September 27, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Home With Dean Sharp, a caller wanted to know if luxury vinyl flooring is toxic to lay in small spaces with low ventilation.
Cracked grout is giving one caller grief, so Dean is on hand to give her the best repair advice.
Another listener has the urge to conserve hot water in their home, and Dean is here to dish the advice.
Meanwhile, Wendy wants to talk wood – should she lay her floor with engineered or hardwood flooring?
Cracked grout is giving one caller grief, so Dean is on hand to give her the best repair advice.
Another listener has the urge to conserve hot water in their home, and Dean is here to dish the advice.
Meanwhile, Wendy wants to talk wood – should she lay her floor with engineered or hardwood flooring?
Mark as Played
Transcript
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 iHeart Radio app. Good
morning and welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the house Whisper,
custom home Builder, custom home Designer, and your guide to
better understanding that place where you live. What does it
(00:21):
mean to be a house Whisperer, you ask, Well, I'm
still trying to figure that out. Actually, it was a
nickname that was given to me along the way because
of the way we do the design that we do.
But I'll tell you this, it's a lot like helping
somebody kind of become a healthier person. It means find
in a way to overcome the design carelessness and maybe
(00:44):
the repair traumas and abuse that a house has suffered
at the hands of people, and try and reconnect that
house to the best version of itself and to the
land that it's built on, and to the best life,
most importantly of its inhabitants, because that's when a house
becomes a home. So that's kind of what we do,
(01:04):
and that's what I try to help you do every
week here on the program. Today, on the show, it
is an all Calls Saturday, as we always do on Saturdays.
Your question sets the agenda for where we go. So
I have no agenda today except to take your calls
(01:26):
and to answer your questions. The number to reach me
eight three three to ask Dean, I think it's a
it's a it's a cool, misty, sleepy southern California autumn morning,
and it happens from time to time. We're a little thin,
we're a little thin on calls. A little thin, just
a little. Uh So I'm just letting you know. There's
(01:47):
a room on the callboard for you. Eight three three two,
ask Dean, eight three three the numeral two ask Dean
eight three three to ask Dean if you've ever tried
to call in or you thought about calling in before,
or now would be a great time to do it.
All right, let's go back to the phones. Uh, I
want to talk to Mark. Hey Mark, welcome home, Hey Dean.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
After nine years of marriage, my wife and I have
finally decided to take the plunge and move in with
each other, and we'll see how that experiment goes. We
are renting.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well now, oh hang on, wait wait wait, stop, I'm wait.
After nine years of marriage, you finally decided to move
in with each other.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, we want to see how that goes.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Okay, there's a story that behind that that i'd like
to that I'd like to hear.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
We just know it just it's just how it worked out.
You know, I had I was raising children, and we
decided that was my priority. We didn't want problems with
the mother, so we just said, we'll just we'll get married.
I'll give her great health insurance and she can. We'll
just pretend like we're still dating, but you get my
health insurance.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
All right. Well I can see that Tina and I
still pretend like we're dating. So yeah, could be a
good thing. It could be a good thing, all right
if you took.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yes. If it doesn't work out, I'll give you a
call because I know you like giving marital advice over
the air.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So oh yeah, I love giving marital advice over the air.
That always works out just perfectly. Yeah, yeah, all right,
how can I help you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So we're renting a house, ironically, just a couple of
blocks up the street from your childhood home in Montrose.
And I only know that because you mentioned it on
the air where you grew up. Anyway, the house, you know,
we always try to conserve water. When we try to
draw hot water in a morning, we've typically always used
(03:54):
buckets to save that water and use it for our plants.
And I know I've heard you mention before a device
that you can use that kind of recirculates the cold
water back into the system until the water gets hot.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Is that corect Yes?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yes, Okay, So because it's a rental, what can is
there anything we can do for the shower because it's
taking like four gallons almost five gallons of water to
get the hot water to the shower head. Is there
anything we can do that's going to be like non invasive,
like meaning not get into the walls.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, I mean, the the the solution there that that
we talk about a lot here on the program is
by definition non invasive invasive. In fact, it's the kind
of thing that that you could take with you if
you want, uh, you know, I mean they're not expensive
to start with, in in you know, in the big picture.
(04:54):
So we're talking about two things, two items a bridge
what's called a bridge valve and a small recirculating pump.
And here's the thing, Mark, I spent so much time
trying to find out why you guys were married and
not living together. That we're up against a break. So
let me pop you on hold, and everybody just hang out,
(05:16):
and when we come back, I will explain the bridge
valve and the recirculation pump and how those two things
work together and what exactly they do. They don't, they
don't work, they're not dedicated specifically for a shower, but
they will get the job done for a shower, because
what they do is they will draw the hot water
(05:38):
closer to the bathroom. But we'll talk about that right
on the other side. Can you hang tight?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Mark? Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
All right. We will talk to Mark and figure out
how to get the hot water closer to the bathroom
so he doesn't have to waste so much water waiting
for it to get warm. And we'll do that and
more of your calls when we return your home with
Dean Sharp the house whisper, Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I'm just.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I haven't heard the night Writer music in a while. Sam,
I like it. I like it. Here to help you
take your home to the next level. Thanks for joining
us on the show today. It's an all call Saturday morning,
as we do on Saturdays, and I've got Mark on
hold Mark, he's still with me. I hope I haven't
(06:26):
all right. So Mark has asked the question about getting
hot water faster to the shower in the bathroom. Because
of the waste of the water that goes down the drain,
they actually try to recapture it. Good on you guys
in buckets to use elsewhere. And what's that device that
(06:47):
I talk about sometimes? It is called a bridge valve.
