June 22, 2025 • 36 mins
Dean dives deeper into soundproofing strategies in the home — from understanding the nature of sound as energy, to tips on how to break its travel paths using insulation, air-sealing, and decoupling techniques. He explains the difference between soundproofing and sound absorption, and how to think about windows, walls, and even flooring when it comes to controlling noise. Dean also breaks down the importance of layered defense and shares practical steps for reducing the impact of noise pollution on your home’s comfort and your mental health.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp the
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app, Instagram, TikTok,
Facebook X. Speaking of that, Tina posted, I think she
popped up a little image of on Instagram and Facebook. Yes,
of the Little Lakes Valley where we're taking our backpacking
(00:24):
trip here very very shortly. I'm very excited. So if
you want to see the hellscape that we're going to
have to put up with while we're on our backpacking trip,
you should go ahead. Take a look. Oh it's gorgeous.
Just managing myself there right now. Anyway, follow us on
social media you will find it there. Home with Dean.
(00:46):
That's the handle for all of them, all of them.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Right, let's get back to very quickly. I want to
explain something about mass loaded vinyl, and then we're going
to the phones as promised. Right before the break, we
were discussing various ways of insulating for sound. Mass loaded
vinyl aka m l V. If you go on the YouTube,
(01:10):
you will find all sorts of varying opinions about it.
You'll say, some people telling you don't use it, it's
a rep off. Other people saying it's the silver bullet
that cures all ales. The fact of the matter is
neither one of those are correct. The truth falls somewhere
in between. Mass loaded vinyl is a fantastic form of insulation.
(01:31):
It's very thin. It's a thin layer, a roll of it. It
looks like a roll of rubber, almost like a big
roll up yoga mat. But you will find it's yat
not a yoga mat when you go to pick up
that role because it is heavy. I mean it is dense,
thick rubberized vinyl material and because of that, sound works
(01:55):
extra hard to get through it. It is a fantastic
insulating thing that takes very little space, and I mean
like eighth of an inch thick, that can be applied
or stapled to the inside of studs or walls, or
in between layers of drywall, what have you. MLV great product,
very expensive product, but when getting another layer of sound
(02:17):
control is critical and space is limited, MLV is a
great way to go, however, just to avoid So that's
my full endorsement of it. Okay, we use it. Okay,
it has its application. If you go to the Builder
Show International Builder Show and you see MLV being displayed
there there's a guy standing behind a table and there's
(02:38):
a box, like a two foot by two foot by
two foot cube, and it's covered in MLV. It's just
a tiny little box covered in MLV and just sitting
there on the counter. And the guy's like, hey, did
you know MLV controls sound and an unbelievable way? And
you're supposed to say no, I did not. Now are
(03:00):
you demonstrating it? And he's like, just go ahead and
lift up the cube. So you reach over and you
lift up the cube and you find that there's a
speaker underneath blaring I mean blaring with sound that you
did not hear because the MLV was shutting it down.
And that is quite an impressive display and you can
find some of those online as well. Here's the problem, Okay,
(03:24):
the only problem with that is that that is an
optimal situation in which not only have we got complete
control of the insulation area of the cube, but the
cube is also allowing zero air penetration. In other words,
that cube sits flat on that table, no air makes
(03:45):
it out, and that is not how your room is
going to work. Okay, So the idea that it goes
from super loud to almost inaudible has as much to
do with shutting down the airflow between those two spaces
as it has to do with the wonder that is MLV.
So all I'm saying is the demonstration is quite effective,
(04:08):
but the idea that, oh my gosh, I can take
this home and it's going to make my room sound
the exact same way. No, no, not as long as
oxygen moves in between your room and the next room,
or there's a gap under the door, or there are
windows and what have you. Just wanted to let you
know that. Okay, all right, let's go to the phones.
Get started with the calls, because it's time. I want
(04:29):
to talk to Mollie. Hey, Molly, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
How can I help you?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Well, we have an enclosed patio with a spa and
it's like a sunroom and we're living in the Dutch
in Las Vegas and we're trying to cool down that room.
We've got two fans, but it's not enough. And I
didn't know it's something like a partico swamp cooler thing
(04:59):
or I don't know anything about that stuff. I just
wondered what your advice was.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
My advice is in Vegas, or a sun room with
a with a spa, a water spot like a like
a hot tub. That's what we're talking about, not a sawn,
a hot tub.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
It's a swimming with a spot, yes, with a jacuzzi,
and it's a four season Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Okay, so that's great. Uh and uh so yeah, you
need air conditioning in there. Uh and if you really
really want to get control of the temperature, you need
air conditioning. And in Vegas, you know, in the high desert,
you may actually want to to uh, you know, some
heating in there during the freezing cold months as well,
(05:45):
but air conditioning. So my recommendation would be something small. Now,
you could do an in room air conditioner, a portable one.
You're going to have to find a way to vent
that outside. Or uh you install what's called mini split,
which is just a small cassette based fully functional air
(06:06):
conditioner and a mini split of most mini splits these
days come configured also as heat pumps, which means they
can work in reverse and they can gently heat the
room during the coldest months as well. But here's the thing.
The spa is putting off, the jacuzzi is putting off
a lot of humidity in the room, okay, and a
air conditioner will dry that out, will help to dry
(06:27):
that out. The fans are fine, But again I'm gonna
just for educational purposes. I want everybody, as we're rolling
into summer here, I might as well say this. I
was saving some of this for our HVAC show, which
is coming up very shortly. But a fan. Fans are great,
but fans do not cool the air. They cool you.
(06:50):
So you can put ten fans inside high power fans
inside a room and look at the thermometer and come
back three hours later and find out that the air
is the exact same temperature then when you left it,
because all we're doing is moving the air around the room.
Now on a human being who has skin, who is
(07:11):
made up of over seventy percent water, and we perspire
through our skin. I'm not just talking sweat. I'm talking
about moisture, leaving every square inch of our skin all
the time. A fan blowing across our skin accelerates the
evaporative process, and that cools us. So fans when they're
(07:32):
pointed at you, make you feel cooler. But they have
no illusions about this. That fan is only cooling you.
Off your sense of cool. It is not actually reducing
the air temperature in the room. So if we really
want to get control of the air temperature environment in
a room, we actually have to take heat out of
(07:55):
the room. And the only thing that's going to do
that is an air conditioner.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Okay, I kind of thought so, but you kind of baltadated.
Thank you so much for your.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Help, Mollie. Thank you so much for your question, and
good luck out there in Vegas with a sunroom and
the jacuzzie in the sun in the desert where it's
really hot.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
All right, y'all, you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Overall. Today on the program, we're talking about controlling sound
around your house, and we'll get back to that conversation.
But the middle hour of the show, traditionally this is
when we take calls and you set the agenda, and
so I want to get back to it. Let's talk
to Jamie. Hey, Jamie, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
I have a question concerning an outdoor drain that I
have in the yard and I think it's filled with
you know, dust and dirt at this point, but I
don't know how to take the drain cover off the drain.
