the other side of the garage
(23:12):
that goes out to the pool in the front and
My question is do I save the accent color for
the front door and the vent frames? Is it too
much if I put them on the other two doors?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Oh, a design question. I love design questions, especially right
here at the end of the show. Okay, so obviously
I can't look at your house right now and to
give you a definity of answer, but I will tell
you this. If I have to default, I'm going to
tell you save the accent color for the front door,
save it for the front door and for those funk
(23:47):
event frames, and go with another color for the other doors.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
And why.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
As beautiful and as wonderful as that accent color is,
that's why we're saving it for something special because the
principle and I talked about this actually last week, or
if you're a podcast listener, two episodes ago. We did
a Design Matters most episode last Sunday, and I talked
about this idea of focal points and hierarchy and all
(24:15):
of last Sunday show, by the way, and if you
missed it, oh, it was a good eat. You should listen.
I was comparing it to theater, right, All design is
ultimately theater. All architecture is ultimately theater. And on a
stage play or in the center of the screen. You
know there are leading actors, they are supporting actors behind them,
(24:37):
moving in and out. There are extras in the background,
there are scenes and sets that everybody is acting in.
It all can't be competing for front center stage. Otherwise
you don't get to tell the story. It's just a
mishmash of stuff and not everybody's talking at the same time.
(24:57):
The lead actors have most of the lines that drive
the story forward. Supporting actors are just that they're supporting actors, extras,
or just that they're in the background creating atmosphere. If
you understand your homes theater, then if you're thinking, and
it's a cool thought, because I love special colored accent
front doors, the whole idea of that is for it
(25:19):
to stand out and to become a focal point. And
if we put too much of that color on the
front of the house, now it's not a focal point.
Now it's just a themed color. So it would change
your front door to have other doors the same color
on the front side of the house. It would change
it from the lead actor and the focal point to
(25:40):
kind of a supporting actor or even just a scene
setting in the back, and I don't think that's what
you're going for, so a side unseen. I'm telling you
keep that special color for the front door.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Perfect.
Speaker 6 (25:54):
I knew you'd have the answer because they asked my
hubby and he says, well, it doesn't matter to me,
and I said, I know who it mattered to.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Yes, Oh, it matters to me big time. And I
think it'll matter to you too, Cameron. So good luck
with that. Send me a pick when you're all done.
All right, y'all, the end of a two hours just
gone boom. It evaporates right when we're having such fun
talking about your home. I'm going to be back tomorrow morning.
Guess what for Father's Day? I am not letting you
(26:23):
dads off the hook. No, no, not this year. This year,
it's time to organize. Not a lot of people are
pressing the button or pulling the trigger, whatever your favorite
metaphor is. On the big remodel. Things are a little unclear.
Little people are holding a lot of people are pressing pause,
(26:44):
and that means that we're engaging in smaller, more significant projects.
And when you're not exactly sure how things are going
to turn out, people tend to take inventory, they organize,
and they get it together. So tomorrow's show you get
to meet my very very special system for decluttering, organizing,
(27:06):
and talking storage in your home. It's all about storage
and organization tomorrow. Do not miss it nine to noon
right here, and until then, get out there in this
beautiful day of ours and get busy building yourself a
beautiful life. We'll see you tomorrow morning. This has been
(27:26):
Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app
I am pick forty live dreaming you make Dean everywhere
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here with you live every Saturday and Sunday morning. Hey,
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(00:46):
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you can do that too. You can book an in
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Speaker 2 (01:04):
All right, it is.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Saturday morning, Saturday Morning live, as we do here, and
as we do we are taking your calls. The number
to reach me eight three to three two, ask Dean
eight three three the numeral to ask Dean. We've got
room on the callboard for you. It's a light traffic
morning this morning. Eight three three to ask Dean. Whatever
(01:26):
you got to scratch in your head about your home,
design questions, architectural issues, construction issues, DIY concerns, you name it.
If it's got you in a quandary, give me a call.
We'll put our heads together and we will figure it out.
Producer Michelle standing by, ready to take your calls. All right,
(01:49):
let's go back to the phones. I want to talk
to JJ AYJJ welcome home.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Hi.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I am well, how are you?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Sorry, I'm great. So I have a question about putting
some installation into my house. I have an older home
and it has no insulation in it whatsoever. It does
have that blown installation in the attic. It's about, you know,
maybe an answer to now, but I was wondering, can
(02:22):
you put the insulation in the walls from the top
of the attic? Can you just like remove the plywood
at the path and just like blow it down, or
put some of that styrophone installation and just slide in there?
