March 15, 2025 • 28 mins
Dean helps a caller with their faulty dimmable recessed lighting set. Dean advices a caller on replacing sheet vinyl flooring with a wooden plank and the importance of reviewing the warranty.
Plus, he talks about galvanized drain lines and descaling operation of a home
Plus, he talks about galvanized drain lines and descaling operation of a home
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty Dam I Dam forty live streaming
on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp The House whisper Here
with you live like I Am every Saturday and Sunday
morning Saturdays from six to eight Pacific time, Sunday mornings
(00:23):
nine to noon Pacific time. Follow us on social media,
why don't you? We only do the good kind, uplifting, informative,
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Facebook x Home with Dean and Tina wants me to
let you know that you know that that trackless sliding
(00:45):
quote unquote barn door that I was talking about earlier.
She has went and found the video that we posted
from the Builders Show and pinned it to the top
of our Facebook and Instagram Instagram. It's on Instagram. Go
check it out. You gotta check it out. You'll know
exactly what I'm talking about. Very very popular video and
there for you since I brought it up again today,
(01:08):
So follow us on social media. And of course you
know this very program is also the House Whisperer podcast
that you can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand, hundreds
of episodes, all searchable by topic, your home improvement reference library.
And finally, if your home is in need of a
more personal house whisper attention. If you've been listening this
(01:30):
morning and you're like, wow, I got to get those
two into my living room staring at that problem and
helping me get over this hump, well that can happen
to You can book an in home design consult with us,
with me and the tea right here. Just go to
house Whisperer dot design for more information. All right, it
(01:52):
is and all calls weekend for us. I can get
started with another call here. Show's running a little late today.
I'm my fault today, No it's not. Let's talk to Marcie. Hey, Marcy,
welcome home. Well, good morning, Dean, good morning. Oh my gosh,
you sound so chipper.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, second cup of espresso.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
There you go, there you go. How can I help you?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, five years ago I had my renovator girlfriend remodel
the kitchen and we have six recessed lights in the
ceiling in the kitchen. And now what's happening is there's
two switches that you can turn and dim and you know,
dim the lights if you want. And when I put
the switch on either switch, maybe four of the lights
(02:45):
come on, or maybe five, and then sometimes after three
or four switches, all six come on. So my girlfriend
and I unscrewed the recess light bulbs and change them
around to see if it was a light bulb issue.
It is not, so I don't know if it's a
switch issue or a wiring issue. I assume I need electrician.
(03:06):
What's your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Okay, So is it always the same lights that don't
come on? Or is it just a completely random it is?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Actually there's it's kind of random lately. I've been seeing
it regularly on two of the six Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
And you've got two switches that control these same six
six lights in other words, so you don't have that
on separate circuits. You've got a three way switch so
you can turn them off from one side of the
room or turn them on them off on the other
side of the room, right, correct. Okay, And those three
way switches, are they both dimmers or is there just
one dimmer?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Oh? Well, I'm running downstairs now to check. N Sorry,
I didn't expect that question. Let's see here. Well, definitely
we got on switch that's a dimmer and they are
both on switches.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
All right, So here's the thing, Marcy. So it may
not be this, but I'm going to give you my
best shot on on recess can lights. Are these LED lights,
by the way, I.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Think they are. I think they are there. They're pretty modern.
They're not your your antiquated ones.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
My friends, they don't take screw in incandescent bulbs. They're
it was five years ago. I'm assuming they're that they're LED.
I'm assuming yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I think you'd be right. My friend who has them
in her place too, she says she's never had this happen,
so I think they're I think you're right.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Okay, So LED housings, the housings themselves can end up
with either a faulty little circuit power controller or a
faulty thermal control unit. Okay, So that it may be.
And if that's the case, then then it's probably a
(05:06):
situation where you need to call electrician in to check
each of the housings to make sure they're working right.
But the reason I asked, if it's random or not, Okay,
I'm just going to give you this piece of advice,
and this is an inexpensive attempted fix. Okay, an inexpensive
attempted fix. We never when it comes to LED lights,
(05:29):
we never ever put in two dimers on a three
way circuit. Okay. In other words, dimmers have a way
of really messing with fighting dimmers, I should say, fighting
dimmers have a way of messing with the LED recess
(05:50):
light fixtures that they're controlling. All right, because you've got
you know, you've got the ability to control you know,
variable current in two directions from two different sources, and
that tip typically is way more. It's just inviting trouble. Okay.
So what we what we normally do when I set
up a room, and it doesn't matter how many switches, okay,
(06:12):
there can be. It could be a five way switch.
I mean, we could be controlling this from all multiple
different places. But when it comes to that set of lights,
one dimmer, in other words, we control the dimness with
one and all the others are on off on off period. Okay,
So you may have I'm and my guess is, my
gut tells me that that may be the case. So
(06:35):
your friend who has a got remodeling skill and you
here is how you can see if that's the problem,
and that is you simply go and buy an inexpensive
three way on off switch, no dimmer control, okay, just
digital led controllable on off three way switch and remove
(06:57):
one of the dimmer switches and replace it with the
on off so you pick which side of the room
you'd prefer to have the dimmer control over and replace
the other switch just with a three way. Still it
has to be a three way switch, but a three
way just on off, no dimmer control. And I have
a hunch that that's going to solve your weird random
(07:20):
light problem.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Okay, but this sounds great. Thank you so much, all right.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And if that doesn't solve the problem, Marcy, if it
doesn't solve the problem, then you can have to call
electrician to have them take a look at the actual
housing units. But I got a hunch, all right, Marcy.