The drain cover is similar to the one that you
have in the bathroom and shower. I just don't know
(09:04):
how to get it out, so I can maybe run
the drain snake to find where the issue might be.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
All right, So when we say a dream, we're not
talking about a yard dream. We're talking about an outdoor sync.
Did we lose her? Oh? Oh we love Okay, all right, Uh,
give me a callback. We'll come back to you, I promise.
All right, let's move on for the moment. Let's see.
(09:31):
Let's talk to Mike. Hey, Mike, welcome home. Does that
mean that's you my friend?
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Okay, okay, I have a question about about the efficiency
efficient use of my house. How can I get educated
on more efficient use of my thirteen hundred square foot house? It's, uh,
you know, it's small, and so I just feel like
(10:01):
I'm not using the house as efficiently as I should
be able to. We're running out of space, basically, He's
what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I got you, I got you, and you know what
smaller spaces I mean? I live in a thirteen hundred
square foot house. Three thirteen. Well, I'm sorry, my house
is bigger than yours thirteen eighty We have thirteen hundred
eighty square feet.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
But oh you got a huge house.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Oh yeah, it's massive. Okay, you know what, here's the
reality too. Both of our houses are very large by
European standards. You know. You know, I've got friends who
live in Sheffield, England, and every time they hear me saying,
you know, my dinky, little thirteen hundred square foot house,
(10:46):
They're like, Dean, we would die for that thirteen hundred
square feet. And they've got a you know, four family
members living in what they've got. So anyway, it's all relative.
It's all relative, but relative to the US. Yes, you
and I have smaller homes, and when it comes to
smaller homes, design is even more important than in larger ones.
(11:08):
And that shocks some people. Here to here's the thing.
I mean to take this. Take this from a guy
who regularly works on jumbo houses. All right, a state
level homes. If I've got ten, twelve, fifteen thousand square
feet to work with, does it matter whether the hallway
is five feet wide or six feet wide or seven
(11:31):
feet wide or you know, not really, I got a
lot of room to waste and that doesn't make me
a lazy designer when it comes to those things. But
the reality is, you know, we can fill around with
lots of things and it doesn't have a tremendous effect,
but the smallerest space gets It's why I love designing
small spaces because it's truly a challenge. It's a game
(11:53):
of inches and layout and flow. And so when it
comes to a smaller space, design is everything. It can
make all the world of difference. So if your question is,
you know, how do you make how do you learn
to make more efficient use of the space? Well, how
would you learn that? You can do some studying on it.
You can keep listening to this show because I talk
(12:15):
about that all the time. Or you turn around and
get yourself a designer. I mean, Tina and I can
do a design consult for you, but you hire a
designer to actually help you utilize all of that space
to its utmost. And it's going to take some time
and effort and some creative brain power to do it.
(12:36):
But the good news is once it's done, man, it's
a life changer.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
Okay, So what an interior designer or a house designer,
what you talking about yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
An interior designer or what we would call an architectural designer.
And when I say either one of the two architect
interior designer, architectural designer, it just make sure you're dealing
with a designer who is willing to, if necessary, move
some things around. And I don't just move furniture around,
(13:09):
move a wall, change a wall configuration, that kind of
a thing. A lot of people wonder about that, like,
what's the difference between a decorator and an interior designer
and an architectural designer or an architect. The difference is
how much of the structure we are fiddling with as designers.
I am what In every other state other than the
(13:31):
state of California, I freely refer to myself as an
architectural designer because because I'm not a licensed architect, but
I'm a designer who works in the residential realm, which
is fully you know, allowable to do and you know,
I design homes from the ground up, roofs, walls, the
(13:51):
whole thing. Right, Other states embrace the term architectural designer.
In the state of California, you can actually get in
trouble for saying that, even though I just did, so
come at me, come get me. It's the truth anyway,
Sorry about that. An architectural designer is somebody who or
(14:12):
an interior designer is somebody who's willing to change wall
configurations or room configurations if that's what the flow problem requires.
A decorator is somebody who's only dealing with superficial things.
And I don't mean that as a as a dig
on decorators. I'm just saying decorators don't move walls, they
(14:32):
don't rearrange bathrooms, but they they reappoint them furniture, wall coverings,
paint colors, flooring surfaces, all of that kind of thing.
So they're all and Tina's commenting here, but I can't hear,
so I'm turning your mic up.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
There's also the option of hiring someone to come in
and help you organize your space as far as storage
and clutter and what do you need to get rid of,
what do you want.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
To what do you want to say? If that's the problem,
that could be a problem too.
Speaker 7 (15:02):
So not ever seeing your home, you know, all those
steps probably need to be taken into.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, so I think maybe the maybe for for you, Mike,
maybe the first thing is to get a consult with
a designer so that you can get a sense and
they can tell you. It's kind of like going to
your GP, your general practitioner. You're like, I've got this ache,
I've got this thing.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Maybe they refer you to a specialist, maybe they take
care of it themselves. But it's a good idea to
get a doctor's eyes on that and then get a
referral that way.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
Okay, I'm consult with who now?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
A console with a designer? Interior designer, architectural designer. Yeah,
either one.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Okay, all right, I knew you'd be able to answer
that question. And I got one more thing I want
to say. I've got I bet I've got something here
that you guys don't have.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Uh oh, what's it? What is it?
Speaker 6 (16:00):
I've got a genuine July twenty twenty, two thousand and three,
Bill Handle tans anniversary Decade of Dreams and the Dreams
is cross out And they wrote in crap I got
this from Bill Handle when he was out in Menifee
a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
All right, well, congratulations, do you have one of those?
You win? No? No, not only do I not have one,
but I don't know one.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Okay, I'm trying to wear it out, but it just
seems like it just keeps going.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, well just like Bill right, Okay, that's.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Whoa, whoa.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
All right, thank you very much. Yeah, any host on
KFI that you open up for a Bill handle joke,
it's going to happen. It's like, you know, you open
the gate, We're going to drive through it. That's just
the way it works around here. All right, y'all, more
of your calls when we return.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
My brain getting ahead of my mouth, as is often
the case. You are Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Thanks for joining us on the pro We're talking about
taking control of sound in your home. We're going to
return to that in just a bit, but we're in
that part of the show, that middle part of the
show where you are setting the topic with your calls. Now,
I've got a couple of calls that I've got to honor.
(17:33):
I want to get back to Jamie, but Judith called
in last week, couldn't get through, and so I'm going
to honor Judith. Keep our promises to give you a
fast pass to the front of the line and then
we'll get back to Jamie right after that. Judith, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Oh, hello, Hi, thanks for taking my call. Pock question.
I'm redoing. I'm remodeling. I'm redoing the floor and then
in the living room and it's a layout so the
living room is open to the kitchen area dining room area.
