December 27, 2025 • 37 mins
It’s a sleepy Saturday following a torrential rainstorm all the way through Christmas week. And here in SoCal the rain has passed — for now. Do you have a leak?
Today’s first caller lives in a house built in 1935; it’s a Monterey colonial with a California basement, which means just enough space to service the gravity furnace. It doesn't have a sump pump installed, and when it rains, he gets about 2 inches of rain down there. He’s wondering if he should be concerned about the lack of a sump pump following the recent rains.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Good morning,
my friend, Welcome home. I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer,
custom home Designer, custom home builder, and every week your
guide to better understanding that place where you live. Hey,
(00:25):
whether home for you is a castle or a cottage,
it matters not. You know why, because luxury does not
a great homemake. It is design that matters most when
it comes to your home. And I invite you to
think of it this way. New parts to a home.
That's home repair, new paint that's home maintenance, all important.
New design that is truly the definition of home improvement,
(00:49):
and home improvement is our ultimate goal here on the program.
Of course, i'm gonna help you fix your house. Of course,
we're gonna help you figure out what's going wrong with it.
But but after we've taken care of what needs to
be taken care of, after we've fixed what needs fixing,
then we get onto the serious discussion about how can
(01:09):
we truly improve it and turn it from an ordinary
house into an extraordinary home. And that's when we talk design.
And of course every Saturday morning that you and I
sit together. It is an all calls Saturday morning. You,
my friend, get to determine the content of the show
(01:30):
today by giving me a call. So let's talk about
your home. The number to reach me as always eight
three three to ask Dean. It's just that simbol eight
three three the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three
two Ask Dean. Whatever's got you scratching your head about
your home? Of course, design, construction questions, DIY issues inside, outside, landscape, decor,
(01:58):
everything about your home.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I got you.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
We'll put our heads together. We will get it figured out.
How does that sound? It is a sleepy Saturday morning
after a long storm, A very unusual time through the
end of twenty twenty five, has it not been? It's
been an unusual year. I'll tell you that right now,
and you understand that fully. It is just it's been
(02:23):
a year. And so what was the last time we
actually had a torrential not just a little sprinkled or
something like that, but a torrential rain storm all the
way through Christmas week? Wow? What a thing. But here
in southern California, and I know we're still looking at
all sorts of crazy weather across the country, but here
(02:45):
in southern California the rains should be passed us now
for a time, at least until end of next week
when the Rose Parade rolls around. Prediction of possible rain
on Rose Parade Day, by the way, ten times in
the one hundred and thirty five thirty seven one hundred
and thirty something history of the Rose Parade, ten times
(03:10):
only as it rained on that day. The last one
was in two thousand and six, and the time before
that nineteen fifty five. So literally in my lifetime once
once did it rain during the Rose Parade. But the
Rose Parade goes on rain or shine. So anyway, it's
(03:31):
been an odd year for weather for sure, but here
in southern California we are looking at hopefully bright sunny
skies today and cool temperatures highs in the mid to
upper sixties at most, lows in the fifties or the
upper forties for the next few days. As we just
(03:52):
soored out everything that's been going on in relationship to
the rains, and if you've got rain issues, flood issues,
water intrusion, leaky roof, anything like that, then you and
I should talk about that today as well. Sitting across
the table from me, my design partner, my better half,
(04:16):
my best friend in all the world, the person I
celebrate the most every time Christmas rolls around. There is
her spirit animal in the background. Tina is here.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Welcome home.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
How you doing.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I'm good. Yeah, it's been a lovely Christmas.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, talk to me about it. Well.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I love the rain made it extra cozy and fun.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
It wasn't great for all the people that did have
trees fall and flooding, and that's terrible.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
We had a big branch on one of our trees
come down.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
We did.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Are we going to use that as an excuse to
no longer advocate for trees near a house? Nope, no way,
Uh it is. It's just kind of nature sorting itself out.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
We had a pretty sizable branch come down, fortunately did
not fall on anything. It's gonna have to get in fact,
it's actually yeah, yeah, it's kind of propped up into
place right now. So we're gonna have the guys, uh
kind of address that on Monday when when the gardeners
get here, Like, let's slowly remove that from the rest
(05:26):
of the tree. But no damage. You know, we had
some stuff get ruffled around here, that's for sure. That's that,
you know what, it's not just that it's not the rain,
it's the rain and the wind. And that wind went
it went like cuckoo cuckoo for cocoa pups kind of
wind and uh, and then the power went out. And
(05:46):
that always helps. It always helps, just kind of round
out the entire storm experience, does it not? So anyway, Uh,
it's uh, it's been a week for some of you.
