March 22, 2025 • 27 mins
Dean advices on how to layout a steamed shower and building a wraparound porch on a tiny house. Dean helps a caller on locating California native drought tolerate plants that would go well with either gravel or decomposed granite. Dean says that most tract homes have four different developments and how the developers tend to flip them, change the placement to create an illusion of varies homes for the neighborhood; to make it look full. Plus, he recaps on the craftsmanship, the engineering and the developments of architecture pedigree of tract homes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty, AFI AM forty Live, Dreaming in
h D everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp The
House Whisperer Live every Saturday and Sunday morning Saturdays from
(00:22):
six to eight Pacific time, Sundays nine to noon Pacific time. Hey,
follow us on social media. We only do the good kind, uplifting, informative,
inspiring social media. It just follow us on social media.
We're on all the usual suspects Instagram, TikTok, Facebook x,
Home with Dean, same handle for them all. And of
(00:43):
course this very program is the house Whisper Podcast that
you can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand, hundreds of episodes,
all searchable by topic. It is your home improvement reference library.
And lastly, if your home is in need of a
little more personal house Whisper attention, yeah, you can book
(01:07):
an in home design consult with me and the tea
at house Whisperer dot Design. Just go to house Whisper
dot Design. Yeah, we'll come on over to your place,
stand around, look at that problem thing, help you get unstuck.
We helped a very very lovely couple get unstuck yesterday
and they were very grateful in a good time was
(01:31):
had by all. It's always fun. All right, y'all, let's
get back to the phones. We're talking. By the way,
if you just joined us about tracked homes this weekend,
specifically tracked home weaknesses and as a result of understanding
what those intrinsic weaknesses are, I've got a whole list
(01:53):
for you, specifically on tomorrow's show for things that you
can do, include in your rema to get a huge
disproportionate win from a relatively small time and money investment
to when it comes to plugging those holes and fixing
those weaknesses. But today we're laying the groundwork of what
(02:13):
those weaknesses are. We'll get back to that discussion, but
right now I am taking calls and I want to
talk to Shirley A Sureley. Welcome home.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Hi, sir, I'm going to have to keep it short.
In a buffet line, but I promise you I know
what I'm going to say.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
You're in a buffet line.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, so nass, but I'm sorry about that. Anyways, I
have a short front top of my home. It's ten
steps three yards each, so it's thirty feet completely at
the front. It's small home. Is there a way I
could do a wrap around porch?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Could you do a wrap around port?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah? Versus a veranda, super small property. So I'm just saying,
I just like that coziness that I don't know if
I should do like a veranda type porch or a
wrap around because that was one of a Walton's type
porch and that's just may not be all.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, Okay, so one or two story house.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
One it's it's so small. You come in when you're
almost twenty seat, twenty steps out to the backyard.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Okay, I hear you, I hear you.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Now the most important question of the well, there are
two important questions. One, you know, we'd have to take
a look at the style of the house to see
if a wrap around porch will work for it. Assuming
that it does. The only other limitation would be whether
your small house is sitting right on its setback lines.
(03:49):
In other words, for the city. Okay, because a just
building out a porch, just a porch, not a problem.
A porch is considered sort of a flat hardscape addition
to the property, and you know that that's something that
could for most municipalities, stick into the setback zone of
(04:10):
your property, but putting the roof on it all right now,
we are technically ending the envelope of the house. So
let's say you've got a twenty foot setback for your house.
If your house proper right now is sitting right on
that setback line, then I mean you conchect with your city.
(04:31):
But the chances of putting a wrap around porch with
with an extended roof covering over it, They're going to say, Nope,
you're in your setback. You can't you can't do that.
But if you are well back of your setback, both
front and on your sides, then wrapping a porch around
with its you know, a tending covered roof, there's no
(04:52):
If it's not a zoning land usage issue from the city,
and you can just find out by giving them a call,
then then it just comes down to whether the house
can handle the style. And I agree with you, I
think they're beautiful, and your little thirty foot house, by
the way, will grow in size visually as a result,
(05:13):
because if it's truly a rap around and not just
a front facing porch, but if it wraps, if it
turns the corner and wraps around. Then the depth of
that porch, let's say, you know, eight feet or so,
is going to add another sixteen plus feet to the
overall you know, front presence of your home. So it
(05:34):
could be a big win for you. But the key
is to find out where your setbacks are and whether
you can build into that space. Again, if it's just
a porch, then it would be considered more of a deck,
and in almost all cases that can be pushed out
into the setback. But you put the roof over it,
and the city is like, now you're extending the envelope
of your house and we want you to keep it
(05:58):
inside the setback.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Awesome, thank you sir, giving me enough to think about,
and I want to wish you a wonderful day. Thanks
for your time.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
You're well, tell me what you're looking at on that buffet?