And now there are two pieces to this. There's the
bridge valve and then there is a small recirculating pump. Okay,
the when and working together, they are non invasive, meaning
you don't have to open up drywall build this into
the house. You know, Mark and his wife are renting
(07:09):
and so don't want to do anything like that to
a rental unit. But the cool thing about the bridge
valve is that it actually just mounts underneath the sink
in a bathroom and you would run the hot and
cold water line into it first, and then there are
outlets to then go up from there up to the faucets.
(07:29):
And what is this all about. Well, the bridge valve
is a one way valve, one direction valve. It allows
water to pass through it in one direction. And one
direction only from the hot side to the cold side,
and it connects the hot and cold water line, so
the cold can't get into the hot but the hot
water line can move into the cold water line, which
(07:51):
is what we want because when combined with this small
recirculating pump, that can like if you've got power underneath
your sink, you can plug it in right there. It
could plug in if necessary, back by the water heater
and hook into the line there the hot water line there,
but you got to get power to it, and then
(08:12):
there's There are different ways of activating the the research pump.
Some bridge valves have a temperature sensor that will activate
the the bridge pump by Wi Fi or Bluetooth. Others
have require a little low voltage wire to be run.
Others still have no wire and no Bluetooth connectivity. But
(08:35):
you can set them on a timer. If there's a
time that you normally get up and take showers and
use the bathroom, so the timer will go off, the
research pump will start pumping just before you guys, you know,
get active in the in the bathroom. So there are
a number of different ways to handle us. But the
point is this, the research pump. What it does is
(08:55):
it pushes hot water along the hot water line even
when and no demand is being placed on it, and
it allows all that hot water, I should say, you know,
cool water, the hot water that was in the hot
water line that has cooled off, sitting there waiting to
be used. It pushes all of that into the cold
(09:17):
water side of your pipes. So you're not wasting the water.
The water is still in the house, you still have it.
It's just going to become cold water now, and it
draws the new hot water all the way to the sink. Now,
the sink is not the shower, but it is in
the same space, in the same room as the shower.
And so this is what we usually say on a
(09:40):
branched plumbing system, which is what everybody has. Unless you
have a luxury home where you have a recirculated hot
water line. Intentionally you put a bridge valve and this
recirculation pump at the furthest sink away from the well.
You can do two things. You can put it on
(10:00):
in the bathroom that you absolutely want the hot water in,
or you can place it in the bathroom under the
sink that's furthest away from the water heater, and every
sink and a shower and tub on the way there
will also benefit from it because the hot water. Because
of the way a branch plumbing system works, hot water
will get closer to all of them. So some people
(10:23):
like the idea of putting a bridge valve under every sink.
That's fine. Some ultimately just want it on the one
sink that they care about. That's fine too. But if
you want one bridge valve and one research pump to
affect all of the sinks in your space, then you
put on the one that's furthest away because it'll draw
(10:44):
essentially that hot water up through the tree system that
is you're plumbing and get it closer to Now it's
not instantly hot water like you hit the faucet and boom,
you know, one hundred and forty degree waters coming out,
But we're talking about what two seconds, three seconds versus
two or three minutes waiting for it to show up.
(11:05):
And that's a lot of water that you're saving. And
that's the idea, mark okay.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So the one to add on to that, when we
do draw the water to the shower, it's kind of
weird that the bathroom sink still takes maybe about a
minute to get hot, and that's not how it had
been in our previous residence. So is there something weird
going on with the plumbing? Do you think it's a
(11:32):
different line or something.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, it's not necessarily anything weird or wrong going on
with the plumbing. The thing is that there's no there's
no way of knowing how exactly the water lines were
plumbed into that bathroom, all right, So they may bridge
apart from each other further away than typical. You know,
(11:54):
it may be a different line running into the sink,
sharing a different line than the the line that's running
into the shower. There's just no way to predict how
plumbers decide to run piping to each fixture set, and
there's no absolute guarantee that they are right. You know
that they're very very close to each other on the
(12:15):
same line. I'm just telling you. Typically, typically there is
a branch of the tree heading towards that bathroom, and
then it should split off. Typically it should split off
and head to the sink and the toilet and the
shower all off of that same branch.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay, I ununderstood. We will call you, like I said,
if vice as well.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yes, please do, please do, because you know my reputation
for marital counseling is well, let's just not talk about that.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Thanks for the call, buddy, appreciate it all right, more
of your calls when we return your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI Am sixty. Dean Sharp, the House
whisper here to help you transform your ordinary house into
(13:11):
something truly extraordinary. Oh yes, it can be done. We
do it all the time, and we're here every week
with you helping you work it out with your own home.