I feel it. I feel you here to help. We
got some calls coming up on the board, so we
will go to those when we come back from our
(06:08):
next break. But tell me what's your favorite part of
Christmas this year? Geting together with family? Yeah, we spent
some good time with family.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
We did.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
We actually took a little mini vacation which was a
lot of fun. We'd never done that as a big
group before. And we went to the Cambria Finds Christmas Market. Yeah,
and that was really fun. We've done that last year
just the two of us, well, the four we went
with a couple of friends. But we went last year
and we absolutely loved it and said, oh, we have
to bring the family back.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And we managed to bring the family back this year.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I kind of feel like this is going to become
or like I wanted to become an annual tradition. I
would love that, don't you think that would be nice?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
It would be really really fun.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I mean it's a little bit of a drive, but
not a crazy drive. What it's three three and a
half hours from where we are up to Cambria, and yeah,
and you make stops along the way. We stopped in
Solvang on the way up there, which is just a
cute little town. But there are some things that I
love to see in Solvang. There's a clock store in
an antique store in Solvang that might as well be
(07:14):
an amazing museum of claw. I mean, they've got trum
what is it, Renaissance antiques, it's what it's called. And uh,
I think it's worth going to Solvang. I'm a nerd
when it comes to those things anyway, but I think
it's worth the trip just just for that, just for that.
But we also had Turkish coffee.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Oh that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
First time I've had Turkish coffee served to me in
the classical Turkish coffee way. And that was that. I
swear there was chocolate in there. It was so rich
and so earthy, but there wasn't. It was just the
way it's done, kind of surprisingly like cowboy coffee that
(07:58):
my dad used to talk to me about and once
served to me. And I was like, but just you know,
finely ground coffee put in the bottom of a of
a little brew cup, no filter, no drip, pour the
hot water in, let it steep and then carefully pour
it into a small cup and to try and keep
(08:18):
most of the grounds back behind. Man, that was good coffee.
I mean, man, that was good coffee. Wow. So anyway,
so we can stop in solving. You stop in Pismo
for We'll give all the recommendations here. We stop in
Pismo for Old West cinnamon rolls in Pismo. We were
gonna stop and see the monarch butterfly sanctuary in Pismo,
(08:41):
but lo and behold.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Badly their population is quite low.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, it's a not a good year for the monarch
butterflies in California. There were I called ahead and I'm like,
what do we got? And one of the lowest years
in recent history. Like the entire saying to where they
said that they'd spotted or counted like four hundred of them,
which is not anything for that sanctuary. So we skipped that.
But we went on a Passo Robles, awesome place to
(09:10):
spend time. We love the plaza and downtown Passo Robles.
And we went and went up to Piedris Blanca's Point,
saw the elephant seals. Always a joy to see those
little fatties crawling around on the beach.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Told us why it was blancos meaning white because of
all the bird poop.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yes, they.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I don't know if that's true or if that's become
a you know, a legend.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Well, I mean, I mean pages bluncus means white rocks,
so the they, that's what has got named by like
the I think this the Spanish and so there's a
reason the rocks are white.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
It's not snow.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
It's not snow. Don't eat the rocky snow. So yeah, anyway,
all good things, and we're back and we're here with you.
We are live here in the final weekend of twenty
twenty five, tomorrow's big show. By the way, we're going
to be talking about predictions, as I always do, trends.
(10:15):
Predictions will look back a little bit, but not so
much looking back, got to look forward. You got to
look forward. What's going to be hot? What's what are
the things that to be looking for for homes in
twenty twenty six, for your home in twenty twenty six,
And I do I've got some gems for you, for
those of you who are students of design and who
long to transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home.
(10:40):
You're not gonna want to miss tomorrow's show as well.
And you're not gonna want to miss today's show. And
we'll tell you what. When we come back, We're going
to go to the phones, because guess what, on this
sleepy Saturday morning, we've got calls on the board, so
we will address them. The number to reach me, and
there's room for you eight three three two Ask Dean
eight three three Read the numeral to ask Dean more
(11:02):
great stuff on the way. You are home with Dean Sharp,
the house Whisperer. Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer, here to
help you take your home to the next level. With
some lovely smooth jazz in the background. Hey, good morning
to you, my friend. No, I'm not throwing you know,
(11:23):
one hundred and fifty percent of vocal energy behind the mic,
because I just thought i'd be doing you as solid
if we all just kind of woke up together and
relaxed and had some serious conversations and some good conversations
about your home. So here we are, and we've got
calls on the board, but we also have room for you.
(11:43):
I'm going to be going to the calls in just
a moment. But here is the number. It is an
all calls Saturday morning, which means anything you want to
talk about regarding your home, or just call me in
tell me how your holidays were. Truly, I'm fine with
that too. The number to reach me eight three three two,
ask Dean, eight three three, the numeral two beep, ask Dean.
