February 25, 2024 • 29 mins
Dean talks about the world of residential home elevators and how they are not just for the rich anymore. He explains how home elevators can be crucial not only for people with disabilities, but also for those who wish to 'age in place' and remain in their homes as long as they possibly can. He offers insights into adding an elevator to an existing home without compromising the integrity of the home, or how to add one or even just plan for one to add later in a new build breaking the bank. Listeners ask Dean's advice on replacing a pool filter with a possible upgrade, how to prevent cats from jumping on a flat roof using some kind of barrier that won't harm them, and what the best slab material is for a total shower remodel, quartz, marble or granite.
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(00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listeningto Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand
on the iHeartRadio app KFI AM sixforty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Good Saturday morning to you. Herewe are before the sun rises six am.
(00:25):
Welcome home, You're like, welcomehome? How about good morning?
How about get out of bed?I am Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
custom home Builder, custom home designer, here with you as I am
every Saturday from six to eight,to be an advocate during your construction process,
(00:48):
to be a design mentor for youbecause design matters most, and also
just a friend as you take onthe what I believe is noble work of
turning your ordinary house into an extraordinaryhome. The team is all here,
We're ready to get going. Guesswhat we're going to talk about today?
(01:11):
This is a little different. I'vespoken on this topic several times, but
we've never committed an entire show tohave a conversation about home elevators. Now
I know. Wait, just wait, listen, it's six in the morning.
What other station you're going to tuneto anyway? Right? You might
as well stay here with me andtalk to me about it you're thinking home
(01:33):
elevators. I'm not going to geta home elevator. I'm living on one
story house. Forget this guy.Listen. It's a really interesting topic,
it really is, and highly relevantthese days because yes, you know,
a lot of homes are one storyhomes. And if that's the case,
yeah, you probably don't need anelevator unless you just want to get a
(01:53):
really good view of your roof attimes. But many, many, any
many of you live in two storyhomes, and there are a lot of
folks who have encountered some form orother of disabling, injury or disability or
(02:15):
we do talk about this all thetime. We are now in the world
of architecture and home design talking moreand more on the subject of aging in
place. Aging in place is oneof my favorite subjects because I think it's
something that whereas it used to besome type of special retrofit for a home.
(02:40):
In terms of the way we designhomes, we meaning my partner teeny
Weenie and I, we design homeswith every intent of those artistic designs also
being aging in place designs. Agingin place simply means you know a home
(03:00):
is your for most people by andlarge, your largest single investment. It's
not just a monetary investment, butit is a memory investment, investment,
a nostalgic investment. It is whereyou've raised your family, it's where you've
(03:22):
been, it's where you've put downroots, it's where you've experienced so much
of your life. And the familyhome. I've seen this so many times.
It's a heartbreaking or it can bea heartbreaking thing for seniors who live
in a beautiful, well evolved twostory family home having to say goodbye to
(03:46):
it. Why well, for onereason, because navigating up and down the
second story becomes impractical or even dangerous. And so suddenly the topic of home
elevators becomes highly highly relevant to thatdiscussion. Because and even though and we'll
(04:11):
just start off and we get intoit a little bit further, I'm going
to give you a sense of pricing, and I'm going to also give you
a sense of why I can't giveyou exact pricing until some home elevator expert
is standing in your home evaluating everything. But they're not inexpensive items. You
(04:31):
know they are. They are,and they are relatively expensive item, but
in terms of the cost of yourhome as a whole, especially an older
home who likely has been paid downsignificantly, if not paid off altogether,
an older home that has equity,an older home that is easily able to
(04:57):
take out alone if necess Some elevatorcompanies have financing. My point is this,
the idea of home elevators being justthis posh luxury item for the rich
no longer the case. They've becomefar more reasonable. There are new next
gen elevators out there that actually fitinto a home that was never designed for
(05:23):
one. And despite the you know, relatively hefty price tag for a single
item, when you consider a singlething that's going into a home, it's
a hefty price tag, the financingthat's available for them essentially puts you in
a position of mom and dad,grandma and grandpa being able to stay in
(05:47):
their family home for what the costof a car payment. And when you
look at it in those terms,suddenly the entire subject gets turned on ear
and now we're talking something really relevant. Then the key is can you actually
get one in your home? Andthat's where the new next gen elevators come
(06:09):
into play. And those are,you know, among other things, the
things I really want to highlight withyou this morning. So it is home
elevators today. We're going to divein fully as soon as we come back.
I am so glad you joined methis morning. There's so much more
to come. You're listening to Homewith Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
kf I Dean Sharp the House Whisper. You're listening to home where every week
(06:35):
we help you better understand that placewhere you live. Hey, we're talking
home elevators today. It is afascinating topic and one worth taking a peek
into. Whether you yourself have atwo story home or have a need potentially
of one, or whether you knowa friend or family member who may be
(06:57):
getting to the place where navigating theirtwo story home they're beloved two story home
is getting more difficult. Here isa conversation worth participating in. Also,
as always, I want to talkto you today about what's going on with
your home. Anything that's going on, design question, DIY issue, construction
(07:20):
concern, whatever that might be.Give me a call coming up in just
a few minutes. We're going togo to the phones, find out how
you're doing and how your house isdoing today, and if I can give
you a little bit of help.The number to reach me at eight three
three two. Ask Dean, eightthree three the number two. Ask Dean.