Thank you so much for your call. More of your
calls when we return KFI. Dean chart the house whisper
at your service. It is an all calls weekend for us.
(07:47):
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three three the numeral two Ask Dean eight
three to three two. Ask Dean there is room on
the callboard for you, my friend, if you've got something
that's got you scratching your head about your home. Very
quickly before I jumped in the next call, I want
to do Marcy an even bigger service. She was our
(08:09):
previous caller. She's got a set of six recess can
lights and a three way switches, and they're coming on
and off at weird times. They're behaving weirdly. I surmise
that she had two dimmer switches controlling those can lights,
and that's usually a no no. That usually just sends
all sorts of confusing voltage signals to the lights, and
(08:33):
it can create really weird behaviors, which is what she's got.
But I just wanted to make sure Marcy, if you're
still listening and everybody else, it doesn't mean just because
I said one dimmer only per circuit, it doesn't mean
that you can't here in the twenty first century control
have dimmer control in more than one location. But there
(08:54):
are special systems set up for that, and they're not
expensive either. The one I'm thinking of specifically is if
you were to switch your switches in that room to
what's called the lutron Lutron, you know, big big switch
manufacture the Lutron Cassetta system. Then you could have dimmer
control as many places as you want. It still follows
(09:18):
my rule though, because with a Lutron Cassetta system, there
would be only one of those switches as what we
call the master dimmer, but the other switch is actually
a remote, a slave, a remote to the master. So
you can have as many of those remote switches around
the room or in other rooms, or in your car
(09:40):
or you know next door, well next door a little
far away. But the point is, using a Lutron Cassetta system,
you can have dimmer and on off control anywhere around
the place. But it still follows the same rule because
the those other switches are still remotes. They're not sending
their own s signal to the lights like two conventional dimmers.
(10:04):
They are simply a remote for the one master dimmer.
So any three way circuit, any time you've got more
than one switch controlling the same lights, just one dimmer,
you can just do it conventionally with one dimmer and
one on and off, or you can do it with
a Neutron system and have that control. But that's the
(10:26):
only kind of system that to violate or overcomes that rule,
and it doesn't really, it's just that they're using remotes
along the way. Does that make sense? Okay, all right,
we are going to get back on time here. We're
going to jump to a quick break and right after
the news more of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
(10:49):
on demand from KFI AM six forty five AM six
sporting live streaming in HD everywhere on the iHeart Radio app.
Welcome home, your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
That's me here to help you take your home to
the next level. Whether it's a cottage or a castle,
(11:10):
it matters not. I am here to help you with
your home. And it is an all calls weekend for
us here on the show. Nothing but your calls. The
number to reach me eight three three to ask Dean.
Eight three three the numeral to ask Dean. Let's go
back to the phones. I want to talk to Sarah. Hey, Sarah,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, good morning, Dean, thanks for taking my call. I
have a a house built in nineteen seventy two. I
replaced my flooring. I have sheep vinyl flooring I replaced
maybe twenty five years ago. That is an entryway kitchen,
(11:51):
down the hall and in one bathroom. I want to
replace that torm and I want to replace it with
some type of playing flooring. And I want to know
do I need to remove the sheet vinyl flooring or
can I install the plank flooring over it? And I'll
(12:12):
have someone professionally do it. I'm not doing it.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Okay, really good question. And you're on a slab, right, yes, correct, Okay,
you're on a slab. The answer to your question is maybe,
but I'll give you exactly why you the here's the
thing when it comes to and we're talking about like
(12:36):
an engineered wood floor, that would be a glue down floor.
Is that what you're thinking?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, or and that's my second question
is for suggestions about the type of flooring.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Okay, Well, just so so I can answer the first question.
So if you if you choose a floating floor system,
something that is interlocking and just floating and other words,
it only gets held down on the perimeter by the
baseboard or base shoe or whatever the case may be,
then it's an absolute no brainer. You can just keep
the vinyl in place, okay, because the floating floor system
(13:12):
is not dependent on what's underneath it. It just kind
of lays there and there's no attachment dependency between the
floating floor and the vinyl. But that does not mean
that that's the your only option there. Quite often, in
certain conditions, we will lay down something that is the
(13:32):
equivalent of sheet vinyl onto a slab to create what
we call a vapor barrier in order to keep moisture
from the slab from having a detrimental effect on our
hardwood that we're gluing down. So and if we were
to lay down a vapor barrier, a vinyl sheet product
(13:54):
vapor barrier, it would be solidly glued to the slab,
I mean just incredibly well glued to the slab. And
then we would we would the surface would be porous,
not shiny and glossy, would be porous, and we use
a special glue that is designed to grab onto the
surface of the vinyl and hold the hardwood in place.