Speaker 5 (02:37):
Is that.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Done?
Speaker 5 (02:40):
I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It's a really good question.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Let me ask you, JJ, just just before I get
to a more thorough answer about that, what kind of
what's on the outside of your home?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Is it stucco? Is it sighting?
Speaker 5 (02:56):
What you?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah, stuck, I have stucco and in the very very front,
not a lot, but.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Okay, some siding all right.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So generally the answer is no, we don't want to
approach insulating retrofit insulating through the attic because we don't
want to disturb because back up retrofit insulation involves drilling
a lot of holes in the house. Okay, we got
(03:27):
to get into those wall cavities, every single wall cavity,
every single stud cavity in the home on the exterior wall,
we need access to to get insulation in there. Now,
it used to be we used to blow in cellulose insulation.
There are still companies that do that. The one that
I recommend more than anything, though, is to pump in
(03:48):
expansing foam insulation for the walls. It is just absolutely
the best. The best. It ends up you end up
with a home that's better insulated than a home got
insulated first time around with regular fiberglass bat insulation. It
just is well worth the effort and the trouble. But
(04:09):
we don't want to do those holes through the top
plates of the walls, because those top plates of your
walls are what is holding your house together. It's a
band that it already has some holes in it for
plumbing vents and drain lines and some water lines. But
we're talking about putting a good hole in every single
(04:32):
stud bay, which means every sixteen inches along that and
we don't want to compromise the top plates of the
house that much. So very rarely do you find anybody
recommending going that way. What we typically do is we
start on the exterior the wall, or, if you're more
comfortable with it, on the interior with holes in the
(04:53):
dry wall. So either we're keeping the interior attacked and
we're putting holes in the stucco small holes, small like
one inch holes in the stucco, or we're taking off
a piece of horizontal siding. That's usually optimal if you've
got siding on your house, we can take off one
strip of siding, drill the holes underneath it, patch them up,
(05:14):
and then put the siding back on. Either way, it
gets a little messy at some points, but it is
well worth doing the insulation for the exterior of the home.
We just don't go through the top plate, that's all.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Oh okay, I got it.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
What about the flooring.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Do you recommend anything to do in insulate like the
flooring the bottom Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
No, if you've got a raised foundation house. In other words,
if you're not on a slab and you're on a
crawl space underneath your house, that can be gotten to
very easily by an insulation company. And yes, I do
recommend insulating your subfloor as well, that you can just
buy bats for and get somebody under there, crawling under
(06:00):
the house, getting those things put up into place. That
doesn't require any kind of disruption of the house, and
it's easy to get to and it's well worth it.
A lot of people are like, well, why you know
he goes up Dean. No, no, no, no, no. The
entire envelope of the house is what we want to
try and insulate to maintain energy inside the house, whether
(06:22):
it's heating or cooling either way. So yeah, the subfloor situation,
if you're on a slab, there's nothing can be done
about that. But if you have a crawl space underneath
your house, then get somebody under there and putting bats
up into place. That's the easy part. That's the easiest
part of insulating of everything that you've mentioned by way
of retrofit insulation, no mess, and it can be done
(06:46):
very very quickly.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
JJ.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Thank you for your call and your question. Thanks for
holding on as long as you have, and good luck
with that. Get two or three different bids from insulating
companies when it comes to that, and mostly be concerned
about what they're putting in and how they're going to
patch you up after the fact. It can be totally done,
(07:07):
totally totally done at the hands of a company that
knows what they're doing, and it is well well worth it.
You'll pay for it in heating and cooling costs in
a very very short a matter of time. All right,
when we come back, more of your calls. The number
to reach me, it's an all calls Saturday morning eight
three three two Ask dean eight three three the numeral two.
(07:32):
Ask dean say.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
If I teen sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
At your service as I am every Saturday morning from
six to eight for you early risers who are looking
to get the edge on getting your honeydew list done
for the weekend, staring at your home thinking, oh my goodness,
what are we going to do at this place? We
need some help. We better call Dean. That's why we
(07:58):
take calls on Sat. Any mornings. The number to reach
me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight three three
the numeral two. Ask Dean eight three three two, Ask Dean.
It just rolls off the tongue. It's that simple, all right.
Back to the phones we go. Let's talk to John. Hey, John,
welcome home. Hello, Hello sir, How can I help you?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yes, I had a leaking roof, and so I have
a lot of water spots in the ceiling. I mean
a lot of you know, something close to probably about
ten percent of the ceiling. And now, of course I've
(08:47):
replaced the roof. How do I deal with the water spots? Oh,
it's very white, pop white popcorn type roof. Best ceiling.