Now I'm planning to redo the kitchen, to remodel the kitchen,
(18:09):
but not right now, maybe in a year. And I
don't know if i'd like to have the flooring the
same everywhere. Is that okay? To put the flooring in
before I do redo the cabinet and everything. Oh, I
have to wait for the flooring in the kitchen until
the cabinet and everything is done. That's my question.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Okay, good question. Good question. So I've got a question
in return. When you redo the kitchen, are you imagining
that you're changing the kitchen configuration at all or you're
just pulling out the existing cabinets that are there, putting
new ones in their place.
Speaker 8 (18:44):
How's that going to look at Yeah, it's probably ninety
percent that's gonna stay the same, But I'm not one
hundred percent sure.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Okay, that's an honest answer. Second question, what kind of
flooring are we talking about us that's running from the
living room.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Yeah, I'm putting the latterly vinyl.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
You said the magic words, luxury vinyl plank. Okay. So
here's my advice to you, Judith, I give you full permission.
Do all the flooring right now. Do it all, run
it all through so you can enjoy all of it
right now. But do this, okay. Make sure that you
don't just buy enough to cover exactly what the current
(19:30):
layout is, but buy a few boxes extra so that
when the time comes to change up the kitchen, we
can make some alterations. And we've got some new planks
to fill in and pull out and so on, so
you can make the adjustments of time. The nice thing
about luxury vinyl plank is that it's a floating floor.
(19:51):
It goes, It lays over the top of your slab
or your subfloor, like carpeting does. It's click locked into place,
which means it can also be unclicked and removed and
changed and reconfigured without tearing up everything. And so if
there's going to be a substantial gap in between the
work that you're doing on the house right now and
(20:13):
the work that is coming later for the kitchen, Go ahead,
run all the floor, enjoy it, live in your new stuff,
and just to you know, enjoy all of that. And
then when the time comes, you know that you've got
a couple boxes of planks, you know, in the garage
waiting in case you change the cabinet configuration on the
(20:33):
ground in the kitchen, and you know that it's no problem.
We can take up what's there and if there's something
in the way, and then I've got extras that we
can lay down that are going to match and it'll
fit to the new configuration. And there you go. You
have my full permission to enjoy one half of your
remodeling now and the other when it comes. Judah, thanks
(20:56):
for the question. Really good question. Good, good, good, good question.
All right, Uh, Jamie is back with me. Jamie are
you there?
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Yes, thank you for picking up again. My drain is
an outside door drain on the ground. It's next to
my pool equipment that my husband uses sometimes to drain
whatever he needs to drain out, but it's not draining
at the time because I put followly built with diaster
or dirt, and I can't stick a.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Drain snake to wind out cover over the top, right.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Exactly, It's like a shower grill.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Right, Okay, So is there a screw in the center
of it?
Speaker 5 (21:40):
No, I don't see it screw on it. I'm thinking
it's probably a screw, but I don't have a tool.
Do I need a tool?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Well, here's the thing. If it is screwed into place,
if it's if the drain cover or the grill is
removable because it's been screwed into place, you will see
the screws. There either two just below the slots on
the far edges of the drain that you'll see, or
(22:07):
there's one right smack dab in the middle. And if
that's the case, all you need is a screwdriver to
undo those screws and lift that cover off. But if
we're talking about a standard kind of exterior drain deck drain,
then there's a very good chance that that is a insert.
That grill is an insert that's that's sitting down inside
(22:30):
the pipe that it's slid into place. Now it's not
glued in, it's just slid in, okay, and so in
it may have never been removed and the whole time
that it's been there, and it might, you know, because
of grit and grime and age and expansion and contraction
and heat and cold, it might be a bit what
we call frozen in place there. So if it's that
(22:52):
kind of a of a grate, you could get a
pair of pliers. Gotta be careful if it's PVC as
opposed to metal. If it's metal, you can be a
little bit more aggressive with it, but if it's if
it's a plastic sort of grill, then you want to
be a little bit more gentle. So there's two ways
to approach this. You can get a pair of plyers
(23:13):
and grab on to one of the slots with the plyers,
and you know, give it a little twist and tug
and see if you can't get any movement out of
it as it in order to lift it out of there,
or or if if that doesn't affect anything, and I
don't want you to chew it all up with the
plyers too visually, then another trick is to take a
(23:36):
wire coat hanger or a strong piece of wire, kind
of bend it into a hook shape, slide it down
through one of the far edge slots all the way
to the edge and see if you can't, then lift
it back up so that the little hook that you've
created comes up through the other, you know, one of
(23:58):
the other far edge slat. In other words, we've kind
of looped down underneath through the slats. Pull the wire
up good on both sides, and then either grab that
with your hand or grab that with a pair of
pliers and pull so that it's pulling tension more evenly
across it. But I guarantee you that thing will come out.
(24:18):
It is probably just what we call a tension insert
down inside the pipe that it is serving, and sometimes
if they haven't been removed regularly, it just takes a
little bit of effort and tugging and so on in
order to get it done. But there you go, Jamie,
I'm right up against a break. Thank you for the question.
Thanks for calling back. I don't know if it was
(24:40):
us or you who cut us off, but I'm glad
we got back to it. That's your best shot. When
it comes to that, you'll either see the screws that
need to be removed. They won't be hidden, or it's
a tension fitting. You just need to get something looped
in underneath it and give it a good tug. All right,
y'all when we return more of your calls.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
And of course there's always something happening in the world
to throw us off our game, and you stay tuned
here to KFI, and we will make sure that you
hear everything that you need to know, including just letting
you know right after we are done today at noon,
KFI is going to be doing special coverage because of
the Iran bombing and the plan d DTLA Downtown LA
(25:32):
protest that's starting at noon today. We will have special
coverage of all of that starting at noon. From noon
to two it'll be Tiffany Hobbes and Michael Monks and
from two to four Gary Hoffman. So stay tuned. We've
got coverage of everything that's happening out there. And I
am I'm just glad that we get to not be
(25:54):
preempted right now and spend the time together doing what
we normally love to do with you you here on
Sunday mornings, and that is talk about that very special
place where you live. We're going to get back to
our conversation on the controlling sound just after the next break.
But I still have another segment here to take a
(26:14):
call or two if we can. I want to talk
to Wendy. Hey, Wendy, welcome home.
Speaker 9 (26:21):
Thank you, Dean. Good afternoon, Dean. So, first of all,
I'd like to say that Nicole came to the house
to be relocator, who's wonderful, and I believe she relocated
our bees from our timney to you. Is that the case,
just so a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Oh yeah, you know what, Yes, that did happen. Yeah.
They are fantastic. They're just absolutely fantastic. Nicole Palladino. Bee
Catchers not a sponsor of the show, but a huge
I am a huge, huge fan. They serve all of
southern California. If you've got bees that have invaded your home,
(26:59):
I'm not talking about a swarm outside. That's a different thing.