(07:41):
The phone lines are open right now, so give me a call,
jump into the queue, and maybewe can talk about what's going on with
your place. Okay, where's mysheet? Where's my sheet? Where?
Where is it? Here it is? Uh, I just gotta remember where
(08:03):
I was at. Oh, here'swhere I was at. So residential elevators,
the market for residential elevators is growingconstantly, and the technology, and
this is the good news, iskeeping pace. Uh it is. There's
some fascinating stuff out there. Solet me just break it down for you
in the simplest way that I know. There are different kinds of elevator technologies,
(08:31):
uh, and modalities for getting fromone floor to another. To my
knowledge, and some elevator expert outthere could correct me on this, but
to my knowledge still, the leastexpensive way to get a residential elevator built
(08:52):
into a house is to plan forit ahead of time. So if we've
got a major remodel happening, orwe've got a new house build, then
a little bit of foresight, alittle bit of forethought, could do you
a world of good. What wemight call the tr you know, I
(09:13):
hesitate to say traditional elevator technique orformats because elevators have changed so much through
the years. But still the let'sjust call the standard or more conventional elevator
systems That would involve a shaft fromone story to the next in the house.
(09:35):
Very likely in that shaft, somecustom rail reinforcement as far as wood
framing is concerned, and possibly apit. And when we say a pit,
we're usually just talking about a recessin the first floor slab that accounts
for the cab moving down, aswell as maybe some gear. The pit
(10:00):
for most residential elevators is usually notdeeper than twelve plus inches these days,
and then some overhead room and maybeeven an equipment area outside of the shaft
itself. Now that may seem likea lot, but if you're designing a
new home, it's not necessarily thathard to find room for that kind of
(10:22):
device. And here's the thing.Let me be really clear about this forethought.
Forethought, my friend, most elevatorsof the standard version, of the
traditional version or conventional version are goingto need a shaft five feet by five
feet in dimension or a little bitbigger. Six by six is kind of
(10:46):
a no brainer. You don't haveto put the elevator in in your new
build or your remodel, but ifyou can find room for the shaft,
then you are elevator ready and thatcuts down a great deal of the future
cost of the unit. Number One, the conventional units are they tend to
(11:09):
be less expensive than the newer well, I don't want to say high tech,
because they all they're all high tech. The newer units that are designed
to self support and therefore be ableto be retro fit into a house that
doesn't have accommodation for an elevator.So you understand what I'm saying. If
(11:31):
you build into the house a shaftway, even if you're not going to
use it, even if you puta temporary floor in between the two,
and just use that shaft as closetspace downstairs and upstairs until the day comes
when the flooring can be removed andyou're ready for an elevator, you're going
(11:52):
to spend the least amount of moneyin the future with that scenario. Not
only do you have the shaft alreadyto go, which means you could use
a more conventional elevator system, whichis less expensive than the self contained ones.
But even if you fell in lovewith some of these new high tech
self contained ones, they could fitin that area, but you're not having
(12:16):
to do the additional cost of openinga hole in the floor. And that
is where I want to go next. I want to talk to you about
why pricing on elevators is a littlethere, a little bit of a question
mark until we actually get eyes onyour house, because it's not just the
cost of the elevator itself, butit is the cost of putting a hole
(12:41):
in between one floor of your houseand the other. And that's not just
a matter of pick an area,get out a saw, cut a hole.
There are structural framing members taking placein there, and that work maybe
a little more extensive than what youare I'm going to try and describe it
(13:01):
to you when we come back tothe topic, so that you get a
sense of what's involved in prepping thehouse for the elevator. So you've got
basically two costs. You have theelevator equipment themselves, which a lot of
companies will price out sort of leadwith saying, oh, this elevator only
costs this, But then there's theinstallation costs not only their labor of assembling
(13:24):
that unit, but also the costof modifying your home for it. It
can be done, and it's stillin my opinion of value if it means
staying in your house. But Ijust want you to be aware of all
that's involved, all right, whenwe come back, your calls up next
eight three three two, Ask Deanyour home with Dean shar up the house
(13:46):
whisper CAF. I am six fortylive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You
are home. Hopefully the earth isnot falling beneath us. Your home with
Dean sharp the house whisper. That'sme. We've been talking home elevators and
we're going to continue. But nowhas time come the time in our fine
(14:09):
program where we turn to the phonesand find out what's going on with your
home today. The number to reachme at eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three three the number twoask Dean Susie welcome home, Hi Dean.