Saturday morning, it's an all calls Saturday, like we do.
I want to go back to the phones, of course.
I Earlier in the show I said, oh, we're a
little light on calls, and now we have eight hundred
(13:33):
gabillion calls and I'm not going to get to all
of them before we're done. It's the way it works.
If I don't get to your call today. By the way, anytime,
anytime I do not get to a caller, you should
know that if you call back and you let our
screen or know, hey, I was on the line the
other day and Dean just didn't get to me. We
will give you front of the line priority. So there
(13:54):
you go. We treat you right around here. Let's talk
to Wendy.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Hey, Wendy, let me write down my phone number.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Oh sorry, yes, hello, we'll get afternoon, Gene. So I
have I've been wrestling with choosing a floor for my
entire house, aside from the marble floors I put down
in the bathrooms. And I live in your area and
Thousand Oaks and Shadow Oaks. We have a lot of shifting.
But the foundation looks good now that we've put some
(14:24):
pylons and what have you. But I'm torn because I
would like a VOC friendly house. So everything I'm trying
to do is no VOC. So I understand that there
are some good brands out there, but I don't know
which one to choose from. And then I'm unsure whether
I should go with, you know, an engineered wood floor
which has you know, as many layers as possible, as
(14:47):
sick as possible, so I can stand it down if
I need to, or if I should go with a genuine,
you know, solid hardwood floor. We don't have pets, we
don't we don't wear our shoes inside. But I'm concerned
with scratch, longevity, et cetera. I don't mind doing maintenance
on it, like having to have a company come in
and you know, do the the treatments, you know, oil
(15:09):
it whatever it needs be. But what do you suggest?
And do you have any brands out there? I hear
Cares is a good one, but their Cares is trying
to push me towards using their new product, which is
almost like a really hard engineered almost like a vinyl
playing which I don't want.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
To do, right right, I hear you. Okay, all right,
so let's do a quick talk about hardwood floors. I
understand your concern about VOCs and and so, first of all,
I'm going to say the same thing that I said
to one of our earlier callers today. You know, you
there are a lot of good brands of hardwood out there,
(15:47):
a lot more than I can mention. Uh. So what
you want to do is you want to if you're
concerned with VOCs, because glues are used in engineered hardwood floors,
you want to make sure that it's a low VOC
or a non VOC.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
You know, green floor system they're out there, uh, and
they will tell you about it, and you go to
your local flooring representatives or your local flooring stores. They
can point you in the direction of those kinds of
manufacturers who keep that stuff to an absolute minimum as to.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Know much believe it or not. Which is interesting because
I've scoured. I've scoured, and a lot of them will say,
I'll get back to you, I'll go back to you,
let me find out. I don't quite know, and especially
when it comes to no VOC and I've scoured the internet.
I've been doing this research for almost for almost a
year and a half now. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Anyway, yeah, some some dealers just yeah they there, it's
you know, honestly, I'll tell you why, Wendy.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It just isn't one of those primary concerns for most
hardwood floor purchasers, and so as a result of salespeople,
they're not always necessarily up to snuff on everything that's
going on. But the information is out there and you're
doing the research. So let me just get to the
to the point if it were me, okay, and I
have nothing against I mean, I'm not a VOC lover,
(17:09):
so just why I And so obviously obviously if you
go old school old school with three quarter inch you know,
you know, oak, solid hardwood, then there are no VOCs
involved because there are no glues involved because it's one
piece of wood. And there's always a reason from a
(17:30):
design perspective to consider that. I mean, I work on
century homes all the time and I want that old look,
or we're trying to rehab a room, so we have
to turn to that stuff. But in the long run,
it's the twenty first century. And if we want the
best possible hardwood floor as far as long term performance
(17:52):
and durability for you, then you go with an engineered
hardwood floor. And you go with an engineered hardwood floor
that has much as many layers of engineered flooring uh
substrate underneath it as possible, and the thickest possible wear
layer and the reason and some people are like, that
(18:12):
doesn't even make sense, Dean, How can I engineered hardwood
floor with just a veneer of stuff on the top
last as long as a as a three quarter inch
thick So well, because here's the point, my friends, Yeah,
everything below the tongue in the groove doesn't matter as
far as durability is concerned, because it's a tongue and
(18:34):
groove floor. Nobody sands a floor down halfway through its
three quarter inch thickness. You can only refinish this floor
until you get near the tongue in the groove. So
you got about you got about zero point two two inches,
a little under a quarter of an inch of wear
layer on a traditional three quarter inch thick hardwood floor.