But if they're in your home like they were in
Wendy's chimney or something where they shouldn't be, then don't
call a pest control company called bee Catchers because they
will take care. They'll remove everything that needs to be removed.
They'll also save the bees and give them a new home, which,
in Wendy's case is my backyard. So there you go.
(27:23):
I had no idea that's the world, right, six degrees
of separation or less? You know I have it is
I've adopted your bees.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (27:33):
Well, I know they're in good hands. And how miraculous
is those bees the way they form their home? You know,
just in a couple of weeks, a few of them
that looked like they were just going in and searching,
had no idea there was a huge form of them.
So it's a really beautiful thing that they're now with you.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, and let me tell you, I've got a really,
really nice hive. And so they are having a lot
more fun here now than they were in your chimney.
They were making do in your chimney, but they are
how much happier? So anyway, all right, so how.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Can I help We're all happy?
Speaker 9 (28:03):
Well, my question is this, and it's more like this
confusion if you can help sort it out? So I'm
looking for First of all, my house is as green
as possible, what I mean, as I'm trying to do
it chemical free, voc free.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
So right now I'm.
Speaker 9 (28:15):
Struggling with the engineered wood and wood flooring, and I
need to go with that, I'm told because of our
homes in our particular area and shadow oaks, and cannot
do real woods. So I just learned and now confused
about whether it should be cold pressed to last longer,
whether it should have built in layer of wood beneath
(28:37):
it so I don't have to use the plywood first
put that down, which I'd rather not do because I
don't want to use the plywood. And then there are
all these processes like whether it's cold pressed, or it
is cured with smoke, or it's cured with ammonia. Can
you tell me what all that means and what's going
to be the greenest, the most resilient. I don't want scratches,
(28:59):
even though we don't have any pets or kids and
we take our shoes off. But I'm really, you know,
having a hard time de signing.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
All right, that is a huge, huge conversation to have, Wendy.
It really is, because they are right. I don't mean
to disappoint. I'm just saying it is. It's a big
conversation to have. But I will tell you this. Let
me try and simplify it for you. You're looking to
put in a hardwood floor. Correct, Yes, Okay, So I
(29:29):
just want to I want to correct a couple of
terms that you used. Okay, you are going to get
a real wood hard a real hardwood floor. Okay, it's
a real hardwood floor. The old, the old idea of
like old solid hardwood, we have let go of that
a long, long, long long time ago. And and I
(29:50):
will tell you that, as far as in terms of
green is considered, any any high quality hardwood floor is
a adequate and green option for you. And I'll tell you why.
Because traditional hardwood floors, and traditional I mean going back
one hundred years, three quarter inch thick solid wood floors,
(30:15):
white oak, red oak, whatever the material might be, that
is a kind of floor that eats up a tremendous
amount of tree, a lot of tree in order to
get those right. And they are also very very susceptible
to moisture, to cupping, to bowing, because it's one piece
(30:36):
of wood and moisture gets into the grain and there's
nothing there to resist that wood doing what it naturally does,
which is if moisture gets on one side, it expands
that side, and then the other side, which is dryer,
ends up cupped, okay, because one side literally grows larger
than the other side, and we get this curved thing,
(30:58):
which is disastrous. There's this old school thought. They're like,
that was real hardwood floors, not this plywood these days. Okay,
But here's the thing. There's a reason for it, all right.
Number One, Not only does an engineered floor, which is
primarily made out of what we call plywoods, an engineered
floor is a far superior floor. Number one, it's far
(31:22):
superior because it uses less tree. Okay, that's a great thing.
In other words, with all those thin layers. Number two,
the whole point of an engineered floor is that the
layers of plywood are set at forty five degree angles
to each other, each layer each succeeding layer, and so
(31:44):
as moisture attacks that piece of flooring, every layer wants
to expand in a different direction, and every layer is
pressed and glued to every other layer, and therefore none
of the layers get to do anything because they're all
expand against each other, and as a result, it's a
far more stable piece of flooring. Third thing is that
(32:10):
right on top of that plywood base, that engineered base
is a real solid layer of whatever you're finished wood is.
And the point that I make to people all the
time is that three quarter inch old red oak floor
that you think, Yeah, that thing's so thick it could
(32:30):
be resanded fifty times. No, no, it can't be. Because
the only part of that floor, even though it's one
solid piece of wood, the only part of that floor
that can that determines how much it can be resanded
and refinished through the years is the is the amount
of that floor which sticks above the tongue and the groove,
(32:53):
because we can only finish this, We can only stand
this floor down until we run the risk of exposing
the tongueung in the groove, and then it's done. Which
means that the average old school traditional hardwood floor has
about three sixteenths of an inch of a ware layer,
(33:13):
of a true wear layer that is actually interactive with
you the homeowner, and with refinishing, and a really good
quality modern engineered floor has in fact a six millimeter
ware layer. Those are got the best that they come
in six millimeters, which is essentially pretty close to three
(33:35):
sixteenths of an inch. And so the point is an
engineered hardwood floor, this is what you're looking for, you're
looking for low VOC glues that that'll be advertised with
the brand cold pressed. It can be cold pressed, it
can be hot pressed. But my main concern is low
VOC volatile organic compound off gasing. That's as green as
(33:59):
it gets low VOC grooves. But here is what we're
looking for. The best quality hardwood floors that have ever
existed on planet Earth have these components. They are you
want the thickest ware layer, so you want a minimum
of four millimeters of war layer, ideally six millimeters of
(34:24):
ware layer. That's the actual finish wood. And then underneath
that you want the most plot layers of ply. And
that's really what makes the difference. There are cheap hardwood
floors out there that have a thick ware layer on
top and there's three layers of ply. In other words,
three layers underneath. That's not enough. When I say multiple
layers of ply, I'm talking nine to eleven layers of ply. Okay,
(34:49):
that's a stable hardwood floor with a thick ware layer.
It is gold. It is just it's as good as
it gets, and it's good as it can be. And
by definition UH it is UH. It is a green
product because we are using UH more of uh, I
don't want to say scrap, but more of ancillary wood
(35:10):
from every tree in order to get those thin layers
of ply and less of the heartwood.
Speaker 9 (35:17):
Okay, one quick other question, I know I gotta I've
got to go, and so Hugh, of course, which I
meant is that everything you said is great. Now, what
about amusing a name brand? And I know you don't
endorse them, but I'm just giving you an example in
case you've seen it, Cosablanca and it has one really
thick layer of wood and it uses no formaldehyde and
it's glue and no voc but it has one really
(35:40):
really thick piece of baby plywood underneath that four millimeter thick,
which I'm going to try and find a six milimeter brand.
Is that any better for the sustainability I mean, sorry,
the longevity of the wood?
