July 13, 2025 • 34 mins
Dean takes listener calls about building an outdoor kitchen, whether wood countertops are a viable option when remodeling a kitchen, insulation for a total house rebuild, soft water systems, whether or not you can reuse a foundation of a home after a fire and how to remedy an unpermitted room
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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 to three the numeral to 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.
Let's talk to Dave. Hey, Dave, Welcome home.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
My family lives in thirty five hundred square foot, two
story single family house in Orange County, a bill Lyon home,
and we a year ten years ago, I spent about
fifty thousand upgrading them back put installing a hard roof,
(01:04):
tile floor, granite countertops, at an outdoor kitchen with three
different barbecues and sinks, and our kitchen needs a similar upgrade.
We have hardwood cabinets that we like. They're oak. We
love wood. We have it's a nineteen sixty nine home.
(01:26):
If I didn't mention that, and it's got tile countertops,
and we put in a new tile in the floor
when we redid the patio, but the floor is chipping through.
Tile was substandard. We need new flooring. We want to
replace our countertops. We want to keep the oak cabinetry,
(01:46):
and we like wood so much that we'd like to
go hardwood countertops. So we'd like your recommendation there.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Okay, all right, I got you. Well, good on you
and for you know, being bold and wanting to do
some cool stuff. So here is the thing for just
as a general recommendation. And I'll get back to this
in a second. I have no issues whatsoever with hardwood countertops, none,
zero issues. I know people all over southern California are like, oh,
(02:16):
we would never do that. That's fine, then don't do it.
But I'm just telling you, as somebody who's been building
homes and designing homes for you know, almost forty years now,
hardwood is a brilliant countertop. People are like, well, that
will never last up to you know, spillage and moisture,
and it's like, well, if you've ever been on a
boat that has a galley in it, I guarantee you
(02:39):
this one thing. The countertop on that galley is hardwood.
If you've ever gone into a pub and sat at
a bar, the bar is hardwood. So yeah, the idea
that wood doesn't hold up to abuse and or moisture
is a myth. Now you got to do it right, okay.
So but there you go. There's my feeling about hardwood countertops,
(03:01):
even so much so that Tina and I half of
the counters half of them in our kitchen. The specifically
the counter that the sink is in is a two
inch thick walnut, black walnut, and it just oiled, not
finished with polyurethane or anything, just oiled with mineral oil.
And it's years old now, and it years and years
(03:25):
old now and it looks like brand new and all
we have to do is just reoil it and gaboom.
So anyway, now the trick for you, Dave is going
to be this. You've got you're thinking about putting hardwood
floors in the kitchen. You've got oak cabinets, and you're
thinking about wood. Now that as a wood lover, you
(03:46):
know that's a lot of wood. And so the key
is this, I'm not going to tell you not to
do all of that wood. But I am going to
be very very specific. You need to wisely create contrast
between the floor, the cabinets, and the countertops. So whatever
color the oak is of the cabinets, that's a lock,
(04:06):
right because they're all finished out. Whatever color that is,
you want some contrast in lightness or darkness and in
intensity of color for the countertops. Number one and number
two for the floor. If we go oak on oak
on it, Actually the material itself is irrelevant. I would
(04:26):
not use oak for the countertops just because oak doesn't
do as well with these things. But the floor, the cabinetry,
and the counter, if you went with the same kind
of style and the same general tone, you're going to
end up with a wood cave. And you don't want
a wood cave in your kitchen where your kitchen used
(04:46):
to be. Okay, So in order for it to really pop,
for it to really shine, for it to really show
itself off, you just want color contrasts. So if the
cabinets are staying dark, then you want to go lighter
with the counter or vice verse. Our cabinets in our
kitchen are white. They're just there. They're beautiful wood cabinets,
but they are white. And so the dark wallnuts sitting
(05:10):
on top of those cabinets and then we have a
brick style tile floor underneath them. They all just show
off and compliment each other, you know, super well. Uh,
but we have done wood on wood on wood before.
But the key is contrast, heavy contrast so that you
don't get that cavy bleed out effect. Uh. And so
(05:31):
there you go, and uh my recommendation as far as
the wood, there are several species of hardwoods that work
really really well. You should just get yourself down to
a hardwood specialty shop or lumberyard that specializes in hardwoods
and uh and check out what they've got and the
you know, see how you guys feel about it, because
(05:51):
it's one of the one of the fun things about
picking out hardwoods for situations like this. Every piece is different,
you know, it's not just standard lum and a lot
of people are wondering, like, Okay, where do I find
such things, cause you know, I didn't see anything at
the home depot or lows or at the lumber yard
down the street. Now, first of all, your lumber yard
down the street may have some, but there are shops
(06:14):
all over southern California that specialize in these kinds of woods.
Two things you need to do. One, when you're talking
about wood that you're going to use for finished products
like countertops or furniture, it doesn't come in it's not
sold in inches by inches. It's actually sold in quarter
(06:37):
inches thicknesses. So if you're looking for a two inch
countertop slab, you're going to be looking for an eight
quarter or an eight over four, okay, because that's how
they're rated that way. So if you're looking for an
inch and a half, it's a six over four, one
inch is a four over four. That's just lingo. If
you walk in, speak in the lingo, they're going to
(06:58):
dig you. Where do you find it? All over the place.
If you're up here in eastern Ventura County or the
West Valley, then you know, get out here to a
gore and go to Canao Hardwoods. If you're in La
Bonhoff Lumber, of course Classic and my buddy's over at
Angel City Lumber, please go to Angel City and check
(07:20):
out what they've got. If down in Anaheim, you've got
a lot of choices, among which are California Exotic hardwoods,
and there are others. There are many, many others, but
there just gives you a sample of North Valley, Northwest Valley, LA,
and Orange County. These kinds of places are all over
the place. The last thing I'm going to tell you
(07:41):
is when we do a countertop, my preference is not
to super seal the wood in terms of like putting
multiple layers of polyurythane and making it like a bar
top shiny like I said our would when in raw
the black walnut, and we just keep it nicely oiled
water beads right on the surface. What if it gets scratched, Dean, Well,
(08:04):
it's two inch thick hardwood. If you end up with
a scratch or a gouge that you're just like, uh
oh uh, you know what, especially if it's only been oiled,
you just get out the sand paper or a little sander,
a little palm sander, and just gently, very very gently
massage the area until the gouge goes away, reoil it,
(08:27):
and you're back in the game again. That has not
happened to our countertop, but you know it could. So
there you go, my friend Dave, Thank you for the question,
and good luck on the kitchen. Okay, a quick break
and then more of your calls. You're listening to Home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Dean Sharp the House Whisper here to remind you that
when it comes to your home design matters most. We're
doing that as always and today taking your calls. Let's
go back to the phones. Hey, Wayne, welcome home.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, Ban, Thanks got a question.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
A total house rebuild. And in the rebuild, the guys
doing installation put in ceiling which I'm not sure I
should call them on it or not. There's a vaulted
ceiling in the house, but the bedrooms and kitchen are
all lower I mean eight foot ceilings, and they put
(09:34):
insulation in the ceilings of all the rooms except the kitchen,
where they put it in the rafters by the roof instead.