(14:16):
And it's kind of the best of all worlds because
now we know that that hardwood is fully protected from
any moisture in the slab. So that would be a
special product that we would use in certain conditions anyway,
And quite often when we find a well adhered and
that's the key, my friend, well adhered vinyl floor, then
we don't have to pull it up. We'll just use
(14:38):
it like we would use a vapor barrier. We will
rough it up well, will scuff up the surface so
that it's all roughed up, and the porosity of that
vinyl has opened up so that the hardwood glue will
grab onto it and bind and hold the floor really,
really well. And the question in your case is simply this,
(14:59):
whether or not that vinyl floor is really well adhered.
And I'm not talking about just whether it was shoddy
work or whatever. But there were, you know, twenty years ago,
there were a lot of vinyl floors that were going
in that were specially designed to kind of themselves be
floating floors, meaning that they are only sort of adhered
(15:20):
on the perimeter that they get laid down sort of
like carpeting, and that they themselves aren't really in most
places glued down to the slab. And you wouldn't know
the difference unless you actually, you know, cut into them
and try and pull up a piece and so The
point is this, when the time comes, a flooring professional
(15:42):
can evaluate that vinyl and they will I mean, knowing
that you're going to cover it anyway. It's either going
to get covered or torn out, and they'll probably go
through and try and cut out certain sections of the
vinyl in certain areas to find out out in the
middle of the room, to find out whether it's it
itself is glued down and how well it's glued down.
And most flooring pros will find that if it's glued down, well,
(16:05):
they're just gonna leave it there, rough it up and
use the proper adhesive to lay down your plank flooring.
So you really there's a good chance, there's a good
chance that you can just keep the vinyl floor in
place if it is a well installed vinyl floor. End
of end of storm.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah it's not. The flooring amazingly is not coming up
or bubbled up in any way, shape or form anywhere,
even though it's in a very large area.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, so that I think you have a I think
you have a very high likelihood that you'll be able
to keep it in place.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
And the vinyl floor goes underneath the floorboards, so then
I would put the new flooring. I don't have quarter
round molding, so I would put the new flooring down
if it's applicable and it's the right thing to do,
and then I would maybe put some quarter round molding
(17:03):
against the existing molding, because I don't want to expend
an effort to pull up all the molding.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, that's what typically is done, is what we call
it a base shoe. And yeah, it's a quarter round
kind of molding that covers the edge and the flooring
will be run up to your existing baseboards and then
the base shoe laid down. And I recommend, by the way,
when you do that, that the base shoe actually be
not don't try and match the base shoe and make
(17:31):
it part of the flooring pattern. In other words, you've
got an oak floor, don't use an oak base shoe.
I prefer as a designer. It doesn't matter from a
contractor's point of view. It holds it down either way.
But I prefer that you lay down an inexpensive base
shoe and paint it along with your baseboard. Let it
become part of your baseboard.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Okay, yeah, I would do that. I agree with that. Okay.
My last question, do you have any recommendation. I know
that flooring can be from this price up to you know,
a Cadillac style. Do you have any suggestions on brands
or in your experience, because I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I know, uh, there are so many out there, Sarah.
I'm not going to zero down to one brand. I'm
just going to tell you this. Start your shopping and
start your investigation. Like I was saying earlier in the show,
just get out to a really good flooring place. Only
go with reputable brands when you're you know, when it
comes to floating floors, there's so many options, so many options.
(18:35):
But when it comes to hardwood, if you're going to
put down legitimate engineered hardwood, engineered, absolutely, I wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't put down hardwood.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
You would not put down hardwood. So you don't have
to worry about that. No, Okay. Then then then then
you're just in the You're just in that that phase
where you just need to get out. You need to
look at the look at the colors, talk about the durability,
look at the warranties. The warranties are key, Okay, because,
(19:07):
like you know, if you've got a manufacturer who basically,
I always like to look for a floor for a
residence that actually has a commercial warranty, you know. I
mean if a manufacturer says, well, if you put this
in a home, we'll do a fifty year warranty on it.
If you install it in a commercial space like a
store that gets unbelievable amounts of traffic, we'll warranty it
(19:28):
for twenty years. I'm like, that's a good floor. If
you've got a floor that actually is is viable to
go in a commercial space, then you know that you're
looking at a durable product. And the rest of it
is simply just a matter of style and preference and
all of those things. Sarah, good luck. Do your research.
(19:49):
Like I always say, window shopping is free. Take the time,
educate yourself, look at every imaginable option, look at prices
per square foot, and then you know, pick the one
that fits your best. Thank you so much for the call.
All right, more of your calls. When we return your
home with Dean Sharp, the house whisper, Hey bye, keep
(20:09):
the house whisper. Welcome home. Hope you're having a lovely
morning here on this Saturday, March fifteenth. We are doing
an all calls weekend. I love all calls weekend because
I just love talking to you about your home. I've
got time for at least one more before we're out
of here today, and then we're gonna pick it up
again tomorrow the Big Show Sunday from nine to noon.
(20:33):
If I leave any of you hanging on the line,
which undoubtedly I will have to today, just know if
you call back tomorrow and let producer Richie know, Hey,
I was on the phone yesterday and Dean didn't get
to me. We will give you a priority position tomorrow show.