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Okay, Wendy, I know you got to go. I gotta
go too, because I'm up against a break. I promise
I will give you the answer to this off the
I'll say this on the air, off the call, right
on the other side of the brake. So you keep
listening and everybody else you keep listening to your home
with Dean Sharp the House Whisper on KFI. This has
(36:15):
been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into
the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday
morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday
morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on
demand on the iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp the
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app, Instagram, TikTok,
Facebook X. Speaking of that, Tina posted, I think she
popped up a little image of on Instagram and Facebook. Yes,
of the Little Lakes Valley where we're taking our backpacking
(00:24):
trip here very very shortly. I'm very excited. So if
you want to see the hellscape that we're going to
have to put up with while we're on our backpacking trip,
you should go ahead. Take a look. Oh it's gorgeous.
Just managing myself there right now. Anyway, follow us on
social media you will find it there. Home with Dean.
(00:46):
That's the handle for all of them, all of them.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Right, let's get back to very quickly. I want to
explain something about mass loaded vinyl, and then we're going
to the phones as promised. Right before the break, we
were discussing various ways of insulating for sound. Mass loaded
vinyl aka m l V. If you go on the YouTube,
(01:10):
you will find all sorts of varying opinions about it.
You'll say, some people telling you don't use it, it's
a rep off. Other people saying it's the silver bullet
that cures all ales. The fact of the matter is
neither one of those are correct. The truth falls somewhere
in between. Mass loaded vinyl is a fantastic form of insulation.
(01:31):
It's very thin. It's a thin layer, a roll of it. It
looks like a roll of rubber, almost like a big
roll up yoga mat. But you will find it's yat
not a yoga mat when you go to pick up
that role because it is heavy. I mean it is dense,
thick rubberized vinyl material and because of that, sound works
(01:55):
extra hard to get through it. It is a fantastic
insulating thing that takes very little space, and I mean
like eighth of an inch thick, that can be applied
or stapled to the inside of studs or walls, or
in between layers of drywall, what have you. MLV great product,
very expensive product, but when getting another layer of sound
(02:17):
control is critical and space is limited, MLV is a
great way to go, however, just to avoid So that's
my full endorsement of it. Okay, we use it. Okay,
it has its application. If you go to the Builder
Show International Builder Show and you see MLV being displayed
there there's a guy standing behind a table and there's
(02:38):
a box, like a two foot by two foot by
two foot cube, and it's covered in MLV. It's just
a tiny little box covered in MLV and just sitting
there on the counter. And the guy's like, hey, did
you know MLV controls sound and an unbelievable way? And
you're supposed to say no, I did not. Now are
(03:00):
you demonstrating it? And he's like, just go ahead and
lift up the cube. So you reach over and you
lift up the cube and you find that there's a
speaker underneath blaring I mean blaring with sound that you
did not hear because the MLV was shutting it down.
And that is quite an impressive display and you can
find some of those online as well. Here's the problem, Okay,
(03:24):
the only problem with that is that that is an
optimal situation in which not only have we got complete
control of the insulation area of the cube, but the
cube is also allowing zero air penetration. In other words,
that cube sits flat on that table, no air makes
(03:45):
it out, and that is not how your room is
going to work. Okay, So the idea that it goes
from super loud to almost inaudible has as much to
do with shutting down the airflow between those two spaces
as it has to do with the wonder that is MLV.
So all I'm saying is the demonstration is quite effective,
(04:08):
but the idea that, oh my gosh, I can take
this home and it's going to make my room sound
the exact same way. No, no, not as long as
oxygen moves in between your room and the next room,
or there's a gap under the door, or there are
windows and what have you. Just wanted to let you
know that. Okay, all right, let's go to the phones.
Get started with the calls, because it's time. I want
(04:29):
to talk to Mollie. Hey, Molly, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
How can I help you?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Well, we have an enclosed patio with a spa and
it's like a sunroom and we're living in the Dutch
in Las Vegas and we're trying to cool down that room.
We've got two fans, but it's not enough. And I
didn't know it's something like a partico swamp cooler thing
(04:59):
or I don't know anything about that stuff. I just
wondered what your advice was.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
My advice is in Vegas, or a sun room with
a with a spa, a water spot like a like
a hot tub. That's what we're talking about, not a sawn,
a hot tub.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
It's a swimming with a spot, yes, with a jacuzzi,
and it's a four season Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Okay, so that's great. Uh and uh so yeah, you
need air conditioning in there. Uh and if you really
really want to get control of the temperature, you need
air conditioning. And in Vegas, you know, in the high desert,
you may actually want to to uh, you know, some
heating in there during the freezing cold months as well,
(05:45):
but air conditioning. So my recommendation would be something small. Now,
you could do an in room air conditioner, a portable one.
You're going to have to find a way to vent
that outside. Or uh you install what's called mini split,
which is just a small cassette based fully functional air
(06:06):
conditioner and a mini split of most mini splits these
days come configured also as heat pumps, which means they
can work in reverse and they can gently heat the
room during the coldest months as well. But here's the thing.
The spa is putting off, the jacuzzi is putting off
a lot of humidity in the room, okay, and a
air conditioner will dry that out, will help to dry
(06:27):
that out. The fans are fine, But again I'm gonna
just for educational purposes. I want everybody, as we're rolling
into summer here, I might as well say this. I
was saving some of this for our HVAC show, which
is coming up very shortly. But a fan. Fans are great,
but fans do not cool the air. They cool you.
(06:50):
So you can put ten fans inside high power fans
inside a room and look at the thermometer and come
back three hours later and find out that the air
is the exact same temperature then when you left it,
because all we're doing is moving the air around the room.
Now on a human being who has skin, who is
(07:11):
made up of over seventy percent water, and we perspire
through our skin. I'm not just talking sweat. I'm talking
about moisture, leaving every square inch of our skin all
the time. A fan blowing across our skin accelerates the
evaporative process, and that cools us. So fans when they're
(07:32):
pointed at you, make you feel cooler. But they have
no illusions about this. That fan is only cooling you.
Off your sense of cool. It is not actually reducing
the air temperature in the room. So if we really
want to get control of the air temperature environment in
a room, we actually have to take heat out of
(07:55):
the room. And the only thing that's going to do
that is an air conditioner.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Okay, I kind of thought so, but you kind of baltadated.
Thank you so much for your.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Help, Mollie. Thank you so much for your question, and
good luck out there in Vegas with a sunroom and
the jacuzzie in the sun in the desert where it's
really hot.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
All right, y'all, you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Overall. Today on the program, we're talking about controlling sound
around your house, and we'll get back to that conversation.
But the middle hour of the show, traditionally this is
when we take calls and you set the agenda, and
so I want to get back to it. Let's talk
to Jamie. Hey, Jamie, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
I have a question concerning an outdoor drain that I
have in the yard and I think it's filled with
you know, dust and dirt at this point, but I
don't know how to take the drain cover off the drain.