(18:57):
Now that'll get you like three full refinishes, restanding refinishes,
which means that's a thirty forty sometimes fifty year floor
if you're going to refinish it two or three times. Okay,
But there are engineered hardwood floors out there with war
layers of three, four, five, even six millimeters, which is
(19:20):
coming dang close, dang close to the same usable wear
layer of the three quarter inch floor, and the point
being on the three quarter inch floor, and I got
to finish it up and run here, the point being
the reason we want an engineered floor as opposed to
a solid wood floor is the solid wood floor if
(19:41):
moisture attacks that floor, it will expand in the direction
of its grain. It'll cup, it'll tweak, it'll warp, there's
nothing to stop it. An engineered floor, every layer is
laid at an angle opposing a forty five degree angle
opposing the layer below it. So as a result, when
moisture hits the those floors, they're much more stable. Because
(20:02):
one layer wants to expand one way, the layer on
top of it is stopping it from expanding in that direction.
It wants to go another direction. So ultimately, bottom line, Windy,
what we're looking for here for a high quality engineered
floor seven plus layers of ply underneath and a ware
layer on top of four five six millimeters. You have
(20:27):
a floor there that can be refinished at least twice,
maybe three times over its lifetime, more stable and probably
overall better question, and more more varieties of wood than
you get with a traditional three quarter inch thick hardwood floor.
And I got to run because we're up against a break,
but that is my recommendation to you. It is a
(20:49):
better floor, have no doubt. It is a twenty first
century floor. It's not just like, oh, you know these
days they just use plut No, No, it's a better floor.
It's a better floor with an nice thick ware layer,
and it can be refinished multiple times. All right, y'all,
when we return more of your calls, you're home with
Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Hey,
(21:13):
thanks for joining us on the program today. We are
just about the end of another two hours together. Oh
the time flies. It's an all call Saturday morning. I
still have time for maybe one more call, so let's
give it a shot. Let's talk to Christine. Hey Christine,
welcome home?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yes, Hello, Hello, No I lost up Christine?
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Are you there? We're still with you here?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yes, thanks, okay, I'm sorry, I'm driving. That's up the radio.
Thank you for taking my call. Okay, My question is
sound proofine a wood floor for the room downstairs. Is
there any product to do to lay down first? You
lay which floor? Probably be a cheap vinyl I don't know.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
Material.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Okay, So all right, So you're planning on putting maybe
a luxury vinyl floor down upstairs, and you want it
to be as quiet as possible downstairs. Yeah, okay. There
are some luxury vinyl products that come with a rubberized
(22:28):
backing on them, okay, as opposed to ones that just
go down on a direct vapor barrier. That'd probably be
your best shot. I don't recommend. Some people say, well,
you could lay down some felt underlayment padding. I don't
recommend that because if your floor isn't designed to handle
that kind of deflection, it's going to start damaging the
(22:51):
floor as you walk on it. So the luxury vinyl
plank can only have a minimum amount of flex in
it that it's designed for. But the better ones have
a rubberized backing on the back of each plank, and shockingly,
even though that's only about about an eighth of an
inch thick, it does a really really significant I mean,
(23:14):
it's not gonna sound proof downstairs, all right, let me
just put that out of everybody's mind, but it will
reduce the amount of sound transfer vibration and as a result,
reduce the noise significantly if you use one with the
rubberized backing on the bottom side of the planks. Perfect, Okay,
(23:35):
you're welcome, Christine asked and answered. Also, if you've got
like a whole house of hardwood floor upstairs and you're thinking, gosh,
you know, I mean, we're long term committed to this house,
how can we make the upstairs quieter? Because it's just
driving us insane. You know what expansive spray foam sound
(23:57):
insulation can be injected into the ceiling up above you, okay,
in between the floor joists up above you, and it's
you know, it's not cheap. It's not like, you know, oh,
one hundred bucks and we've solved the problem. But if
it's long term, it's your home, it's your forever home,
(24:18):
if it's a place that you're going to be for
a long time, if it's important to you, it can
be done and done without Most people think, oh, you're
gonna have to take all the dry wall down off
the first floor ceiling and then put bats of insulation
up in there. And you could do that. That's one
way of doing it. But just like retrofitting insulation in
the outside of a house that doesn't have it in
the exterior walls, spray foam insulation through very very small
(24:42):
holes can be sprayed into those joist bays and it
expands and it does a significant, significant, impressive job of
providing a soundproofing barrier between what's going on upstairs and
the foot trap. It can transfer down to the downstairs. Yeah,
(25:04):
you're gonna have to have a bunch of little holes
all over the ceiling, but they can be patched and
they can go away and it's a lot less than
taking all the drywall down and putting bats of sound
insulation up there, and the sound insulation, the spray phone,
the expansive open cell spray poone. It's just like the
stuff that you get in the little cans of the store,
except there are contractors out there who'll do it. You
(25:25):
just look that up it's spray foam insulation contractor for
your area and get a quote, because they'll give you
a quote for free, and then you'll know, and then
you'll know whether it's something you want to afford or
save up for, or whatever the case may be. All right,
for those of you who are left on the line,
thank you so much for calling in. I appreciate it.
And like I said, we didn't get to your calls.
(25:47):
But when you call back, you just let our screen
or know that you were on the the line earlier
or last week, or whatever the case may be, and
you will get priority passed to the front of the line.