I have a pool filter pin TearSeries two thousand pool filter that's been
(14:33):
leaking, and it seems at thispoint I'm going to have to have it
replaced, and I'm wondering should Ijust be replacing it with basically the same
type, you know, the samespecifications that I had before. And also
what about that whole salt water thing, that whole saltwater thing. Yeah,
(14:58):
you have a can ventional chlorine poolright now? Yes, okay, Well,
a pent Tear is a really goodpool filter Number one. Number two
disclaimer, I am not a poolfilter expert as far as knowing every brand
and every style and everything that's outthere, So I am not going to
tell you a specific brand. Ijust know that Pentear is all over the
(15:24):
place. I mean, they're they'rethey're an industry leader. Them and Hayward
and a couple of other brands justalways show up. As far as selecting
a pool filter replacement, uh,I would always advise you to, you
know, replace a cross even levelwith your existing filtration system, or take
(15:48):
advantage of the fact that you're replacingthe filter to go better. And what
better means is it means either ain terms of increasing the size of the
filtration itself. Filters are measured intheir ability to capture particulates and bacteria and
(16:11):
all of that stuff. In relationshipto microns, every pool filter has a
micron rating. Microns are just they'rea dimensional element. In other words,
the size of a thing measured inmicrons way smaller than inches and sixteenth of
(16:32):
an inch and so on. Ahuman hair is about fifty microns in diameter.
Blood cells red blood cells at abouteight, household dust four and most
bacteria are down in the two micronrange. And so depending on the kind
(16:52):
of pool filter that you put in, the expense usually has to do with
the smallness of what the filter captures. Everything from sand filters, which are
relatively inexpensive all the way up.So that's my way. We have a
one. Okay, so you've gota diete and that's yeah. So just
(17:17):
be aware as your shopping filters,and best to talk with some pool experts
on this when you're shopping filters,be aware of the micron capture ratio so
that you understand what it is itsability to filter out. Now, in
terms of changing your system from astandard system into a saline system, I
(17:41):
use the term saline because salt water, saltwater pools. It's just a quick
nickname for pools, but it canbe deceiving. We're not talking about salt
water like at the ocean. Infact, we're talking about considerably less salt
than the ocean. In fact,most saline pools when balanced just right,
(18:04):
people jump in them and they're like, is this a regular pool or as
salt? Is this a saltwater pool? Because I can't tell that's the low
low salt content in a quote unquotesaltwater pool. But they really are the
way that we build pools these days. So now the retrofit is going to
(18:25):
be considerably more cost wise than justyou replacing a filter for your pool,
But the benefits are many. NumberOne, if we start to use a
saline pool, maybe a combination ofsaline and UV purification near the filter,
(18:47):
then we are cutting way way downon the amount of chlorine and chloromine chemicals
that are being injected into the water. Saltwater pools, by the way,
are not chlorine free pools, notat all. BacT of the matter is
the saline in the water as itruns through its system, creates its own
chlorine by a reaction as it movesthrough the filter and pumping systems. So
(19:14):
and that chlorine is not as reactiveas the chemical stuff, the liquid stuff
or the tablets that you actually throwinto the water. So the point being
this, when you're replacing a poolfilter, get back on the internet,
do a little bit of research,talk to experts and find out what the
micron ratings are of the various filtersand their price points, and definitely talk
(19:37):
to a pool expert about the ideaof upgrading to a saline pool, less
bacteria, less chemicals, healthier foryour skin, healthier for your system,
healthier for your pool system, andlonger lasting as well. So that is
why virtually every new pool that goesin the ground these days here in the
(19:59):
Twin for a century is some formof a saline pool. So, Susie,
thank you for the call. Hopethat answers your question. Let's talk
to Karen. Karen, welcome home, Karen, Are you with us?
Yes? I am high. Yeah. I was telling is there a way
to stop cats from jumping on theroof? Okay, I have it.
(20:22):
There's a we have a flat roof, and they they climb on the fence
and then they jump on the roofand they're really loud. It sounds like
a person walking up there. Andthey also have cat cat cat fights on
the roof. Yeah, it's areally good question. I'm not sure that
(20:45):
I've encountered that question before. AllI could think of is if there's somehow
that you could put some kind ofa barrier up on the roof that isn't
going to be I mean, whenwe say a flat roof, do you
have a parapet is there like aparapet wall around the outside of your roof?
Or when you say flat roof,it's just flat and visible for everybody
to see. There's like an obstruction. You can't really see it totally just
(21:11):
from certain angles. Is where youcan see it better, like the sides
and stuff, or it's flat,okay, I mean, you know,
the best thing I could think ofis, you know, there are those
wires that have the small current inthem that we use to keep other pests
outside of the yard. Maybe there'sa way of mounting it one up there
(21:33):
that would keep a cat from havingaccess to the roof. But of course
we don't want to do something thatyou know, looks ugly from the street.
So if it's something that you couldpull off without anybody else seeing it,
then you could get creative in thatregard. But if I mean,
if this is a roof that everybodycan just kind of clearly see, I
don't know put a dog up onthe roof. I'm not really Yeah,
(21:57):
right, it's a condo, soyou know. Oh I got you.