The drain cover is similar to the one that you
have in the bathroom and shower. I just don't know
(09:04):
how to get it out, so I can maybe run
the drain snake to find where the issue might be.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
All right, So when we say a dream, we're not
talking about a yard dream. We're talking about an outdoor sync.
Did we lose her? Oh? Oh we love Okay, all right, Uh,
give me a callback. We'll come back to you, I promise.
All right, let's move on for the moment. Let's see.
(09:31):
Let's talk to Mike. Hey, Mike, welcome home. Does that
mean that's you my friend?
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Okay, okay, I have a question about about the efficiency
efficient use of my house. How can I get educated
on more efficient use of my thirteen hundred square foot house? It's, uh,
you know, it's small, and so I just feel like
(10:01):
I'm not using the house as efficiently as I should
be able to. We're running out of space, basically, He's
what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I got you, I got you, and you know what
smaller spaces I mean? I live in a thirteen hundred
square foot house. Three thirteen. Well, I'm sorry, my house
is bigger than yours thirteen eighty We have thirteen hundred
eighty square feet.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
But oh you got a huge house.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Oh yeah, it's massive. Okay, you know what, here's the
reality too. Both of our houses are very large by
European standards. You know. You know, I've got friends who
live in Sheffield, England, and every time they hear me saying,
you know, my dinky, little thirteen hundred square foot house,
(10:46):
They're like, Dean, we would die for that thirteen hundred
square feet. And they've got a you know, four family
members living in what they've got. So anyway, it's all relative.
It's all relative, but relative to the US. Yes, you
and I have smaller homes, and when it comes to
smaller homes, design is even more important than in larger ones.
(11:08):
And that shocks some people. Here to here's the thing.
I mean to take this. Take this from a guy
who regularly works on jumbo houses. All right, a state
level homes. If I've got ten, twelve, fifteen thousand square
feet to work with, does it matter whether the hallway
is five feet wide or six feet wide or seven
(11:31):
feet wide or you know, not really, I got a
lot of room to waste and that doesn't make me
a lazy designer when it comes to those things. But
the reality is, you know, we can fill around with
lots of things and it doesn't have a tremendous effect,
but the smallerest space gets It's why I love designing
small spaces because it's truly a challenge. It's a game
(11:53):
of inches and layout and flow. And so when it
comes to a smaller space, design is everything. It can
make all the world of difference. So if your question is,
you know, how do you make how do you learn
to make more efficient use of the space? Well, how
would you learn that? You can do some studying on it.
You can keep listening to this show because I talk
(12:15):
about that all the time. Or you turn around and
get yourself a designer. I mean, Tina and I can
do a design consult for you, but you hire a
designer to actually help you utilize all of that space
to its utmost. And it's going to take some time
and effort and some creative brain power to do it.
(12:36):
But the good news is once it's done, man, it's
a life changer.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
Okay, So what an interior designer or a house designer,
what you talking about yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
An interior designer or what we would call an architectural designer.
And when I say either one of the two architect
interior designer, architectural designer, it just make sure you're dealing
with a designer who is willing to, if necessary, move
some things around. And I don't just move furniture around,
(13:09):
move a wall, change a wall configuration, that kind of
a thing. A lot of people wonder about that, like,
what's the difference between a decorator and an interior designer
and an architectural designer or an architect. The difference is
how much of the structure we are fiddling with as designers.
I am what In every other state other than the
(13:31):
state of California, I freely refer to myself as an
architectural designer because because I'm not a licensed architect, but
I'm a designer who works in the residential realm, which
is fully you know, allowable to do and you know,
I design homes from the ground up, roofs, walls, the
(13:51):
whole thing. Right, Other states embrace the term architectural designer.
In the state of California, you can actually get in
trouble for saying that, even though I just did, so
come at me, come get me. It's the truth anyway,
Sorry about that. An architectural designer is somebody who or
(14:12):
an interior designer is somebody who's willing to change wall
configurations or room configurations if that's what the flow problem requires.
A decorator is somebody who's only dealing with superficial things.
And I don't mean that as a as a dig
on decorators. I'm just saying decorators don't move walls, they
(14:32):
don't rearrange bathrooms, but they they reappoint them furniture, wall coverings,
paint colors, flooring surfaces, all of that kind of thing.
So they're all and Tina's commenting here, but I can't hear,
so I'm turning your mic up.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
There's also the option of hiring someone to come in
and help you organize your space as far as storage
and clutter and what do you need to get rid of,
what do you want.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
To what do you want to say? If that's the problem,
that could be a problem too.
Speaker 7 (15:02):
So not ever seeing your home, you know, all those
steps probably need to be taken into.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, so I think maybe the maybe for for you, Mike,
maybe the first thing is to get a consult with
a designer so that you can get a sense and
they can tell you. It's kind of like going to
your GP, your general practitioner. You're like, I've got this ache,
I've got this thing.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Maybe they refer you to a specialist, maybe they take
care of it themselves. But it's a good idea to
get a doctor's eyes on that and then get a
referral that way.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
Okay, I'm consult with who now?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
A console with a designer? Interior designer, architectural designer. Yeah,
either one.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Okay, all right, I knew you'd be able to answer
that question. And I got one more thing I want
to say. I've got I bet I've got something here
that you guys don't have.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Uh oh, what's it? What is it?
Speaker 6 (16:00):
I've got a genuine July twenty twenty, two thousand and three,
Bill Handle tans anniversary Decade of Dreams and the Dreams
is cross out And they wrote in crap I got
this from Bill Handle when he was out in Menifee
a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
All right, well, congratulations, do you have one of those?
You win? No? No, not only do I not have one,
but I don't know one.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Okay, I'm trying to wear it out, but it just
seems like it just keeps going.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, well just like Bill right, Okay, that's.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Whoa, whoa.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
All right, thank you very much. Yeah, any host on
KFI that you open up for a Bill handle joke,
it's going to happen. It's like, you know, you open
the gate, We're going to drive through it. That's just
the way it works around here. All right, y'all, more
of your calls when we return.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
My brain getting ahead of my mouth, as is often
the case. You are Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Thanks for joining us on the pro We're talking about
taking control of sound in your home. We're going to
return to that in just a bit, but we're in
that part of the show, that middle part of the
show where you are setting the topic with your calls. Now,
I've got a couple of calls that I've got to honor.
(17:33):
I want to get back to Jamie, but Judith called
in last week, couldn't get through, and so I'm going
to honor Judith. Keep our promises to give you a
fast pass to the front of the line and then
we'll get back to Jamie right after that. Judith, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Oh, hello, Hi, thanks for taking my call. Pock question.
I'm redoing. I'm remodeling. I'm redoing the floor and then
in the living room and it's a layout so the
living room is open to the kitchen area dining room area.