And for the rest of you, it is a somewhat overcast,
cool autumn morning here in southern California. I hope wherever
(26:09):
you are, the weather is treating you well. Most importantly,
I hope you take this day and get out there
and get busy building yourself a beautiful life. We'll see
you right back here tomorrow. This has been Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast
on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six
(26:32):
to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the
iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Good
morning and welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the house Whisper,
custom home Builder, custom home Designer, and your guide to
better understanding that place where you live. What does it
(00:21):
mean to be a house Whisperer, you ask, Well, I'm
still trying to figure that out. Actually, it was a
nickname that was given to me along the way because
of the way we do the design that we do.
But I'll tell you this, it's a lot like helping
somebody kind of become a healthier person. It means find
in a way to overcome the design carelessness and maybe
(00:44):
the repair traumas and abuse that a house has suffered
at the hands of people, and try and reconnect that
house to the best version of itself and to the
land that it's built on, and to the best life,
most importantly of its inhabitants, because that's when a house
becomes a home. So that's kind of what we do,
(01:04):
and that's what I try to help you do every
week here on the program. Today, on the show, it
is an all Calls Saturday, as we always do on Saturdays.
Your question sets the agenda for where we go. So
I have no agenda today except to take your calls
(01:26):
and to answer your questions. The number to reach me
eight three three to ask Dean, I think it's a
it's a it's a cool, misty, sleepy southern California autumn morning,
and it happens from time to time. We're a little thin,
we're a little thin on calls. A little thin, just
a little. Uh So I'm just letting you know. There's
(01:47):
a room on the callboard for you. Eight three three two,
ask Dean, eight three three the numeral two ask Dean
eight three three to ask Dean if you've ever tried
to call in or you thought about calling in before,
or now would be a great time to do it.
All right, let's go back to the phones. Uh, I
want to talk to Mark. Hey Mark, welcome home, Hey Dean.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
After nine years of marriage, my wife and I have
finally decided to take the plunge and move in with
each other, and we'll see how that experiment goes. We
are renting.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well now, oh hang on, wait wait wait, stop, I'm wait.
After nine years of marriage, you finally decided to move
in with each other.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, we want to see how that goes.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Okay, there's a story that behind that that i'd like
to that I'd like to hear.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
We just know it just it's just how it worked out.
You know, I had I was raising children, and we
decided that was my priority. We didn't want problems with
the mother, so we just said, we'll just we'll get married.
I'll give her great health insurance and she can. We'll
just pretend like we're still dating, but you get my
health insurance.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
All right. Well I can see that Tina and I
still pretend like we're dating. So yeah, could be a
good thing. It could be a good thing, all right
if you took.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yes. If it doesn't work out, I'll give you a
call because I know you like giving marital advice over
the air.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So oh yeah, I love giving marital advice over the air.
That always works out just perfectly. Yeah, yeah, all right,
how can I help you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So we're renting a house, ironically, just a couple of
blocks up the street from your childhood home in Montrose.
And I only know that because you mentioned it on
the air where you grew up. Anyway, the house, you know,
we always try to conserve water. When we try to
draw hot water in a morning, we've typically always used
(03:54):
buckets to save that water and use it for our plants.
And I know I've heard you mention before a device
that you can use that kind of recirculates the cold
water back into the system until the water gets hot.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Is that corect Yes?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yes, Okay, So because it's a rental, what can is
there anything we can do for the shower because it's
taking like four gallons almost five gallons of water to
get the hot water to the shower head. Is there
anything we can do that's going to be like non invasive,
like meaning not get into the walls.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, I mean, the the the solution there that that
we talk about a lot here on the program is
by definition non invasive invasive. In fact, it's the kind
of thing that that you could take with you if
you want, uh, you know, I mean they're not expensive
to start with, in in you know, in the big picture.
(04:54):
So we're talking about two things, two items a bridge
what's called a bridge valve and a small recirculating pump.
And here's the thing, Mark, I spent so much time
trying to find out why you guys were married and
not living together. That we're up against a break. So
let me pop you on hold, and everybody just hang out,
(05:16):
and when we come back, I will explain the bridge
valve and the recirculation pump and how those two things
work together and what exactly they do. They don't, they
don't work, they're not dedicated specifically for a shower, but
they will get the job done for a shower, because
what they do is they will draw the hot water
(05:38):
closer to the bathroom. But we'll talk about that right
on the other side. Can you hang tight?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Mark? Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
All right. We will talk to Mark and figure out
how to get the hot water closer to the bathroom
so he doesn't have to waste so much water waiting
for it to get warm. And we'll do that and
more of your calls when we return your home with
Dean Sharp the house whisper, Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I'm just.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I haven't heard the night Writer music in a while. Sam,
I like it. I like it. Here to help you
take your home to the next level. Thanks for joining
us on the show today. It's an all call Saturday morning,
as we do on Saturdays, and I've got Mark on
hold Mark, he's still with me. I hope I haven't
(06:26):
all right. So Mark has asked the question about getting
hot water faster to the shower in the bathroom. Because
of the waste of the water that goes down the drain,
they actually try to recapture it. Good on you guys
in buckets to use elsewhere. And what's that device that
(06:47):
I talk about sometimes? It is called a bridge valve.