What's the what's what's going to be in primary?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Okay? Uh, the extra heavy cream with coffee and then
scrambled riggs with a whole mushrooms that are not from
the can. You could tell they were grilled, and then
stick belf pepper barely grilled. That impressed me. So I'm
gonna wait till I'm done with even moments like that.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Next Sorry, surely enjoy your breakfast. Thanks for the call.
Oh now I'm hungry. Now I'm hungry me too.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
That sounds really good. Geez, Heather, why are we standing
in a buffet line? We need a home buffet like
we need an outing to a buffet.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I agree, all right, more of your calls when we
uh well.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Right after Heather gives us the.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
News, can't bye, hes darp the house with We're at
your service. Thanks for joining us on the program. Today,
we're gonna get back to our conversation on the intrinsic
weaknesses design wise of a tract home, and that lays
the foundation for us taking it further, especially in tomorrow
(07:17):
show or for your podcast listener to the next episode
of what are some of these magical elements that we
can add to a tract home remodel to get a
disproportionately big win for a relatively small amount of effort
and or money. Big list. Most of that comes tomorrow. Today,
(07:38):
we're just laying the foundation of understanding tracked homes better,
especially their weaknesses. But right now I just want to
finish up calls I've got time for maybe one more
call today, and who's it gonna be. I think we're
gonna talk Tordaura, Hey, Laura, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Hidine. I currently have rubber molt around my house when
it doesn't fade like wooden molt and that kind of stuff,
so it always holds its dark color. But I'm looking
at replacing it because I'm assuming that rubber mult next
to your house is probably not a great idea when
you're in a buyer zone. So I know you spoke
about pea gravel the other day. We have had two
(08:28):
landscape architects look at our area and recommended decomposed Granted,
what's the differences between the pea gravel and deepset Granted
it doesn't come in different colors? And then where is
a good place for a good source for California native
throughout tolerant plants. We're looking at replacing all the plants
(08:49):
in our flower beds where all this is going. I
can go to our local gardens stores and that kind
of stuff. But is really California native best being in
southern California? Or can any drought toler plants be used?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Okay, really really good questions Okay, So as far as uh,
pea gravel versus decomposed granite, it's really a stylistic choice. Ultimately,
decomposed granite looks like kind of you know, beige clay dirt.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You know, it looks like sort of a you know,
sort of a desert Southwest kind of vibe and and
or you know, Mediterranean so on uh and uh and
pea gravel is gravel. Now decomposed granite it's a it's
a little bit more uh. You know, some people find
it more stable to walk on because it's just like
(09:43):
walking on a dirt path. It's not dirt, though, it's
tiny particulates of granite that have been compacted in Uh.
I personally, I lean towards gravel because I it's easier
to maintain, it is far less inexpensive to install, and
(10:05):
it drains beautifully. And you can get it in any color,
just about any color. So when most people think of
peak gravel, they're like, well, I don't want the whole
gray blue kind of tint or you know, but that's
just standard peak gravel. There's you know, think about aquarium rocks.
You know, you can get it in the same browns
(10:26):
and beige's that decomposed granite essentially takes on you can
nudge it in several different directions. So I'm only a
fan of gravel because I'm a fan of gravel. Have
I specified and designed decomposed granite for some clients and
some designs, absolutely, So it's really about choosing the right one.
(10:48):
But just understand decomposed granite it takes more time to install.
It has to be installed well, I mean in order
for it to work and not wash away or become unstable.
It has to be installed by a pro or a
homeowner who is meticulously following the steps. It's got to
be compacted down at every turn. And that's why for
(11:10):
a lot of instances, the labor there for me versus
the resulting product. It's just far easier and a lot
less expensive to use gravel because pretty much, once you've
got your you know, your base soil leveled and firmed
up in the direction of drainage whatever is necessary, you
(11:32):
just pour the gravel out, break it out, pour it
out a couple inches thick and there you go, and
you're done. So that's that as far as native plants
versus drought tolerant plants, I am always a fan of
using as many native California plants as possible, or wherever
(11:53):
you find yourself, using native plants for your region. And
that the reason is not just the for California, the
drought tolerance and the minimal watering that comes along with that,
but also just habitat bird life, animal life in your yard.
(12:16):
It all begins with insect life, okay, birds making a
yard a backyard beautiful all begins with whether or not
there is nectar and whether there are plants there that
insects can utilize. And people are like, eh, I don't
line in. It's like, well, if you want a sterile yard,
(12:38):
then just plant completely non native plants. And here's the
reason why. From an evolutionary perspective, insects, the you know,
the food that birds eat coevolved with plants in this region,
in every region. And so the problem is that non
native plants the vast majority, well oh for ninety eight
(13:01):
percent of native California insects have no use for a
non native plant, which means they won't be there. And
if they're not there, then the birds aren't there. And
if the birds aren't there, then you don't have this
beautiful outdoor landscape with the life thriving all over it. So,
in terms of pure watering, any old drought tolerant plant
(13:24):
will do. In terms of building habitat, you want to
go native. Now, it doesn't have to be one hundred
percent pure. No, my yard is a full on habitat.