Excuse me?
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Okay, right, so you've got acoustic ceiling up there. All right,
So two things, just to be sure you've had a
lot of water damage, and so before you do the
easy thing, and it is a very easy thing to
deal with water spots on the ceiling. I just want
you to make sure that you either you yourself get
up there, or whoever's inspecting this or doing the work
(09:22):
for you, gets up there and poke around a little
bit with your finger, just to make sure that none
of those water stains are indicative of a failure in
the drywall. In other words, you've had a lot of
water up there. Sometimes water can do more than just
make a stain on the ceiling. Sometimes it can actually
(09:44):
begin to really affect the integrity of the drywall. And
the drywall is soft and mushy, and if that's the case,
then some of that drywall needs to be replaced and
changed out. Now I'm not saying that's the case in
your situation. I just want you to make sure that
that isn't the case, because I don't want to put
you know, makeup on something that is systemically a deeper problem,
(10:06):
all right, And it's not like drywall replacement where water
damage has happened is all that expensive. I just want
to make sure that you're addressing it the right way.
So assuming, assuming that we've got no drywall damage, we
just have staining, then it's a very simple solution, and
it's very simply that you start the repainting effort with
(10:28):
a stain capturing or a stain covering primer, and they're
out there. The ones that I recommend probably the most
often are made by zinzer Zi in s s Er
and Kills k I l Z great primers before you paint.
(10:51):
I think I recommend the Zinser more often than anything
because we've just had really good luck with it. And
it is literally called cover stain. It is a stain
blocking stained ceiling primer and it's not just for water
spot stains, by the way. It's the kind of primer
that are used by restoration companies when they come in
(11:11):
after a disaster. It covers over nicotine and tar, it
covers over smoke damage, it seals out odors as well.
You don't need it for those purposes. You just need
the water spot to go away. And so for you,
my friend, it's going to be just cover stain and
then paint the room or the ceiling whatever color you
(11:35):
plan on painting it, and you are good to go.
My friend, John, thank you for your call. Sometimes the
solution is very very simple, but as I said at
the beginning, sometimes you need to just make sure you
do your deal due diligence, make sure that the damage
(11:55):
isn't just visible, or make sure that the damage is
just visible. So when you've got water stains on your
ceilings or your walls, I just want you to feel around,
and you don't have to be an expert at this.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
You'll know.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
You'll know as you're feeling around the drywall, you know
what normal drywall feels like. And as you're poking around,
all of a sudden, you're like, wow, it's kind of
soft and bubbly here. It just doesn't feel right. That
would be water getting too too saturated into the drywall.
Drywall is made out of gypsum, which is a very
(12:28):
very soft mineral, and once the paper and the saturation
has gone too far, then what we end up with
is a bailed drywall. And we don't want to just
paint over that. We want to actually cut that out
and replace it. Not that big of a deal, but
it's worth doing, all right. When we return more of
your calls, The number to reach me a three to
(12:49):
three two. Ask Dean A three to three the numeral
two Ask Dean. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Can I.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Dam pits forty like streaming and eighth everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. If you didn't know that, you don't have
to listen to us in AM. You can listen to
us in HD. Just listen to us through the iHeart
Radio app on your smartphone or mobile device everywhere in HD.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
You're home with.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Dean Sharp the house whisper Saturday morning. We are taking calls.
I want to go back to the phones. The number
to reach me eight three three two, Ask Dean eight
three three the numeral two ask Dean eight three three
to ask Dean. Let's talk to James. Hey, James, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Hey, get to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
How can I help you, sir? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we
can hear you. Just mine, all right.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
I have a house. I've boned it over to twenty five years.
I'm retired now, and there are a lot of options
out there for rewriffing. But at the same time, I
do not have solar and things have changed in the
past few years, and you can't tell your excess electricity
(14:19):
back like you used to be able to. And I
have a garage that I could put a grandmother apartment
on top of but I don't know which direction to go.
I don't know if the solar's can save me enough
money to help me build the addition, or if I
(14:39):
should just not do solar and worry about the addition.
I'm confusing. I figure you've been in the business, you
could give me the straight scoop on whether to install solar.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
It's a good question, James, And in your situation, I
can tell you you are a little bit confused about it.
They really are kind of apples and oranges, those two subjects.
