July 13, 2025 • 34 mins
Dean takes listener calls about privacy glass for a front window, a tankless water heater that is not providing hot water, new front door for a really old home, shellacking very old oak floors, why only warm water is coming out of an outdoor faucet, how to change a regular shower to a 'walk in' shower for an older person, tree roots that are causing cracks on sidewalk, plumbing problems and whether or not it's ok design wise to do window frames of different colors on the front and back of a house.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome Home.
I'm Dean Sharp, the house Whisper, custom home Builder, custom
home designer, and your guide to better understand that place
where you live today. On the show, it's your calls.
(00:22):
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three three the numeral two. Ask Dean whatever
as you scratch in your head about your home design, construction,
DIY inside outside, I got you. We'll put our heads
together and get it figured out. Let's get to it, Brandy,
Welcome home, Dean.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I am well, how are you? My friend?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm doing great, but I'm a little sad because I
live in a home that's on the corner and it's
a very busy street, so we have folks walking back
and forth. And we have vertical blinds right now. And
I know that previous show you've mentioned electronic privacy glass
(01:07):
and we can't seem to find it to install. Okay, well,
and you know it's kind of right now. We have
vertical blinds, but they always have to be closed because
when they're open, you know, people just peer in and
look at everything. So it's like living in a.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So you're too exposed. You're too exposed. Couple of things.
So is that, by the way, is there no way
that you can change anything in the front of the
house by way of landscaping or anything like that to
obscure the public's view of your windows. Is that just
off the table altogether?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Off the table. Actually it's the whole house because right
on the corner of a very busy street, so they
can see everything on one side and everything in the front.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Okay, all right, so well here's the brandy. You got
vertical blinds, that vertical blind The advantage of a blind,
whether it's vertical or a shutter or horizontal, is that
you know it can still let light in, you can
still peer out of it, but it can give you
some indirect privacy. What I would suggest is that you
(02:19):
consider maybe changing from the vertical blinds, because with a
vertical blind, since the visual channel is up and down,
I can always just move my position on the sidewalk
until I'm at the right angle that I can see
through those Okay, if you were to change those two
horizontal blinds on the windows, then you'll be able to
(02:40):
crank the horizontal blind down or up at an angle
that literally I'd have to crawl up on a ladder
in order to see down in through the slat angle,
or I'd have to get down, lay down in your
yard and look up. So in other words, the horizontal
blinds are going to be far more effective with pedestrian
(03:01):
traffic and stuff outside your windows than the verticals. Now,
as far as the privacy glass is concerned, that privacy
glass either you have to buy a window with that
glass integrated into it and then run some power supply
over to it because that's what it requires. Those are
very very expensive, or you would look for privacy film,
(03:24):
not the glass, but if you're interested, you would look
for privacy film. It's like a tinting that would be
put on the window that would also require power, but
that will give you the same effect. But let me
be clear about this. Those windows that are privacy they
go from clear to opaque, and you pay a lot
of money for them to go from clear to opaque
(03:44):
or basically a frosted effect, and they're going to completely
obscure your view as well, so you don't get to
see out. And so it's the same thing as pulling
a blind down and just having the window shade or
the curtains drawn, so in order to let the light
in and not break the bank, I wouldn't go for
the privacy glass in your case, I think I would
(04:06):
reconsider your window treatments and go for the horizontal blinds
because you'll have more control over your vistas and be
able to shut out other people's vistas looking in. That
is my best advice. Brandy, Thank you for the call.
Good luck with that. Let me know how it turns out, William,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Having an issue with my tankless water heater. I want
to know what's going on with it. Sometimes I turn
on the water, the hot water, and all I get
is cold water, and I have to run to the
unit and find out the furnace letting go on. So
I'm getting all this cold water, and then I have
to turn it off and on and wait for that
(04:48):
little red light to come on, and then I'll get
hot water. I'm wondering if it's at the end of
its life or what's going on with it?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Got you okay? So hot water heater, tank closs hot
water heater, hot water heater. I'm gonna get emails about
that tankless water heater turning itself off even when you're
demanding water from it. How old is it, William.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
I'm ten eleven years old.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Okay, so it's at about a half life. Have you
ever had it flushed or drained?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, my brother showed me how to do it, but
it was only done twice, and I just did it.
The last time I did it was a little over
a month ago and it's still doing it.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Okay. And have you ever had this problem with it before?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yes, the first flush that I did was like two
years ago, and it was off and on ever since then.
Then my brother said, well, you probably need another flush,
so he came down and helped me slush it out.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Okay, so it's been acting up a little bit over time.
All right, my friend. Here's the thing. There are two
things that essentially can happen and that make a tankless
water heater act up like that. One is on the
water heater side. Either A it's in need of flushing
(06:09):
because there's a flow problem inside of it, or B
there is electronics issue a wire has gotten loose, or
you know, because a tankless water heater is a complex device.
There's microprocessors inside, there's electronic switches and valves and so on,
(06:30):
so sometimes those things start going bad. Your water heater
is essentially kind of at its roughly it's half life
if it's being taken care of well, so it's not like, well,
it's kind of at the end of the road. Now
you could easily get more time out of that. So
electronics or flow inside. And then the other thing that
makes tankless water heaters go weird is they were hooked
(06:56):
up wrong, installed wrong to begin with supply lines. The
water supply line is not large enough, or there is
not enough flow, or almost always the case when there's
a shutting off issue when it comes to a tankless
water heater is people have taken it upon themselves or
a handyman has installed it not realizing the need to
(07:19):
upsize in a big way. The gas supply line in it.
And when a tankless water heater detects that it doesn't
have enough fuel flow into it for the demand, it
will also shut itself off and just refuse to move forward.
So they can be sensitive and temperamental when all the
conditions of installation aren't right. Now yours has been servicing
(07:41):
you for quite a while. So my thinking is, and
you have flushed it recently, so it's probably time to
call out a service tech, an appliance water heater guy
in order to service it and give a serious look
and see if there isn't something switching or tronically going
on inside it. William, that's my best advice to you.
(08:03):
Water Heaters Only, by the way, is a great company
to call because they specialize in just that kind of thing. Yes,
they are a sponsor of the show. All right, William,
thanks for your call. More of your calls on the way.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Dean Sharp the house Whisper here to help you take
your home to the next level. It's an all calls
show today. Let's get back to the phones. Let's talk
to Sal. Hey, Sal, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I'm in my fourth house in here in LA. I
tend to buy houses in great neighborhoods, but need a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Okay, yeah, I get you. I feel it.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I feel it, and the one I'm in now great house,
a great neighborhood, trying to deal with the front doors,
original front doors, French doors with sidelights. Yeah, and I
get confusing quotes. Every contractor is different. I'm thinking I
wanted to just replace the flabs, and they say they
can't do it. I'm trying to look for types of manufacturers.