And now there are two pieces to this. There's the
bridge valve and then there is a small recirculating pump. Okay,
the when and working together, they are non invasive, meaning
you don't have to open up drywall build this into
the house. You know, Mark and his wife are renting
(07:09):
and so don't want to do anything like that to
a rental unit. But the cool thing about the bridge
valve is that it actually just mounts underneath the sink
in a bathroom and you would run the hot and
cold water line into it first, and then there are
outlets to then go up from there up to the faucets.
(07:29):
And what is this all about. Well, the bridge valve
is a one way valve, one direction valve. It allows
water to pass through it in one direction. And one
direction only from the hot side to the cold side,
and it connects the hot and cold water line, so
the cold can't get into the hot but the hot
water line can move into the cold water line, which
(07:51):
is what we want because when combined with this small
recirculating pump, that can like if you've got power underneath
your sink, you can plug it in right there. It
could plug in if necessary, back by the water heater
and hook into the line there the hot water line there,
but you got to get power to it, and then
(08:12):
there's There are different ways of activating the the research pump.
Some bridge valves have a temperature sensor that will activate
the the bridge pump by Wi Fi or Bluetooth. Others
have require a little low voltage wire to be run.
Others still have no wire and no Bluetooth connectivity. But
(08:35):
you can set them on a timer. If there's a
time that you normally get up and take showers and
use the bathroom, so the timer will go off, the
research pump will start pumping just before you guys, you know,
get active in the in the bathroom. So there are
a number of different ways to handle us. But the
point is this, the research pump. What it does is
(08:55):
it pushes hot water along the hot water line even
when and no demand is being placed on it, and
it allows all that hot water, I should say, you know,
cool water, the hot water that was in the hot
water line that has cooled off, sitting there waiting to
be used. It pushes all of that into the cold
(09:17):
water side of your pipes. So you're not wasting the water.
The water is still in the house, you still have it.
It's just going to become cold water now, and it
draws the new hot water all the way to the sink. Now,
the sink is not the shower, but it is in
the same space, in the same room as the shower.
And so this is what we usually say on a
(09:40):
branched plumbing system, which is what everybody has. Unless you
have a luxury home where you have a recirculated hot
water line. Intentionally you put a bridge valve and this
recirculation pump at the furthest sink away from the well.
You can do two things. You can put it on
(10:00):
in the bathroom that you absolutely want the hot water in,
or you can place it in the bathroom under the
sink that's furthest away from the water heater, and every
sink and a shower and tub on the way there
will also benefit from it because the hot water. Because
of the way a branch plumbing system works, hot water
will get closer to all of them. So some people
(10:23):
like the idea of putting a bridge valve under every sink.
That's fine. Some ultimately just want it on the one
sink that they care about. That's fine too. But if
you want one bridge valve and one research pump to
affect all of the sinks in your space, then you
put on the one that's furthest away because it'll draw
(10:44):
essentially that hot water up through the tree system that
is you're plumbing and get it closer to Now it's
not instantly hot water like you hit the faucet and boom,
you know, one hundred and forty degree waters coming out,
But we're talking about what two seconds, three seconds versus
two or three minutes waiting for it to show up.
(11:05):
And that's a lot of water that you're saving. And
that's the idea, mark okay.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So the one to add on to that, when we
do draw the water to the shower, it's kind of
weird that the bathroom sink still takes maybe about a
minute to get hot, and that's not how it had
been in our previous residence. So is there something weird
going on with the plumbing? Do you think it's a
(11:32):
different line or something.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, it's not necessarily anything weird or wrong going on
with the plumbing. The thing is that there's no there's
no way of knowing how exactly the water lines were
plumbed into that bathroom, all right, So they may bridge
apart from each other further away than typical. You know,
(11:54):
it may be a different line running into the sink,
sharing a different line than the the line that's running
into the shower. There's just no way to predict how
plumbers decide to run piping to each fixture set, and
there's no absolute guarantee that they are right. You know
that they're very very close to each other on the
(12:15):
same line. I'm just telling you. Typically, typically there is
a branch of the tree heading towards that bathroom, and
then it should split off. Typically it should split off
and head to the sink and the toilet and the
shower all off of that same branch.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay, I ununderstood. We will call you, like I said,
if vice as well.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yes, please do, please do, because you know my reputation
for marital counseling is well, let's just not talk about that.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Thanks for the call, buddy, appreciate it all right, more
of your calls when we return your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI Am sixty. Dean Sharp, the House
whisper here to help you transform your ordinary house into
(13:11):
something truly extraordinary. Oh yes, it can be done. We
do it all the time, and we're here every week
with you helping you work it out with your own home.
Saturday morning, it's an all calls Saturday, like we do.
I want to go back to the phones, of course.
I Earlier in the show I said, oh, we're a
little light on calls, and now we have eight hundred
(13:33):
gabillion calls and I'm not going to get to all
of them before we're done. It's the way it works.