(12:05):
You just spell it all out, eight three three to
ask Dean. It's just that simple. All right, let's go
to the phones. I want to talk to Brad. Hey, Brad,
welcome home.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Hey, thank you Dean. Merry Christmas to you and your
production team.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Oh well, Merry Christmas to you, my friend. Did you
have a good one?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
I did? Thank you. I'd like your show and I'm
an early writer and I wanted to call you this
morning with a question. I wanted to get your professional
opinion on the following. With all the recent rains, it
reminds me in the back of my mind, I'm always
thinking to my doing more harm than good when it
comes to rain seepage that goes into my basement. My
(12:47):
home is a nineteen thirty five Monterey Colonial. It's so
it's an older home and it's never had a sump
pump put into the basement. So as you know, in
so call, it doesn't rain very often, but when it does,
I get about two inches of rain down there. So
about seven or eight years ago, I bought a pump
(13:07):
at home depot and I plug it in, but I'm
going to run a hose up the stairs, out the
front door, down the porch, down to the sidewalk, so
it's about twenty six feet of hose. It works. The
floor is still wet, the ground floor in the basement,
but eventually it evaporates, you know, with the airflow down there.
(13:29):
So my question is that remedies it. But am I
potentially doing more harm than good? Would you say, Brat,
you need to get a sump pump. You're wrecking your house.
So there's my question for you.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Oh, it's a really good question. It's a really good question.
So here, you know the basement, it's partial basement, what
we could call a California basement, I assume for the
old furnace, Yes, what you've got down there. Yeah, by
the way, if you're listening anywhere across the country at
California basement, not a full basement like you've got you
(14:07):
know in homes that are you know east of the Rockies,
California basements. Just enough space down there to service and
locate the old gravity furnace, which is just a furnace
without a fan, and it's low. It has to be
lower than the rest of the house because you know,
(14:27):
hot air rises, and the whole idea of a gravity
furnace is it heats up, the air goes in and
it rises up through the ductworks and comes out of
the floor vents. And that's how it all used to
work back in the day. Now, of course, nearly one
hundred years later, Brad has no use for the gravity
furnace down there, but he does have a basement still.
And going on one hundred years plus here or headed
(14:51):
towards one hundred years, especially in California, very very rarely
do we have to deal with moisture down there. But man,
when it rains, like it has been raining, water builds
up or in the soil around the house and you
can end up with some stuff there. So here's the thing, Brad,
(15:12):
are you doing yourself a disservice? Well, no, of course not,
because this is the house that you've got and this
is how it has functioned for nearly a century. And
you know you're basically in good shape. Now it's a
pain in the booty. I know that. But here's the
solution to that. Could I mean, the total solution to
(15:34):
that basement would be waterproofing it. Okay, waterproofing that basement
is a chore. I mean it is a chore at
this point because it's down in the ground. Now, can
it be done, Yes, it can be done. Would it
be very disruptive of the whole situation. Yes it would,
and it would be costly. And if it's important enough
(15:58):
to you, if it's important enough to you, then you
could actually waterproof the basement. But yeah, you have to
do it from the outside of those concrete walls, which
means they have to be dug around and they have
to be dealt with. And you know, our foundation repair
la experts. We've done this with them before. They've done
just this kind of thing. In fact, they at the
(16:21):
beginning of last year out in I want to say,
Studio City. Studio City had a client in Studio City,
beautiful client, and they bought a nineteen thirty five single
story ranch out there with almost a full basement. Okay,
this is an unusual situation, and that thing leaked like
(16:42):
a sieve. And so we actually took an honest bid
from Foundation Repair LA for excavating around those exterior walls
and dealing with waterproofing that basement better. And it was
going to be pricey, but it would also be effective.
So just you know, and no, I do not know
how to tell you how much it's going to cost,
(17:04):
because every situation is different, but just so you know
it can be done if that is something that you're
interested in doing. But that is kind of the nuclear
option and it's expensive. Now, if you're not experiencing undoe
toil or trouble and undo humidity down there, I mean,
(17:25):
it sounds like you've got your routine down pretty dang
good when it comes to what you do when you
get rain and water intrusion down there and it doesn't
sound like you've got anything valuable down there that's going
to be damaged by an inch or two of water
standing and you get out your some pump and so on.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
So if I may interrupute, You've got all the right thoughts,
and I think I heard every word you said makes sense.
I do want to point out I do have a
replacement three year old furnace down there. The gravity You're
absolutely right with the original with the gravity furnace feed
(18:02):
up through the house. So what I have down there
is a expensive two zone heater system that's tied into
the air conditioning and it's on a you know, a
standard pedestal down there. And so what I do notice
when it rains, I keep one eye on it, like
is that water going to crest that pedestal? And if
(18:23):
it does, that's not good. That would be very bad.