But if we're talking about bottom line money savings, let
me be clear about this. Yeah, solar has changed a
(15:15):
lot over the years that it has, and it's not
that solar has changed so much as it is. I
don't know how to describe this best. It's as if
we want to move forward with something good, and at
the same time, utility companies don't want to lose profits,
(15:35):
and they have a lot of They've got a lot
of leverage with state and local governments, and so you know,
it's like two steps forward, one step back. It just
it's it's kind of a pain in the booty when
it comes to that butt is solar still worth it,
and can you still save money with solar? Yes, the
(15:57):
answer is yes. Okay, everybody has to get a quote
and evaluate this for their own home, get a couple
of quotes from different solar companies. But the fact of
the matter is solar saves you money on your energy
costs period.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
It's not as simple and straightforward as it used to be.
As far as it just used to be. You know,
you would you would get in on a level plan
and you would sell back to the utility company, you know,
your over production amounts. That is still the case. Okay,
it's still the case. But the situation now is that
(16:35):
everybody is on a timed tiered plan and so a
solar set up these days in California, at least a
solar setup it absolutely must come with backup batteries, intelligent
backup batteries as a part of the system, because what
we want to be doing is in order to make
(16:57):
up the savings, we've got a store that energy into
the batteries and discharge the batteries at the right time
during the day so that it knocks it so that
we're selling our energy back to the energy company, the
utility at the right time, and we're using the power
in our backup batteries to buffer that at the right
(17:19):
time during the day. So it's more confusing, it's more
complex than it used to be, but it's still totally
totally doable. The key is a smart solar system with
backup batteries, and then you get the added benefit of
having a backup battery, which means that you've got the
backup power when the power goes out or during disasters
(17:40):
or what have you. So is solar still worth it?
Can you still put in a solar system that is
what we call net zero solar, meaning at the end
of the year that your energy bill has been neutralized
taken out. And the answer to that question is yes,
absolutely now based on that, that's the goal, okay of
(18:02):
solar James is to is to neutralize your energy to
get rid of your your electric bill. Okay, whether or
not getting rid of your electric bill is the kind
of money savings that you're looking for. If that's enough
for you, then that's something you're gonna have to you
(18:23):
know evaluate. Okay, Now I'm comparing that now to the
you know, building an ADU. In fact, you know what
I want to give it a couple of more thoughts.
So James, you hold on. I'm going to pop you
on hold, and then we're gonna have this conversation on
the other side, because James asked a very interesting question.
Should he go solar and save money that way or
(18:44):
should he invest in uh, you know, an a du
uh And basically I'm assuming collect rent from it uh
And should he find savings that way or should he
do both or should he do neither. So let's talk
about that. I'm gonna par that out a little bit more,
but we'll do it right on the other side of
the break. So James, you hang tight, and my card
(19:07):
for House Whisper Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on
the program today. It is a privilege and a pleasure
as always to be invited into your home and into
your headspace to talk about all things home. Saturday morning,
we've been taking nothing but calls, as we do on
(19:28):
a Saturday morning, and I've got James on the line,
and James had an interesting question. He wanted to know.
It's his roof is kind of at the end of
its life, so he's thinking about reroofing he's gonna have
to reroof and the question is should he do solar
right now? Is that how he's gonna save the most money,
or should he potentially build a grandma unit an ADU
(19:52):
on top of the garage. Is that a better investment?
And James, So we talked about solar before the break,
but all ultimately, my friend, this is a matter of
doing the math, because they really are apples and oranges.
If you were to ask me to just shoot from
the hip, I would tell you long term that your
biggest money maker is going to be an ADU and
(20:13):
acessory dwelling unit, you know, a casita, a guesthouse, a
gramma flat, whatever you want to call them. They are
known in the industry as ADUs, accessory dwelling units. They're
easy to permit these days in California because California wants
them as a resolve of the housing crisis, and ADU
(20:36):
permits are by and large the biggest permit that is
getting pulled by way of quantity at the local building
department wherever you live. ADUs ultimately are going to be
after the initial investment, and the initial investment is significant
because you know you got building to do. But at
the end of the day, with California housing prices, especially
(20:59):
in California mental prices especially, you're going to be making
passive income. That, of course, is if you are willing
to and it works with you to rent out a
unit in your home. And a lot of people are like, well,
that sounds like a lovely idea, but I don't want
strangers on my property, and you know that's totally acceptable
(21:19):
as well. So it really comes down to a personal choice, James,
whether or not you are into the idea of supplementing
your income assively by having a renter in your home. Ultimately,
I will tell you there's no question that that's going
to make you the most money versus solar. Solar is
going to neutralize your electric bills, so whatever that is, okay.