And I've got some drought tolerant non native plants in
my yard, a few, Okay, I just don't build the
entire yard out of them. The vast majority are plants
(13:44):
that work here in Southern California. And this rule applies
to everybody no matter where you're listening to the show
from buy and plant native to your region. And finally,
for your last question, here in Southern California, Yeah, undoubtedly
the best single resource. Now you can buy these kinds
(14:05):
of things just about anywhere, but the best resource for
your education is the Theodore Pain Foundation. Theodore Pain Foundation,
they have a twenty two acre nursery on the north
edge of the San Fernando Valley over in Sunland. I
think it's Sunland or Tahunga and Theodore Pain Foundation. They
(14:28):
are a one stop showplace for all native California plants.
You go there, you'll see displays you can actually buy
from the nursery, but you can go there for an
education bare minimum and see everything that California has to
offer in terms of its own native plant offerings, and
(14:50):
let me tell you, it is vast. It is a
lot more than most people think. Laura, great question, Thank
you for your call, and good luck on that landscape.
I like all the moves that you're making. I think
I think you're headed in the right direction. All right, y'all,
let's get back to our conversation on the intrinsic weaknesses
(15:11):
of tract housing and what we're going to do about it.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Will all do that?
Speaker 1 (15:14):
All?
Speaker 3 (15:16):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Forty your Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper. Thanks
for joining us on the program today. We are laying
the ground work for our next episode, tomorrow's show, and
it's all critically important information. But we're talking about big
wins for your tracked home remodel. And what are the
biggest wins, the ones that address the intrinsic weaknesses of
(15:49):
a tract home, which most of us live in tracked homes. Now,
I've already discussed a couple of the biggies in terms
of what it is about a tract home that is
an intrinsic weakness. Told you that it has its strength
obviously the cost because most of us are living in
(16:10):
homes that weren't custom built, and as a result, we
get to live in a home. But now that you're
in it, you are ready to remodel it. It's time
to turn it into that custom home that you always wanted.
So we got to address the shortcomings. Orientation on the
lot is a massive, massive weakness of a tract home
(16:32):
because it wasn't really designed for the lot. It is
sitting on per se and as a result, it's windows,
its doors, they don't take full advantage of or fight
with the property, the view, the lack of view, the privacy,
so on and so forth. It's not the only weakness.
(16:54):
Maybe second to that weakness of orientation on the lot
is is that a tract home lacks Most tracked homes
lack any particular architectural pedigree. Now some of you are
reacting to that thinking, well, wait my place. I mean
it's clearly med it's a Mediterranean house. Okay, Well yeah,
(17:21):
quite possible. Okay, I'm not saying every tract home falls
under this category, but most do because of the thing
I discussed earlier in the show, the desire for a
for developers to kind of build the illusion that there
are more homes in a neighborhood than there actually are,
(17:41):
or more unique homes. You basically, you know, in most developments,
you end up with about four different floor plans, four houses,
and then to those four houses, you flip them left
and right, and now we've got eight house plans because
you know, four of them are facing the opposite direction
of the other. And then you take those eight plans
or the four the original four, and if you've got
(18:03):
maybe four different facades for the front, then you've got sixteen.
And then you know, you see how the math works.
But it's that interchangeable facade on the front of most
tracked homes. That's what I'm talking about about a lack
of architectural pedigree. If if you live in a neighborhood
(18:24):
where there are some of the homes with Spanish tile
on the roof or s tiles something like that, and
then you've got others that have sighting instead of stucco
and flat tiles on the roofs. In other words, you
may have homes in your tract that kind of look
a little Colonial or a little Tutor, or a little
(18:46):
Cape Cottish, or a little Mediterranean or Spanish, and you
might have a mix of all of them, all of
those facades going on essentially the same four floor plans.
That is not an essential plan, that is specifically one
(19:08):
architectural pedigree, you understand, because by definition, if we can
interchange the style on the front of the house, then
the structure of the house itself is not designed to
be any one particular thing.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Does that make sense? I hope?
Speaker 2 (19:25):
So?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
All right, So.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
This is more pronounced in latter years than it was
a generation ago. By the way, in the nineteen fifties
through the nineteen seventies, when the vast majority of California
ranch style homes were built out here on the West Coast,
California ranch homes were content to just be California ranch.
