July 5, 2025 • 30 mins
It’s an All Calls Weekend with Dean Sharp! Dean answers your home questions—from interlocking driveways with pavers to sealing tips. He helps a caller with a broken foundation and another dealing with shingles falling from their roof.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You're listening to Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome Home.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I am Dean Sharp, the House Whisper, custom home Builder,
custom home designer, and of course every week your guide
to better understanding that place where you live today on
the show, as always, your calls eight three three the
numeral two. Ask Dean A three three two. Ask Dean.
(00:37):
That's the number to reach us. Whatever has you scratch
in your head about your home design, construction, DIY, inside, outside, hardscape, landscape.
Don't you worry. I got you covered. We'll put our
heads together, we will get it figured out. It is
a pleasure and joy as always to talk to you
directly about what's going on with your home, and so
(01:00):
we're gonna do it. Eight three three two. Ask Dean.
The phone lines are open right now. Eight three three
two Ask Dean. It's just that simple. Let me say
good morning to our awesome technical producer Sam.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Good morning Sam, Good morning Dean. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Good man? Good Man? How are things in the booth today?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Good? I got my kid here with me.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
He is the associate producer every time he's in here
he does all the little tiny jobs that I'm really
not in the mood to do. All right, Yeah, I
be honest. Have you ever just left him in charge
when you had to go to the bathroom? I have
told him yet if if you hear everything goes silent,
push this one button.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
He know what to do.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Goodness, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
All right, Well that's awesome, Hey dad, early, good to
have you with us running the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Sam as always.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Normally, Oh, sitting across a table from me is my
better half, my design partner, my best friend in all
the world. She's gonna be here today. But she's a
little under the weather today. Caught a I don't think
she caught a bug per se. Maybe maybe we just
got back from our backpacking trip that into the Eastern
(02:21):
Sierra and Tina had a little she had a little
struggle with altitude this time. She never never ever wrestles
with altitude. And we do all the things that we
have to do in order to acclimate the way that
we can't in the time allotment that we have, and
you just never know a little bit whether it catches
(02:43):
up with you or whether it's a smooth transition.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
To be quite honest with you, of all the people.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Having spent you know, well I'm exaggerating, but having spent
seemingly half my life in the Eastern Sierra, I'm the
one who actually struggles most of the time with a
little bit of delay of acclimating to altitude. But this
time nothing, nothing at all, not even a hint of it.
(03:12):
But Tina struggled a little bit. So anyway she is.
She's getting it together this morning, as she always does.
And then of course as soon as she gets up
and rolling, she will surpass me in all things for
the day, because that is her way. So we'll see
her in just a bit. Otherwise, it's time to go
(03:34):
to the phones. How know we we've got a call
right now. Let me give you the number one more time,
eight three to three two. Ask Dean eight three to three,
the numeral two. Ask Dean give me a call, because
we're doing all calls all morning long. Let's get started
at least with Lisa, Hey, Lisa, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Hi, Hi Dean. I'm in the process of getting estimates
replace my existing driveway with a paver driveway. The basic
call in paver and a forty five degree hearing bone
pattern and I wanted to get your input on some
of the differences I'm seeing and how the different contractors
would go about doing the job, and any other pearls
(04:16):
you might have since I've never done something like this before.
Some of the differences that I'm seeing is that some
will use a Geotech liner, some don't. Some will use
Paulomeric san some don't, but they say they'll see it,
which from videos i'm seeing, they say it's even though
the bottles may say you can do it that way,
it's not really recommended. It's more just for aesthetic and
(04:39):
whether or not to run the pavers all the way
up just under the driveway or ecuse me, the garage door.
Some say no problem, others say no, you don't want
to do that because you won't get a good seal.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh, I'm just jotting down the categories of your questions here,
all right. So the the issue is number one, you've
chosen a paver driveway. We want to take a minute
and explain that to everybody who's listening so they understand
exactly what we're talking about. I love, love the idea
(05:12):
of having not even seen your driveway. I'm just a
huge fan of herring bones. So I love that as
a pattern for anything paver and or tile and or
hardwood floor even I love heringbone. It's not always the
thing to do, but I love it, and if it
works for you, then that's fantastic. The question of sealing
(05:34):
the pavers, the question of the liner, whether there should
be a liner under them or on the edges of them,
and the question of polymeric sand or not, and the
issue of should the pavers actually run underneath the garage
door or stop just short of where the garage door
(05:54):
come down, All very important, relevant questions, and all questions
Lisa that if if you will hang tight, we will
answer right on the other side of our very first break.
More of your calls on the way you're listening to
Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper Dean Sharp, the
house whisper. Here day help you take your home to
(06:19):
the next level. Hey, don't forget follow us on social media.
We're on all the usual suspects, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x,
Home with Dean, same handle for them all. We only
do gentle, encouraging, fascinating, interesting social media, none of the
(06:40):
bothersome stuff. So join us at home with Dean. Home
with Dean, same handle for them all. We are doing
all calls this morning. As we do. The number to
reach me eight three three two Ask Dean A three
three the numeral two.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Ask Dean.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Anything that's got you scratching your head about your home,
whether it's design, construction, DIY, whatever the case may be.