Is that a problem?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Does that affect heating and cooling or what?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Okay, So the ceiling in the kitchen is an eight
foot ceiling. Yeah, so they didn't put the insulation in
the ceiling. They put it up in the rafters. Did
they explain why? No? Okay? And that area the area
directly above the kitchen, that area of attic. Does it
connect to other areas of attic open attic space?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
The attic is all connected. Yeah, it connected all across
the bedrooms, in the kitchen, it's all like attic area.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
All right.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So if I crawl through the attic or walk through
the attic, whatever the case may be, if I get
up in the attic, then I've got insulation down on
the floor of the attic until I get over the
kitchen then and all of a sudden, it's up above
in the roof rafter. Right, you're correct, Yeah, that's not
that's not cool. Oh what is that the fact?
Speaker 4 (10:33):
How does that change things?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Well, what it is is that your attic is an
unconditioned space. Okay. The whole reason we're insulating on the
surface of the ceiling is that we want to keep
the conditioned space, the conditioned air, meaning whatever we've heated
or whatever we've cooled in the house. We want to
keep those temperatures there, Okay, and so and not in
(10:57):
the attic. We don't share condition temperatures, can you know,
controlled temperatures with the attic space. It's it's cut off.
It's a separate space. It's technically kind of outside the house.
In essence, so we need that diaphragm of insulation to
be complete over the whole thing, and so as it
is right now, That's why I asked if it was
(11:19):
if it's been isolated in the attic with other walls
and things in the attic, then if the if the
kitchen area or the area above the kitchen is isolated
from the rest of the attic space, then that could
be fine because what we ultimately need is insulation above
the kitchen. But the fact that the kitchen ceiling has
(11:40):
that that heat and cool that's down below in there
can just soak right through unimpeded by insulation into the
attic and vice versa. It's essentially it's a hole. It's
a hole in your insulation. And so so that insulation
needs to be down over the kitchen ceiling as well, period,
(12:00):
because you need a blanket of insulation that seals up
the house. So it's kind of a hole in the
hull of the boat. The fact that the insulation is
up in the end the rafter space above the kitchen,
that's meaningless that it's not doing anything up there. Okay,
it's just it's literally not doing anything. It needs to
be down on the surface with the rest of the
(12:20):
insulation in the act.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Good Okay, thanks, I'll get them.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
The change, get them on it. Thanks Wayne. Great question, Bertie.
I want to talk to Richard. Hey, Richard, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Good morning.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
I just had a question on whether the foundations that
are left after a home fire can be reused.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
That is a really really good question. Is that just
a curiosity or do you have a foundation that is
in question yourself.
Speaker 6 (12:51):
It's a curiosity professional and personal.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
There are always exceptions to every rule, so I'll just
start by saying that, and there is a I'm sure
there are a handful of foundations out there that might
be salvaged from this disaster, even though the house above
(13:15):
them was burnt to the ground. However, I think the
proper expectation is that to know the foundations underneath the
house when it has burnt to the ground, especially in
a mass fire event like this, are very very likely
(13:36):
not going to be saved. And there's a couple of
reasons why. Number One, there is no, it's not. It
has nothing to do with the fact that they didn't
catch on fire. But if you take a look at concrete,
concrete is actually not affected by flame per se, but
(13:56):
concrete is affected by high heat. And when an entire
house is burning to the point where it's all coming down,
the heat inside that zone is intense. You know, fifteen
hundred degrees plus is easily easily achieved. And when you
(14:17):
think about the components of concrete, concrete is a is
a recipe. It is a cement that is the actual
you know, adhesive binder in concrete cement, portland cement. And
then you've got large aggregates like gravel three quarter inch
(14:38):
gravel and sand, and it's the sand inside the concrete
that at high temperatures turns to glass. As we all know,
if you melt sand down, you can turn it to glass.
So there is a there's a process that when concrete
is exposed to extreme heat in which the concrete actually
(15:02):
becomes siliconized. It actually, even though it looks the same
as it did before, it has actually changed its chemical
structure and it's become more brittle. The sand, which originally
was a fine aggregate inside the cement, is now a
glassy component inside the cement. So that's one reason why
(15:25):
a lot of the foundations most I would say of
the foundations in the houses that are burnt down are
not going to be reusable. And the second reason is
that under again that high heat any lines of value
that are running underneath that concrete, like plastic abs, drain
lines coming off of toilets and sinks and so on,
(15:49):
any electrical lines, even though the conduits themselves probably were unaffected,
but those conduits heat up the conductors inside the those
conduits will absolutely have to be tested and replaced. And
the chances are the damage of the lines that are
running underneath the slab are such that we'd have to
(16:11):
even if the slab was in perfect shape, we'd have
to saw cut the slab open in order to run
new lines, or you know, we wouldn't be yanking out
the old ones, we'd just be running new lines. And
by the time we have dealt with the fact that
the slab has changed its chemical composition somewhat and we've
got to make a lot of saw cuts in it
(16:31):
in order to get new drain lines or pull old
ones out of the way, now we've pretty much messed
up this slab in extremes. So that's why I'm saying,
by and large, it will be more cost effective and
wiser from a structural perspective to just pull most of
(16:52):
those slabs, scrape the lot, and restart from new. Does
that help understand the situation?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Certainly does?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
All right, Richard, thank you for your call, sir. Okay,
quick break and then more of your calls your Home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
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 Rose A Rose, welcome.