It's hard. I can't It's not like a Chevy or Ford,
(09:13):
you know, you can't compare. So I wanted to get
some opinions whether or not to just try to change
the slabs, you know, in the seventies home with you
know the frame, you know, the door on the top
it's a little off, and they're saying it's not going
to be level. We have to just do three hung
but the whole front unit is built into the house,
and I wanted to keep the integrity and just change
(09:33):
the slabs and the sidelights. What do you what do
you think? What's what do you think is my best option?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So we got double doors, a double doors and sidelights, yes, sir, okay,
double doors and sidelights. And so you're not confused as
to the style that you're going for, right, You're just
going to go with the nineteen seventies it's like a
little bit modernist slab door or is it a different style.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
The glass is like this frosted yellow with like a
diamond pattern in it, and it's you know, it's on
the top half of the door, and but on one
side of the door the frame is off centered a
little bit on the top jam to accommodate the alignment
of the of the glass. So that's saying because of that,
I can't just change I can't change the slabs because
(10:15):
we're going to end up shaving it and it's going
to be off again like the original door is. And
I thought maybe I could just change the slabs and
the jams and the winner rizing of you know, the
weather stripping and all that. But they don't want to,
you know, put in the work. They just want to
change the you know, do a pre hung system. But
that's you know, we're getting into almost ten.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Grand now, all right, my friend. So here's the thing.
It can be done. Of course it can be done.
And so the situation that you're in right now is,
you know, and I grow weary. I'm not I don't
grow weary answering this question. I grow weary of giving
this answer because I wish I didn't have to, but
you're just going to need to search longer for the
(10:55):
right builder to do the job. Okay, because of course
it can be done. Of course we can change out
the jam and you can buy you know, you don't
have to go with a pre hung situation where it's
all been just factory put together. Of course, it can
be custom installed and in a lot of ways it
might end up saving you money along the way. Plus
(11:18):
you get exactly what you want. Now if there's some
weird jam condition that can be resolved too, okay, everything
can be fixed. Everything can be fixed. It is just
a question these days of there are so many builders
out there who and believe me, you know, I mean
I feel for them too. Construction is no is you know,
(11:40):
is no get rich quick scheme. It really isn't. And
the guys who use it that way, they usually like
end up in jail. But it's just it's tough because
people want what they want, and they want it for
an unbelievably low price, and people have to really put
the effort into it in order to get good at work.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
I'm not saying an unbelievable low price, but just the
fact that you know, everybody's quotation and manufactural representations are different,
so it's very hard to choose.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
And yeah, that's why. And you're in a good situation
to do that. Yeah, I can feel this. I can
feel the vibe that you're in the right situation to
do this. What you got to do is you have
to take control of the situation. In other words, your
best bet, I think from what I'm hearing from you,
(12:32):
your best bet is to choose your doors. Okay, now
what does that mean. Well, once you know the style
of the door that you want, right, then you just
shop out that style of door and yeah, they're going
to be varying price points for that style of door,
but you make that selection. You make the selection of
(12:53):
the door that you want to go in that unit
at the price point that you are comfortable of paying.
There are a good billion doors out there, I know,
and it can seem very, very overwhelming. But first thing
we do is we eliminate, you know, ninety eight percent
of them because we've chosen the style, the specific style
that you want, and within that category, you locally shop
(13:15):
out what it is that you're looking for. Is it
going to be a standard solid wood slab? Door, and
that's going to be at one price. Is it going
to be a fiberglass resin door, is it going to
be a steeled You know, all of these choices that
we've got, you can narrow that down right, forget about
the manufacturers, just looking at price point and the construction
(13:37):
of the door. Then you pick out those doors, You're like, Okay,
these are the two doors that I'm going to use,
and these are the sidelights that I'd like to see.
And then then you start showing contractors, listen, here are
the doors, these are the sidelights. There's the opening. I
want you to make it work. And some guys are
gonna walk away saying I don't do that. Other guys
(13:58):
are going to give you that statement that I hear
all the time, it can't be done. It just means
that they don't want to do it and they're not
used to doing it at their convenience level for a profit.
And that's fine too, you can let them walk. I
just hate the fact that they say it can't be done.
I'd rather a contractor just tell you that goes beyond
what we normally do and I don't want to do it,
(14:19):
but to tell people a thing can't be done. That's
not the world that I live in as a builder
or a designer. So get you take control of your
materials and you say, these are the doors I want
to use, here's the configuration that I want. Give me
a price accordingly. And if you look long enough and
(14:40):
you take your time, sal you're gonna find guys who
are going to give you prices, and you'll see that
those prices will start to align themselves and you'll be
able to choose the person to do the work for
you and get it done the right way. I'll tell
you what. Let's talk to Pat Heye. Pat, come home.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
My house is built in nineteen twenty two and it
had the original oak forest, So twenty years ago and
we had the house three models. We pulled up the
carpet and they were like new, so they charrack them
and they're just beautiful. So now it's been a while,
so I took TSP. I thought it's time to clean them.
Took TSP and it took off the old shillak. But
(15:23):
now when I go to the home depot, it seems
like the new chillax are just water based and there's
nothing to them. What can I use that's really strong
to chirac my floors because I want to preserve them
as long as possible and the hall takes a beating
a lot of traffic. So what do you recommend to
use for sillac or covering coating?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Okay, I got you No more shillac on your floor,
and that's fine. Believe me, it's totally fine. What you
want now, don't be afraid of what you find at
the store. But here, I want you to go to
a good flooring store and I want you to get
a high quality flooring grade polyurethane. Poly ethane. Polyurethane is
(16:07):
essentially a plastic coating. Doesn't matter that it's water based,
doesn't you know that's not That's a non issue. And
we're gonna put at least three to four coats down now.
If you don't. If you want this show the floor
is super shiny, then you go with a normal polyurethane.
If you want them to have that very old world
a little bit, Matt just satiny finish, which I love
(16:30):
so much because I think it shows off an old
world flow. So well, then you're gonna want a satin finish.