If I don't get to your call today. By the way, anytime,
anytime I do not get to a caller, you should
know that if you call back and you let our
screen or know, hey, I was on the line the
other day and Dean just didn't get to me. We
will give you front of the line priority. So there
(13:54):
you go. We treat you right around here. Let's talk
to Wendy.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Hey, Wendy, let me write down my phone number.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Oh sorry, yes, hello, we'll get afternoon, Gene. So I
have I've been wrestling with choosing a floor for my
entire house, aside from the marble floors I put down
in the bathrooms. And I live in your area and
Thousand Oaks and Shadow Oaks. We have a lot of shifting.
But the foundation looks good now that we've put some
(14:24):
pylons and what have you. But I'm torn because I
would like a VOC friendly house. So everything I'm trying
to do is no VOC. So I understand that there
are some good brands out there, but I don't know
which one to choose from. And then I'm unsure whether
I should go with, you know, an engineered wood floor
which has you know, as many layers as possible, as
(14:47):
sick as possible, so I can stand it down if
I need to, or if I should go with a genuine,
you know, solid hardwood floor. We don't have pets, we
don't we don't wear our shoes inside. But I'm concerned
with scratch, longevity, et cetera. I don't mind doing maintenance
on it, like having to have a company come in
and you know, do the the treatments, you know, oil
(15:09):
it whatever it needs be. But what do you suggest?
And do you have any brands out there? I hear
Cares is a good one, but their Cares is trying
to push me towards using their new product, which is
almost like a really hard engineered almost like a vinyl
playing which I don't want.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
To do, right right, I hear you. Okay, all right,
so let's do a quick talk about hardwood floors. I
understand your concern about VOCs and and so, first of all,
I'm going to say the same thing that I said
to one of our earlier callers today. You know, you
there are a lot of good brands of hardwood out there,
(15:47):
a lot more than I can mention. Uh. So what
you want to do is you want to if you're
concerned with VOCs, because glues are used in engineered hardwood floors,
you want to make sure that it's a low VOC
or a non VOC.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
You know, green floor system they're out there, uh, and
they will tell you about it, and you go to
your local flooring representatives or your local flooring stores. They
can point you in the direction of those kinds of
manufacturers who keep that stuff to an absolute minimum as to.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Know much believe it or not. Which is interesting because
I've scoured. I've scoured, and a lot of them will say,
I'll get back to you, I'll go back to you,
let me find out. I don't quite know, and especially
when it comes to no VOC and I've scoured the internet.
I've been doing this research for almost for almost a
year and a half now. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Anyway, yeah, some some dealers just yeah they there, it's
you know, honestly, I'll tell you why, Wendy.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It just isn't one of those primary concerns for most
hardwood floor purchasers, and so as a result of salespeople,
they're not always necessarily up to snuff on everything that's
going on. But the information is out there and you're
doing the research. So let me just get to the
to the point if it were me, okay, and I
have nothing against I mean, I'm not a VOC lover,
(17:09):
so just why I And so obviously obviously if you
go old school old school with three quarter inch you know,
you know, oak, solid hardwood, then there are no VOCs
involved because there are no glues involved because it's one
piece of wood. And there's always a reason from a
(17:30):
design perspective to consider that. I mean, I work on
century homes all the time and I want that old look,
or we're trying to rehab a room, so we have
to turn to that stuff. But in the long run,
it's the twenty first century. And if we want the
best possible hardwood floor as far as long term performance
(17:52):
and durability for you, then you go with an engineered
hardwood floor. And you go with an engineered hardwood floor
that has much as many layers of engineered flooring uh
substrate underneath it as possible, and the thickest possible wear
layer and the reason and some people are like, that
(18:12):
doesn't even make sense, Dean, How can I engineered hardwood
floor with just a veneer of stuff on the top
last as long as a as a three quarter inch
thick So well, because here's the point, my friends, Yeah,
everything below the tongue in the groove doesn't matter as
far as durability is concerned, because it's a tongue and
(18:34):
groove floor. Nobody sands a floor down halfway through its
three quarter inch thickness. You can only refinish this floor
until you get near the tongue in the groove. So
you got about you got about zero point two two inches,
a little under a quarter of an inch of wear
layer on a traditional three quarter inch thick hardwood floor.
(18:57):
Now that'll get you like three full refinishes, restanding refinishes,
which means that's a thirty forty sometimes fifty year floor
if you're going to refinish it two or three times. Okay,
But there are engineered hardwood floors out there with war
layers of three, four, five, even six millimeters, which is
(19:20):
coming dang close, dang close to the same usable wear
layer of the three quarter inch floor, and the point
being on the three quarter inch floor, and I got
to finish it up and run here, the point being
the reason we want an engineered floor as opposed to
a solid wood floor is the solid wood floor if
(19:41):
moisture attacks that floor, it will expand in the direction
of its grain. It'll cup, it'll tweak, it'll warp, there's
nothing to stop it. An engineered floor, every layer is
laid at an angle opposing a forty five degree angle
opposing the layer below it. So as a result, when
moisture hits the those floors, they're much more stable. Because
(20:02):
one layer wants to expand one way, the layer on
top of it is stopping it from expanding in that direction.