I got you. Yeah, I'mnot sure I know how to advise you
on that one, Karen. Uhhey, yeah, I've never heard anybody
call either. Yeah. No,that's a that's a good one. I
think you stumped me on that one. Yeah, I'm I'm not sure how
(22:21):
to keep cats off a flat roof. You got me? There you go,
you got me. I surrender,all right, Jerry, good luck.
Okay. By when we come back, I'm gonna try and get a
couple more of them. Right.How about that? Your home with Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. More callsup next? Canf I Dean Sharp the
(22:45):
House Whisper, Welcome home. We'retalking home elevators today. Fascinating topic.
But right now we're going back tothe phones. Jack, Welcome home.
Hi, Dean, I have asingle story house. Let's I don't need
an elevator today. I just wantto I did install a life source system
(23:07):
and I'm really happy with it.No, that's great. Water. The
water is really good. Okay,And I wish you'd had a phone number
that I could call and get adesigner referral. But anyway, my project
is a shower that I need tototally remodel in the back of the house.
It's just a stand up shower,has no tub, and I want
(23:29):
no grout back there. So I'mlooking at using slabs on my countertops.
I have Cambria courts. I don'tknow if I can use Cambria courts for
the walls or if I should usemarble or granted. And the last question
is should I use it on theceiling as well as the walls. Okay,
(23:52):
good questions. Yeah, yes toall of the above, except for
the ceiling question. You can usegranite, you can use marble. I
mean, we put everything imaginable ina shower, and any slab material that
is countertop worthy for your kitchen hasno problem handling hot and cold water and
(24:18):
steam in a shower. So yes, full slabs of Cambria, any kind
of quartz material whatsoever. And thereare so many varieties on the market,
many of which simulate stone pretty well, pretty well, depending on the brand,
in the style and then the naturalstones. The only thing I would
(24:41):
say is, of course, withmarble as always the same warning that we
give when we put it in akitchen. Marbling, granite need to keep
sealed, and cambria are quartz,which is a man made material. It's
only achilles heel. In the kitchenis really heat meaning you know, you
(25:03):
can't just drop a four hundred degreepan on it without getting a little potential
heat ring. But in the showerthat's never going to be an issue whatsoever.
So they're pretty bomb proof in showerapplications. Quartz is not going to
be as beautiful in most people's opinionas a natural stone like quartzite or granite
(25:29):
or marble, but those elements becausethey're natural stone. The price you pay
for that level of beauty in thereis you got to keep them sealed.
But if you do that, youknow probably in a shower once a year,
I would say. Some marble guyout there is saying twice a year,
Deane K fine, once or twicea year, But you keep them
(25:53):
sealed and you'll have no problem.That's a life long, beautiful shower scene.
Now, as far as the ceilingis concerned, how tall is the
ceiling in the shower? Eight set? Okay, so it's an eight foot
and are you planning on ever usingthis shower as a steam shower. No,
(26:15):
okay, So my general feeling iswe default to putting a hard surface
material on the ceiling. Why becausesteam rises, because water condensates up above.
But is that a guarantee if youdon't that you're going to have a
(26:37):
drywall problems? Number one, ifyou use green board, which you should
up there, green board drywall,which is a moisture resistant drywall, and
you use a moisture resistant paint inthe bathroom area, something really good like
an Aura bathroom spa from Benjamin Mooresponsored the show, But an are bath
(27:00):
and spa something that's really designed toresist moisture, and the shower doors aren't
too tall so that you're trapping mostof that steam. So if we've got
good ventilation, if the shower doorsaren't trapping most of the steam and moisture
inside the shower chamber, then youreally are not going to have a problem
running a painted ceiling in there.However, the bomb proof solution is always
(27:26):
to take the same materials that you'reusing on the shower walls and pop them
up there as well. When youdo, though, let me be clear,
if you're going to have a paintedceiling, you can just run a
standard ceiling through. If you're goingto put a a hard surface up there,
like marble, Let's say you're doingmarble on the walls, and you're
(27:49):
gonna put marble overhead, you're gonnawant to slope that ceiling ever so slightly.
Don't put it up completely level,put it in on the tiny st
of slope. I'm talking about aneighth of an inch per foot slope,
just ever so slightly sloped from theshower door back sloped down towards the back
(28:10):
shower wall. Why because if weput stone up there, it's a cold
material, and the steam and moisturethat rises from your hot shower will condensate
very easily on that material, andas it condensates and turns into droplets,
what you don't want is a coldrainforest dropping droplets of water on you while
(28:37):
you're taking your hot shower. Andso what we do is we pitch and
slope that ceiling back so that thatwater runs along the ceiling to the back
wall and then runs down the backwall instead of dripping in the shower.
And it is a weird thought.You would think, well, you know,
it's all hot water. It's not. The temperature coming out of the
shower head is one temperature by thetime the moisture and it say it's on
(29:00):
the cooler tile up above or slabup above. When it starts to drop
on you, it's kind of annoyinglycooler than the hot shower that you're taking.
And so slope that ceiling back andchange the you know, get that
water so it doesn't drip on you. Jack. Thank you for your question,
really good one. When we return, we are going to fall back
(29:23):
down the shaft of home elevator.Oh, we don't want to do.