Just a satin finish. On the polyurethane and you're gonna
want it. Like I said, put down to three four
coats even more in high traffic areas if you want
not a problem, but polyurethane flooring grade and you'll be
(16:54):
able to do that to your floors and it'll be
years before you have to redo it. Okay, quick break
and then more of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer here to help you transform
your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. We're doing that
today by taking your calls. Let's get back to the phones,
all right, Let's talk to Hilda. Hilda, welcome home, finding
good morning.
Speaker 7 (17:31):
So my question is why I'm getting warm water on
an outdoor faucet. When I water, it's just not even
lookwarmer's warm warm.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
What will be their reason?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
That's not actually very uncommon in the middle of southern
California summers because the water lines that are running through
our irrigation systems outside the house, they don't even make
it into the house. They are branched off of the
main riser, and usually those lines are very shallow. They're
relatively shallow, and the manifold that is the main water
(18:10):
where the main water line enters the house and the
irrigations lines break off from it. Manifolds are usually somewhat exposed,
and so in the middle of blazing hot summer days
or continuously warm days, when for hours on end, water
is just sitting inside those lines and the manifold is
being having the sun beat down on it. Eventually, not
(18:33):
unlike a water heater, the water inside those lines, if
it's not moving and drawing on new fresh water from
down beneath in the street, that water is gonna warm up,
and sometimes it can get incredibly warm. In fact, we
used to warn our kids like, hey, when you turn
on a hose, make sure that that one hundred foot
hose has got one hundred maybe seventy five feet of
(18:56):
water sitting in it that's been out there in the
sun baking. Don't at your mouth of that hose water.
Let it run a little bit to cool off. So really,
all you're talking about, Hilda, is replacing the water that's
been sitting in those lines heating up with cool water
to follow. Now, did I lose her for a second. There,
All right, So Hilda, if for some reason are you back,
(19:17):
did I get you back?
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Okay. Now, if in the middle of winter your irrigation
lines outside the house are boiling hot, then we have
a plumbing problem. Somebody has crisscrossed a line and you're
actually getting hot water from the water heater somehow fed
into those lines. But if it's not something that happens
in the dead of winter, if it's only something that
you notice in spring and summer, then it's just that
(19:41):
your water lines are being exposed to a lot of
heat and a lot of sunlight, and they're sitting there
in between usage, and that's why the water is so warm.
If it's anything other than that, call a plumber, have
them check it out. Otherwise, maybe put that water mane
a little bit, Maybe move a plant over the get
it a little bit more in the shade. Uh and uh,
(20:03):
and just deal with the fact that you've got hot
water sitting in the lines. Let's talk to uh.
Speaker 9 (20:09):
Am.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I gonna get this name right, Bobart, Welcome home.
Speaker 10 (20:13):
Yes, I have an eighty five year old father who's
who needs to be moved into his home. But he
can't get into the backtop anymore. We needs to get
make it it walk through backtop. So there's a there's
something online that steps to step in and you cut
apart the backtop and then you you've converted to a
walk in Do you have any opinions about that?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah, you know, I've seen that. Uh and uh uh
What can I tell you? I have no direct experience
with it whatsoever. So I'm being completely honest and transparent
with you.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
Zero.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I have zero direct experience with it. But but I
will tell you water is heavy, uh, and water pressure
against the side of a tub, uh is significant.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
And I.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Really really have trouble imagining that in the long term
that a retrofit of a door on the side of
an existing bathtub is actually going to hold up and
be functional. I would much much quicker recommend to you
that you simply remove the existing tub and replace it
(21:27):
with a factory built walk in tub. The door swings
in these tubs are built for exactly the thing that
you are in need of it. They are for folks
who need to sit down. The benches are located in
the most convenient locations at the most convenient height. They
need to sit down. They need to bathe, but they
(21:47):
are not in a position to step over the edge
of a tub because it's a danger to them. And
so there is a door that simply opens up. But
those doors are designed like you know, marine grade boat
submarine doors. I mean, they seal. And I've never actually
seen one of those from reputable walk in tub manufacturers fail, honest.
(22:07):
And what I wouldn't want to have happen is for
hoving a retrofit fail on you. So my recommendation is
that you remove the existing tub and replace it with
one designed by the factory for just this purpose. You're
going to have the best warranty, and I think you're
going to have the best results with it. Let's talk
to Robbie. Hey, Robbie, welcome home.
Speaker 11 (22:27):
My problem. There are two large trees. I'm taking over
my grandmother's property. There are two large trees in the
front yard. The roots are exposed. I believe they're causing
the sidewalk in front to crack. I want to know,
can it be corrected or must I remove the trees?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Well, I hope you don't remove the trees, especially if
they're big, beautiful trees and they are contributing to the
overall esthetic and look of the home, and most southern
California homes in my opinion, need more trees. So surface
roots this is the question. Surface roots. If these are
really old, well established trees, Robbie, then they get a
(23:11):
lot of roots going all over the place, down out everywhere.
So whatever roots are starting to cause uplift of the
sidewalk itself, those roots could be cut, cut those at
the sidewalk line and repair the sidewalk so it doesn't
do any more damage to the sidewalk. Don't worry about
cutting that root is somehow going to kill the tree.
(23:31):
An old established tree that is just one of you know,
five hundred roots that it's got going on, and it
can do without the one that's uplifting the sidewalk. The
key is we don't want to encourage any more surface
roots growth and root growth. And so the principle is
very simple. Trees that are watered and dependent upon surface water,
(23:55):
those trees are the ones who are always going to
be growing roots on the surface. Okay, Old trees like
what you've got right there have undoubtedly have far more
than just surface roots, and so what we want to
do to keep it from spreading any further. Is we
want to make sure that these trees are not in
(24:15):
an area where we're exposing them to lawn sprinklers or
surface water. Okay, we want to make sure that we
rework the irrigation system so that we keep water away
from them. Because number one, an old established tree, it
doesn't need any more surface watering it has its own
sources of water deep beneath us in the earth. But
(24:36):
number two, it will still keep giving us surface root
growth if it still keeps finding surface water to feed
off of. And so we simply want to get rid
of any surface water in the area of the canopy
of these trees as much as possible. And when we
plant new trees, new trees need to be irrigated at
(24:58):
the base of the roof, not up on the surface.
So trees that grow as the result of sprinkler water
will always have surface roots. Trees that have deep water
will grow deep roots. And that's how it works. Now,
there's no getting rid of the surface roots at this point.