(19:48):
But since the eighties, tracked homes have become far more
ambiguous in its pedigree. And you know that is what
it is. They think there's a silver lining hiding in
a house with no real architectural pedigree. Do you want
to hear what it is, Well, hang tight with me,
we'll talk about it day. Hi, King Sharp the house Whisper,
(20:12):
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program today.
I'm glad that you are here. We've got a beautiful
Saturday ahead of us here. No matter where you are
across this great land, it's gorgeous here in southern California.
This is why people pay the big bucks to live here.
It is a gorgeous spring day here in Southern California.
(20:33):
I hope that spring is busting out wherever you are
as well. And so and I'm glad you're here with us.
We've been talking about the intrinsic weaknesses of tract homes now,
you know. And I'm not piling on to a tract
home to you know, poop pooh them, because I'm a
custom home designer. That's not my goal at all. I
(20:54):
live in a tract home. Chances are you live in
a tract home and and there's there's good reasons for it.
But we've got to understand when we're going to remodel
our tract home and make it more hours, make it
more custom, we want to address the things that are
most intrinsically weak about the home in order to turn
(21:14):
it into that dream home that we've always wanted to
live in. So we've talked about things so far today,
things like the craftsmanship of a tract home. You know,
when a home is being built by spreadsheet, it's not
going to be the finest craftsmanship in the world. We've
(21:36):
talked about the fact that, on the other hand, the
engineering of a tracked home far better and any home
being built you know in the last you know generation,
far better than you know super ultra custom wonderful homes
built in the nineteen twenties, as far as it's engineering
is concerned, in other words, its strength and its resilience
(21:59):
to to handle you know, the elements that it sits in.
But at the heart of weaknesses of a tract home
lies this idea that very few tracked homes developments have
strong architectural pedigrees. Now, somebody was asking during the break,
(22:20):
so explain this architectural pedigree thing, And the easiest way
to explain it is that to give you an example,
let's take a Queen Anne Victorian, which is like a
gingerbread y kind of Victorian home that you've all seen,
and you're like, you know what they look like a
Queen Anne Victorian, an authentic turn of the century Queen
(22:42):
Anne Victorian home. No one in their right mind takes
a Victorian home and tries to turn it into a
Spanish med home because it's the hardest thing in the
world to do. Why because it's a Queen Anne Victorian.
You know, it knows exactly actly what it is down
to its bones. It is a Victorian home. So changing it,
(23:07):
I mean you might as well. Honestly, if you wanted
a Spanish home and you bought a Victorian, you might
as well just level it and start over. And the
same is true like a craftsman home. There's no taking
a craftsman home and turning it into a Victorian. So
you get these are homes with strong architectural stylistic pedigrees,
(23:29):
and your typical tract home which is really designed to
be flexible enough to you know, have a colonial facade
on the front, or have something that looks a little
tutor on the front of the same floor plan, or
that has something that looks Spanish met on the front
of the same floor plan. If a home that can
take all those kinds of facades doesn't really have its
(23:52):
own strong particular pedigree. Okay, but wait, I actually think
that's a silver lining for most of us. Don't see
your place as a boring beige box. See it as
a blank canvas longing for what it never really had,
which is a real identity. So the truth of the
(24:14):
matter is, if you're working with a home that was
really designed as a hybrid, if you do the research,
if you pile in on the design, the advantage to
working with a home of questionable architectural pedigree is we
can probably make it just about anything you want it
to be, because in one sense, there's only two types
(24:34):
of houses, those with pedigree and those without. And those
with pedigree know what they're supposed to be and they
give us a design playbook to follow in terms of
the remodel. But those without a pedigree, it's a blank
canvas to paint on as we please. And this means
that every house has a path forward, every house has
(24:57):
hope of becoming something truly special. And you know, I
used to say this all the time. Most renovations don't
need a bigger budget, They just need a better story.
And when that story merges with your story, that is
when you are in a position to take an ordinary
tract home and make it an extraordinary custom home, built
(25:23):
as if it was built just for you. That's the secret,
that's the key. Okay, Now, this was just part one
of this two part series. Today we took a look
at the intrinsic nature of a tracked home, took a
look at its weaknesses. Tomorrow on The Big Show Sunday
Live from nine to noon, we will be taking a
(25:47):
look at the whole essence of what are these things
that we can take advantage of. I'm going to give
you a preview. Most ranch, single story bedrooms have some
sort of view into the backyard. That view is typically
a window. So many ranch bedrooms would benefit from that
(26:10):
window being turned into a door. And guess what, because
of how a ranch house is built, turning the window
into a door not a big deal at all, and
actually not even making a structural change to the house.
That's the kind of stuff we're going to be talking
about tomorrow. Relatively small effort, relatively small budget, big big payoff.