That's what you don't want to do. But we're going to talk about home
elevators as we return. I'm soglad you joined me this morning. A
lot more to come. You're Homewith Dean Sharp the House Whisper on KFI.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharpon demand from KFI AM six forty
KFI AM six forty. You're listeningto Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand
on the iHeartRadio app KFI AM sixforty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Good Saturday morning to you. Herewe are before the sun rises six am.
(00:25):
Welcome home, You're like, welcomehome? How about good morning?
How about get out of bed?I am Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
custom home Builder, custom home designer, here with you as I am
every Saturday from six to eight,to be an advocate during your construction process,
(00:48):
to be a design mentor for youbecause design matters most, and also
just a friend as you take onthe what I believe is noble work of
turning your ordinary house into an extraordinaryhome. The team is all here,
We're ready to get going. Guesswhat we're going to talk about today?
(01:11):
This is a little different. I'vespoken on this topic several times, but
we've never committed an entire show tohave a conversation about home elevators. Now
I know. Wait, just wait, listen, it's six in the morning.
What other station you're going to tuneto anyway? Right? You might
as well stay here with me andtalk to me about it you're thinking home
(01:33):
elevators. I'm not going to geta home elevator. I'm living on one
story house. Forget this guy.Listen. It's a really interesting topic,
it really is, and highly relevantthese days because yes, you know,
a lot of homes are one storyhomes. And if that's the case,
yeah, you probably don't need anelevator unless you just want to get a
(01:53):
really good view of your roof attimes. But many, many, any
many of you live in two storyhomes, and there are a lot of
folks who have encountered some form orother of disabling, injury or disability or
(02:15):
we do talk about this all thetime. We are now in the world
of architecture and home design talking moreand more on the subject of aging in
place. Aging in place is oneof my favorite subjects because I think it's
something that whereas it used to besome type of special retrofit for a home.
(02:40):
In terms of the way we designhomes, we meaning my partner teeny
Weenie and I, we design homeswith every intent of those artistic designs also
being aging in place designs. Agingin place simply means you know a home
(03:00):
is your for most people by andlarge, your largest single investment. It's
not just a monetary investment, butit is a memory investment, investment,
a nostalgic investment. It is whereyou've raised your family, it's where you've
(03:22):
been, it's where you've put downroots, it's where you've experienced so much
of your life. And the familyhome. I've seen this so many times.
It's a heartbreaking or it can bea heartbreaking thing for seniors who live
in a beautiful, well evolved twostory family home having to say goodbye to
(03:46):
it. Why well, for onereason, because navigating up and down the
second story becomes impractical or even dangerous. And so suddenly the topic of home
elevators becomes highly highly relevant to thatdiscussion. Because and even though and we'll
(04:11):
just start off and we get intoit a little bit further, I'm going
to give you a sense of pricing, and I'm going to also give you
a sense of why I can't giveyou exact pricing until some home elevator expert
is standing in your home evaluating everything. But they're not inexpensive items. You
(04:31):
know they are. They are,and they are relatively expensive item, but
in terms of the cost of yourhome as a whole, especially an older
home who likely has been paid downsignificantly, if not paid off altogether,
an older home that has equity,an older home that is easily able to
(04:57):
take out alone if necess Some elevatorcompanies have financing. My point is this,
the idea of home elevators being justthis posh luxury item for the rich
no longer the case. They've becomefar more reasonable. There are new next
gen elevators out there that actually fitinto a home that was never designed for
(05:23):
one. And despite the you know, relatively hefty price tag for a single
item, when you consider a singlething that's going into a home, it's
a hefty price tag, the financingthat's available for them essentially puts you in
a position of mom and dad,grandma and grandpa being able to stay in
(05:47):
their family home for what the costof a car payment. And when you
look at it in those terms,suddenly the entire subject gets turned on ear
and now we're talking something really relevant. Then the key is can you actually
get one in your home? Andthat's where the new next gen elevators come
(06:09):
into play. And those are,you know, among other things, the
things I really want to highlight withyou this morning. So it is home
elevators today. We're going to divein fully as soon as we come back.
I am so glad you joined methis morning. There's so much more
to come. You're listening to Homewith Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
kf I Dean Sharp the House Whisper. You're listening to home where every week
(06:35):
we help you better understand that placewhere you live. Hey, we're talking
home elevators today. It is afascinating topic and one worth taking a peek
into. Whether you yourself have atwo story home or have a need potentially
of one, or whether you knowa friend or family member who may be
(06:57):
getting to the place where navigating theirtwo story home they're beloved two story home
is getting more difficult. Here isa conversation worth participating in. Also,
as always, I want to talkto you today about what's going on with
your home. Anything that's going on, design question, DIY issue, construction
(07:20):
concern, whatever that might be.Give me a call coming up in just
a few minutes. We're going togo to the phones, find out how
you're doing and how your house isdoing today, and if I can give
you a little bit of help.The number to reach me at eight three
three two. Ask Dean, eightthree three the number two. Ask Dean.