So that's my way of saying sorry, I couldn't get
to everybody. Let's talk to Ken. Hey, Ken, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
Hey, Hey, good morning, Thanks for taking my call questions
for you. I got a sixty plus year old house
that has galvanized drade lines that run from one sire
house to the other right kitchen to Washington Machiner on
the far side, and it was slow draining. So I
had a plumbing company come out and they brought their
(21:18):
rooter jet, their jetter. They called and they jetted out,
so they got the water, They got the drain working,
but they recommended doing something like they called it a
de scaling operation, and then they can put in a
POxy liner inside this pipe. That said that they would
preserve the pipe for another fifty years. Do you know
anything about that?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yep, yep, yep, I do galvan I do you have
a you got a crawl space under your house?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
No, it's not. It's a slab. So they said there's
two options. One is they can jackhammer up the slab
and take out walls and take out the kitchen cabinets
that replace the pipe. Or they said they can go
in through the clean out on the outside of the house,
the inch and a half clean out on the outside
of the house, do like a de scaling operation, and
then they go in and put some kind of a
(22:09):
POxy liner that lines the inside of this supposedly descaled pipe,
and they said that that should give the pipe another
fifty years.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, it's legit. It's legit. Ken. The reason I asked
about whether you've got a crawl space or not because optimally,
I mean optimally, and if you're planning on a major
remodel or anything like that for your house, then this
is something that you would want to consider, is to
get rid of those galvanized pipes, galvanized anything in a
(22:40):
home was very popular for a very short period of time,
and I can just honestly tell you it was the
worst idea ever. Okay, galvanized pipes are just steel pipes.
Steel as in yeah, rusts very easily covered with a
galvanic coating. That's what makes it that kind of you know, shiny,
(23:04):
you know, bright, kind of tin colored. That galvanic coating
has two problems with it. Number one, over time, it'll crack,
and as soon as it cracks, moisture gets into the
steel and starts rusting out the pipe. And that galvanic
coating is on the inside and the outside and on
the inside. The second problem is as you could just
(23:27):
tell by looking at a galvanized pipe, and if you
look under a microscope you'd be like whoa, yeah. The
second problem with a galvanized pipe is that that galvanic
coating is very rough. It is very I mean it
is heavily textured on a microscopic level, very textured, and
as a result, it grabs onto everything, including the poop
(23:49):
and everything that goes down the pipes, and it creates
sludge and sludge clings to it. And then it creates
build up and the next thing you know, you're in
your situation where you got slow running drains. Not only
are they deteriorating, but they're clogging all the time. So
galvanized was just a terrible idea. If you have the
option of pulling them out and replacing them with PVC
(24:12):
or ABS piping, then yeah, do that. But I totally
get it. If you're not planning on doing anything else
to your house, you got all this stuff running underneath
your house. Chances are, by the way, that once that
galvanized gets down into the ground, the chances are it
transitions into a cast iron pipe. They're very, very few circumstances.
(24:36):
I'm not sure I've ever seen a circumstance where galvanized
runs in the ground all the way over to the
sewer connection. It usually it's galvanized pipe above ground that
transfers into cast iron under the ground. But still cast
iron sewer piping. Same ultimate problem. So my friend, yes, now,
(24:57):
make sure a couple of things. Make sure you get
two or three estimates from two or three qualified companies.
But it's true if the pipe has not corroded, cracked,
or you know, in other words, if it's still structurally
holding solid and they've successfully cleaned it out, then yes,
(25:18):
there is a procedure by which they will go in
descale the inside of the pipe, which is just basically
clearing it, you know, as much as possible. And yeah,
we can put in an epoxy liner inside the pipe,
which is basically a pipe inside a pipe, and that
epoxy liner is everything that the galvanized and or cast
(25:40):
iron pipe is not, which is it is smooth, things
don't cling to it. And yeah, you're essentially repiping the
sewer system from the inside out. And typically speaking, yeah,
you'll get decades more as long as the galvanized and
or cast iron pipe itself is still holding its structure
(26:03):
on the outside, then that epoxy lining will definitely extend
the life of your sewer system without having to get
in and jackhammer up the slab. Now, getting rid of
those pipes would be my first, you know preference, but
not if you're not plenty, not if you're not doing
a major remodel. I don't want you jackhammering up all
(26:25):
your floors in order to get to that stuff. So
get some competitive bids and consider doing the epoxy line.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Okay, thank you, very much. I just didn't know if
this was a legit thing or it just sounded kind
of funny. I just don't know how they're going to
get the how they get the epoxy in there, and
then how they get it so it just coats the
whole inside of the surface of the pipe instead of
just like puddling in the middle of the pipe or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, that's why. That's why I want you to use
a company and only get bids from companies that you know.
I don't go with the plumber who's like, yeah, wait, yeah,
we do that once in a while. Now, you want
to go with a company that is fully legit on
that and gives you a full warranty because there's a
process that has to be taken. They use high pressure
(27:13):
air blowing through the line, and the companies that do
it all the time do it really well and they'll
warranty their work. So just make sure you're getting bids
from those kinds of companies and you know it'll work.