Give me a call. We'll put our heads together, we
will figure it out. We got a lot of room
on the callboard. You know, it's the day after the
fourth I know, I know some of you. Your heads
are pounding. Some of you are not listening at all
(07:20):
because you're still asleep. All I'm telling you is, if
you're up with me right now on this early Saturday
morning for our live broadcast, now is your chance. We've
got plenty room on the callboard for you. Otherwise, after
talking to Lisa, I'm just probably just gonna tell you
about my backpacking trip for the next two hours. No, no, no,
(07:41):
you're gonna call so we've got room on the callboard
for you. Eight three three to two asking. All right,
let us return to Elisa, who has been holding on
so faithfully. Lisa, you're still with me. I am okay,
my friend, So you've got a pay driveway going in
(08:01):
that you're planning on. What made you, by the way,
decide to do papers in the driveway.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Just the look of it. We've just finished redoing the
front of the house to a craftsman style, and I
don't want actual brick, but I just thought it might
go be more period appropriate and didn't want the big concrete.
So any thoughts on that? I guess in general, maybe
I'm going down the wrong road to begin with.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
No, no, no, I mean I love the look of
a nice pay driveway, especially if you've got If you're
going craftsmen, you're going old world. I mean, nothing is
more essentially old world than pavers, because you know, modern
contemporary concrete pavers are essentially a contemporary version, a high
(08:50):
tech version of cobblestone. I mean, that's essentially what it
is without having to suffer you know, all of the
of of actual legitimate, real cobblestone. But you know, all
of Europe is full of streets that have been there
for hundreds of years made from cobblestone. And so the
idea of pavers, which are set on a you know,
(09:13):
we level the soil, we can pack the soil, we
prep the soil, We lay down a layer of sand,
get that leveled out and beautifully compacted down, and then
every paver sits there. They are not sitting secured in cement.
They are simply sitting there and interlocking essentially with each other.
(09:35):
The nice thing about that the ground may shift some
over time, as all ground does, and instead of ending
up with big old cracks in your concrete driveway, the
pavers may shift a little bit, but you can actually
unzip those pavers, sections of them, redo, relevel the sand,
reinstall the exact same pavers, and your back brand new.
(09:58):
If you ever have to on an irrigation line, or
service a sewer line, or have any issues under a
paver driveway and or sidewalk or pathway, one of the
great joys of it is it's really a one and
done thing because it can be removed, it can have
an area cleared, it can be replaced, and no one
(10:19):
knows the better of it. And that's the real just
one of the tremendous beauties of interlocking pavers.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I was just in just well it was it. Last October.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
We were up in Montreal, and right outside our hotel room,
we stayed in a hotel in Old Town, Montreal, and
right outside our hotel room, they were doing work on
the streets, laying in new I think drain lines or
gas lines in there. And sure enough, these three hundred
year old pavers had been removed, they had set them
(10:53):
to the side, they were doing the work. They were
putting them back, and that's what's so great. So to
get to your specific issues now, the first one that
you had concerned about was did you say it was
the liner?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Some it looks like you use geotechs. I believe, what's
the name liner?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, so there's yeah, no issue with the geotech liner.
It is something that some people use in order to.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Prevent weeds from growing. I personally have never had.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
A reason to use it before because the pavers are
so tight and and I just think weed block underneath
a paver driveway seems to be an unnecessary thing. Other
people claim that there's an issue there because it also
helps with moisture or erosion control. You know, I just
(11:52):
don't really have an issue for it. For geotech liners
underneath paving systems, it's a matter of opinion. If you know,
it's certainly not going to hurt anything. So the question
is whether or not it's an additional cost that you
want to go to along the way your choice on
the geotech liner. The second issue being sand. Now, of
(12:16):
all the pavers are interlocked with sand, and they're brushed
on in between the pavers after all the pavers are laid.
The polymeric sand, I think is a great idea because
that's sand that has been mixed with a mild polymer
act polymer material and as a result, it makes the
(12:37):
sand stickier, and it holds together, and it tends to
stay in the grooves longer, and just it doesn't structurally
improve the paving system at all, other than you know,
beyond regular sand. It's just that the sand holds longer
and it's less likely to wash out of certain areas,
and that's one thing with a paver driveway. Eventually there
(12:59):
will be a little bit of maintenance on the sand
in the driveway. But again, you know what is it.
You bring out silica sand, you pour it over the
top of the pavor driveway, you broom it in, and
you've regrouted your whole driveway essentially. The sealer question about ceiling,
that's something that I want to talk to you a
little bit more about. Let's do that right on the
(13:21):
other side of the break, and we'll address the last
two the question of sealing your pavers and whether that
paver driveway should run up underneath the garage door or not.
So if you can hang on, Lisa, we will address
this whole issue doing a little mini show on paver driveways.
We'll address those two right on the other side of
the break. You hold tight, quick break and then more
(13:43):
of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Dean Sharp the house Whisper here to help you transform
your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. We are doing
that this morning by taking your calls. Also, if your
home needs some personal house Whisper attention, you know you
can book an in home design console that is with
me and the t you and your home staring at
(14:18):
the problem directly. You can book an in home design
console with us. Just go to house Whisperer dot Design,
house Whisperer dot Design for more info. We are taking
your calls. It's an all calls show today. The number
to reach me eight three three two ask Dean eight
(14:38):
three to three the numeral two.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Ask Dean.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Let's get back to Lisa and finish up talking about
her new project, which is interlocking pavers on her driveway.