(26:34):
I've got a whole list of them. Join me here
again tomorrow from nine to noon. Until then, get out
into this big, beautiful day and get busy building yourself
a beautiful life. We'll see you tomorrow. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
(26:58):
from 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, AFI AM forty Live, Dreaming in
h D everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp The
House Whisperer Live every Saturday and Sunday morning Saturdays from
(00:22):
six to eight Pacific time, Sundays nine to noon Pacific time. Hey,
follow us on social media. We only do the good kind, uplifting, informative,
inspiring social media. It just follow us on social media.
We're on all the usual suspects Instagram, TikTok, Facebook x,
Home with Dean, same handle for them all. And of
(00:43):
course this very program is the house Whisper Podcast that
you can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand, hundreds of episodes,
all searchable by topic. It is your home improvement reference library.
And lastly, if your home is in need of a
little more personal house Whisper attention, yeah, you can book
(01:07):
an in home design consult with me and the tea
at house Whisperer dot Design. Just go to house Whisper
dot Design. Yeah, we'll come on over to your place,
stand around, look at that problem thing, help you get unstuck.
We helped a very very lovely couple get unstuck yesterday
and they were very grateful in a good time was
(01:31):
had by all. It's always fun. All right, y'all, let's
get back to the phones. We're talking. By the way,
if you just joined us about tracked homes this weekend,
specifically tracked home weaknesses and as a result of understanding
what those intrinsic weaknesses are, I've got a whole list
(01:53):
for you, specifically on tomorrow's show for things that you
can do, include in your rema to get a huge
disproportionate win from a relatively small time and money investment
to when it comes to plugging those holes and fixing
those weaknesses. But today we're laying the groundwork of what
(02:13):
those weaknesses are. We'll get back to that discussion, but
right now I am taking calls and I want to
talk to Shirley A Sureley. Welcome home.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Hi, sir, I'm going to have to keep it short.
In a buffet line, but I promise you I know
what I'm going to say.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
You're in a buffet line.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, so nass, but I'm sorry about that. Anyways, I
have a short front top of my home. It's ten
steps three yards each, so it's thirty feet completely at
the front. It's small home. Is there a way I
could do a wrap around porch?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Could you do a wrap around port?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah? Versus a veranda, super small property. So I'm just saying,
I just like that coziness that I don't know if
I should do like a veranda type porch or a
wrap around because that was one of a Walton's type
porch and that's just may not be all.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, Okay, so one or two story house.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
One it's it's so small. You come in when you're
almost twenty seat, twenty steps out to the backyard.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Okay, I hear you, I hear you.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Now the most important question of the well, there are
two important questions. One, you know, we'd have to take
a look at the style of the house to see
if a wrap around porch will work for it. Assuming
that it does. The only other limitation would be whether
your small house is sitting right on its setback lines.
(03:49):
In other words, for the city. Okay, because a just
building out a porch, just a porch, not a problem.
A porch is considered sort of a flat hardscape addition
to the property, and you know that that's something that
could for most municipalities, stick into the setback zone of
(04:10):
your property, but putting the roof on it all right now,
we are technically ending the envelope of the house. So
let's say you've got a twenty foot setback for your house.
If your house proper right now is sitting right on
that setback line, then I mean you conchect with your city.
(04:31):
But the chances of putting a wrap around porch with
with an extended roof covering over it, They're going to say, Nope,
you're in your setback. You can't you can't do that.
But if you are well back of your setback, both
front and on your sides, then wrapping a porch around
with its you know, a tending covered roof, there's no
(04:52):
If it's not a zoning land usage issue from the city,
and you can just find out by giving them a call,
then then it just comes down to whether the house
can handle the style. And I agree with you, I
think they're beautiful, and your little thirty foot house, by
the way, will grow in size visually as a result,
(05:13):
because if it's truly a rap around and not just
a front facing porch, but if it wraps, if it
turns the corner and wraps around. Then the depth of
that porch, let's say, you know, eight feet or so,
is going to add another sixteen plus feet to the
overall you know, front presence of your home. So it
(05:34):
could be a big win for you. But the key
is to find out where your setbacks are and whether
you can build into that space. Again, if it's just
a porch, then it would be considered more of a deck,
and in almost all cases that can be pushed out
into the setback. But you put the roof over it,
and the city is like, now you're extending the envelope
of your house and we want you to keep it
(05:58):
inside the setback.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Awesome, thank you sir, giving me enough to think about,
and I want to wish you a wonderful day. Thanks
for your time.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
You're well, tell me what you're looking at on that buffet?