And thanks for your call. Thank you everybody for calling
in this morning. We're going to do this right the
same way tomorrow morning, starting at nine o'clock. Get your
(27:37):
questions and your calls ready and give me a shout
out tomorrow. We will see you then. Until then, get
out into this beautiful day and get busy building yourself
a beautiful life. We'll see tomorrow. This has been Home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live
broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from
(28:00):
six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from
nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty Dam I Dam forty live streaming
on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp The House whisper Here
with you live like I Am every Saturday and Sunday
morning Saturdays from six to eight Pacific time, Sunday mornings
(00:23):
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let you know that you know that that trackless sliding
(00:45):
quote unquote barn door that I was talking about earlier.
She has went and found the video that we posted
from the Builders Show and pinned it to the top
of our Facebook and Instagram Instagram. It's on Instagram. Go
check it out. You gotta check it out. You'll know
exactly what I'm talking about. Very very popular video and
there for you since I brought it up again today,
(01:08):
So follow us on social media. And of course you
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And finally, if your home is in need of a
more personal house whisper attention. If you've been listening this
(01:30):
morning and you're like, wow, I got to get those
two into my living room staring at that problem and
helping me get over this hump, well that can happen
to You can book an in home design consult with us,
with me and the tea right here. Just go to
house Whisperer dot design for more information. All right, it
(01:52):
is and all calls weekend for us. I can get
started with another call here. Show's running a little late today.
I'm my fault today, No it's not. Let's talk to Marcie. Hey, Marcy,
welcome home. Well, good morning, Dean, good morning. Oh my gosh,
you sound so chipper.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, second cup of espresso.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
There you go, there you go. How can I help you?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, five years ago I had my renovator girlfriend remodel
the kitchen and we have six recessed lights in the
ceiling in the kitchen. And now what's happening is there's
two switches that you can turn and dim and you know,
dim the lights if you want. And when I put
the switch on either switch, maybe four of the lights
(02:45):
come on, or maybe five, and then sometimes after three
or four switches, all six come on. So my girlfriend
and I unscrewed the recess light bulbs and change them
around to see if it was a light bulb issue.
It is not, so I don't know if it's a
switch issue or a wiring issue. I assume I need electrician.
(03:06):
What's your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Okay, So is it always the same lights that don't
come on? Or is it just a completely random it is?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Actually there's it's kind of random lately. I've been seeing
it regularly on two of the six Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
And you've got two switches that control these same six
six lights in other words, so you don't have that
on separate circuits. You've got a three way switch so
you can turn them off from one side of the
room or turn them on them off on the other
side of the room, right, correct. Okay, And those three
way switches, are they both dimmers or is there just
one dimmer?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Oh? Well, I'm running downstairs now to check. N Sorry,
I didn't expect that question. Let's see here. Well, definitely
we got on switch that's a dimmer and they are
both on switches.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
All right, So here's the thing, Marcy. So it may
not be this, but I'm going to give you my
best shot on on recess can lights. Are these LED lights,
by the way, I.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Think they are. I think they are there. They're pretty modern.
They're not your your antiquated ones.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
My friends, they don't take screw in incandescent bulbs. They're
it was five years ago. I'm assuming they're that they're LED.
I'm assuming yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I think you'd be right. My friend who has them
in her place too, she says she's never had this happen,
so I think they're I think you're right.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Okay, So LED housings, the housings themselves can end up
with either a faulty little circuit power controller or a
faulty thermal control unit. Okay, So that it may be.
And if that's the case, then then it's probably a
(05:06):
situation where you need to call electrician in to check
each of the housings to make sure they're working right.
But the reason I asked, if it's random or not, Okay,
I'm just going to give you this piece of advice,
and this is an inexpensive attempted fix. Okay, an inexpensive
attempted fix. We never when it comes to LED lights,
(05:29):
we never ever put in two dimers on a three
way circuit. Okay. In other words, dimmers have a way
of really messing with fighting dimmers, I should say, fighting
dimmers have a way of messing with the LED recess
(05:50):
light fixtures that they're controlling. All right, because you've got
you know, you've got the ability to control you know,
variable current in two directions from two different sources, and
that tip typically is way more. It's just inviting trouble. Okay.
So what we what we normally do when I set
up a room, and it doesn't matter how many switches, okay,
(06:12):
there can be. It could be a five way switch.
I mean, we could be controlling this from all multiple
different places. But when it comes to that set of lights,
one dimmer, in other words, we control the dimness with
one and all the others are on off on off period. Okay,
So you may have I'm and my guess is, my
gut tells me that that may be the case. So
(06:35):
your friend who has a got remodeling skill and you
here is how you can see if that's the problem,
and that is you simply go and buy an inexpensive
three way on off switch, no dimmer control, okay, just
digital led controllable on off three way switch and remove
(06:57):
one of the dimmer switches and replace it with the
on off so you pick which side of the room
you'd prefer to have the dimmer control over and replace
the other switch just with a three way. Still it
has to be a three way switch, but a three
way just on off, no dimmer control. And I have
a hunch that that's going to solve your weird random
(07:20):
light problem.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Okay, but this sounds great. Thank you so much, all right.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
And if that doesn't solve the problem, Marcy, if it
doesn't solve the problem, then you can have to call
electrician to have them take a look at the actual
housing units. But I got a hunch, all right, Marcy.