(07:41):
The phone lines are open right now, so give me a call,
jump into the queue, and maybewe can talk about what's going on with
your place. Okay, where's mysheet? Where's my sheet? Where?
Where is it? Here it is? Uh, I just gotta remember where
(08:03):
I was at. Oh, here'swhere I was at. So residential elevators,
the market for residential elevators is growingconstantly, and the technology, and
this is the good news, iskeeping pace. Uh it is. There's
some fascinating stuff out there. Solet me just break it down for you
in the simplest way that I know. There are different kinds of elevator technologies,
(08:31):
uh, and modalities for getting fromone floor to another. To my
knowledge, and some elevator expert outthere could correct me on this, but
to my knowledge still, the leastexpensive way to get a residential elevator built
(08:52):
into a house is to plan forit ahead of time. So if we've
got a major remodel happening, orwe've got a new house build, then
a little bit of foresight, alittle bit of forethought, could do you
a world of good. What wemight call the tr you know, I
(09:13):
hesitate to say traditional elevator technique orformats because elevators have changed so much through
the years. But still the let'sjust call the standard or more conventional elevator
systems That would involve a shaft fromone story to the next in the house.
(09:35):
Very likely in that shaft, somecustom rail reinforcement as far as wood
framing is concerned, and possibly apit. And when we say a pit,
we're usually just talking about a recessin the first floor slab that accounts
for the cab moving down, aswell as maybe some gear. The pit
(10:00):
for most residential elevators is usually notdeeper than twelve plus inches these days,
and then some overhead room and maybeeven an equipment area outside of the shaft
itself. Now that may seem likea lot, but if you're designing a
new home, it's not necessarily thathard to find room for that kind of
(10:22):
device. And here's the thing.Let me be really clear about this forethought.
Forethought, my friend, most elevatorsof the standard version, of the
traditional version or conventional version are goingto need a shaft five feet by five
feet in dimension or a little bitbigger. Six by six is kind of
(10:46):
a no brainer. You don't haveto put the elevator in in your new
build or your remodel, but ifyou can find room for the shaft,
then you are elevator ready and thatcuts down a great deal of the future
cost of the unit. Number One, the conventional units are they tend to
(11:09):
be less expensive than the newer well, I don't want to say high tech,
because they all they're all high tech. The newer units that are designed
to self support and therefore be ableto be retro fit into a house that
doesn't have accommodation for an elevator.So you understand what I'm saying. If
(11:31):
you build into the house a shaftway, even if you're not going to
use it, even if you puta temporary floor in between the two,
and just use that shaft as closetspace downstairs and upstairs until the day comes
when the flooring can be removed andyou're ready for an elevator, you're going
(11:52):
to spend the least amount of moneyin the future with that scenario. Not
only do you have the shaft alreadyto go, which means you could use
a more conventional elevator system, whichis less expensive than the self contained ones.
But even if you fell in lovewith some of these new high tech
self contained ones, they could fitin that area, but you're not having
(12:16):
to do the additional cost of openinga hole in the floor. And that
is where I want to go next. I want to talk to you about
why pricing on elevators is a littlethere, a little bit of a question
mark until we actually get eyes onyour house, because it's not just the
cost of the elevator itself, butit is the cost of putting a hole
(12:41):
in between one floor of your houseand the other. And that's not just
a matter of pick an area,get out a saw, cut a hole.
There are structural framing members taking placein there, and that work maybe
a little more extensive than what youare I'm going to try and describe it
(13:01):
to you when we come back tothe topic, so that you get a
sense of what's involved in prepping thehouse for the elevator. So you've got
basically two costs. You have theelevator equipment themselves, which a lot of
companies will price out sort of leadwith saying, oh, this elevator only
costs this, But then there's theinstallation costs not only their labor of assembling
(13:24):
that unit, but also the costof modifying your home for it. It
can be done, and it's stillin my opinion of value if it means
staying in your house. But Ijust want you to be aware of all
that's involved, all right, whenwe come back, your calls up next
eight three three two, Ask Deanyour home with Dean shar up the house
(13:46):
whisper CAF. I am six fortylive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You
are home. Hopefully the earth isnot falling beneath us. Your home with
Dean sharp the house whisper. That'sme. We've been talking home elevators and
we're going to continue. But nowhas time come the time in our fine
(14:09):
program where we turn to the phonesand find out what's going on with your
home today. The number to reachme at eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three three the number twoask Dean Susie welcome home, Hi Dean.