What's the what's what's going to be in primary?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Okay? Uh, the extra heavy cream with coffee and then
scrambled riggs with a whole mushrooms that are not from
the can. You could tell they were grilled, and then
stick belf pepper barely grilled. That impressed me. So I'm
gonna wait till I'm done with even moments like that.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Next Sorry, surely enjoy your breakfast. Thanks for the call.
Oh now I'm hungry. Now I'm hungry me too.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
That sounds really good. Geez, Heather, why are we standing
in a buffet line? We need a home buffet like
we need an outing to a buffet.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I agree, all right, more of your calls when we
uh well.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Right after Heather gives us the.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
News, can't bye, hes darp the house with We're at
your service. Thanks for joining us on the program. Today,
we're gonna get back to our conversation on the intrinsic
weaknesses design wise of a tract home, and that lays
the foundation for us taking it further, especially in tomorrow
(07:17):
show or for your podcast listener to the next episode
of what are some of these magical elements that we
can add to a tract home remodel to get a
disproportionately big win for a relatively small amount of effort
and or money. Big list. Most of that comes tomorrow. Today,
(07:38):
we're just laying the foundation of understanding tracked homes better,
especially their weaknesses. But right now I just want to
finish up calls I've got time for maybe one more
call today, and who's it gonna be. I think we're
gonna talk Tordaura, Hey, Laura, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Hidine. I currently have rubber molt around my house when
it doesn't fade like wooden molt and that kind of stuff,
so it always holds its dark color. But I'm looking
at replacing it because I'm assuming that rubber mult next
to your house is probably not a great idea when
you're in a buyer zone. So I know you spoke
about pea gravel the other day. We have had two
(08:28):
landscape architects look at our area and recommended decomposed Granted,
what's the differences between the pea gravel and deepset Granted
it doesn't come in different colors? And then where is
a good place for a good source for California native
throughout tolerant plants. We're looking at replacing all the plants
(08:49):
in our flower beds where all this is going. I
can go to our local gardens stores and that kind
of stuff. But is really California native best being in
southern California? Or can any drought toler plants be used?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Okay, really really good questions Okay, So as far as uh,
pea gravel versus decomposed granite, it's really a stylistic choice. Ultimately,
decomposed granite looks like kind of you know, beige clay dirt.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You know, it looks like sort of a you know,
sort of a desert Southwest kind of vibe and and
or you know, Mediterranean so on uh and uh and
pea gravel is gravel. Now decomposed granite it's a it's
a little bit more uh. You know, some people find
it more stable to walk on because it's just like
(09:43):
walking on a dirt path. It's not dirt, though, it's
tiny particulates of granite that have been compacted in Uh.
I personally, I lean towards gravel because I it's easier
to maintain, it is far less inexpensive to install, and
(10:05):
it drains beautifully. And you can get it in any color,
just about any color. So when most people think of
peak gravel, they're like, well, I don't want the whole
gray blue kind of tint or you know, but that's
just standard peak gravel. There's you know, think about aquarium rocks.
You know, you can get it in the same browns
(10:26):
and beige's that decomposed granite essentially takes on you can
nudge it in several different directions. So I'm only a
fan of gravel because I'm a fan of gravel. Have
I specified and designed decomposed granite for some clients and
some designs, absolutely, So it's really about choosing the right one.
(10:48):
But just understand decomposed granite it takes more time to install.
It has to be installed well, I mean in order
for it to work and not wash away or become unstable.
It has to be installed by a pro or a
homeowner who is meticulously following the steps. It's got to
be compacted down at every turn. And that's why for
(11:10):
a lot of instances, the labor there for me versus
the resulting product. It's just far easier and a lot
less expensive to use gravel because pretty much, once you've
got your you know, your base soil leveled and firmed
up in the direction of drainage whatever is necessary, you
(11:32):
just pour the gravel out, break it out, pour it
out a couple inches thick and there you go, and
you're done. So that's that as far as native plants
versus drought tolerant plants, I am always a fan of
using as many native California plants as possible, or wherever
(11:53):
you find yourself, using native plants for your region. And
that the reason is not just the for California, the
drought tolerance and the minimal watering that comes along with that,
but also just habitat bird life, animal life in your yard.
(12:16):
It all begins with insect life, okay, birds making a
yard a backyard beautiful all begins with whether or not
there is nectar and whether there are plants there that
insects can utilize. And people are like, eh, I don't
line in. It's like, well, if you want a sterile yard,
(12:38):
then just plant completely non native plants. And here's the
reason why. From an evolutionary perspective, insects, the you know,
the food that birds eat coevolved with plants in this region,
in every region. And so the problem is that non
native plants the vast majority, well oh for ninety eight
(13:01):
percent of native California insects have no use for a
non native plant, which means they won't be there. And
if they're not there, then the birds aren't there. And
if the birds aren't there, then you don't have this
beautiful outdoor landscape with the life thriving all over it. So,
in terms of pure watering, any old drought tolerant plant
(13:24):
will do. In terms of building habitat, you want to
go native. Now, it doesn't have to be one hundred
percent pure. No, my yard is a full on habitat.