Thank you so much for your call. More of your
calls when we return KFI. Dean chart the house whisper
at your service. It is an all calls weekend for us.
(07:47):
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three three the numeral two Ask Dean eight
three to three two. Ask Dean there is room on
the callboard for you, my friend, if you've got something
that's got you scratching your head about your home. Very
quickly before I jumped in the next call, I want
to do Marcy an even bigger service. She was our
(08:09):
previous caller. She's got a set of six recess can
lights and a three way switches, and they're coming on
and off at weird times. They're behaving weirdly. I surmise
that she had two dimmer switches controlling those can lights,
and that's usually a no no. That usually just sends
all sorts of confusing voltage signals to the lights, and
(08:33):
it can create really weird behaviors, which is what she's got.
But I just wanted to make sure Marcy, if you're
still listening and everybody else, it doesn't mean just because
I said one dimmer only per circuit, it doesn't mean
that you can't here in the twenty first century control
have dimmer control in more than one location. But there
(08:54):
are special systems set up for that, and they're not
expensive either. The one I'm thinking of specifically is if
you were to switch your switches in that room to
what's called the lutron Lutron, you know, big big switch
manufacture the Lutron Cassetta system. Then you could have dimmer
control as many places as you want. It still follows
(09:18):
my rule though, because with a Lutron Cassetta system, there
would be only one of those switches as what we
call the master dimmer, but the other switch is actually
a remote, a slave, a remote to the master. So
you can have as many of those remote switches around
the room or in other rooms, or in your car
(09:40):
or you know next door, well next door a little
far away. But the point is, using a Lutron Cassetta system,
you can have dimmer and on off control anywhere around
the place. But it still follows the same rule because
the those other switches are still remotes. They're not sending
their own s signal to the lights like two conventional dimmers.
(10:04):
They are simply a remote for the one master dimmer.
So any three way circuit, any time you've got more
than one switch controlling the same lights, just one dimmer,
you can just do it conventionally with one dimmer and
one on and off, or you can do it with
a Neutron system and have that control. But that's the
(10:26):
only kind of system that to violate or overcomes that rule,
and it doesn't really, it's just that they're using remotes
along the way. Does that make sense? Okay, all right,
we are going to get back on time here. We're
going to jump to a quick break and right after
the news more of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
(10:49):
on demand from KFI AM six forty five AM six
sporting live streaming in HD everywhere on the iHeart Radio app.
Welcome home, your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
That's me here to help you take your home to
the next level. Whether it's a cottage or a castle,
(11:10):
it matters not. I am here to help you with
your home. And it is an all calls weekend for
us here on the show. Nothing but your calls. The
number to reach me eight three three to ask Dean.
Eight three three the numeral to ask Dean. Let's go
back to the phones. I want to talk to Sarah. Hey, Sarah,
welcome home.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, good morning, Dean, thanks for taking my call. I
have a a house built in nineteen seventy two. I
replaced my flooring. I have sheep vinyl flooring I replaced
maybe twenty five years ago. That is an entryway kitchen,
(11:51):
down the hall and in one bathroom. I want to
replace that torm and I want to replace it with
some type of playing flooring. And I want to know
do I need to remove the sheet vinyl flooring or
can I install the plank flooring over it? And I'll
(12:12):
have someone professionally do it. I'm not doing it.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Okay, really good question. And you're on a slab, right, yes, correct, Okay,
you're on a slab. The answer to your question is maybe,
but I'll give you exactly why you the here's the
thing when it comes to and we're talking about like
(12:36):
an engineered wood floor, that would be a glue down floor.
Is that what you're thinking?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, or and that's my second question
is for suggestions about the type of flooring.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Okay, Well, just so so I can answer the first question.
So if you if you choose a floating floor system,
something that is interlocking and just floating and other words,
it only gets held down on the perimeter by the
baseboard or base shoe or whatever the case may be,
then it's an absolute no brainer. You can just keep
the vinyl in place, okay, because the floating floor system
(13:12):
is not dependent on what's underneath it. It just kind
of lays there and there's no attachment dependency between the
floating floor and the vinyl. But that does not mean
that that's the your only option there. Quite often, in
certain conditions, we will lay down something that is the
(13:32):
equivalent of sheet vinyl onto a slab to create what
we call a vapor barrier in order to keep moisture
from the slab from having a detrimental effect on our
hardwood that we're gluing down. So and if we were
to lay down a vapor barrier, a vinyl sheet product
(13:54):
vapor barrier, it would be solidly glued to the slab,
I mean just incredibly well glued to the slab. And
then we would we would the surface would be porous,
not shiny and glossy, would be porous, and we use
a special glue that is designed to grab onto the
surface of the vinyl and hold the hardwood in place.
(14:16):
And it's kind of the best of all worlds because
now we know that that hardwood is fully protected from
any moisture in the slab. So that would be a
special product that we would use in certain conditions anyway,
And quite often when we find a well adhered and
that's the key, my friend, well adhered vinyl floor, then
we don't have to pull it up. We'll just use
(14:38):
it like we would use a vapor barrier. We will
rough it up well, will scuff up the surface so
that it's all roughed up, and the porosity of that
vinyl has opened up so that the hardwood glue will
grab onto it and bind and hold the floor really,
really well. And the question in your case is simply this,
(14:59):
whether or not that vinyl floor is really well adhered.