I have a pool filter pin TearSeries two thousand pool filter that's been
(14:33):
leaking, and it seems at thispoint I'm going to have to have it
replaced, and I'm wondering should Ijust be replacing it with basically the same
type, you know, the samespecifications that I had before. And also
what about that whole salt water thing, that whole saltwater thing. Yeah,
(14:58):
you have a can ventional chlorine poolright now? Yes, okay, Well,
a pent Tear is a really goodpool filter Number one. Number two
disclaimer, I am not a poolfilter expert as far as knowing every brand
and every style and everything that's outthere, So I am not going to
tell you a specific brand. Ijust know that Pentear is all over the
(15:24):
place. I mean, they're they'rethey're an industry leader. Them and Hayward
and a couple of other brands justalways show up. As far as selecting
a pool filter replacement, uh,I would always advise you to, you
know, replace a cross even levelwith your existing filtration system, or take
(15:48):
advantage of the fact that you're replacingthe filter to go better. And what
better means is it means either ain terms of increasing the size of the
filtration itself. Filters are measured intheir ability to capture particulates and bacteria and
(16:11):
all of that stuff. In relationshipto microns, every pool filter has a
micron rating. Microns are just they'rea dimensional element. In other words,
the size of a thing measured inmicrons way smaller than inches and sixteenth of
(16:32):
an inch and so on. Ahuman hair is about fifty microns in diameter.
Blood cells red blood cells at abouteight, household dust four and most
bacteria are down in the two micronrange. And so depending on the kind
(16:52):
of pool filter that you put in, the expense usually has to do with
the smallness of what the filter captures. Everything from sand filters, which are
relatively inexpensive all the way up.So that's my way. We have a
one. Okay, so you've gota diete and that's yeah. So just
(17:17):
be aware as your shopping filters,and best to talk with some pool experts
on this when you're shopping filters,be aware of the micron capture ratio so
that you understand what it is itsability to filter out. Now, in
terms of changing your system from astandard system into a saline system, I
(17:41):
use the term saline because salt water, saltwater pools. It's just a quick
nickname for pools, but it canbe deceiving. We're not talking about salt
water like at the ocean. Infact, we're talking about considerably less salt
than the ocean. In fact,most saline pools when balanced just right,
(18:04):
people jump in them and they're like, is this a regular pool or as
salt? Is this a saltwater pool? Because I can't tell that's the low
low salt content in a quote unquotesaltwater pool. But they really are the
way that we build pools these days. So now the retrofit is going to
(18:25):
be considerably more cost wise than justyou replacing a filter for your pool,
But the benefits are many. NumberOne, if we start to use a
saline pool, maybe a combination ofsaline and UV purification near the filter,
(18:47):
then we are cutting way way downon the amount of chlorine and chloromine chemicals
that are being injected into the water. Saltwater pools, by the way,
are not chlorine free pools, notat all. BacT of the matter is
the saline in the water as itruns through its system, creates its own
chlorine by a reaction as it movesthrough the filter and pumping systems. So
(19:14):
and that chlorine is not as reactiveas the chemical stuff, the liquid stuff
or the tablets that you actually throwinto the water. So the point being
this, when you're replacing a poolfilter, get back on the internet,
do a little bit of research,talk to experts and find out what the
micron ratings are of the various filtersand their price points, and definitely talk
(19:37):
to a pool expert about the ideaof upgrading to a saline pool, less
bacteria, less chemicals, healthier foryour skin, healthier for your system,
healthier for your pool system, andlonger lasting as well. So that is
why virtually every new pool that goesin the ground these days here in the
(19:59):
Twin for a century is some formof a saline pool. So, Susie,
thank you for the call. Hopethat answers your question. Let's talk
to Karen. Karen, welcome home, Karen, Are you with us?
Yes? I am high. Yeah. I was telling is there a way
to stop cats from jumping on theroof? Okay, I have it.
(20:22):
There's a we have a flat roof, and they they climb on the fence
and then they jump on the roofand they're really loud. It sounds like
a person walking up there. Andthey also have cat cat cat fights on
the roof. Yeah, it's areally good question. I'm not sure that
(20:45):
I've encountered that question before. AllI could think of is if there's somehow
that you could put some kind ofa barrier up on the roof that isn't
going to be I mean, whenwe say a flat roof, do you
have a parapet is there like aparapet wall around the outside of your roof?
Or when you say flat roof,it's just flat and visible for everybody
to see. There's like an obstruction. You can't really see it totally just
(21:11):
from certain angles. Is where youcan see it better, like the sides
and stuff, or it's flat,okay, I mean, you know,
the best thing I could think ofis, you know, there are those
wires that have the small current inthem that we use to keep other pests
outside of the yard. Maybe there'sa way of mounting it one up there
(21:33):
that would keep a cat from havingaccess to the roof. But of course
we don't want to do something thatyou know, looks ugly from the street.
So if it's something that you couldpull off without anybody else seeing it,
then you could get creative in thatregard. But if I mean,
if this is a roof that everybodycan just kind of clearly see, I
don't know put a dog up onthe roof. I'm not really Yeah,
(21:57):
right, it's a condo, soyou know. Oh I got you.
I got you. Yeah, I'mnot sure I know how to advise you
on that one, Karen. Uhhey, yeah, I've never heard anybody
call either. Yeah. No,that's a that's a good one. I
think you stumped me on that one. Yeah, I'm I'm not sure how
(22:21):
to keep cats off a flat roof. You got me? There you go,
you got me. I surrender,all right, Jerry, good luck.