Speaker 7 (17:30):
Home, Good morning. We did the horrible mistake of buying
a saltwater system soft water system for our whole house
instead of the life source water that you guys advertise. Yeah,
we have on the upstairs master bathroom. There's some used
(17:51):
to look like charcoal that used to sit at the
bottom of the toilet bowl. Now it just looks like
lint that's kind of voting around and eventually makes it
to the bottom of the bowl. I know it's not
the toilet because we remodeled that bathroom. We thought, well,
maybe it's the toilet that it's not, and it's also
now starting to happen to the downstairs bathroom. Any idea
(18:15):
what that might be a.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Couple guesses, but you're probably suspecting the culprit is the
water softener, and I would guess that it's probably that
as well. Okay, there's a few things that can happen
with a water softener, modern water softener, especially that something
goes wrong with it. It can actually do that. It's
(18:38):
strange because people are like, you know what, there's residue
in my toilet and I have softened water. I don't
think that's supposed to happen. You're right, it's not supposed
to happen with a water softener. But sometimes things can
go wrong. Here's the most likely thing, and you know,
I don't know for certain, because you've got to call
your water softer company and say, hey, come and check
(18:58):
this out. It's not just salt interacting inside a water
soft a modern water softener. Most modern water softeners also
have a resin bead bed. And you're like, okay, it's
I don't want to waste your time or anybody else's
time explaining exactly what that looks like. But just suffice
(19:19):
it to say, it's not something that you replenish in
a water softener. You're just in charge of replenishing the salt.
But a resin bead bed or chamber are these little
tiny resinous beads. They actually look like what do they
look like salmon row? In other words, salmon fish eggs.
(19:40):
They look like fish eggs, and they're usually kind of
brown and or black in color, and they're resinance and
they're used to attract mineralization to them. It's like another
layer of attracting minerals out of the water. But for
some reason, sometimes a water softener can leak their beads
(20:00):
into the water, and as a result, you either find
little fish eggs floating in your toilet, but most often
once they get out in the open water areas, they
dissolve and then they leave their sticky, little kind of
either rust or charcoal color residue on toilet bowls or
(20:21):
at the bottom of the bowl or whatever. So that's
my first guest. I could be wrong about that, but
my first guess is that there's probably a resin bead
issue with the water softener that you know, maybe an
o ring failed, maybe something, and it's leaking its resin
beads into the water supply there, and so yeah, you
(20:42):
should get that checked out because that can happen. So
if you find fish eggs in your toilet, no, you
are not growing trout. You probably have a water softener
that needs some servicing.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Okay.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
I know when we first got it, they came back
out again and said, yeah, we just did some adjustments
and then away for a while, and then it came
back again. And we've had this problem for.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
For a year now, okay, so that if they made
some ad different then it came back again. So it
is a it is the water softener then, and it
probably is the resin something in the resin reservoir.
Speaker 7 (21:17):
All right, we'll give them a call. Can ask you
just one more quick question.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Real quick?
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Sure, do you have a name of a seiler for
a sill granite sink something more restore.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
It to restore? Okay, a granite sink?
Speaker 7 (21:34):
Still granite, Okay, granite, black soil, granite, sinc.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, not off the top of my head. Uh So,
but I'm going to advise that you do the same
thing that I do, which is when when we run
into those situations because products change over all the time.
It don't. I wouldn't go to the big box stores
in the tile aisle because they're just going to point
you to a standard thing. Find your low custom tile
(22:01):
and stone shop and go in there and say, here's
my situation, what's the best sealer or restore for that.
They've got it. They've got they got your coverage. So
you talked to those experts point in the right direction. Rose,
Thank you so much for your call, Thanks for listening
to the program. Love it. Let's talk to Joe. Hey, Joe,
welcome home.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Hi.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
We have a room that my father built about twenty
five years ago in our backyard here in Data Point.
It needs some roof repairs and some other stuff done
to it, but my father never got a permit to
build this room. And before we put money into this,
what are your thoughts about that? Can the city come
(22:43):
in and just tell us to stop and tear it
down or what are you thinking?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
So when we say a room, how big is it
and what do we have inside? Do we have electricity
in this room? Do we have plumbing in this room?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I looked about ten twenty and there is electricity. Yes,
My brother Steeds in there.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So ten by twenty that's a good sized room in
your backyard and there's electricity in it. So absolutely, without question,
permits were supposed to be pulled. Okay, So now the
question is now, okay, so flat out the permit should
have been pulled. Does that give the city the right
to come in and tell you to take it all down? Yeah?
(23:26):
It does. It does give them that right now, that
doesn't mean that doesn't mean that that's what they're going
to say. Okay, if you've got a question about this,
then the best thing to do is to ask your
city about it. The room in question, is it built
like did did your dad obey at least like the
(23:46):
backyard set back? Is it built like right next to
the neighbor's fence or is it.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
The yeah you no, he is built right next to
the neighbors. Everybody's been fine with it for the last
twenty five years.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Here's the thing. Talk to the city and like, you know,
I got a friend. They're not going to ask you, listen,
where's your address, or we're going to get a drone
over your house immediately, you know, ask the city, hey,
where do you stand on this? It's a well built space.
Could I get it retrofit permitted. The problem is if
it isn't built according to code, though no permits were pulled,
(24:21):
but if it wasn't built according to code, or if
it's built and it's violating a setback, then you're going
to get an answer back saying now that's got to
get changed. But I have seen many, many times where
folks have said, listen, they've built. Somebody has built something
in the backyard, built it exactly according to code, and
can prove that everything was built, like photos were taken
(24:43):
along the way, and the city sends an inspector out
and like, all right, I want to see this. I
want to see you know what. Okay? I mean, if
you had built this thing today, we would have said yes.
So maybe there's a little penalty to pull. In addition
to the permit, you get a retroactive permit and it
gets approved ret roactively. It all depends on the city,
on the inspector, on what they had for breakfast. So
(25:07):
literally it comes down to that kind of stuff sometimes
because it's humans we're working with here. But I can
tell you technically speaking, if you're violating the setback ordinance
and there's electricity in this room, in other words, it's
not just a shed then, Yeah, the city could could
tell you the whole thing's got to go. So you've
(25:27):
got to make your decision accordingly, my friend, you did
not hear me say go for it here. That's just
the realities of permitting. It should have been permitted. The
city has full authority in that. That doesn't mean though,
that they're going to punish you for it. So you
got to talk to them, all right, More of your
calls right after this your Home with Dean Sharp, the
(25:49):
House Whisperer.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Dean Sharp 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. I want to talk
to Jason. Hey, Jason, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
Hey, thank you. I'm an original homeowner and as such
I have all the original photos of the framing, plumbing, electric.