We've already talked about the potential of using a weed
block liner under the pavers. I'm kind of I'm Switzerland
when it comes to that. If it's a thing that
you're concerned about, fine, if not great. The question of
(15:05):
whether to use, because interlocking pavers are locked together with
silica sand, the question of whether to use a siliconized sand,
meaning that it's got a little bit of silicone mixed
into the sand.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Just because it holds it together doesn't actually bar you
from using regular silica sand in the future. But I
like siliconized sand when it comes to pavers because they
just the sand stays in place better. Then there are
the other two issues. One is ceiling and one is
do you run these underneath the garage door. Let me
take the quick one first, Lisa, I would prefer not
(15:42):
to run the pavers underneath the garage door, only because
pavers are by definition, even if they're perfectly flat and
perfectly level, the little grout gaps in between them don't
make a perfect seal. And so I'm not worried about
and I mean, if your driveway slope the right way,
I'm not worried about water intrusion or anything like that.
(16:02):
I'm just worried about bugs and or little bits of
debris that may or may get under the seal of
your garage door. And even the rubber gasket on the
bottom of your garage door as it comes down. If
it lays on a surface that's got cracks every you know,
six inches or so, you haven't perfectly sealed the garage.
(16:23):
And so if there's a way that we can maintain
just a band of concrete there, or if the concrete
of the garage already comes out underneath that door, I'd
make the cut right there, or I'd maintain that garage
slab right there and then run the pavers up to it.
It's not as though not having the pavers run all
the way under the garage door that last you know,
(16:45):
four to six inches or so, is going to just
mess up the esthetic of the entire driveway.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
It won't.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's just irrelevant in my opinion. So I would let
the garage door drop down and seal on a flat
you know, monolithics lab surface. The last question about ceiling.
Here's the thing about ceiling concrete outside, and these are
(17:11):
concrete pavers, meaning that they're porous. They absorb water, and
so we got to be careful with ceiling concrete surfaces outside.
And I know there are some fantastic seilers out there.
There are, but let's talk about the reasons for ceiling.
People seal exterior surfaces because they want to make them
(17:37):
more stain resistant. That's a fully legitimate reason. Other people
seal exterior surfaces because they want a kind of a shiny,
slick sheen on the surface of their driveway in or
concrete surfaces. And other people seal because they like the
(17:58):
way the pavers look or the concrete looks when it's wet,
or the stone, whatever the case may be, when it's wet.
In other words, you know, you take a relatively bland
looking stone and get some water on it, and boom,
the color pops to life. So all I want you
to know. All I want you to know is the
one thing that I avoid whenever possible is the wet look.
(18:25):
I don't mean the wet look in terms of changing
the color. But that shiny sheen on the top, that
shiny sheen on the top will eventually come off. It'll
wear off, and worst case scenario, it'll be pushed off
from underneath.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
It starts to flake, it starts to chip.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
This is my experience universally, and I don't care how
great the sealer is. It's simply the laws of physics
and nature working. When there is moisture behind that sealed surface,
that hop coated surface, that moisture will find its way out.
It will push from the back side and eventually flake
(19:08):
it off, which means it'll be yucky and messy for
a while, and then you have to redo the whole thing.
So if you commit to sealing your driveway, just know
that you're going to be committing to ceiling it again
and again and again over time. What I like is
a penetrating seiler, one that doesn't leave a shiny sheen
on the surface, but that penetrates into the stone and
(19:32):
or the concrete and as a result, could number one,
keep stains from sinking into far A penetrating sealer will
do that will make it more stain resistant. And number two,
there are penetrating sealers that are that what we call
color enhancing that give you that darkened look of the
(19:53):
wet stone, but don't leave a sheen on the surface.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
So I just want it.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
It's tricky because when you you're looking at sealers, some
of them say wet look, some of them say color enhancing.
Generally speaking, wet look is like a gloss sealer on top.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I avoid those.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
But a penetrating sealer that color enhances is gonna give
you gonna bring out the color of the concrete, the stone,
or the paver the way that it looks when it's wet.
But it won't literally look wet, Okay, it'll just look
that deep dark color. But if you go to seal
your pavers, you will be reapplying sealer in the future.
(20:33):
And again, I think the penetrating sealers are just easier
to work with because you could do it yourself and
not you know, call a company out to.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Have it done.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Is there a particular brand that you work with that
you found the penetrating.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
There are several brands actually from Miracle and.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I'm trying to remember the other one that we use regularly.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Here's the thing to your local building materials shop and
or a stone yard, and look at professional grade sealers.
They're all fantastic and all of the glossy sealers will
always chip no matter what the warranty, and all the
penetrating sealers that are sold there to the pros will
(21:20):
last a good, long long time. Lisa, thank you so
much for your call. I'm glad that we got to
take a couple of segments to answer all of those questions.
And congratulations on the new driveway, and you know, send
us some picks when it's all done. All right, let's
take a quick break and then back to the phones.
You're listening to Home Dean Sharp, the house whisper. Dean Sharp,
(21:43):
the house Whisper, here to remind you that when it
comes to your home, design matters most.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
It truly, truly does.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
It makes all the difference in the world, and we
are working out the details of just that. Whether it
is designing the steps of putting in a driveway or
designing the idea the driveway itself, it matters not design
matters most. It's what happens to your home that changes everything.