But start feeding it deep and keep the surface water
(25:19):
away and you should be good to go. Thanks, Robbie,
appreciate the call. Okay, a quick break and then more
of your calls. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Dean Sharp the house Whisper here to remind you that
design matters most. We've been taking your calls today. We
still have some more to go. Let's get back to
the phones. Let's talk to David. Hey, David, welcome home.
Speaker 8 (25:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Gan.
Speaker 8 (25:53):
I'm in Venice Beach. I live in an apartment, so
I feel like I represent all the apartment renters who
don't usually own a home. And the building I live
in was built in nineteen twelve. There's three stories and
I'm on the top floor the three stories, and about
seven or eight months ago the landlord replaced the water
heater and since then it wakes me up at night
because of them, I guess people taking a shower because
(26:15):
the pipes are banging for between five and twenty seconds
sometimes during the week. And I was wondering how I
can explain to my landlord whis I'm sorry to say,
but lazy doesn't want to admit that it's just bothering
and keeping me awake. So how does it make such
a noise that I think it's pipe expanding. Do they
rub against something? And what can I say?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I don't know what you can say with a lazy
landlord who doesn't want to do anything, but you can
talk to him about the problem though, And so are
we talking about. So there's two kinds of noise that
people sometimes experience when it comes to their hot water
systems or there's water in general. Number one is there
(26:57):
is this there's a like a what a lot of
people describe as a creeping or clicking sound like that
happens when when hot water is being used. And then
there's that banging sound literally like you know this banging sound.
Which of the two are you experiencing?
Speaker 9 (27:19):
It's a mix between the two. It's the sound is
like the banging, but the space between the bang is
more space are like doom doom, dum dum dum dum
dum tum or sometimes slower it slows down, all right, So.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
What you get is, uh is the the new it's weird.
Plumbing systems are even really well designed systems.
Speaker 6 (27:42):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
They are essentially it turns out sometimes like a giant,
a giant instrument. You know, you got a lot of
pipes and you got stuff flowing through it, and depending
on the twists and the turns that it makes and
so on, you get weird noises of pipes. Sometimes most
common is what we call water hammer, okay, and that's
(28:05):
that thudding sound. And you could be in a building
for you know, one hundred years and not have water hammer,
and then all of a sudden, you know, somebody changes
out the water heater, changes the pressure relationship of the building.
Maybe the water heat. Maybe the new water heater is
out putting hotter water than the previous one. Maybe it's
(28:27):
putting it out at slightly a different pressure or flow level.
There could all be all these little subtle changes, and
all of a sudden, now we're getting water hammer hammer.
Fortunately in most cases it's a pretty simple fix. And
that is and you could tell your landlord says, hey,
(28:47):
you put in the new water heater, but now we're
getting water hammer really bad in the house. Would you
please have a water hammer a restor installed near the
water heater. And what a water hammer arrestor is, it's
literally it's an extension of the pipe. You know, it inserts.
It could insert, for instance, in between the water heater
(29:08):
hoses and the hot water line feed for the rest
of the building. And it's literally got a little kind
of a column sticking out from it, and inside that
column is essentially a shock absorber for water. There's a
big spring and a diaphragm, and as that water comes
unevenly flowing through the pipes and that vibration starts to form,
(29:32):
this thing will receive a lot of that vibration into
itself and not send it knocking down through the pipes. Now,
sometimes it takes more than one, and sometimes it's a
great idea to install them in different locations. But a
you know, a water hammer arrestor. I mean you can
get a two pack of them for like twenty five dollars,
(29:54):
so and they're an easy install okay, And so that
would be I think that would be my first line
of approach to your landlord, who obviously doesn't want to
do a whole lot that often, just say, listen, it
is a problem, and a lot of us hear it,
and I don't want to be, you know, complaining about it,
(30:15):
but honestly, ever since the new water here went in,
we're hearing this thing. And so you know, there's an
I'm told there's an easy fix for it, you know,
could you please step forward and deal with that? And
if it's an easy, inexpensive fix, you know, maybe he'll
move on it. Maybe he'll he'll shift and make it happen.
(30:36):
But that's ultimately what that is, my friend, and it
And do you happen to have our laundry facilities in
each apartment? It's an old apartment building, so I'm guessing not.
But do you do you have like a washer drug
in your unit?
Speaker 8 (30:50):
No?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
No one does, okay, no oney does. Another place where
you might be able to help yourself with this is
you could install one of these you know, twelve fifteen
dollars water hammer devices, like underneath your sink in the kitchen, okay,
because anywhere they are located anywhere along the lines, or
(31:12):
underneath the sink in the bathroom, or get a couple
of them, put one in each place anywhere on that
system where these shock absorbers are. They will help mute
the vibration. So ask your landlord first, but maybe you
go out and pop a couple underneath your own sinks
and see if that helps as well.
Speaker 9 (31:34):
Fantastic. I love that information.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Thank you so much, David, you are so welcome. All right,
let's talk to Julie. Hey, Julie, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Hi Deine.
Speaker 12 (31:44):
We're looking at getting new windows and I love the
black frame windows, but they're obviously a lot more expensive.
So I was wondering, what are your thoughts on if
we just if someone just adjusted black frame windows in
the back of the house and kept the traditional white
frame ones in the front.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
I have no general problems with that whatsoever. In fact,
if you hear me talk on the show quite often,
i'll talk about the tech. One of the techniques for
upgrading a house without touching its traditional curb appeal is
to treat the facade of the house differently than the
backside of the house because from the the facade of
(32:20):
the house is something that is viewed from outside the house,
standing on the curb in the street looking at the house.
Then you move into the house, you walk in, and
once you're past the face of the house, now we're
inside the house looking out through windows into the backyard.
It's a completely different experience. And so the idea of
(32:41):
using black frame windows for the backside of the house,
because you love them and because they work with the
configuration that you're looking for. In my thinking, in most
cases most cases, don't quote me on this universally, but
in most cases, yeah, your freedom to mix it up.
I would even say, depending on decor. There are times
(33:03):
when you know there are well, actually you know, I'll
tell you this. We just finished designing from the ground
up a new house in Studio City. Some of those
windows are white traditional framed windows. Some of them are
dark bronze and black traditional windows. Just depending on room
for room and the effect that we're looking for, and
(33:23):
on some of the elevations of the house, you can
see both at the same time. It all depends on
whether it works with that theme. But as a general rule,
you know, it's kind of the Mullet approach, right, all
business up front and party in the back. So keep
your white frame windows facing the street and do back
black towards the back of the house and have a blast.
(33:44):
I think you're completely free to do that in most cases.
Thanks Julie for the call. Yes, yes, it's my Mullet theory.