The house is about fifteen years old, three thousand square feet,
two story. I'm in Orange County. We want to do
a modest extension or expansion of our existing dining room
so that we would push out an exterior wall to
(26:32):
basically capture an existing outdoor alcove type area that also
as there's an exterior entrance to the kitchen that goes
into that same area. So if you can imagine a
first story, little, maybe hundred square foot alcove, there's an
exterior door from the dining room to that alcove. There
is an exterior door from the kitchen to that alcove.
(26:55):
And I'm like, well, hey, if we just pushed out
that wall maybe eight feet, we could have a way
to get into the kitchen from the dining room and
we'd gather up another hundred square feet. I reach out
to various contractors and they're like, hey, do you have
the drawings. I'm like, well, what do you mean. Well,
when you go to get permits, they're going to want
a drawing of the entire house, not just that little section.
(27:16):
And I'm like, gosh, I'm yours aloner, but I don't
have any drawings. Well, you know, you either have to
get a firm to draw up the entire elevation of
the house as it's existing and the plan for that wall,
or find another way to get them. I'm sort of
perplexed on like a does the whole house really have
to get drawn up just to move one wall. And secondly,
(27:38):
do I, as like an original homeowner, do I have
any sort of entitlement to maybe those drawings because I'm
learning to hire an engineering firm to come in and
draw the whole house. It's quite expensive for a small
project like this.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Right, Okay, all right, so let me help you kind
of break this down. First of all, your contractors are
right ish, but they're probably correct changes municipality to municipality.
But generally speaking, if you are doing a structural addition
onto a house just for context sake, right, the city
(28:11):
is going to be bare minimum. They're going to be
looking for an exterior elevation of that three sides of
that push out and and three sides meaning three cardinal directions. Right,
So if you're pushing out on the south side of
the house, they're going to want the south elevation looking
straight on. They're gonna want the east and west elevations
(28:31):
looking at the sides of that alcove. As a pushout,
they won't care about the other side of the house, Okay.
They basically want context, and they want context in relation
to where this alcove is in relation to the first floor. Now,
if you're not affecting anything on the second floor, they
your city may not need second floor drawings. Okay, they
(28:52):
may not care about that, or they may feel like, okay,
what is this affecting upstairs if anything. So that's the
first thing you need to know, and the answer to
those questions reside at your local building department, not with contractors,
but actually just making a trip down and saying, hey,
this is what we're planning on doing with our home. Secondarily,
(29:13):
your city may may it's getting rarer these days, but
they may actually have your original house plans on file,
especially if it's only been fifteen years since the house
was built. So while you're there, you should also ask
the city at the planning department do you have the
original blueprints for my home or at least my tract,
(29:37):
And maybe they've got blueprints for your floor plan that
are flipped, that have been submitted by the builder of
the developer back in the day. Those will work. That
gives you a massive head start. Now sometimes the city
will say, well, yes, we do have that. We can't
release it to you though, without notifying the builder, the
original developer, or the architects First, that's just a technicality.
(30:02):
And most of the time what happens is they'll tell you, listen,
we're going to do the official notification and we will
let you know in seven days. If we haven't heard
back from them, we're going to release the plans to
you and you can have them on you know, usually
a digital file that you can then turn into a PDF,
and you're off to the races as far as plans
are concerned for your home. At least somebody doesn't have
(30:24):
to pay. Somebody's still going to have to draw the plans, right,
you can't just work off of those original plans, but
you can use those original plans and so instead of
somebody having to remeasure the whole house and go to
that expense, so it's going to reduce the cost. Finally,
the thing that I want to tell you is that
never ever hire an engineering firm to draw your house.
(30:47):
The engineers come in after the fact and just pay
them to deal with the specific engineering issues that this
thing involves. As far as the rest of the plan,
whatever the city tells you the rest of the plan
has to be, you can hire a draft I mean, technically, Jason,
you can do this yourself. You are a homeowner, and
(31:09):
you could actually draw the house yourself, but that is
a headache for a lot of people. You can hire
a drafts person. There are drafts people out there for
hire who will give you a really good price to
draw up the layout of your home and draw the
elevations for it. Believe me, there are a lot of
drafts people out of work and looking for work. It's
(31:31):
a good time these days to hire a drafts person.
It does not require a licensed architect or a licensed
engineer to draw your home. I am not a licensed
architect right and yet I design and build custom homes
and have for the nearly forty years now. Because in
the state of California, you do not the city. The
(31:55):
state does not require a licensed architect to be involved
in most cases up to three stories in a residential home. Okay,
so when it comes to residences, anybody who knows what
they're doing can draw and submit those drawings generally speaking,
as a general rule in most municipalities. So it all
(32:17):
starts with you go into the city getting the info
you need from them, finding out if your plans are
on file. If they're not, yeah, you're going to have
to break down to follow whatever they are looking for,
and you just give them the minimum of what it
is that they're looking for. They're not going to be
super impressed if you give them extra extra ectorate. They
just want what they want. And you start it there.
(32:40):
But don't hire an engineering firm to do it, because yeah,
those guys are engineers and they make engineering money. Hire
and don't hire an architect. Hire a drafts person who
work for engineers and architects in order to actually put
the drawings together. By the way, you hire an engineering
firm to draw your house, they're going to hand it
(33:01):
to their drafts person to actually do the measurement and
the drawing. The engineers aren't going to do the drawings
themselves until engineering time comes around. But you're going to
get charged engineering prices for the whole thing. So there
you go. You sub it out as you need to
as you go along. Is that help?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Thank you?
Speaker 4 (33:22):
No?
Speaker 6 (33:22):
That's great, all right?
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah yeah, yeah no no, you can get that done
for way less, okay, and get it done well all right,
So but start with the city. That's the key. Jason,
good luck, my friend on that remodel. Hope everything turns
out really, really well, you're listening to Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This has
(33:48):
been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into
the live broadcast on KFI Am six forty every Saturday
morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday
morning from nine to noon, 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 to three the numeral to 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.