We're doing an all calls morning today. The number to
(22:15):
reach me eight three to three to ask Dean eight
three to three the numeral two. Ask Dean, let's go
back to the phones. I want to talk to Monica. Hey, Monica,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
You are my inspiration. When I was to walk, I
used to walk to half built houses because they were
developing my area, and I loved looking at the inside.
But now you look at the inside, so you make
me happy.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Oh, thank you so much, Thank you so much. That
was such a kind thing to say. All right, well,
what can I do to help you today?
Speaker 3 (22:54):
I come from a track house in the West Valley
of Los Angeles. It was built tonightnineteen sixty and it
cost eighteen thousand dollars. Yeah, it's worth over a million today.
Maybe after I.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Tell you what it okay, all right, all right.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
We're worried about the foundation. The lower left hand corner
of the garage no longer meets the ground, and there's
a V shaped crack in the cement in front of
the garage. And in the family room there's like a
ridge shaped line for several feet across the family room,
and then there's vertical and horizontal cracks in the wall.
And the other question is does the roof have any
(23:36):
connection with this because there's some shingles falling off the
roof and it's never leaked. But I wanted to ask
you what are we in for?
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Do we have to replace stuff? And are we going
to go bankrupt?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
God?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I hope not. I hope not. Probably not, probably not,
my friend. Okay, so first of all, let me just
start with the end. What kind of roofing material are
we talking about here? The shingles just a composite asphalt shingles.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I guess. So none of us can remember when it
was put in, so whatever, it was.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
A long time abou Okay, But we're not talking about
wood shake, We're not talking about slate or stone or
concrete tiles up there. It just your kind of your
typical uh, you know, granulated shingle roof right right. Okay,
So chances are that the that that is unrelated to
foundation stuff. Okay, chances are unrelated. Now it's not that
(24:41):
a roof situation, you know, couldn't be part of a
foundation issue. But normally you're not going to see shingles actually,
you know, detaching and falling off of a roof or
coming down, uh, because just because there are cracks down
below it could happen if a significant corner of a
(25:03):
house shifted so much that we're way out of level
and the top plates and the roof warped because of it.
And it doesn't sound like you're anywhere near that at
the moment, and so I doubt that the roof is unwritten.
Just maybe time, maybe time to address the roof in
terms of its own age. Okay, now, cracks and foundations.
(25:28):
I don't want to panic you. I really do not.
And that's not me saying get ready because I'm about
to panic you. No, if you've got an area of
the garage slab that's no longer making connection with soil underneath,
then there's some kind of an erosion that's taking place there,
(25:48):
and I would like to address that also in the house.
If you've got some cracks, now, if it's not uplift
or significant sag, if you're not noticing the floor out
of level or a big chunk of concrete raising above another, again,
not a reason to get all worked up. But if
it's enough that it has run some cracks up the walls.
(26:11):
In other words, and when we say cracks up the walls,
we're not talking about the walls falling apart. We're simply
talking about enough of a shift that a little bit
of pressure on dry wall end or plaster has created
a crack in that vertical surface as well. Again, not
necessarily anything other than aging shift, but to be safe,
(26:34):
to be safe, I would like you to call up
a local structural engineer and just have them come out
for a consult and you say, hey, this is my situation.
I'd like somebody to come out and just look at
the house. And you could do that actually by calling
(26:54):
a foundation repair company as well that does their own
engineering and have them look at it. There are foundation
experts out there, and there's some really good ones here
in southern California, ones that do not spend their time
looking at every single little crack and telling you, aha,
we're gonna have to replace the whole thing. Foundation repair
(27:17):
companies are among i would say, the most honest and
straightforward contractors out there. And that's not a blanket endorsement
b because I'm sure as soon as I say that,
somebody runs into one that took them for all at
their worth. But just generally speaking, you work with a
reputable foundation repair company, have them come out and give
(27:39):
a look see and they will tell you. Because here's
the thing about concrete.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
It cracks.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
There's a joke that we have in the industry that
there's only two kinds of concrete in the world, concrete
that has cracked and concrete that has not cracked yet.
So cracks in concrete because it is a brittle substance.
For as strong as it is compressively, it has very
little tensile strength, and so eventually over the year, especially
(28:09):
a house built in the sixties, I'd be shocked to
find any house built in the sixties that doesn't have
at least what we call spider cracking in some areas
of the slab. Spider cracking simply means these jagged cracks
that maybe run out at a V shape or randomly
across corners at a forty five degree angle in a home.
(28:31):
But a spider crack is just that, it's just a crack.
If we have uplift, meaning that one side of the
crack is significantly higher than the other. In other words,
there's been a shift, or if we've got a serious
shift from the crack out in which the floor is
now out of level, the slab is out of level,
or we've got serious separation in the crack. I mean
(28:54):
like more than a quarter of an inch of gap
down in that crack. Now we've got something that should
be addressed. And again, it doesn't mean tearing out the
whole foundation. Sometimes it just means a little pressure epoxy
being put into that crack. Other times it may be
more extensive. So I think you've caught it early, and
(29:15):
I think you've got nothing to worry about. But what
I do want you to do is get eyes on
by a professional and so call up a foundation repair
company or a structural engineer and have them take a
look at it to give you their insight along the way.
How does that sound, Monica?
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I am so relieved see your eye inspiration. No, I
don't care.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Right, Well, there you go, my friend.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Good luck with that, and thank you again so much
for the kindness and the kind words. And keep listening
and I will endeavor to not disappoint you as we go.