My Mullet theory applies to lots of things all the time.
All right, more of your calls right after this Your
home with Dean Shark the house Whisperer. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp, the House whisper. Tune into the
(34:06):
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
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome Home.
I'm Dean Sharp, the house Whisper, custom home Builder, custom
home designer, and your guide to better understand that place
where you live today. On the show, it's your calls.
(00:22):
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three three the numeral two. Ask Dean whatever
as you scratch in your head about your home design, construction,
DIY inside outside, I got you. We'll put our heads
together and get it figured out. Let's get to it, Brandy,
Welcome home, Dean.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I am well, how are you? My friend?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm doing great, but I'm a little sad because I
live in a home that's on the corner and it's
a very busy street, so we have folks walking back
and forth. And we have vertical blinds right now. And
I know that previous show you've mentioned electronic privacy glass
(01:07):
and we can't seem to find it to install. Okay, well,
and you know it's kind of right now. We have
vertical blinds, but they always have to be closed because
when they're open, you know, people just peer in and
look at everything. So it's like living in a.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So you're too exposed. You're too exposed. Couple of things.
So is that, by the way, is there no way
that you can change anything in the front of the
house by way of landscaping or anything like that to
obscure the public's view of your windows. Is that just
off the table altogether?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Off the table. Actually it's the whole house because right
on the corner of a very busy street, so they
can see everything on one side and everything in the front.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Okay, all right, so well here's the brandy. You got
vertical blinds, that vertical blind The advantage of a blind,
whether it's vertical or a shutter or horizontal, is that
you know it can still let light in, you can
still peer out of it, but it can give you
some indirect privacy. What I would suggest is that you
(02:19):
consider maybe changing from the vertical blinds, because with a
vertical blind, since the visual channel is up and down,
I can always just move my position on the sidewalk
until I'm at the right angle that I can see
through those Okay, if you were to change those two
horizontal blinds on the windows, then you'll be able to
(02:40):
crank the horizontal blind down or up at an angle
that literally I'd have to crawl up on a ladder
in order to see down in through the slat angle,
or I'd have to get down, lay down in your
yard and look up. So in other words, the horizontal
blinds are going to be far more effective with pedestrian
(03:01):
traffic and stuff outside your windows than the verticals. Now,
as far as the privacy glass is concerned, that privacy
glass either you have to buy a window with that
glass integrated into it and then run some power supply
over to it because that's what it requires. Those are
very very expensive, or you would look for privacy film,
(03:24):
not the glass, but if you're interested, you would look
for privacy film. It's like a tinting that would be
put on the window that would also require power, but
that will give you the same effect. But let me
be clear about this. Those windows that are privacy they
go from clear to opaque, and you pay a lot
of money for them to go from clear to opaque
(03:44):
or basically a frosted effect, and they're going to completely
obscure your view as well, so you don't get to
see out. And so it's the same thing as pulling
a blind down and just having the window shade or
the curtains drawn, so in order to let the light
in and not break the bank, I wouldn't go for
the privacy glass in your case, I think I would
(04:06):
reconsider your window treatments and go for the horizontal blinds
because you'll have more control over your vistas and be
able to shut out other people's vistas looking in. That
is my best advice. Brandy, Thank you for the call.
Good luck with that. Let me know how it turns out, William,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Having an issue with my tankless water heater. I want
to know what's going on with it. Sometimes I turn
on the water, the hot water, and all I get
is cold water, and I have to run to the
unit and find out the furnace letting go on. So
I'm getting all this cold water, and then I have
to turn it off and on and wait for that
(04:48):
little red light to come on, and then I'll get
hot water. I'm wondering if it's at the end of
its life or what's going on with it?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Got you okay? So hot water heater, tank closs hot
water heater, hot water heater. I'm gonna get emails about
that tankless water heater turning itself off even when you're
demanding water from it. How old is it, William.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
I'm ten eleven years old.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Okay, so it's at about a half life. Have you
ever had it flushed or drained?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, my brother showed me how to do it, but
it was only done twice, and I just did it.
The last time I did it was a little over
a month ago and it's still doing it.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Okay. And have you ever had this problem with it before?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yes, the first flush that I did was like two
years ago, and it was off and on ever since then.
Then my brother said, well, you probably need another flush,
so he came down and helped me slush it out.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Okay, so it's been acting up a little bit over time.
All right, my friend. Here's the thing. There are two
things that essentially can happen and that make a tankless
water heater act up like that. One is on the
water heater side. Either A it's in need of flushing
(06:09):
because there's a flow problem inside of it, or B
there is electronics issue a wire has gotten loose, or
you know, because a tankless water heater is a complex device.
There's microprocessors inside, there's electronic switches and valves and so on,
(06:30):
so sometimes those things start going bad. Your water heater
is essentially kind of at its roughly it's half life
if it's being taken care of well, so it's not like, well,
it's kind of at the end of the road. Now
you could easily get more time out of that. So
electronics or flow inside. And then the other thing that
makes tankless water heaters go weird is they were hooked
(06:56):
up wrong, installed wrong to begin with supply lines. The
water supply line is not large enough, or there is
not enough flow, or almost always the case when there's
a shutting off issue when it comes to a tankless
water heater is people have taken it upon themselves or
a handyman has installed it not realizing the need to
(07:19):
upsize in a big way. The gas supply line in it.
And when a tankless water heater detects that it doesn't
have enough fuel flow into it for the demand, it
will also shut itself off and just refuse to move forward.
So they can be sensitive and temperamental when all the
conditions of installation aren't right. Now yours has been servicing
(07:41):
you for quite a while. So my thinking is, and
you have flushed it recently, so it's probably time to
call out a service tech, an appliance water heater guy
in order to service it and give a serious look
and see if there isn't something switching or tronically going
on inside it. William, that's my best advice to you.
(08:03):
Water Heaters Only, by the way, is a great company
to call because they specialize in just that kind of thing. Yes,
they are a sponsor of the show. All right, William,
thanks for your call. More of your calls on the way.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Dean Sharp the house Whisper here to help you take
your home to the next level. It's an all calls
show today. Let's get back to the phones. Let's talk
to Sal. Hey, Sal, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I'm in my fourth house in here in LA. I
tend to buy houses in great neighborhoods, but need a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Okay, yeah, I get you. I feel it.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
I feel it, and the one I'm in now great house,
a great neighborhood, trying to deal with the front doors,
original front doors, French doors with sidelights. Yeah, and I
get confusing quotes. Every contractor is different. I'm thinking I
wanted to just replace the flabs, and they say they
can't do it. I'm trying to look for types of manufacturers.