Let's talk to Dave. Hey, Dave, Welcome home.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
My family lives in thirty five hundred square foot, two
story single family house in Orange County, a bill Lyon home,
and we a year ten years ago, I spent about
fifty thousand upgrading them back put installing a hard roof,
(01:04):
tile floor, granite countertops, at an outdoor kitchen with three
different barbecues and sinks, and our kitchen needs a similar upgrade.
We have hardwood cabinets that we like. They're oak. We
love wood. We have it's a nineteen sixty nine home.
(01:26):
If I didn't mention that, and it's got tile countertops,
and we put in a new tile in the floor
when we redid the patio, but the floor is chipping through.
Tile was substandard. We need new flooring. We want to
replace our countertops. We want to keep the oak cabinetry,
(01:46):
and we like wood so much that we'd like to
go hardwood countertops. So we'd like your recommendation there.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Okay, all right, I got you. Well, good on you
and for you know, being bold and wanting to do
some cool stuff. So here is the thing for just
as a general recommendation. And I'll get back to this
in a second. I have no issues whatsoever with hardwood countertops, none,
zero issues. I know people all over southern California are like, oh,
(02:16):
we would never do that. That's fine, then don't do it.
But I'm just telling you, as somebody who's been building
homes and designing homes for you know, almost forty years now,
hardwood is a brilliant countertop. People are like, well, that
will never last up to you know, spillage and moisture,
and it's like, well, if you've ever been on a
boat that has a galley in it, I guarantee you
(02:39):
this one thing. The countertop on that galley is hardwood.
If you've ever gone into a pub and sat at
a bar, the bar is hardwood. So yeah, the idea
that wood doesn't hold up to abuse and or moisture
is a myth. Now you got to do it right, okay.
So but there you go. There's my feeling about hardwood countertops,
(03:01):
even so much so that Tina and I half of
the counters half of them in our kitchen. The specifically
the counter that the sink is in is a two
inch thick walnut, black walnut, and it just oiled, not
finished with polyurethane or anything, just oiled with mineral oil.
And it's years old now, and it years and years
(03:25):
old now and it looks like brand new and all
we have to do is just reoil it and gaboom.
So anyway, now the trick for you, Dave is going
to be this. You've got you're thinking about putting hardwood
floors in the kitchen. You've got oak cabinets, and you're
thinking about wood. Now that as a wood lover, you
(03:46):
know that's a lot of wood. And so the key
is this, I'm not going to tell you not to
do all of that wood. But I am going to
be very very specific. You need to wisely create contrast
between the floor, the cabinets, and the countertops. So whatever
color the oak is of the cabinets, that's a lock,
(04:06):
right because they're all finished out. Whatever color that is,
you want some contrast in lightness or darkness and in
intensity of color for the countertops. Number one and number
two for the floor. If we go oak on oak
on it, Actually the material itself is irrelevant. I would
(04:26):
not use oak for the countertops just because oak doesn't
do as well with these things. But the floor, the cabinetry,
and the counter, if you went with the same kind
of style and the same general tone, you're going to
end up with a wood cave. And you don't want
a wood cave in your kitchen where your kitchen used
(04:46):
to be. Okay, So in order for it to really pop,
for it to really shine, for it to really show
itself off, you just want color contrasts. So if the
cabinets are staying dark, then you want to go lighter
with the counter or vice verse. Our cabinets in our
kitchen are white. They're just there. They're beautiful wood cabinets,
but they are white. And so the dark wallnuts sitting
(05:10):
on top of those cabinets and then we have a
brick style tile floor underneath them. They all just show
off and compliment each other, you know, super well. Uh,
but we have done wood on wood on wood before.
But the key is contrast, heavy contrast so that you
don't get that cavy bleed out effect. Uh. And so
(05:31):
there you go, and uh my recommendation as far as
the wood, there are several species of hardwoods that work
really really well. You should just get yourself down to
a hardwood specialty shop or lumberyard that specializes in hardwoods
and uh and check out what they've got and the
you know, see how you guys feel about it, because
(05:51):
it's one of the one of the fun things about
picking out hardwoods for situations like this. Every piece is different,
you know, it's not just standard lum and a lot
of people are wondering, like, Okay, where do I find
such things, cause you know, I didn't see anything at
the home depot or lows or at the lumber yard
down the street. Now, first of all, your lumber yard
down the street may have some, but there are shops
(06:14):
all over southern California that specialize in these kinds of woods.
Two things you need to do. One, when you're talking
about wood that you're going to use for finished products
like countertops or furniture, it doesn't come in it's not
sold in inches by inches. It's actually sold in quarter
(06:37):
inches thicknesses. So if you're looking for a two inch
countertop slab, you're going to be looking for an eight
quarter or an eight over four, okay, because that's how
they're rated that way. So if you're looking for an
inch and a half, it's a six over four, one
inch is a four over four. That's just lingo. If
you walk in, speak in the lingo, they're going to
(06:58):
dig you. Where do you find it? All over the place.
If you're up here in eastern Ventura County or the
West Valley, then you know, get out here to a
gore and go to Canao Hardwoods. If you're in La
Bonhoff Lumber, of course Classic and my buddy's over at
Angel City Lumber, please go to Angel City and check
(07:20):
out what they've got. If down in Anaheim, you've got
a lot of choices, among which are California Exotic hardwoods,
and there are others. There are many, many others, but
there just gives you a sample of North Valley, Northwest Valley, LA,
and Orange County. These kinds of places are all over
the place. The last thing I'm going to tell you
(07:41):
is when we do a countertop, my preference is not
to super seal the wood in terms of like putting
multiple layers of polyurythane and making it like a bar
top shiny like I said our would when in raw
the black walnut, and we just keep it nicely oiled
water beads right on the surface. What if it gets scratched, Dean, Well,
(08:04):
it's two inch thick hardwood. If you end up with
a scratch or a gouge that you're just like, uh
oh uh, you know what, especially if it's only been oiled,
you just get out the sand paper or a little sander,
a little palm sander, and just gently, very very gently
massage the area until the gouge goes away, reoil it,
(08:27):
and you're back in the game again. That has not
happened to our countertop, but you know it could. So
there you go, my friend Dave, Thank you for the question,
and good luck on the kitchen. Okay, a quick break
and then more of your calls. You're listening to Home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Dean Sharp the House Whisper here to remind you that
when it comes to your home design matters most. We're
doing that as always and today taking your calls. Let's
go back to the phones. Hey, Wayne, welcome home.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, Ban, Thanks got a question.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
A total house rebuild. And in the rebuild, the guys
doing installation put in ceiling which I'm not sure I
should call them on it or not. There's a vaulted
ceiling in the house, but the bedrooms and kitchen are
all lower I mean eight foot ceilings, and they put
(09:34):
insulation in the ceilings of all the rooms except the kitchen,
where they put it in the rafters by the roof instead.