All right, everybody up next, more of your calls. You're
Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
You're listening two Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You're listening to Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome Home.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I am Dean Sharp, the House Whisper, custom home Builder,
custom home designer, and of course every week your guide
to better understanding that place where you live today on
the show, as always, your calls eight three three the
numeral two. Ask Dean A three three two. Ask Dean.
(00:37):
That's the number to reach us. Whatever has you scratch
in your head about your home design, construction, DIY, inside, outside, hardscape, landscape.
Don't you worry. I got you covered. We'll put our
heads together, we will get it figured out. It is
a pleasure and joy as always to talk to you
directly about what's going on with your home, and so
(01:00):
we're gonna do it. Eight three three two. Ask Dean.
The phone lines are open right now. Eight three three
two Ask Dean. It's just that simple. Let me say
good morning to our awesome technical producer Sam.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Good morning Sam, Good morning Dean. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Good man? Good Man? How are things in the booth today?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Good? I got my kid here with me.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
He is the associate producer every time he's in here
he does all the little tiny jobs that I'm really
not in the mood to do. All right, Yeah, I
be honest. Have you ever just left him in charge
when you had to go to the bathroom? I have
told him yet if if you hear everything goes silent,
push this one button.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
He know what to do.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Goodness, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
All right, Well that's awesome, Hey dad, early, good to
have you with us running the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Sam as always.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Normally, Oh, sitting across a table from me is my
better half, my design partner, my best friend in all
the world. She's gonna be here today. But she's a
little under the weather today. Caught a I don't think
she caught a bug per se. Maybe maybe we just
got back from our backpacking trip that into the Eastern
(02:21):
Sierra and Tina had a little she had a little
struggle with altitude this time. She never never ever wrestles
with altitude. And we do all the things that we
have to do in order to acclimate the way that
we can't in the time allotment that we have, and
you just never know a little bit whether it catches
(02:43):
up with you or whether it's a smooth transition.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
To be quite honest with you, of all the people.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Having spent you know, well I'm exaggerating, but having spent
seemingly half my life in the Eastern Sierra, I'm the
one who actually struggles most of the time with a
little bit of delay of acclimating to altitude. But this
time nothing, nothing at all, not even a hint of it.
(03:12):
But Tina struggled a little bit. So anyway she is.
She's getting it together this morning, as she always does.
And then of course as soon as she gets up
and rolling, she will surpass me in all things for
the day, because that is her way. So we'll see
her in just a bit. Otherwise, it's time to go
(03:34):
to the phones. How know we we've got a call
right now. Let me give you the number one more time,
eight three to three two. Ask Dean eight three to three,
the numeral two. Ask Dean give me a call, because
we're doing all calls all morning long. Let's get started
at least with Lisa, Hey, Lisa, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Hi, Hi Dean. I'm in the process of getting estimates
replace my existing driveway with a paver driveway. The basic
call in paver and a forty five degree hearing bone
pattern and I wanted to get your input on some
of the differences I'm seeing and how the different contractors
would go about doing the job, and any other pearls
(04:16):
you might have since I've never done something like this before.
Some of the differences that I'm seeing is that some
will use a Geotech liner, some don't. Some will use
Paulomeric san some don't, but they say they'll see it,
which from videos i'm seeing, they say it's even though
the bottles may say you can do it that way,
it's not really recommended. It's more just for aesthetic and
(04:39):
whether or not to run the pavers all the way
up just under the driveway or ecuse me, the garage door.
Some say no problem, others say no, you don't want
to do that because you won't get a good seal.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh, I'm just jotting down the categories of your questions here,
all right. So the the issue is number one, you've
chosen a paver driveway. We want to take a minute
and explain that to everybody who's listening so they understand
exactly what we're talking about. I love, love the idea
(05:12):
of having not even seen your driveway. I'm just a
huge fan of herring bones. So I love that as
a pattern for anything paver and or tile and or
hardwood floor even I love heringbone. It's not always the
thing to do, but I love it, and if it
works for you, then that's fantastic. The question of sealing
(05:34):
the pavers, the question of the liner, whether there should
be a liner under them or on the edges of them,
and the question of polymeric sand or not, and the
issue of should the pavers actually run underneath the garage
door or stop just short of where the garage door
(05:54):
come down, All very important, relevant questions, and all questions
Lisa that if if you will hang tight, we will
answer right on the other side of our very first break.
More of your calls on the way you're listening to
Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper Dean Sharp, the
house whisper. Here day help you take your home to
(06:19):
the next level. Hey, don't forget follow us on social media.
We're on all the usual suspects, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x,
Home with Dean, same handle for them all. We only
do gentle, encouraging, fascinating, interesting social media, none of the
(06:40):
bothersome stuff. So join us at home with Dean. Home
with Dean, same handle for them all. We are doing
all calls this morning. As we do. The number to
reach me eight three three two Ask Dean A three
three the numeral two.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Ask Dean.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Anything that's got you scratching your head about your home,
whether it's design, construction, DIY, whatever the case may be.