And I've got some drought tolerant non native plants in
my yard, a few, Okay, I just don't build the
entire yard out of them. The vast majority are plants
(13:44):
that work here in Southern California. And this rule applies
to everybody no matter where you're listening to the show
from buy and plant native to your region. And finally,
for your last question, here in Southern California, Yeah, undoubtedly
the best single resource. Now you can buy these kinds
(14:05):
of things just about anywhere, but the best resource for
your education is the Theodore Pain Foundation. Theodore Pain Foundation,
they have a twenty two acre nursery on the north
edge of the San Fernando Valley over in Sunland. I
think it's Sunland or Tahunga and Theodore Pain Foundation. They
(14:28):
are a one stop showplace for all native California plants.
You go there, you'll see displays you can actually buy
from the nursery, but you can go there for an
education bare minimum and see everything that California has to
offer in terms of its own native plant offerings, and
(14:50):
let me tell you, it is vast. It is a
lot more than most people think. Laura, great question, Thank
you for your call, and good luck on that landscape.
I like all the moves that you're making. I think
I think you're headed in the right direction. All right, y'all,
let's get back to our conversation on the intrinsic weaknesses
(15:11):
of tract housing and what we're going to do about it.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Will all do that?
Speaker 1 (15:14):
All?
Speaker 3 (15:16):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Forty your Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper. Thanks
for joining us on the program today. We are laying
the ground work for our next episode, tomorrow's show, and
it's all critically important information. But we're talking about big
wins for your tracked home remodel. And what are the
biggest wins, the ones that address the intrinsic weaknesses of
(15:49):
a tract home, which most of us live in tracked homes. Now,
I've already discussed a couple of the biggies in terms
of what it is about a tract home that is
an intrinsic weakness. Told you that it has its strength
obviously the cost because most of us are living in
(16:10):
homes that weren't custom built, and as a result, we
get to live in a home. But now that you're
in it, you are ready to remodel it. It's time
to turn it into that custom home that you always wanted.
So we got to address the shortcomings. Orientation on the
lot is a massive, massive weakness of a tract home
(16:32):
because it wasn't really designed for the lot. It is
sitting on per se and as a result, it's windows,
its doors, they don't take full advantage of or fight
with the property, the view, the lack of view, the privacy,
so on and so forth. It's not the only weakness.
(16:54):
Maybe second to that weakness of orientation on the lot
is is that a tract home lacks Most tracked homes
lack any particular architectural pedigree. Now some of you are
reacting to that thinking, well, wait my place. I mean
it's clearly med it's a Mediterranean house. Okay, Well yeah,
(17:21):
quite possible. Okay, I'm not saying every tract home falls
under this category, but most do because of the thing
I discussed earlier in the show, the desire for a
for developers to kind of build the illusion that there
are more homes in a neighborhood than there actually are,
(17:41):
or more unique homes. You basically, you know, in most developments,
you end up with about four different floor plans, four houses,
and then to those four houses, you flip them left
and right, and now we've got eight house plans because
you know, four of them are facing the opposite direction
of the other. And then you take those eight plans
or the four the original four, and if you've got
(18:03):
maybe four different facades for the front, then you've got sixteen.
And then you know, you see how the math works.
But it's that interchangeable facade on the front of most
tracked homes. That's what I'm talking about about a lack
of architectural pedigree. If if you live in a neighborhood
(18:24):
where there are some of the homes with Spanish tile
on the roof or s tiles something like that, and
then you've got others that have sighting instead of stucco
and flat tiles on the roofs. In other words, you
may have homes in your tract that kind of look
a little Colonial or a little Tutor, or a little
(18:46):
Cape Cottish, or a little Mediterranean or Spanish, and you
might have a mix of all of them, all of
those facades going on essentially the same four floor plans.
That is not an essential plan, that is specifically one
(19:08):
architectural pedigree, you understand, because by definition, if we can
interchange the style on the front of the house, then
the structure of the house itself is not designed to
be any one particular thing.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Does that make sense? I hope?
Speaker 2 (19:25):
So?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
All right, So.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
This is more pronounced in latter years than it was
a generation ago. By the way, in the nineteen fifties
through the nineteen seventies, when the vast majority of California
ranch style homes were built out here on the West Coast,
California ranch homes were content to just be California ranch.
(19:48):
But since the eighties, tracked homes have become far more
ambiguous in its pedigree. And you know that is what
it is. They think there's a silver lining hiding in
a house with no real architectural pedigree. Do you want
to hear what it is, Well, hang tight with me,
we'll talk about it day. Hi, King Sharp the house Whisper,
(20:12):
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program today.