Is that a problem?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Does that affect heating and cooling or what?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Okay, So the ceiling in the kitchen is an eight
foot ceiling. Yeah, so they didn't put the insulation in
the ceiling. They put it up in the rafters. Did
they explain why? No? Okay? And that area the area
directly above the kitchen, that area of attic. Does it
connect to other areas of attic open attic space?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
The attic is all connected. Yeah, it connected all across
the bedrooms, in the kitchen, it's all like attic area.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
All right.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So if I crawl through the attic or walk through
the attic, whatever the case may be, if I get
up in the attic, then I've got insulation down on
the floor of the attic until I get over the
kitchen then and all of a sudden, it's up above
in the roof rafter. Right, you're correct, Yeah, that's not
that's not cool. Oh what is that the fact?
Speaker 4 (10:33):
How does that change things?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Well, what it is is that your attic is an
unconditioned space. Okay. The whole reason we're insulating on the
surface of the ceiling is that we want to keep
the conditioned space, the conditioned air, meaning whatever we've heated
or whatever we've cooled in the house. We want to
keep those temperatures there, Okay, and so and not in
(10:57):
the attic. We don't share condition temperatures, can you know,
controlled temperatures with the attic space. It's it's cut off.
It's a separate space. It's technically kind of outside the house.
In essence, so we need that diaphragm of insulation to
be complete over the whole thing, and so as it
is right now, That's why I asked if it was
(11:19):
if it's been isolated in the attic with other walls
and things in the attic, then if the if the
kitchen area or the area above the kitchen is isolated
from the rest of the attic space, then that could
be fine because what we ultimately need is insulation above
the kitchen. But the fact that the kitchen ceiling has
(11:40):
that that heat and cool that's down below in there
can just soak right through unimpeded by insulation into the
attic and vice versa. It's essentially it's a hole. It's
a hole in your insulation. And so so that insulation
needs to be down over the kitchen ceiling as well, period,
(12:00):
because you need a blanket of insulation that seals up
the house. So it's kind of a hole in the
hull of the boat. The fact that the insulation is
up in the end the rafter space above the kitchen,
that's meaningless that it's not doing anything up there. Okay,
it's just it's literally not doing anything. It needs to
be down on the surface with the rest of the
(12:20):
insulation in the act.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Good Okay, thanks, I'll get them.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
The change, get them on it. Thanks Wayne. Great question, Bertie.
I want to talk to Richard. Hey, Richard, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Good morning.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
I just had a question on whether the foundations that
are left after a home fire can be reused.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
That is a really really good question. Is that just
a curiosity or do you have a foundation that is
in question yourself.
Speaker 6 (12:51):
It's a curiosity professional and personal.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
There are always exceptions to every rule, so I'll just
start by saying that, and there is a I'm sure
there are a handful of foundations out there that might
be salvaged from this disaster, even though the house above
(13:15):
them was burnt to the ground. However, I think the
proper expectation is that to know the foundations underneath the
house when it has burnt to the ground, especially in
a mass fire event like this, are very very likely
(13:36):
not going to be saved. And there's a couple of
reasons why. Number One, there is no, it's not. It
has nothing to do with the fact that they didn't
catch on fire. But if you take a look at concrete,
concrete is actually not affected by flame per se, but
(13:56):
concrete is affected by high heat. And when an entire
house is burning to the point where it's all coming down,
the heat inside that zone is intense. You know, fifteen
hundred degrees plus is easily easily achieved. And when you
(14:17):
think about the components of concrete, concrete is a is
a recipe. It is a cement that is the actual
you know, adhesive binder in concrete cement, portland cement. And
then you've got large aggregates like gravel three quarter inch
(14:38):
gravel and sand, and it's the sand inside the concrete
that at high temperatures turns to glass. As we all know,
if you melt sand down, you can turn it to glass.
So there is a there's a process that when concrete
is exposed to extreme heat in which the concrete actually
(15:02):
becomes siliconized. It actually, even though it looks the same
as it did before, it has actually changed its chemical
structure and it's become more brittle. The sand, which originally
was a fine aggregate inside the cement, is now a
glassy component inside the cement. So that's one reason why
(15:25):
a lot of the foundations most I would say of
the foundations in the houses that are burnt down are
not going to be reusable. And the second reason is
that under again that high heat any lines of value
that are running underneath that concrete, like plastic abs, drain
lines coming off of toilets and sinks and so on,
(15:49):
any electrical lines, even though the conduits themselves probably were unaffected,
but those conduits heat up the conductors inside the those
conduits will absolutely have to be tested and replaced. And
the chances are the damage of the lines that are
running underneath the slab are such that we'd have to
(16:11):
even if the slab was in perfect shape, we'd have
to saw cut the slab open in order to run
new lines, or you know, we wouldn't be yanking out
the old ones, we'd just be running new lines. And
by the time we have dealt with the fact that
the slab has changed its chemical composition somewhat and we've
got to make a lot of saw cuts in it
(16:31):
in order to get new drain lines or pull old
ones out of the way, now we've pretty much messed
up this slab in extremes. So that's why I'm saying,
by and large, it will be more cost effective and
wiser from a structural perspective to just pull most of
(16:52):
those slabs, scrape the lot, and restart from new. Does
that help understand the situation?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Certainly does?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
All right, Richard, thank you for your call, sir. Okay,
quick break and then more of your calls your Home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
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 Rose A Rose, welcome.