Give me a call. We'll put our heads together, we
will figure it out. We got a lot of room
on the callboard. You know, it's the day after the
fourth I know, I know some of you. Your heads
are pounding. Some of you are not listening at all
(07:20):
because you're still asleep. All I'm telling you is, if
you're up with me right now on this early Saturday
morning for our live broadcast, now is your chance. We've
got plenty room on the callboard for you. Otherwise, after
talking to Lisa, I'm just probably just gonna tell you
about my backpacking trip for the next two hours. No, no, no,
(07:41):
you're gonna call so we've got room on the callboard
for you. Eight three three to two asking. All right,
let us return to Elisa, who has been holding on
so faithfully. Lisa, you're still with me. I am okay,
my friend, So you've got a pay driveway going in
(08:01):
that you're planning on. What made you, by the way,
decide to do papers in the driveway.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Just the look of it. We've just finished redoing the
front of the house to a craftsman style, and I
don't want actual brick, but I just thought it might
go be more period appropriate and didn't want the big concrete.
So any thoughts on that? I guess in general, maybe
I'm going down the wrong road to begin with.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
No, no, no, I mean I love the look of
a nice pay driveway, especially if you've got If you're
going craftsmen, you're going old world. I mean, nothing is
more essentially old world than pavers, because you know, modern
contemporary concrete pavers are essentially a contemporary version, a high
(08:50):
tech version of cobblestone. I mean, that's essentially what it
is without having to suffer you know, all of the
of of actual legitimate, real cobblestone. But you know, all
of Europe is full of streets that have been there
for hundreds of years made from cobblestone. And so the
idea of pavers, which are set on a you know,
(09:13):
we level the soil, we can pack the soil, we
prep the soil, We lay down a layer of sand,
get that leveled out and beautifully compacted down, and then
every paver sits there. They are not sitting secured in cement.
They are simply sitting there and interlocking essentially with each other.
(09:35):
The nice thing about that the ground may shift some
over time, as all ground does, and instead of ending
up with big old cracks in your concrete driveway, the
pavers may shift a little bit, but you can actually
unzip those pavers, sections of them, redo, relevel the sand,
reinstall the exact same pavers, and your back brand new.
(09:58):
If you ever have to on an irrigation line, or
service a sewer line, or have any issues under a
paver driveway and or sidewalk or pathway, one of the
great joys of it is it's really a one and
done thing because it can be removed, it can have
an area cleared, it can be replaced, and no one
(10:19):
knows the better of it. And that's the real just
one of the tremendous beauties of interlocking pavers.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I was just in just well it was it. Last October.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
We were up in Montreal, and right outside our hotel room,
we stayed in a hotel in Old Town, Montreal, and
right outside our hotel room, they were doing work on
the streets, laying in new I think drain lines or
gas lines in there. And sure enough, these three hundred
year old pavers had been removed, they had set them
(10:53):
to the side, they were doing the work. They were
putting them back, and that's what's so great. So to
get to your specific issues now, the first one that
you had concerned about was did you say it was
the liner?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Some it looks like you use geotechs. I believe, what's
the name liner?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, so there's yeah, no issue with the geotech liner.
It is something that some people use in order to.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Prevent weeds from growing. I personally have never had.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
A reason to use it before because the pavers are
so tight and and I just think weed block underneath
a paver driveway seems to be an unnecessary thing. Other
people claim that there's an issue there because it also
helps with moisture or erosion control. You know, I just
(11:52):
don't really have an issue for it. For geotech liners
underneath paving systems, it's a matter of opinion. If you know,
it's certainly not going to hurt anything. So the question
is whether or not it's an additional cost that you
want to go to along the way your choice on
the geotech liner. The second issue being sand. Now, of
(12:16):
all the pavers are interlocked with sand, and they're brushed
on in between the pavers after all the pavers are laid.
The polymeric sand, I think is a great idea because
that's sand that has been mixed with a mild polymer
act polymer material and as a result, it makes the
(12:37):
sand stickier, and it holds together, and it tends to
stay in the grooves longer, and just it doesn't structurally
improve the paving system at all, other than you know,
beyond regular sand. It's just that the sand holds longer
and it's less likely to wash out of certain areas,
and that's one thing with a paver driveway. Eventually there
(12:59):
will be a little bit of maintenance on the sand
in the driveway. But again, you know what is it.
You bring out silica sand, you pour it over the
top of the pavor driveway, you broom it in, and
you've regrouted your whole driveway essentially. The sealer question about ceiling,
that's something that I want to talk to you a
little bit more about. Let's do that right on the
(13:21):
other side of the break, and we'll address the last
two the question of sealing your pavers and whether that
paver driveway should run up underneath the garage door or not.
So if you can hang on, Lisa, we will address
this whole issue doing a little mini show on paver driveways.
We'll address those two right on the other side of
the break. You hold tight, quick break and then more
(13:43):
of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Dean Sharp the house Whisper here to help you transform
your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. We are doing
that this morning by taking your calls. Also, if your
home needs some personal house Whisper attention, you know you
can book an in home design console that is with
me and the t you and your home staring at
(14:18):
the problem directly. You can book an in home design
console with us. Just go to house Whisperer dot Design,
house Whisperer dot Design for more info. We are taking
your calls. It's an all calls show today. The number
to reach me eight three three two ask Dean eight
(14:38):
three to three the numeral two.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Ask Dean.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Let's get back to Lisa and finish up talking about
her new project, which is interlocking pavers on her driveway.