It wants to go another direction. So ultimately, bottom line, Windy,
what we're looking for here for a high quality engineered
floor seven plus layers of ply underneath and a ware
layer on top of four five six millimeters. You have
(20:27):
a floor there that can be refinished at least twice,
maybe three times over its lifetime, more stable and probably
overall better question, and more more varieties of wood than
you get with a traditional three quarter inch thick hardwood floor.
And I got to run because we're up against a break,
but that is my recommendation to you. It is a
(20:49):
better floor, have no doubt. It is a twenty first
century floor. It's not just like, oh, you know these
days they just use plut No, No, it's a better floor.
It's a better floor with an nice thick ware layer,
and it can be refinished multiple times. All right, y'all,
when we return more of your calls, you're home with
Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Hey,
(21:13):
thanks for joining us on the program today. We are
just about the end of another two hours together. Oh
the time flies. It's an all call Saturday morning. I
still have time for maybe one more call, so let's
give it a shot. Let's talk to Christine. Hey Christine,
welcome home?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yes, Hello, Hello, No I lost up Christine?
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Are you there? We're still with you here?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yes, thanks, okay, I'm sorry, I'm driving. That's up the radio.
Thank you for taking my call. Okay, My question is
sound proofine a wood floor for the room downstairs. Is
there any product to do to lay down first? You
lay which floor? Probably be a cheap vinyl I don't know.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
Material.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Okay, So all right, So you're planning on putting maybe
a luxury vinyl floor down upstairs, and you want it
to be as quiet as possible downstairs. Yeah, okay. There
are some luxury vinyl products that come with a rubberized
(22:28):
backing on them, okay, as opposed to ones that just
go down on a direct vapor barrier. That'd probably be
your best shot. I don't recommend. Some people say, well,
you could lay down some felt underlayment padding. I don't
recommend that because if your floor isn't designed to handle
that kind of deflection, it's going to start damaging the
(22:51):
floor as you walk on it. So the luxury vinyl
plank can only have a minimum amount of flex in
it that it's designed for. But the better ones have
a rubberized backing on the back of each plank, and shockingly,
even though that's only about about an eighth of an
inch thick, it does a really really significant I mean,
(23:14):
it's not gonna sound proof downstairs, all right, let me
just put that out of everybody's mind, but it will
reduce the amount of sound transfer vibration and as a result,
reduce the noise significantly if you use one with the
rubberized backing on the bottom side of the planks. Perfect, Okay,
(23:35):
you're welcome, Christine asked and answered. Also, if you've got
like a whole house of hardwood floor upstairs and you're thinking, gosh,
you know, I mean, we're long term committed to this house,
how can we make the upstairs quieter? Because it's just
driving us insane. You know what expansive spray foam sound
(23:57):
insulation can be injected into the ceiling up above you, okay,
in between the floor joists up above you, and it's
you know, it's not cheap. It's not like, you know, oh,
one hundred bucks and we've solved the problem. But if
it's long term, it's your home, it's your forever home,
(24:18):
if it's a place that you're going to be for
a long time, if it's important to you, it can
be done and done without Most people think, oh, you're
gonna have to take all the dry wall down off
the first floor ceiling and then put bats of insulation
up in there. And you could do that. That's one
way of doing it. But just like retrofitting insulation in
the outside of a house that doesn't have it in
the exterior walls, spray foam insulation through very very small
(24:42):
holes can be sprayed into those joist bays and it
expands and it does a significant, significant, impressive job of
providing a soundproofing barrier between what's going on upstairs and
the foot trap. It can transfer down to the downstairs. Yeah,
(25:04):
you're gonna have to have a bunch of little holes
all over the ceiling, but they can be patched and
they can go away and it's a lot less than
taking all the drywall down and putting bats of sound
insulation up there, and the sound insulation, the spray phone,
the expansive open cell spray poone. It's just like the
stuff that you get in the little cans of the store,
except there are contractors out there who'll do it. You
(25:25):
just look that up it's spray foam insulation contractor for
your area and get a quote, because they'll give you
a quote for free, and then you'll know, and then
you'll know whether it's something you want to afford or
save up for, or whatever the case may be. All right,
for those of you who are left on the line,
thank you so much for calling in. I appreciate it.
And like I said, we didn't get to your calls.
(25:47):
But when you call back, you just let our screen
or know that you were on the the line earlier
or last week, or whatever the case may be, and
you will get priority passed to the front of the line.
And for the rest of you, it is a somewhat overcast,
cool autumn morning here in southern California. I hope wherever
(26:09):
you are, the weather is treating you well. Most importantly,
I hope you take this day and get out there
and get busy building yourself a beautiful life. We'll see
you right back here tomorrow. This has been Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast
on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six
(26:32):
to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the
iHeartRadio app
Home with Dean Sharp News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.