Speaker 7 (17:30):
Home, Good morning. We did the horrible mistake of buying
a saltwater system soft water system for our whole house
instead of the life source water that you guys advertise. Yeah,
we have on the upstairs master bathroom. There's some used
(17:51):
to look like charcoal that used to sit at the
bottom of the toilet bowl. Now it just looks like
lint that's kind of voting around and eventually makes it
to the bottom of the bowl. I know it's not
the toilet because we remodeled that bathroom. We thought, well,
maybe it's the toilet that it's not, and it's also
now starting to happen to the downstairs bathroom. Any idea
(18:15):
what that might be a.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Couple guesses, but you're probably suspecting the culprit is the
water softener, and I would guess that it's probably that
as well. Okay, there's a few things that can happen
with a water softener, modern water softener, especially that something
goes wrong with it. It can actually do that. It's
(18:38):
strange because people are like, you know what, there's residue
in my toilet and I have softened water. I don't
think that's supposed to happen. You're right, it's not supposed
to happen with a water softener. But sometimes things can
go wrong. Here's the most likely thing, and you know,
I don't know for certain, because you've got to call
your water softer company and say, hey, come and check
(18:58):
this out. It's not just salt interacting inside a water
soft a modern water softener. Most modern water softeners also
have a resin bead bed. And you're like, okay, it's
I don't want to waste your time or anybody else's
time explaining exactly what that looks like. But just suffice
(19:19):
it to say, it's not something that you replenish in
a water softener. You're just in charge of replenishing the salt.
But a resin bead bed or chamber are these little
tiny resinous beads. They actually look like what do they
look like salmon row? In other words, salmon fish eggs.
(19:40):
They look like fish eggs, and they're usually kind of
brown and or black in color, and they're resinance and
they're used to attract mineralization to them. It's like another
layer of attracting minerals out of the water. But for
some reason, sometimes a water softener can leak their beads
(20:00):
into the water, and as a result, you either find
little fish eggs floating in your toilet, but most often
once they get out in the open water areas, they
dissolve and then they leave their sticky, little kind of
either rust or charcoal color residue on toilet bowls or
(20:21):
at the bottom of the bowl or whatever. So that's
my first guest. I could be wrong about that, but
my first guess is that there's probably a resin bead
issue with the water softener that you know, maybe an
o ring failed, maybe something, and it's leaking its resin
beads into the water supply there, and so yeah, you
(20:42):
should get that checked out because that can happen. So
if you find fish eggs in your toilet, no, you
are not growing trout. You probably have a water softener
that needs some servicing.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Okay.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
I know when we first got it, they came back
out again and said, yeah, we just did some adjustments
and then away for a while, and then it came
back again. And we've had this problem for.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
For a year now, okay, so that if they made
some ad different then it came back again. So it
is a it is the water softener then, and it
probably is the resin something in the resin reservoir.
Speaker 7 (21:17):
All right, we'll give them a call. Can ask you
just one more quick question.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Real quick?
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Sure, do you have a name of a seiler for
a sill granite sink something more restore.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
It to restore? Okay, a granite sink?
Speaker 7 (21:34):
Still granite, Okay, granite, black soil, granite, sinc.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, not off the top of my head. Uh So,
but I'm going to advise that you do the same
thing that I do, which is when when we run
into those situations because products change over all the time.
It don't. I wouldn't go to the big box stores
in the tile aisle because they're just going to point
you to a standard thing. Find your low custom tile
(22:01):
and stone shop and go in there and say, here's
my situation, what's the best sealer or restore for that.
They've got it. They've got they got your coverage. So
you talked to those experts point in the right direction. Rose,
Thank you so much for your call, Thanks for listening
to the program. Love it. Let's talk to Joe. Hey, Joe,
welcome home.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Hi.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
We have a room that my father built about twenty
five years ago in our backyard here in Data Point.
It needs some roof repairs and some other stuff done
to it, but my father never got a permit to
build this room. And before we put money into this,
what are your thoughts about that? Can the city come
(22:43):
in and just tell us to stop and tear it
down or what are you thinking?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
So when we say a room, how big is it
and what do we have inside? Do we have electricity
in this room? Do we have plumbing in this room?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I looked about ten twenty and there is electricity. Yes,
My brother Steeds in there.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So ten by twenty that's a good sized room in
your backyard and there's electricity in it. So absolutely, without question,
permits were supposed to be pulled. Okay, So now the
question is now, okay, so flat out the permit should
have been pulled. Does that give the city the right
to come in and tell you to take it all down? Yeah?
(23:26):
It does. It does give them that right now, that
doesn't mean that doesn't mean that that's what they're going
to say. Okay, if you've got a question about this,
then the best thing to do is to ask your
city about it. The room in question, is it built
like did did your dad obey at least like the
(23:46):
backyard set back? Is it built like right next to
the neighbor's fence or is it.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
The yeah you no, he is built right next to
the neighbors. Everybody's been fine with it for the last
twenty five years.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Here's the thing. Talk to the city and like, you know,
I got a friend. They're not going to ask you, listen,
where's your address, or we're going to get a drone
over your house immediately, you know, ask the city, hey,
where do you stand on this? It's a well built space.
Could I get it retrofit permitted. The problem is if
it isn't built according to code, though no permits were pulled,
(24:21):
but if it wasn't built according to code, or if
it's built and it's violating a setback, then you're going
to get an answer back saying now that's got to
get changed. But I have seen many, many times where
folks have said, listen, they've built. Somebody has built something
in the backyard, built it exactly according to code, and
can prove that everything was built, like photos were taken
(24:43):
along the way, and the city sends an inspector out
and like, all right, I want to see this. I
want to see you know what. Okay? I mean, if
you had built this thing today, we would have said yes.
So maybe there's a little penalty to pull. In addition
to the permit, you get a retroactive permit and it
gets approved ret roactively. It all depends on the city,
on the inspector, on what they had for breakfast. So
(25:07):
literally it comes down to that kind of stuff sometimes
because it's humans we're working with here. But I can
tell you technically speaking, if you're violating the setback ordinance
and there's electricity in this room, in other words, it's
not just a shed then, Yeah, the city could could
tell you the whole thing's got to go. So you've
(25:27):
got to make your decision accordingly, my friend, you did
not hear me say go for it here. That's just
the realities of permitting. It should have been permitted. The
city has full authority in that. That doesn't mean though,
that they're going to punish you for it. So you
got to talk to them, all right, More of your
calls right after this your Home with Dean Sharp, the
(25:49):
House Whisperer.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Dean Sharp 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. I want to talk
to Jason. Hey, Jason, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
Hey, thank you. I'm an original homeowner and as such
I have all the original photos of the framing, plumbing, electric.