We've already talked about the potential of using a weed
block liner under the pavers. I'm kind of I'm Switzerland
when it comes to that. If it's a thing that
you're concerned about, fine, if not great. The question of
(15:05):
whether to use, because interlocking pavers are locked together with
silica sand, the question of whether to use a siliconized sand,
meaning that it's got a little bit of silicone mixed
into the sand.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Just because it holds it together doesn't actually bar you
from using regular silica sand in the future. But I
like siliconized sand when it comes to pavers because they
just the sand stays in place better. Then there are
the other two issues. One is ceiling and one is
do you run these underneath the garage door. Let me
take the quick one first, Lisa, I would prefer not
(15:42):
to run the pavers underneath the garage door, only because
pavers are by definition, even if they're perfectly flat and
perfectly level, the little grout gaps in between them don't
make a perfect seal. And so I'm not worried about
and I mean, if your driveway slope the right way,
I'm not worried about water intrusion or anything like that.
(16:02):
I'm just worried about bugs and or little bits of
debris that may or may get under the seal of
your garage door. And even the rubber gasket on the
bottom of your garage door as it comes down. If
it lays on a surface that's got cracks every you know,
six inches or so, you haven't perfectly sealed the garage.
(16:23):
And so if there's a way that we can maintain
just a band of concrete there, or if the concrete
of the garage already comes out underneath that door, I'd
make the cut right there, or I'd maintain that garage
slab right there and then run the pavers up to it.
It's not as though not having the pavers run all
the way under the garage door that last you know,
(16:45):
four to six inches or so, is going to just
mess up the esthetic of the entire driveway.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
It won't.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's just irrelevant in my opinion. So I would let
the garage door drop down and seal on a flat
you know, monolithics lab surface. The last question about ceiling.
Here's the thing about ceiling concrete outside, and these are
(17:11):
concrete pavers, meaning that they're porous. They absorb water, and
so we got to be careful with ceiling concrete surfaces outside.
And I know there are some fantastic seilers out there.
There are, but let's talk about the reasons for ceiling.
People seal exterior surfaces because they want to make them
(17:37):
more stain resistant. That's a fully legitimate reason. Other people
seal exterior surfaces because they want a kind of a shiny,
slick sheen on the surface of their driveway in or
concrete surfaces. And other people seal because they like the
(17:58):
way the pavers look or the concrete looks when it's wet,
or the stone, whatever the case may be, when it's wet.
In other words, you know, you take a relatively bland
looking stone and get some water on it, and boom,
the color pops to life. So all I want you
to know. All I want you to know is the
one thing that I avoid whenever possible is the wet look.
(18:25):
I don't mean the wet look in terms of changing
the color. But that shiny sheen on the top, that
shiny sheen on the top will eventually come off. It'll
wear off, and worst case scenario, it'll be pushed off
from underneath.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
It starts to flake, it starts to chip.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
This is my experience universally, and I don't care how
great the sealer is. It's simply the laws of physics
and nature working. When there is moisture behind that sealed surface,
that hop coated surface, that moisture will find its way out.
It will push from the back side and eventually flake
(19:08):
it off, which means it'll be yucky and messy for
a while, and then you have to redo the whole thing.
So if you commit to sealing your driveway, just know
that you're going to be committing to ceiling it again
and again and again over time. What I like is
a penetrating seiler, one that doesn't leave a shiny sheen
on the surface, but that penetrates into the stone and
(19:32):
or the concrete and as a result, could number one,
keep stains from sinking into far A penetrating sealer will
do that will make it more stain resistant. And number two,
there are penetrating sealers that are that what we call
color enhancing that give you that darkened look of the
(19:53):
wet stone, but don't leave a sheen on the surface.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
So I just want it.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
It's tricky because when you you're looking at sealers, some
of them say wet look, some of them say color enhancing.
Generally speaking, wet look is like a gloss sealer on top.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I avoid those.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
But a penetrating sealer that color enhances is gonna give
you gonna bring out the color of the concrete, the stone,
or the paver the way that it looks when it's wet.
But it won't literally look wet, Okay, it'll just look
that deep dark color. But if you go to seal
your pavers, you will be reapplying sealer in the future.
(20:33):
And again, I think the penetrating sealers are just easier
to work with because you could do it yourself and
not you know, call a company out to.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Have it done.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Is there a particular brand that you work with that
you found the penetrating.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
There are several brands actually from Miracle and.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I'm trying to remember the other one that we use regularly.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Here's the thing to your local building materials shop and
or a stone yard, and look at professional grade sealers.
They're all fantastic and all of the glossy sealers will
always chip no matter what the warranty, and all the
penetrating sealers that are sold there to the pros will
(21:20):
last a good, long long time. Lisa, thank you so
much for your call. I'm glad that we got to
take a couple of segments to answer all of those questions.
And congratulations on the new driveway, and you know, send
us some picks when it's all done. All right, let's
take a quick break and then back to the phones.
You're listening to Home Dean Sharp, the house whisper. Dean Sharp,
(21:43):
the house Whisper, here to remind you that when it
comes to your home, design matters most.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
It truly, truly does.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
It makes all the difference in the world, and we
are working out the details of just that. Whether it
is designing the steps of putting in a driveway or
designing the idea the driveway itself, it matters not design
matters most. It's what happens to your home that changes everything.
We're doing an all calls morning today. The number to
(22:15):
reach me eight three to three to ask Dean eight
three to three the numeral two. Ask Dean, let's go
back to the phones. I want to talk to Monica. Hey, Monica,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
You are my inspiration. When I was to walk, I
used to walk to half built houses because they were
developing my area, and I loved looking at the inside.