It's hard. I can't It's not like a Chevy or Ford,
(09:13):
you know, you can't compare. So I wanted to get
some opinions whether or not to just try to change
the slabs, you know, in the seventies home with you
know the frame, you know, the door on the top
it's a little off, and they're saying it's not going
to be level. We have to just do three hung
but the whole front unit is built into the house,
and I wanted to keep the integrity and just change
(09:33):
the slabs and the sidelights. What do you what do
you think? What's what do you think is my best option?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So we got double doors, a double doors and sidelights, yes, sir, okay,
double doors and sidelights. And so you're not confused as
to the style that you're going for, right, You're just
going to go with the nineteen seventies it's like a
little bit modernist slab door or is it a different style.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
The glass is like this frosted yellow with like a
diamond pattern in it, and it's you know, it's on
the top half of the door, and but on one
side of the door the frame is off centered a
little bit on the top jam to accommodate the alignment
of the of the glass. So that's saying because of that,
I can't just change I can't change the slabs because
(10:15):
we're going to end up shaving it and it's going
to be off again like the original door is. And
I thought maybe I could just change the slabs and
the jams and the winner rizing of you know, the
weather stripping and all that. But they don't want to,
you know, put in the work. They just want to
change the you know, do a pre hung system. But
that's you know, we're getting into almost ten.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Grand now, all right, my friend. So here's the thing.
It can be done. Of course it can be done.
And so the situation that you're in right now is,
you know, and I grow weary. I'm not I don't
grow weary answering this question. I grow weary of giving
this answer because I wish I didn't have to, but
you're just going to need to search longer for the
(10:55):
right builder to do the job. Okay, because of course
it can be done. Of course we can change out
the jam and you can buy you know, you don't
have to go with a pre hung situation where it's
all been just factory put together. Of course, it can
be custom installed and in a lot of ways it
might end up saving you money along the way. Plus
(11:18):
you get exactly what you want. Now if there's some
weird jam condition that can be resolved too, okay, everything
can be fixed. Everything can be fixed. It is just
a question these days of there are so many builders
out there who and believe me, you know, I mean
I feel for them too. Construction is no is you know,
(11:40):
is no get rich quick scheme. It really isn't. And
the guys who use it that way, they usually like
end up in jail. But it's just it's tough because
people want what they want, and they want it for
an unbelievably low price, and people have to really put
the effort into it in order to get good at work.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
I'm not saying an unbelievable low price, but just the
fact that you know, everybody's quotation and manufactural representations are different,
so it's very hard to choose.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
And yeah, that's why. And you're in a good situation
to do that. Yeah, I can feel this. I can
feel the vibe that you're in the right situation to
do this. What you got to do is you have
to take control of the situation. In other words, your
best bet, I think from what I'm hearing from you,
(12:32):
your best bet is to choose your doors. Okay, now
what does that mean. Well, once you know the style
of the door that you want, right, then you just
shop out that style of door and yeah, they're going
to be varying price points for that style of door,
but you make that selection. You make the selection of
(12:53):
the door that you want to go in that unit
at the price point that you are comfortable of paying.
There are a good billion doors out there, I know,
and it can seem very, very overwhelming. But first thing
we do is we eliminate, you know, ninety eight percent
of them because we've chosen the style, the specific style
that you want, and within that category, you locally shop
(13:15):
out what it is that you're looking for. Is it
going to be a standard solid wood slab? Door, and
that's going to be at one price. Is it going
to be a fiberglass resin door, is it going to
be a steeled You know, all of these choices that
we've got, you can narrow that down right, forget about
the manufacturers, just looking at price point and the construction
(13:37):
of the door. Then you pick out those doors, You're like, Okay,
these are the two doors that I'm going to use,
and these are the sidelights that I'd like to see.
And then then you start showing contractors, listen, here are
the doors, these are the sidelights. There's the opening. I
want you to make it work. And some guys are
gonna walk away saying I don't do that. Other guys
(13:58):
are going to give you that statement that I hear
all the time, it can't be done. It just means
that they don't want to do it and they're not
used to doing it at their convenience level for a profit.
And that's fine too, you can let them walk. I
just hate the fact that they say it can't be done.
I'd rather a contractor just tell you that goes beyond
what we normally do and I don't want to do it,
(14:19):
but to tell people a thing can't be done. That's
not the world that I live in as a builder
or a designer. So get you take control of your
materials and you say, these are the doors I want
to use, here's the configuration that I want. Give me
a price accordingly. And if you look long enough and
(14:40):
you take your time, sal you're gonna find guys who
are going to give you prices, and you'll see that
those prices will start to align themselves and you'll be
able to choose the person to do the work for
you and get it done the right way. I'll tell
you what. Let's talk to Pat Heye. Pat, come home.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
My house is built in nineteen twenty two and it
had the original oak forest, So twenty years ago and
we had the house three models. We pulled up the
carpet and they were like new, so they charrack them
and they're just beautiful. So now it's been a while,
so I took TSP. I thought it's time to clean them.
Took TSP and it took off the old shillak. But
(15:23):
now when I go to the home depot, it seems
like the new chillax are just water based and there's
nothing to them. What can I use that's really strong
to chirac my floors because I want to preserve them
as long as possible and the hall takes a beating
a lot of traffic. So what do you recommend to
use for sillac or covering coating?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Okay, I got you No more shillac on your floor,
and that's fine. Believe me, it's totally fine. What you
want now, don't be afraid of what you find at
the store. But here, I want you to go to
a good flooring store and I want you to get
a high quality flooring grade polyurethane. Poly ethane. Polyurethane is
(16:07):
essentially a plastic coating. Doesn't matter that it's water based,
doesn't you know that's not That's a non issue. And
we're gonna put at least three to four coats down now.
If you don't. If you want this show the floor
is super shiny, then you go with a normal polyurethane.
If you want them to have that very old world
a little bit, Matt just satiny finish, which I love
(16:30):
so much because I think it shows off an old
world flow. So well, then you're gonna want a satin finish.
Just a satin finish. On the polyurethane and you're gonna
want it. Like I said, put down to three four
coats even more in high traffic areas if you want
not a problem, but polyurethane flooring grade and you'll be
(16:54):
able to do that to your floors and it'll be
years before you have to redo it. Okay, quick break
and then more of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer here to help you transform
your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. We're doing that
today by taking your calls. Let's get back to the phones,
all right, Let's talk to Hilda. Hilda, welcome home, finding
good morning.