And I'm not talking about just whether it was shoddy
work or whatever. But there were, you know, twenty years ago,
there were a lot of vinyl floors that were going
in that were specially designed to kind of themselves be
floating floors, meaning that they are only sort of adhered
(15:20):
on the perimeter that they get laid down sort of
like carpeting, and that they themselves aren't really in most
places glued down to the slab. And you wouldn't know
the difference unless you actually, you know, cut into them
and try and pull up a piece and so The
point is this, when the time comes, a flooring professional
(15:42):
can evaluate that vinyl and they will I mean, knowing
that you're going to cover it anyway. It's either going
to get covered or torn out, and they'll probably go
through and try and cut out certain sections of the
vinyl in certain areas to find out out in the
middle of the room, to find out whether it's it
itself is glued down and how well it's glued down.
And most flooring pros will find that if it's glued down, well,
(16:05):
they're just gonna leave it there, rough it up and
use the proper adhesive to lay down your plank flooring.
So you really there's a good chance, there's a good
chance that you can just keep the vinyl floor in
place if it is a well installed vinyl floor. End
of end of storm.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah it's not. The flooring amazingly is not coming up
or bubbled up in any way, shape or form anywhere,
even though it's in a very large area.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, so that I think you have a I think
you have a very high likelihood that you'll be able
to keep it in place.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
And the vinyl floor goes underneath the floorboards, so then
I would put the new flooring. I don't have quarter
round molding, so I would put the new flooring down
if it's applicable and it's the right thing to do,
and then I would maybe put some quarter round molding
(17:03):
against the existing molding, because I don't want to expend
an effort to pull up all the molding.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, that's what typically is done, is what we call
it a base shoe. And yeah, it's a quarter round
kind of molding that covers the edge and the flooring
will be run up to your existing baseboards and then
the base shoe laid down. And I recommend, by the way,
when you do that, that the base shoe actually be
not don't try and match the base shoe and make
(17:31):
it part of the flooring pattern. In other words, you've
got an oak floor, don't use an oak base shoe.
I prefer as a designer. It doesn't matter from a
contractor's point of view. It holds it down either way.
But I prefer that you lay down an inexpensive base
shoe and paint it along with your baseboard. Let it
become part of your baseboard.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Okay, yeah, I would do that. I agree with that. Okay.
My last question, do you have any recommendation. I know
that flooring can be from this price up to you know,
a Cadillac style. Do you have any suggestions on brands
or in your experience, because I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I know, uh, there are so many out there, Sarah.
I'm not going to zero down to one brand. I'm
just going to tell you this. Start your shopping and
start your investigation. Like I was saying earlier in the show,
just get out to a really good flooring place. Only
go with reputable brands when you're you know, when it
comes to floating floors, there's so many options, so many options.
(18:35):
But when it comes to hardwood, if you're going to
put down legitimate engineered hardwood, engineered, absolutely, I wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't put down hardwood.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
You would not put down hardwood. So you don't have
to worry about that. No, Okay. Then then then then
you're just in the You're just in that that phase
where you just need to get out. You need to
look at the look at the colors, talk about the durability,
look at the warranties. The warranties are key, Okay, because,
(19:07):
like you know, if you've got a manufacturer who basically,
I always like to look for a floor for a
residence that actually has a commercial warranty, you know. I
mean if a manufacturer says, well, if you put this
in a home, we'll do a fifty year warranty on it.
If you install it in a commercial space like a
store that gets unbelievable amounts of traffic, we'll warranty it
(19:28):
for twenty years. I'm like, that's a good floor. If
you've got a floor that actually is is viable to
go in a commercial space, then you know that you're
looking at a durable product. And the rest of it
is simply just a matter of style and preference and
all of those things. Sarah, good luck. Do your research.
(19:49):
Like I always say, window shopping is free. Take the time,
educate yourself, look at every imaginable option, look at prices
per square foot, and then you know, pick the one
that fits your best. Thank you so much for the call.
All right, more of your calls. When we return your
home with Dean Sharp, the house whisper, Hey bye, keep
(20:09):
the house whisper. Welcome home. Hope you're having a lovely
morning here on this Saturday, March fifteenth. We are doing
an all calls weekend. I love all calls weekend because
I just love talking to you about your home. I've
got time for at least one more before we're out
of here today, and then we're gonna pick it up
again tomorrow the Big Show Sunday from nine to noon.
(20:33):
If I leave any of you hanging on the line,
which undoubtedly I will have to today, just know if
you call back tomorrow and let producer Richie know, Hey,
I was on the phone yesterday and Dean didn't get
to me. We will give you a priority position tomorrow show.
So that's my way of saying sorry, I couldn't get
to everybody. Let's talk to Ken. Hey, Ken, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
Hey, Hey, good morning, Thanks for taking my call questions
for you. I got a sixty plus year old house
that has galvanized drade lines that run from one sire
house to the other right kitchen to Washington Machiner on
the far side, and it was slow draining. So I
had a plumbing company come out and they brought their
(21:18):
rooter jet, their jetter. They called and they jetted out,
so they got the water, They got the drain working,
but they recommended doing something like they called it a
de scaling operation, and then they can put in a
POxy liner inside this pipe. That said that they would
preserve the pipe for another fifty years. Do you know
anything about that?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Yep, yep, yep, I do galvan I do you have
a you got a crawl space under your house?