(21:41):
So you know solar, you know, let's say you've got
five hundred dollars a month that you're paying an electricity
when you're all done with solar, and that's a great thing.
Solar will knock out that five hundred dollars a month.
But you know, as well as I do that, try
renting anything for five hundred dollars a month in California.
You might be able to rent a closet in an
(22:03):
apartment for five hundred dollars a month. So the point
is past your initial investment, the ADU, the Grandma unit,
that's going to be the biggest money maker long term
for you. The question though, is you know, when you
have solar knocking out your electric bill, maybe that's enough
and you don't have to put up with renters versus
(22:25):
the other. So it's kind of an apple an orange
is thing. But financially, ADUs make people money. Solar saves
people money, and that's how you have to kind of
look at it. James, thank you for your call. Do
I have time to squeak one more in here? I think,
so let's talk to Cameron. Hey, Cameron, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Hey, happy Saturday bean.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
You're welcome. I am calling. We are painting the exterior
of our home and I have an accent color that's
going to be used for the front door and then
for the vent frames up by the roof that are
kind of like a hexagon shape. But I have a
man's door in between my garage doors, and then I
have a door on the other side of the garage
(23:12):
that goes out to the pool in the front and
My question is do I save the accent color for
the front door and the vent frames? Is it too
much if I put them on the other two doors?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Oh, a design question. I love design questions, especially right
here at the end of the show. Okay, so obviously
I can't look at your house right now and to
give you a definity of answer, but I will tell
you this. If I have to default, I'm going to
tell you save the accent color for the front door,
save it for the front door and for those funk
(23:47):
event frames, and go with another color for the other doors.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
And why.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
As beautiful and as wonderful as that accent color is,
that's why we're saving it for something special because the
principle and I talked about this actually last week, or
if you're a podcast listener, two episodes ago. We did
a Design Matters most episode last Sunday, and I talked
about this idea of focal points and hierarchy and all
(24:15):
of last Sunday show, by the way, and if you
missed it, oh, it was a good eat. You should listen.
I was comparing it to theater, right, All design is
ultimately theater. All architecture is ultimately theater. And on a
stage play or in the center of the screen. You
know there are leading actors, they are supporting actors behind them,
(24:37):
moving in and out. There are extras in the background,
there are scenes and sets that everybody is acting in.
It all can't be competing for front center stage. Otherwise
you don't get to tell the story. It's just a
mishmash of stuff and not everybody's talking at the same time.
(24:57):
The lead actors have most of the lines that drive
the story forward. Supporting actors are just that they're supporting actors, extras,
or just that they're in the background creating atmosphere. If
you understand your homes theater, then if you're thinking, and
it's a cool thought, because I love special colored accent
front doors, the whole idea of that is for it
(25:19):
to stand out and to become a focal point. And
if we put too much of that color on the
front of the house, now it's not a focal point.
Now it's just a themed color. So it would change
your front door to have other doors the same color
on the front side of the house. It would change
it from the lead actor and the focal point to
(25:40):
kind of a supporting actor or even just a scene
setting in the back, and I don't think that's what
you're going for, so a side unseen. I'm telling you
keep that special color for the front door.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Perfect.
Speaker 6 (25:54):
I knew you'd have the answer because they asked my
hubby and he says, well, it doesn't matter to me,
and I said, I know who it mattered to.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Yes, Oh, it matters to me big time. And I
think it'll matter to you too, Cameron. So good luck
with that. Send me a pick when you're all done.
All right, y'all, the end of a two hours just
gone boom. It evaporates right when we're having such fun
talking about your home. I'm going to be back tomorrow morning.
Guess what for Father's Day? I am not letting you
(26:23):
dads off the hook. No, no, not this year. This year,
it's time to organize. Not a lot of people are
pressing the button or pulling the trigger, whatever your favorite
metaphor is. On the big remodel. Things are a little unclear.
Little people are holding a lot of people are pressing pause,
(26:44):
and that means that we're engaging in smaller, more significant projects.
And when you're not exactly sure how things are going
to turn out, people tend to take inventory, they organize,
and they get it together. So tomorrow's show you get
to meet my very very special system for decluttering, organizing,
(27:06):
and talking storage in your home. It's all about storage
and organization tomorrow. Do not miss it nine to noon
right here, and until then, get out there in this
beautiful day of ours and get busy building yourself a
beautiful life. We'll see you tomorrow morning. This has been
(27:26):
Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app
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