Speaker 7 (17:31):
So my question is why I'm getting warm water on
an outdoor faucet. When I water, it's just not even
lookwarmer's warm warm.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
What will be their reason?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
That's not actually very uncommon in the middle of southern
California summers because the water lines that are running through
our irrigation systems outside the house, they don't even make
it into the house. They are branched off of the
main riser, and usually those lines are very shallow. They're
relatively shallow, and the manifold that is the main water
(18:10):
where the main water line enters the house and the
irrigations lines break off from it. Manifolds are usually somewhat exposed,
and so in the middle of blazing hot summer days
or continuously warm days, when for hours on end, water
is just sitting inside those lines and the manifold is
being having the sun beat down on it. Eventually, not
(18:33):
unlike a water heater, the water inside those lines, if
it's not moving and drawing on new fresh water from
down beneath in the street, that water is gonna warm up,
and sometimes it can get incredibly warm. In fact, we
used to warn our kids like, hey, when you turn
on a hose, make sure that that one hundred foot
hose has got one hundred maybe seventy five feet of
(18:56):
water sitting in it that's been out there in the
sun baking. Don't at your mouth of that hose water.
Let it run a little bit to cool off. So really,
all you're talking about, Hilda, is replacing the water that's
been sitting in those lines heating up with cool water
to follow. Now, did I lose her for a second. There,
All right, So Hilda, if for some reason are you back,
(19:17):
did I get you back?
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Okay. Now, if in the middle of winter your irrigation
lines outside the house are boiling hot, then we have
a plumbing problem. Somebody has crisscrossed a line and you're
actually getting hot water from the water heater somehow fed
into those lines. But if it's not something that happens
in the dead of winter, if it's only something that
you notice in spring and summer, then it's just that
(19:41):
your water lines are being exposed to a lot of
heat and a lot of sunlight, and they're sitting there
in between usage, and that's why the water is so warm.
If it's anything other than that, call a plumber, have
them check it out. Otherwise, maybe put that water mane
a little bit, Maybe move a plant over the get
it a little bit more in the shade. Uh and uh,
(20:03):
and just deal with the fact that you've got hot
water sitting in the lines. Let's talk to uh.
Speaker 9 (20:09):
Am.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I gonna get this name right, Bobart, Welcome home.
Speaker 10 (20:13):
Yes, I have an eighty five year old father who's
who needs to be moved into his home. But he
can't get into the backtop anymore. We needs to get
make it it walk through backtop. So there's a there's
something online that steps to step in and you cut
apart the backtop and then you you've converted to a
walk in Do you have any opinions about that?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah, you know, I've seen that. Uh and uh uh
What can I tell you? I have no direct experience
with it whatsoever. So I'm being completely honest and transparent
with you.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
Zero.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I have zero direct experience with it. But but I
will tell you water is heavy, uh, and water pressure
against the side of a tub, uh is significant.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
And I.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Really really have trouble imagining that in the long term
that a retrofit of a door on the side of
an existing bathtub is actually going to hold up and
be functional. I would much much quicker recommend to you
that you simply remove the existing tub and replace it
(21:27):
with a factory built walk in tub. The door swings
in these tubs are built for exactly the thing that
you are in need of it. They are for folks
who need to sit down. The benches are located in
the most convenient locations at the most convenient height. They
need to sit down. They need to bathe, but they
(21:47):
are not in a position to step over the edge
of a tub because it's a danger to them. And
so there is a door that simply opens up. But
those doors are designed like you know, marine grade boat
submarine doors. I mean, they seal. And I've never actually
seen one of those from reputable walk in tub manufacturers fail, honest.
(22:07):
And what I wouldn't want to have happen is for
hoving a retrofit fail on you. So my recommendation is
that you remove the existing tub and replace it with
one designed by the factory for just this purpose. You're
going to have the best warranty, and I think you're
going to have the best results with it. Let's talk
to Robbie. Hey, Robbie, welcome home.
Speaker 11 (22:27):
My problem. There are two large trees. I'm taking over
my grandmother's property. There are two large trees in the
front yard. The roots are exposed. I believe they're causing
the sidewalk in front to crack. I want to know,
can it be corrected or must I remove the trees?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Well, I hope you don't remove the trees, especially if
they're big, beautiful trees and they are contributing to the
overall esthetic and look of the home, and most southern
California homes in my opinion, need more trees. So surface
roots this is the question. Surface roots. If these are
really old, well established trees, Robbie, then they get a
(23:11):
lot of roots going all over the place, down out everywhere.
So whatever roots are starting to cause uplift of the
sidewalk itself, those roots could be cut, cut those at
the sidewalk line and repair the sidewalk so it doesn't
do any more damage to the sidewalk. Don't worry about
cutting that root is somehow going to kill the tree.
(23:31):
An old established tree that is just one of you know,
five hundred roots that it's got going on, and it
can do without the one that's uplifting the sidewalk. The
key is we don't want to encourage any more surface
roots growth and root growth. And so the principle is
very simple. Trees that are watered and dependent upon surface water,
(23:55):
those trees are the ones who are always going to
be growing roots on the surface. Okay, Old trees like
what you've got right there have undoubtedly have far more
than just surface roots, and so what we want to
do to keep it from spreading any further. Is we
want to make sure that these trees are not in
(24:15):
an area where we're exposing them to lawn sprinklers or
surface water. Okay, we want to make sure that we
rework the irrigation system so that we keep water away
from them. Because number one, an old established tree, it
doesn't need any more surface watering it has its own
sources of water deep beneath us in the earth. But
(24:36):
number two, it will still keep giving us surface root
growth if it still keeps finding surface water to feed
off of. And so we simply want to get rid
of any surface water in the area of the canopy
of these trees as much as possible. And when we
plant new trees, new trees need to be irrigated at
(24:58):
the base of the roof, not up on the surface.
So trees that grow as the result of sprinkler water
will always have surface roots. Trees that have deep water
will grow deep roots. And that's how it works. Now,
there's no getting rid of the surface roots at this point.
But start feeding it deep and keep the surface water
(25:19):
away and you should be good to go. Thanks, Robbie,
appreciate the call. Okay, a quick break and then more
of your calls. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
the House Whisper.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Dean Sharp the house Whisper here to remind you that
design matters most. We've been taking your calls today. We
still have some more to go. Let's get back to
the phones. Let's talk to David. Hey, David, welcome home.