Okay. By when we come back, I'm gonna try and get a
couple more of them. Right.How about that? Your home with Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. More callsup next? Canf I Dean Sharp the
(22:45):
House Whisper, Welcome home. We'retalking home elevators today. Fascinating topic.
But right now we're going back tothe phones. Jack, Welcome home.
Hi, Dean, I have asingle story house. Let's I don't need
an elevator today. I just wantto I did install a life source system
(23:07):
and I'm really happy with it.No, that's great. Water. The
water is really good. Okay,And I wish you'd had a phone number
that I could call and get adesigner referral. But anyway, my project
is a shower that I need tototally remodel in the back of the house.
It's just a stand up shower,has no tub, and I want
(23:29):
no grout back there. So I'mlooking at using slabs on my countertops.
I have Cambria courts. I don'tknow if I can use Cambria courts for
the walls or if I should usemarble or granted. And the last question
is should I use it on theceiling as well as the walls. Okay,
(23:52):
good questions. Yeah, yes toall of the above, except for
the ceiling question. You can usegranite, you can use marble. I
mean, we put everything imaginable ina shower, and any slab material that
is countertop worthy for your kitchen hasno problem handling hot and cold water and
(24:18):
steam in a shower. So yes, full slabs of Cambria, any kind
of quartz material whatsoever. And thereare so many varieties on the market,
many of which simulate stone pretty well, pretty well, depending on the brand,
in the style and then the naturalstones. The only thing I would
(24:41):
say is, of course, withmarble as always the same warning that we
give when we put it in akitchen. Marbling, granite need to keep
sealed, and cambria are quartz,which is a man made material. It's
only achilles heel. In the kitchenis really heat meaning you know, you
(25:03):
can't just drop a four hundred degreepan on it without getting a little potential
heat ring. But in the showerthat's never going to be an issue whatsoever.
So they're pretty bomb proof in showerapplications. Quartz is not going to
be as beautiful in most people's opinionas a natural stone like quartzite or granite
(25:29):
or marble, but those elements becausethey're natural stone. The price you pay
for that level of beauty in thereis you got to keep them sealed.
But if you do that, youknow probably in a shower once a year,
I would say. Some marble guyout there is saying twice a year,
Deane K fine, once or twicea year, But you keep them
(25:53):
sealed and you'll have no problem.That's a life long, beautiful shower scene.
Now, as far as the ceilingis concerned, how tall is the
ceiling in the shower? Eight set? Okay, so it's an eight foot
and are you planning on ever usingthis shower as a steam shower. No,
(26:15):
okay, So my general feeling iswe default to putting a hard surface
material on the ceiling. Why becausesteam rises, because water condensates up above.
But is that a guarantee if youdon't that you're going to have a
(26:37):
drywall problems? Number one, ifyou use green board, which you should
up there, green board drywall,which is a moisture resistant drywall, and
you use a moisture resistant paint inthe bathroom area, something really good like
an Aura bathroom spa from Benjamin Mooresponsored the show, But an are bath
(27:00):
and spa something that's really designed toresist moisture, and the shower doors aren't
too tall so that you're trapping mostof that steam. So if we've got
good ventilation, if the shower doorsaren't trapping most of the steam and moisture
inside the shower chamber, then youreally are not going to have a problem
running a painted ceiling in there.However, the bomb proof solution is always
(27:26):
to take the same materials that you'reusing on the shower walls and pop them
up there as well. When youdo, though, let me be clear,
if you're going to have a paintedceiling, you can just run a
standard ceiling through. If you're goingto put a a hard surface up there,
like marble, Let's say you're doingmarble on the walls, and you're
(27:49):
gonna put marble overhead, you're gonnawant to slope that ceiling ever so slightly.
Don't put it up completely level,put it in on the tiny st
of slope. I'm talking about aneighth of an inch per foot slope,
just ever so slightly sloped from theshower door back sloped down towards the back
(28:10):
shower wall. Why because if weput stone up there, it's a cold
material, and the steam and moisturethat rises from your hot shower will condensate
very easily on that material, andas it condensates and turns into droplets,
what you don't want is a coldrainforest dropping droplets of water on you while
(28:37):
you're taking your hot shower. Andso what we do is we pitch and
slope that ceiling back so that thatwater runs along the ceiling to the back
wall and then runs down the backwall instead of dripping in the shower.
And it is a weird thought.You would think, well, you know,
it's all hot water. It's not. The temperature coming out of the
shower head is one temperature by thetime the moisture and it say it's on
(29:00):
the cooler tile up above or slabup above. When it starts to drop
on you, it's kind of annoyinglycooler than the hot shower that you're taking.
And so slope that ceiling back andchange the you know, get that
water so it doesn't drip on you. Jack. Thank you for your question,
really good one. When we return, we are going to fall back
(29:23):
down the shaft of home elevator.Oh, we don't want to do.
That's what you don't want to do. But we're going to talk about home
elevators as we return. I'm soglad you joined me this morning. A
lot more to come. You're Homewith Dean Sharp the House Whisper on KFI.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharpon demand from KFI AM six forty
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