Now I'm planning to redo the kitchen, to remodel the kitchen,
(18:09):
but not right now, maybe in a year. And I
don't know if i'd like to have the flooring the
same everywhere. Is that okay? To put the flooring in
before I do redo the cabinet and everything. Oh, I
have to wait for the flooring in the kitchen until
the cabinet and everything is done. That's my question.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Okay, good question. Good question. So I've got a question
in return. When you redo the kitchen, are you imagining
that you're changing the kitchen configuration at all or you're
just pulling out the existing cabinets that are there, putting
new ones in their place.
Speaker 8 (18:44):
How's that going to look at Yeah, it's probably ninety
percent that's gonna stay the same, But I'm not one
hundred percent sure.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Okay, that's an honest answer. Second question, what kind of
flooring are we talking about us that's running from the
living room.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Yeah, I'm putting the latterly vinyl.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
You said the magic words, luxury vinyl plank. Okay. So
here's my advice to you, Judith, I give you full permission.
Do all the flooring right now. Do it all, run
it all through so you can enjoy all of it
right now. But do this, okay. Make sure that you
don't just buy enough to cover exactly what the current
(19:30):
layout is, but buy a few boxes extra so that
when the time comes to change up the kitchen, we
can make some alterations. And we've got some new planks
to fill in and pull out and so on, so
you can make the adjustments of time. The nice thing
about luxury vinyl plank is that it's a floating floor.
(19:51):
It goes, It lays over the top of your slab
or your subfloor, like carpeting does. It's click locked into place,
which means it can also be unclicked and removed and
changed and reconfigured without tearing up everything. And so if
there's going to be a substantial gap in between the
work that you're doing on the house right now and
(20:13):
the work that is coming later for the kitchen, Go ahead,
run all the floor, enjoy it, live in your new stuff,
and just to you know, enjoy all of that. And
then when the time comes, you know that you've got
a couple boxes of planks, you know, in the garage
waiting in case you change the cabinet configuration on the
(20:33):
ground in the kitchen, and you know that it's no problem.
We can take up what's there and if there's something
in the way, and then I've got extras that we
can lay down that are going to match and it'll
fit to the new configuration. And there you go. You
have my full permission to enjoy one half of your
remodeling now and the other when it comes. Judah, thanks
(20:56):
for the question. Really good question. Good, good, good, good question.
All right, Uh, Jamie is back with me. Jamie are
you there?
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Yes, thank you for picking up again. My drain is
an outside door drain on the ground. It's next to
my pool equipment that my husband uses sometimes to drain
whatever he needs to drain out, but it's not draining
at the time because I put followly built with diaster
or dirt, and I can't stick a.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Drain snake to wind out cover over the top, right.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Exactly, It's like a shower grill.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Right, Okay, So is there a screw in the center
of it?
Speaker 5 (21:40):
No, I don't see it screw on it. I'm thinking
it's probably a screw, but I don't have a tool.
Do I need a tool?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Well, here's the thing. If it is screwed into place,
if it's if the drain cover or the grill is
removable because it's been screwed into place, you will see
the screws. There either two just below the slots on
the far edges of the drain that you'll see, or
(22:07):
there's one right smack dab in the middle. And if
that's the case, all you need is a screwdriver to
undo those screws and lift that cover off. But if
we're talking about a standard kind of exterior drain deck drain,
then there's a very good chance that that is a insert.
That grill is an insert that's that's sitting down inside
(22:30):
the pipe that it's slid into place. Now it's not
glued in, it's just slid in, okay, and so in
it may have never been removed and the whole time
that it's been there, and it might, you know, because
of grit and grime and age and expansion and contraction
and heat and cold, it might be a bit what
we call frozen in place there. So if it's that
(22:52):
kind of a of a grate, you could get a
pair of pliers. Gotta be careful if it's PVC as
opposed to metal. If it's metal, you can be a
little bit more aggressive with it, but if it's if
it's a plastic sort of grill, then you want to
be a little bit more gentle. So there's two ways
to approach this. You can get a pair of plyers
(23:13):
and grab on to one of the slots with the plyers,
and you know, give it a little twist and tug
and see if you can't get any movement out of
it as it in order to lift it out of there,
or or if if that doesn't affect anything, and I
don't want you to chew it all up with the
plyers too visually, then another trick is to take a
(23:36):
wire coat hanger or a strong piece of wire, kind
of bend it into a hook shape, slide it down
through one of the far edge slots all the way
to the edge and see if you can't, then lift
it back up so that the little hook that you've
created comes up through the other, you know, one of
(23:58):
the other far edge slat. In other words, we've kind
of looped down underneath through the slats. Pull the wire
up good on both sides, and then either grab that
with your hand or grab that with a pair of
pliers and pull so that it's pulling tension more evenly
across it. But I guarantee you that thing will come out.
(24:18):
It is probably just what we call a tension insert
down inside the pipe that it is serving, and sometimes
if they haven't been removed regularly, it just takes a
little bit of effort and tugging and so on in
order to get it done. But there you go, Jamie,
I'm right up against a break. Thank you for the question.
Thanks for calling back. I don't know if it was
(24:40):
us or you who cut us off, but I'm glad
we got back to it. That's your best shot. When
it comes to that, you'll either see the screws that
need to be removed. They won't be hidden, or it's
a tension fitting. You just need to get something looped
in underneath it and give it a good tug. All right,
y'all when we return more of your calls.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
And of course there's always something happening in the world
to throw us off our game, and you stay tuned
here to KFI, and we will make sure that you
hear everything that you need to know, including just letting
you know right after we are done today at noon,
KFI is going to be doing special coverage because of
the Iran bombing and the plan d DTLA Downtown LA
(25:32):
protest that's starting at noon today. We will have special
coverage of all of that starting at noon. From noon
to two it'll be Tiffany Hobbes and Michael Monks and
from two to four Gary Hoffman. So stay tuned. We've
got coverage of everything that's happening out there. And I
am I'm just glad that we get to not be
(25:54):
preempted right now and spend the time together doing what
we normally love to do with you you here on
Sunday mornings, and that is talk about that very special
place where you live. We're going to get back to
our conversation on the controlling sound just after the next break.
But I still have another segment here to take a
(26:14):
call or two if we can. I want to talk
to Wendy. Hey, Wendy, welcome home.
Speaker 9 (26:21):
Thank you, Dean. Good afternoon, Dean. So, first of all,
I'd like to say that Nicole came to the house
to be relocator, who's wonderful, and I believe she relocated
our bees from our timney to you. Is that the case,
just so a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Oh yeah, you know what, Yes, that did happen. Yeah.
They are fantastic. They're just absolutely fantastic. Nicole Palladino. Bee
Catchers not a sponsor of the show, but a huge
I am a huge, huge fan. They serve all of
southern California. If you've got bees that have invaded your home,
(26:59):
I'm not talking about a swarm outside. That's a different thing.
But if they're in your home like they were in
Wendy's chimney or something where they shouldn't be, then don't
call a pest control company called bee Catchers because they
will take care. They'll remove everything that needs to be removed.