The house is about fifteen years old, three thousand square feet,
two story. I'm in Orange County. We want to do
a modest extension or expansion of our existing dining room
so that we would push out an exterior wall to
(26:32):
basically capture an existing outdoor alcove type area that also
as there's an exterior entrance to the kitchen that goes
into that same area. So if you can imagine a
first story, little, maybe hundred square foot alcove, there's an
exterior door from the dining room to that alcove. There
is an exterior door from the kitchen to that alcove.
(26:55):
And I'm like, well, hey, if we just pushed out
that wall maybe eight feet, we could have a way
to get into the kitchen from the dining room and
we'd gather up another hundred square feet. I reach out
to various contractors and they're like, hey, do you have
the drawings. I'm like, well, what do you mean. Well,
when you go to get permits, they're going to want
a drawing of the entire house, not just that little section.
(27:16):
And I'm like, gosh, I'm yours aloner, but I don't
have any drawings. Well, you know, you either have to
get a firm to draw up the entire elevation of
the house as it's existing and the plan for that wall,
or find another way to get them. I'm sort of
perplexed on like a does the whole house really have
to get drawn up just to move one wall. And secondly,
(27:38):
do I, as like an original homeowner, do I have
any sort of entitlement to maybe those drawings because I'm
learning to hire an engineering firm to come in and
draw the whole house. It's quite expensive for a small
project like this.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Right, Okay, all right, so let me help you kind
of break this down. First of all, your contractors are
right ish, but they're probably correct changes municipality to municipality.
But generally speaking, if you are doing a structural addition
onto a house just for context sake, right, the city
(28:11):
is going to be bare minimum. They're going to be
looking for an exterior elevation of that three sides of
that push out and and three sides meaning three cardinal directions. Right,
So if you're pushing out on the south side of
the house, they're going to want the south elevation looking
straight on. They're gonna want the east and west elevations
(28:31):
looking at the sides of that alcove. As a pushout,
they won't care about the other side of the house, Okay.
They basically want context, and they want context in relation
to where this alcove is in relation to the first floor. Now,
if you're not affecting anything on the second floor, they
your city may not need second floor drawings. Okay, they
(28:52):
may not care about that, or they may feel like, okay,
what is this affecting upstairs if anything. So that's the
first thing you need to know, and the answer to
those questions reside at your local building department, not with contractors,
but actually just making a trip down and saying, hey,
this is what we're planning on doing with our home. Secondarily,
(29:13):
your city may may it's getting rarer these days, but
they may actually have your original house plans on file,
especially if it's only been fifteen years since the house
was built. So while you're there, you should also ask
the city at the planning department do you have the
original blueprints for my home or at least my tract,
(29:37):
And maybe they've got blueprints for your floor plan that
are flipped, that have been submitted by the builder of
the developer back in the day. Those will work. That
gives you a massive head start. Now sometimes the city
will say, well, yes, we do have that. We can't
release it to you though, without notifying the builder, the
original developer, or the architects First, that's just a technicality.
(30:02):
And most of the time what happens is they'll tell you, listen,
we're going to do the official notification and we will
let you know in seven days. If we haven't heard
back from them, we're going to release the plans to
you and you can have them on you know, usually
a digital file that you can then turn into a PDF,
and you're off to the races as far as plans
are concerned for your home. At least somebody doesn't have
(30:24):
to pay. Somebody's still going to have to draw the plans, right,
you can't just work off of those original plans, but
you can use those original plans and so instead of
somebody having to remeasure the whole house and go to
that expense, so it's going to reduce the cost. Finally,
the thing that I want to tell you is that
never ever hire an engineering firm to draw your house.
(30:47):
The engineers come in after the fact and just pay
them to deal with the specific engineering issues that this
thing involves. As far as the rest of the plan,
whatever the city tells you the rest of the plan
has to be, you can hire a draft I mean, technically, Jason,
you can do this yourself. You are a homeowner, and
(31:09):
you could actually draw the house yourself, but that is
a headache for a lot of people. You can hire
a drafts person. There are drafts people out there for
hire who will give you a really good price to
draw up the layout of your home and draw the
elevations for it. Believe me, there are a lot of
drafts people out of work and looking for work. It's
(31:31):
a good time these days to hire a drafts person.
It does not require a licensed architect or a licensed
engineer to draw your home. I am not a licensed
architect right and yet I design and build custom homes
and have for the nearly forty years now. Because in
the state of California, you do not the city. The
(31:55):
state does not require a licensed architect to be involved
in most cases up to three stories in a residential home. Okay,
so when it comes to residences, anybody who knows what
they're doing can draw and submit those drawings generally speaking,
as a general rule in most municipalities. So it all
(32:17):
starts with you go into the city getting the info
you need from them, finding out if your plans are
on file. If they're not, yeah, you're going to have
to break down to follow whatever they are looking for,
and you just give them the minimum of what it
is that they're looking for. They're not going to be
super impressed if you give them extra extra ectorate. They
just want what they want. And you start it there.
(32:40):
But don't hire an engineering firm to do it, because yeah,
those guys are engineers and they make engineering money. Hire
and don't hire an architect. Hire a drafts person who
work for engineers and architects in order to actually put
the drawings together. By the way, you hire an engineering
firm to draw your house, they're going to hand it
(33:01):
to their drafts person to actually do the measurement and
the drawing. The engineers aren't going to do the drawings
themselves until engineering time comes around. But you're going to
get charged engineering prices for the whole thing. So there
you go. You sub it out as you need to
as you go along. Is that help?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Thank you?
Speaker 4 (33:22):
No?
Speaker 6 (33:22):
That's great, all right?
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah yeah, yeah no no, you can get that done
for way less, okay, and get it done well all right,
So but start with the city. That's the key. Jason,
good luck, my friend on that remodel. Hope everything turns
out really, really well, you're listening to Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This has
(33:48):
been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into
the live broadcast on KFI Am six forty every Saturday
morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday
morning from nine to noon, or anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app
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