Speaker 4 (21:47):
No, it's not. It's a slab. So they said there's
two options. One is they can jackhammer up the slab
and take out walls and take out the kitchen cabinets
that replace the pipe. Or they said they can go
in through the clean out on the outside of the house,
the inch and a half clean out on the outside
of the house, do like a de scaling operation, and
then they go in and put some kind of a
(22:09):
POxy liner that lines the inside of this supposedly descaled pipe,
and they said that that should give the pipe another
fifty years.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, it's legit. It's legit. Ken. The reason I asked
about whether you've got a crawl space or not because optimally,
I mean optimally, and if you're planning on a major
remodel or anything like that for your house, then this
is something that you would want to consider, is to
get rid of those galvanized pipes, galvanized anything in a
(22:40):
home was very popular for a very short period of time,
and I can just honestly tell you it was the
worst idea ever. Okay, galvanized pipes are just steel pipes.
Steel as in yeah, rusts very easily covered with a
galvanic coating. That's what makes it that kind of you know, shiny,
(23:04):
you know, bright, kind of tin colored. That galvanic coating
has two problems with it. Number one, over time, it'll crack,
and as soon as it cracks, moisture gets into the
steel and starts rusting out the pipe. And that galvanic
coating is on the inside and the outside and on
the inside. The second problem is as you could just
(23:27):
tell by looking at a galvanized pipe, and if you
look under a microscope you'd be like whoa, yeah. The
second problem with a galvanized pipe is that that galvanic
coating is very rough. It is very I mean it
is heavily textured on a microscopic level, very textured, and
as a result, it grabs onto everything, including the poop
(23:49):
and everything that goes down the pipes, and it creates
sludge and sludge clings to it. And then it creates
build up and the next thing you know, you're in
your situation where you got slow running drains. Not only
are they deteriorating, but they're clogging all the time. So
galvanized was just a terrible idea. If you have the
option of pulling them out and replacing them with PVC
(24:12):
or ABS piping, then yeah, do that. But I totally
get it. If you're not planning on doing anything else
to your house, you got all this stuff running underneath
your house. Chances are, by the way, that once that
galvanized gets down into the ground, the chances are it
transitions into a cast iron pipe. They're very, very few circumstances.
(24:36):
I'm not sure I've ever seen a circumstance where galvanized
runs in the ground all the way over to the
sewer connection. It usually it's galvanized pipe above ground that
transfers into cast iron under the ground. But still cast
iron sewer piping. Same ultimate problem. So my friend, yes, now,
(24:57):
make sure a couple of things. Make sure you get
two or three estimates from two or three qualified companies.
But it's true if the pipe has not corroded, cracked,
or you know, in other words, if it's still structurally
holding solid and they've successfully cleaned it out, then yes,
(25:18):
there is a procedure by which they will go in
descale the inside of the pipe, which is just basically
clearing it, you know, as much as possible. And yeah,
we can put in an epoxy liner inside the pipe,
which is basically a pipe inside a pipe, and that
epoxy liner is everything that the galvanized and or cast
(25:40):
iron pipe is not, which is it is smooth, things
don't cling to it. And yeah, you're essentially repiping the
sewer system from the inside out. And typically speaking, yeah,
you'll get decades more as long as the galvanized and
or cast iron pipe itself is still holding its structure
(26:03):
on the outside, then that epoxy lining will definitely extend
the life of your sewer system without having to get
in and jackhammer up the slab. Now, getting rid of
those pipes would be my first, you know preference, but
not if you're not plenty, not if you're not doing
a major remodel. I don't want you jackhammering up all
(26:25):
your floors in order to get to that stuff. So
get some competitive bids and consider doing the epoxy line.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Okay, thank you, very much. I just didn't know if
this was a legit thing or it just sounded kind
of funny. I just don't know how they're going to
get the how they get the epoxy in there, and
then how they get it so it just coats the
whole inside of the surface of the pipe instead of
just like puddling in the middle of the pipe or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, that's why. That's why I want you to use
a company and only get bids from companies that you know.
I don't go with the plumber who's like, yeah, wait, yeah,
we do that once in a while. Now, you want
to go with a company that is fully legit on
that and gives you a full warranty because there's a
process that has to be taken. They use high pressure
(27:13):
air blowing through the line, and the companies that do
it all the time do it really well and they'll
warranty their work. So just make sure you're getting bids
from those kinds of companies and you know it'll work.
And thanks for your call. Thank you everybody for calling
in this morning. We're going to do this right the
same way tomorrow morning, starting at nine o'clock. Get your
(27:37):
questions and your calls ready and give me a shout
out tomorrow. We will see you then. Until then, get
out into this beautiful day and get busy building yourself
a beautiful life. We'll see tomorrow. This has been Home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live
broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from
(28:00):
six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from
nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app
Home with Dean Sharp News
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