But now you look at the inside, so you make
me happy.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Oh, thank you so much, Thank you so much. That
was such a kind thing to say. All right, well,
what can I do to help you today?
Speaker 3 (22:54):
I come from a track house in the West Valley
of Los Angeles. It was built tonightnineteen sixty and it
cost eighteen thousand dollars. Yeah, it's worth over a million today.
Maybe after I.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Tell you what it okay, all right, all right.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
We're worried about the foundation. The lower left hand corner
of the garage no longer meets the ground, and there's
a V shaped crack in the cement in front of
the garage. And in the family room there's like a
ridge shaped line for several feet across the family room,
and then there's vertical and horizontal cracks in the wall.
And the other question is does the roof have any
(23:36):
connection with this because there's some shingles falling off the
roof and it's never leaked. But I wanted to ask
you what are we in for?
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Do we have to replace stuff? And are we going
to go bankrupt?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
God?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I hope not. I hope not. Probably not, probably not,
my friend. Okay, so first of all, let me just
start with the end. What kind of roofing material are
we talking about here? The shingles just a composite asphalt shingles.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I guess. So none of us can remember when it
was put in, so whatever, it was.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
A long time abou Okay, But we're not talking about
wood shake, We're not talking about slate or stone or
concrete tiles up there. It just your kind of your
typical uh, you know, granulated shingle roof right right. Okay,
So chances are that the that that is unrelated to
foundation stuff. Okay, chances are unrelated. Now it's not that
(24:41):
a roof situation, you know, couldn't be part of a
foundation issue. But normally you're not going to see shingles actually,
you know, detaching and falling off of a roof or
coming down, uh, because just because there are cracks down
below it could happen if a significant corner of a
(25:03):
house shifted so much that we're way out of level
and the top plates and the roof warped because of it.
And it doesn't sound like you're anywhere near that at
the moment, and so I doubt that the roof is unwritten.
Just maybe time, maybe time to address the roof in
terms of its own age. Okay, now, cracks and foundations.
(25:28):
I don't want to panic you. I really do not.
And that's not me saying get ready because I'm about
to panic you. No, if you've got an area of
the garage slab that's no longer making connection with soil underneath,
then there's some kind of an erosion that's taking place there,
(25:48):
and I would like to address that also in the house.
If you've got some cracks, now, if it's not uplift
or significant sag, if you're not noticing the floor out
of level or a big chunk of concrete raising above another, again,
not a reason to get all worked up. But if
it's enough that it has run some cracks up the walls.
(26:11):
In other words, and when we say cracks up the walls,
we're not talking about the walls falling apart. We're simply
talking about enough of a shift that a little bit
of pressure on dry wall end or plaster has created
a crack in that vertical surface as well. Again, not
necessarily anything other than aging shift, but to be safe,
(26:34):
to be safe, I would like you to call up
a local structural engineer and just have them come out
for a consult and you say, hey, this is my situation.
I'd like somebody to come out and just look at
the house. And you could do that actually by calling
(26:54):
a foundation repair company as well that does their own
engineering and have them look at it. There are foundation
experts out there, and there's some really good ones here
in southern California, ones that do not spend their time
looking at every single little crack and telling you, aha,
we're gonna have to replace the whole thing. Foundation repair
(27:17):
companies are among i would say, the most honest and
straightforward contractors out there. And that's not a blanket endorsement
b because I'm sure as soon as I say that,
somebody runs into one that took them for all at
their worth. But just generally speaking, you work with a
reputable foundation repair company, have them come out and give
(27:39):
a look see and they will tell you. Because here's
the thing about concrete.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
It cracks.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
There's a joke that we have in the industry that
there's only two kinds of concrete in the world, concrete
that has cracked and concrete that has not cracked yet.
So cracks in concrete because it is a brittle substance.
For as strong as it is compressively, it has very
little tensile strength, and so eventually over the year, especially
(28:09):
a house built in the sixties, I'd be shocked to
find any house built in the sixties that doesn't have
at least what we call spider cracking in some areas
of the slab. Spider cracking simply means these jagged cracks
that maybe run out at a V shape or randomly
across corners at a forty five degree angle in a home.
(28:31):
But a spider crack is just that, it's just a crack.
If we have uplift, meaning that one side of the
crack is significantly higher than the other. In other words,
there's been a shift, or if we've got a serious
shift from the crack out in which the floor is
now out of level, the slab is out of level,
or we've got serious separation in the crack. I mean
(28:54):
like more than a quarter of an inch of gap
down in that crack. Now we've got something that should
be addressed. And again, it doesn't mean tearing out the
whole foundation. Sometimes it just means a little pressure epoxy
being put into that crack. Other times it may be
more extensive. So I think you've caught it early, and
(29:15):
I think you've got nothing to worry about. But what
I do want you to do is get eyes on
by a professional and so call up a foundation repair
company or a structural engineer and have them take a
look at it to give you their insight along the way.
How does that sound, Monica?
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I am so relieved see your eye inspiration. No, I
don't care.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Right, Well, there you go, my friend.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Good luck with that, and thank you again so much
for the kindness and the kind words. And keep listening
and I will endeavor to not disappoint you as we go.
All right, everybody up next, more of your calls. You're
Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
You're listening two Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty
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