Speaker 8 (25:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Gan.
Speaker 8 (25:53):
I'm in Venice Beach. I live in an apartment, so
I feel like I represent all the apartment renters who
don't usually own a home. And the building I live
in was built in nineteen twelve. There's three stories and
I'm on the top floor the three stories, and about
seven or eight months ago the landlord replaced the water
heater and since then it wakes me up at night
because of them, I guess people taking a shower because
(26:15):
the pipes are banging for between five and twenty seconds
sometimes during the week. And I was wondering how I
can explain to my landlord whis I'm sorry to say,
but lazy doesn't want to admit that it's just bothering
and keeping me awake. So how does it make such
a noise that I think it's pipe expanding. Do they
rub against something? And what can I say?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I don't know what you can say with a lazy
landlord who doesn't want to do anything, but you can
talk to him about the problem though, And so are
we talking about. So there's two kinds of noise that
people sometimes experience when it comes to their hot water
systems or there's water in general. Number one is there
(26:57):
is this there's a like a what a lot of
people describe as a creeping or clicking sound like that
happens when when hot water is being used. And then
there's that banging sound literally like you know this banging sound.
Which of the two are you experiencing?
Speaker 9 (27:19):
It's a mix between the two. It's the sound is
like the banging, but the space between the bang is
more space are like doom doom, dum dum dum dum
dum tum or sometimes slower it slows down, all right, So.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
What you get is, uh is the the new it's weird.
Plumbing systems are even really well designed systems.
Speaker 6 (27:42):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
They are essentially it turns out sometimes like a giant,
a giant instrument. You know, you got a lot of
pipes and you got stuff flowing through it, and depending
on the twists and the turns that it makes and
so on, you get weird noises of pipes. Sometimes most
common is what we call water hammer, okay, and that's
(28:05):
that thudding sound. And you could be in a building
for you know, one hundred years and not have water hammer,
and then all of a sudden, you know, somebody changes
out the water heater, changes the pressure relationship of the building.
Maybe the water heat. Maybe the new water heater is
out putting hotter water than the previous one. Maybe it's
(28:27):
putting it out at slightly a different pressure or flow level.
There could all be all these little subtle changes, and
all of a sudden, now we're getting water hammer hammer.
Fortunately in most cases it's a pretty simple fix. And
that is and you could tell your landlord says, hey,
(28:47):
you put in the new water heater, but now we're
getting water hammer really bad in the house. Would you
please have a water hammer a restor installed near the
water heater. And what a water hammer arrestor is, it's
literally it's an extension of the pipe. You know, it inserts.
It could insert, for instance, in between the water heater
(29:08):
hoses and the hot water line feed for the rest
of the building. And it's literally got a little kind
of a column sticking out from it, and inside that
column is essentially a shock absorber for water. There's a
big spring and a diaphragm, and as that water comes
unevenly flowing through the pipes and that vibration starts to form,
(29:32):
this thing will receive a lot of that vibration into
itself and not send it knocking down through the pipes. Now,
sometimes it takes more than one, and sometimes it's a
great idea to install them in different locations. But a
you know, a water hammer arrestor. I mean you can
get a two pack of them for like twenty five dollars,
(29:54):
so and they're an easy install okay, And so that
would be I think that would be my first line
of approach to your landlord, who obviously doesn't want to
do a whole lot that often, just say, listen, it
is a problem, and a lot of us hear it,
and I don't want to be, you know, complaining about it,
(30:15):
but honestly, ever since the new water here went in,
we're hearing this thing. And so you know, there's an
I'm told there's an easy fix for it, you know,
could you please step forward and deal with that? And
if it's an easy, inexpensive fix, you know, maybe he'll
move on it. Maybe he'll he'll shift and make it happen.
(30:36):
But that's ultimately what that is, my friend, and it
And do you happen to have our laundry facilities in
each apartment? It's an old apartment building, so I'm guessing not.
But do you do you have like a washer drug
in your unit?
Speaker 8 (30:50):
No?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
No one does, okay, no oney does. Another place where
you might be able to help yourself with this is
you could install one of these you know, twelve fifteen
dollars water hammer devices, like underneath your sink in the kitchen, okay,
because anywhere they are located anywhere along the lines, or
(31:12):
underneath the sink in the bathroom, or get a couple
of them, put one in each place anywhere on that
system where these shock absorbers are. They will help mute
the vibration. So ask your landlord first, but maybe you
go out and pop a couple underneath your own sinks
and see if that helps as well.
Speaker 9 (31:34):
Fantastic. I love that information.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Thank you so much, David, you are so welcome. All right,
let's talk to Julie. Hey, Julie, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Hi Deine.
Speaker 12 (31:44):
We're looking at getting new windows and I love the
black frame windows, but they're obviously a lot more expensive.
So I was wondering, what are your thoughts on if
we just if someone just adjusted black frame windows in
the back of the house and kept the traditional white
frame ones in the front.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
I have no general problems with that whatsoever. In fact,
if you hear me talk on the show quite often,
i'll talk about the tech. One of the techniques for
upgrading a house without touching its traditional curb appeal is
to treat the facade of the house differently than the
backside of the house because from the the facade of
(32:20):
the house is something that is viewed from outside the house,
standing on the curb in the street looking at the house.
Then you move into the house, you walk in, and
once you're past the face of the house, now we're
inside the house looking out through windows into the backyard.
It's a completely different experience. And so the idea of
(32:41):
using black frame windows for the backside of the house,
because you love them and because they work with the
configuration that you're looking for. In my thinking, in most
cases most cases, don't quote me on this universally, but
in most cases, yeah, your freedom to mix it up.
I would even say, depending on decor. There are times
(33:03):
when you know there are well, actually you know, I'll
tell you this. We just finished designing from the ground
up a new house in Studio City. Some of those
windows are white traditional framed windows. Some of them are
dark bronze and black traditional windows. Just depending on room
for room and the effect that we're looking for, and
(33:23):
on some of the elevations of the house, you can
see both at the same time. It all depends on
whether it works with that theme. But as a general rule,
you know, it's kind of the Mullet approach, right, all
business up front and party in the back. So keep
your white frame windows facing the street and do back
black towards the back of the house and have a blast.
(33:44):
I think you're completely free to do that in most cases.
Thanks Julie for the call. Yes, yes, it's my Mullet theory.
My Mullet theory applies to lots of things all the time.
All right, more of your calls right after this Your
home with Dean Shark the house Whisperer. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp, the House whisper. Tune into the
(34:06):
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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