They'll also save the bees and give them a new home, which,
in Wendy's case is my backyard. So there you go.
(27:23):
I had no idea that's the world, right, six degrees
of separation or less? You know I have it is
I've adopted your bees.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (27:33):
Well, I know they're in good hands. And how miraculous
is those bees the way they form their home? You know,
just in a couple of weeks, a few of them
that looked like they were just going in and searching,
had no idea there was a huge form of them.
So it's a really beautiful thing that they're now with you.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, and let me tell you, I've got a really,
really nice hive. And so they are having a lot
more fun here now than they were in your chimney.
They were making do in your chimney, but they are
how much happier? So anyway, all right, so how.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Can I help We're all happy?
Speaker 9 (28:03):
Well, my question is this, and it's more like this
confusion if you can help sort it out? So I'm
looking for First of all, my house is as green
as possible, what I mean, as I'm trying to do
it chemical free, voc free.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
So right now I'm.
Speaker 9 (28:15):
Struggling with the engineered wood and wood flooring, and I
need to go with that, I'm told because of our
homes in our particular area and shadow oaks, and cannot
do real woods. So I just learned and now confused
about whether it should be cold pressed to last longer,
whether it should have built in layer of wood beneath
(28:37):
it so I don't have to use the plywood first
put that down, which I'd rather not do because I
don't want to use the plywood. And then there are
all these processes like whether it's cold pressed, or it
is cured with smoke, or it's cured with ammonia. Can
you tell me what all that means and what's going
to be the greenest, the most resilient. I don't want scratches,
(28:59):
even though we don't have any pets or kids and
we take our shoes off. But I'm really, you know,
having a hard time de signing.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
All right, that is a huge, huge conversation to have, Wendy.
It really is, because they are right. I don't mean
to disappoint. I'm just saying it is. It's a big
conversation to have. But I will tell you this. Let
me try and simplify it for you. You're looking to
put in a hardwood floor. Correct, Yes, Okay, So I
(29:29):
just want to I want to correct a couple of
terms that you used. Okay, you are going to get
a real wood hard a real hardwood floor. Okay, it's
a real hardwood floor. The old, the old idea of
like old solid hardwood, we have let go of that
a long, long, long long time ago. And and I
(29:50):
will tell you that, as far as in terms of
green is considered, any any high quality hardwood floor is
a adequate and green option for you. And I'll tell you why.
Because traditional hardwood floors, and traditional I mean going back
one hundred years, three quarter inch thick solid wood floors,
(30:15):
white oak, red oak, whatever the material might be, that
is a kind of floor that eats up a tremendous
amount of tree, a lot of tree in order to
get those right. And they are also very very susceptible
to moisture, to cupping, to bowing, because it's one piece
(30:36):
of wood and moisture gets into the grain and there's
nothing there to resist that wood doing what it naturally does,
which is if moisture gets on one side, it expands
that side, and then the other side, which is dryer,
ends up cupped, okay, because one side literally grows larger
than the other side, and we get this curved thing,
(30:58):
which is disastrous. There's this old school thought. They're like,
that was real hardwood floors, not this plywood these days. Okay,
But here's the thing. There's a reason for it, all right.
Number One, Not only does an engineered floor, which is
primarily made out of what we call plywoods, an engineered
floor is a far superior floor. Number one, it's far
(31:22):
superior because it uses less tree. Okay, that's a great thing.
In other words, with all those thin layers. Number two,
the whole point of an engineered floor is that the
layers of plywood are set at forty five degree angles
to each other, each layer each succeeding layer, and so
(31:44):
as moisture attacks that piece of flooring, every layer wants
to expand in a different direction, and every layer is
pressed and glued to every other layer, and therefore none
of the layers get to do anything because they're all
expand against each other, and as a result, it's a
far more stable piece of flooring. Third thing is that
(32:10):
right on top of that plywood base, that engineered base
is a real solid layer of whatever you're finished wood is.
And the point that I make to people all the
time is that three quarter inch old red oak floor
that you think, Yeah, that thing's so thick it could
(32:30):
be resanded fifty times. No, no, it can't be. Because
the only part of that floor, even though it's one
solid piece of wood, the only part of that floor
that can that determines how much it can be resanded
and refinished through the years is the is the amount
of that floor which sticks above the tongue and the groove,
(32:53):
because we can only finish this, We can only stand
this floor down until we run the risk of exposing
the tongueung in the groove, and then it's done. Which
means that the average old school traditional hardwood floor has
about three sixteenths of an inch of a ware layer,
(33:13):
of a true wear layer that is actually interactive with
you the homeowner, and with refinishing, and a really good
quality modern engineered floor has in fact a six millimeter
ware layer. Those are got the best that they come
in six millimeters, which is essentially pretty close to three
(33:35):
sixteenths of an inch. And so the point is an
engineered hardwood floor, this is what you're looking for, you're
looking for low VOC glues that that'll be advertised with
the brand cold pressed. It can be cold pressed, it
can be hot pressed. But my main concern is low
VOC volatile organic compound off gasing. That's as green as
(33:59):
it gets low VOC grooves. But here is what we're
looking for. The best quality hardwood floors that have ever
existed on planet Earth have these components. They are you
want the thickest ware layer, so you want a minimum
of four millimeters of war layer, ideally six millimeters of
(34:24):
ware layer. That's the actual finish wood. And then underneath
that you want the most plot layers of ply. And
that's really what makes the difference. There are cheap hardwood
floors out there that have a thick ware layer on
top and there's three layers of ply. In other words,
three layers underneath. That's not enough. When I say multiple
layers of ply, I'm talking nine to eleven layers of ply. Okay,
(34:49):
that's a stable hardwood floor with a thick ware layer.
It is gold. It is just it's as good as
it gets, and it's good as it can be. And
by definition UH it is UH. It is a green
product because we are using UH more of uh, I
don't want to say scrap, but more of ancillary wood
(35:10):
from every tree in order to get those thin layers
of ply and less of the heartwood.
Speaker 9 (35:17):
Okay, one quick other question, I know I gotta I've
got to go, and so Hugh, of course, which I
meant is that everything you said is great. Now, what
about amusing a name brand? And I know you don't
endorse them, but I'm just giving you an example in
case you've seen it, Cosablanca and it has one really
thick layer of wood and it uses no formaldehyde and
it's glue and no voc but it has one really
(35:40):
really thick piece of baby plywood underneath that four millimeter thick,
which I'm going to try and find a six milimeter brand.
Is that any better for the sustainability I mean, sorry,
the longevity of the wood?
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Okay, Wendy, I know you got to go. I gotta
go too, because I'm up against a break. I promise
I will give you the answer to this off the
I'll say this on the air, off the call, right
on the other side of the brake. So you keep
listening and everybody else you keep listening to your home
with Dean Sharp the House Whisper on KFI. This has
(36:15):
been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into
the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday
morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday
morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on
demand on the iHeartRadio app
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