I'm glad that you are here. We've got a beautiful
Saturday ahead of us here. No matter where you are
across this great land, it's gorgeous here in southern California.
This is why people pay the big bucks to live here.
It is a gorgeous spring day here in Southern California.
(20:33):
I hope that spring is busting out wherever you are
as well. And so and I'm glad you're here with us.
We've been talking about the intrinsic weaknesses of tract homes now,
you know. And I'm not piling on to a tract
home to you know, poop pooh them, because I'm a
custom home designer. That's not my goal at all. I
(20:54):
live in a tract home. Chances are you live in
a tract home and and there's there's good reasons for it.
But we've got to understand when we're going to remodel
our tract home and make it more hours, make it
more custom, we want to address the things that are
most intrinsically weak about the home in order to turn
(21:14):
it into that dream home that we've always wanted to
live in. So we've talked about things so far today,
things like the craftsmanship of a tract home. You know,
when a home is being built by spreadsheet, it's not
going to be the finest craftsmanship in the world. We've
(21:36):
talked about the fact that, on the other hand, the
engineering of a tracked home far better and any home
being built you know in the last you know generation,
far better than you know super ultra custom wonderful homes
built in the nineteen twenties, as far as it's engineering
is concerned, in other words, its strength and its resilience
(21:59):
to to handle you know, the elements that it sits in.
But at the heart of weaknesses of a tract home
lies this idea that very few tracked homes developments have
strong architectural pedigrees. Now, somebody was asking during the break,
(22:20):
so explain this architectural pedigree thing, And the easiest way
to explain it is that to give you an example,
let's take a Queen Anne Victorian, which is like a
gingerbread y kind of Victorian home that you've all seen,
and you're like, you know what they look like a
Queen Anne Victorian, an authentic turn of the century Queen
(22:42):
Anne Victorian home. No one in their right mind takes
a Victorian home and tries to turn it into a
Spanish med home because it's the hardest thing in the
world to do. Why because it's a Queen Anne Victorian.
You know, it knows exactly actly what it is down
to its bones. It is a Victorian home. So changing it,
(23:07):
I mean you might as well. Honestly, if you wanted
a Spanish home and you bought a Victorian, you might
as well just level it and start over. And the
same is true like a craftsman home. There's no taking
a craftsman home and turning it into a Victorian. So
you get these are homes with strong architectural stylistic pedigrees,
(23:29):
and your typical tract home which is really designed to
be flexible enough to you know, have a colonial facade
on the front, or have something that looks a little
tutor on the front of the same floor plan, or
that has something that looks Spanish met on the front
of the same floor plan. If a home that can
take all those kinds of facades doesn't really have its
(23:52):
own strong particular pedigree. Okay, but wait, I actually think
that's a silver lining for most of us. Don't see
your place as a boring beige box. See it as
a blank canvas longing for what it never really had,
which is a real identity. So the truth of the
(24:14):
matter is, if you're working with a home that was
really designed as a hybrid, if you do the research,
if you pile in on the design, the advantage to
working with a home of questionable architectural pedigree is we
can probably make it just about anything you want it
to be, because in one sense, there's only two types
(24:34):
of houses, those with pedigree and those without. And those
with pedigree know what they're supposed to be and they
give us a design playbook to follow in terms of
the remodel. But those without a pedigree, it's a blank
canvas to paint on as we please. And this means
that every house has a path forward, every house has
(24:57):
hope of becoming something truly special. And you know, I
used to say this all the time. Most renovations don't
need a bigger budget, They just need a better story.
And when that story merges with your story, that is
when you are in a position to take an ordinary
tract home and make it an extraordinary custom home, built
(25:23):
as if it was built just for you. That's the secret,
that's the key. Okay, Now, this was just part one
of this two part series. Today we took a look
at the intrinsic nature of a tracked home, took a
look at its weaknesses. Tomorrow on The Big Show Sunday
Live from nine to noon, we will be taking a
(25:47):
look at the whole essence of what are these things
that we can take advantage of. I'm going to give
you a preview. Most ranch, single story bedrooms have some
sort of view into the backyard. That view is typically
a window. So many ranch bedrooms would benefit from that
(26:10):
window being turned into a door. And guess what, because
of how a ranch house is built, turning the window
into a door not a big deal at all, and
actually not even making a structural change to the house.
That's the kind of stuff we're going to be talking
about tomorrow. Relatively small effort, relatively small budget, big big payoff.
(26:34):
I've got a whole list of them. Join me here
again tomorrow from nine to noon. Until then, get out
into this big, beautiful day and get busy building yourself
a beautiful life. We'll see you tomorrow. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
(26:58):
from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app
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