So I wanted to make sure you knew that and
I and I think it might change your thoughts. Possibly
it hasn't changed mind completely because I do deal with
this This pump I put down and it takes about
an hour and gets the water out, but it does
have that furnace, and I do have storage down there
of some you know, old artwork, you know, memorabilia up
(18:47):
on shelves, So I just wanted to point that out.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Great, Okay, that's really good info. So you do have
some valuable things down there, especially the furnace, which you
absolutely don't want that thing getting soaked. All right, So
here's the thing, bred There is another option in between
the rolling out the sum pump and running the hose
and doing all that thing, you know every time it
(19:10):
rains severely. In between that option, which is, you know,
the labor intens of geez, if I'm not home when
the rainstorm hits, you know, I'm worried situation, and the
dig out everything and waterproof that basement for you know,
major Bucks. There's something in between, and if you can
hang tight, we're up against a break. When we come back,
(19:32):
I will give you that middle of the road option,
which I think you might find pleasingly acceptable and quite
a bit more worry free than what you're dealing with
now without breaking the bank. So can you hang tight?
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yes, I'll stand by all right, Brad.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
You hang on. We'll come back and we will address
this very very interesting situation. More and more older homes
here in southern California, and across the nation, and that's
not changing. Our homes are aging a good amount. I
mean when I you know, when we come back, we'll
talk about what percentage of homes are in the United
(20:12):
States are approaching the century mark now as compared to
a year's past. We will do that will answer Brad's question.
We'll also take more of your calls. The number to
reach me eight three three two Ask Dean A three
three the numeral to ask Dean. You are Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. You're listening to Home with
(20:35):
Dean Sharp on demand from KFI Am six forty. Good
morning to you, Dean Sharp, the house Whisper here to
help you transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home.
It is our all calls Saturday morning, as we do
every Saturday morning here on the program. And it is
(20:57):
the final Saturday of twenty twenty five. So you know what,
if you're just sick of twenty twenty five Saturdays, this
is it. Don't worries, and if you love them, then
I'm sorry to tell you that this is the last one,
but there will be more, I promise you. In twenty
twenty six. We are taking calls the number to reach me.
(21:18):
By the way you get to set the agenda for
today's show eight three three two, Ask Dean eight three
three the numeral two. Ask Dean, you just spell it
out and boom, here you and I are. We were
talking to Brad before the break about his nineteen thirty
five Monterey Colonial home. He's got a what we call
(21:42):
a California basement, which is a basement just large enough
for the old gravity furnace, but he now has a
very modern furnace set up down in there and storage.
And you know, a house that's ninety plus years old,
he is experience seeing water down there in the bottom
(22:02):
of that basement after heavy rains like what we've just
gone through. And Brad, you know, he does the whole,
the whole procedure of getting out the sump pump and
making sure that water stays under control. And you know,
that's a worrisome thing, especially if you find yourself not
around or near when it starts to happen. Because it's
(22:22):
got some storage down there. He got things that are
valuable down there, and that furnace doesn't You don't want
that furnace getting messed up. So the question that Brad
had for me, was you know, am I doing myself
a disservice just by doing this? As there something else
I should do? I explained before the break that yes,
there are ways. It's it's not inexpensive, but there are
(22:44):
ways to after the fact, take this nearly one hundred
year old basement, excavate all around it, and actually do
a better job of waterproofing it. But that is heroic,
to say the least, and I think there is a
better way. And Brad, by the way, after we talk
about this middle of the road solution, which in my
(23:08):
mind is probably what I would do if I had
your home, and by the way, beautiful home, and I
after we talk about that, I want to talk about
your home just a little bit to introduce people to
the Monterey Colonial, if you don't mind, because that's a
very very special house here in California anyway, So we'll
get out my architecture nerd along the way too. But
(23:31):
here's my thought, Brad. My thought is this, and that is,
you know, if we were going to build this home today,
of course the basement would be waterproofed and all of that.
But the way that we would build this home is
that any home that has a full basement of course,
has an integrated some pump into it, and that integrated
(23:51):
some pump, let's say we're building in the east, would
would be down below the concrete of the floor in
its own little pit, and all hooked up with a
permanent ejection line. And that is something that without breaking
the bank in terms of excavating and trying to waterproof
(24:11):
the entire basement, that is something that I wouldn't hesitate
to do if I was in your position. So, in
other words, right there in the center of the basement floor,
you could have that a portion of the floor cut out,
a square in the floor cut out of the slab there,
(24:32):
and then have a small pit just to house the
sump pump installed there. The sump pump goes down in
the pit, it has permanent power running to it. It
has a permanent ejection line run up and out of
it and out of the basement, so you don't have
to run the hose through the house and over the
top of the foundation walls and all of that stuff.
(24:55):
And it is just sitting there, ready ready to go
anytime water collects on the basement floor. And of course
you would finish this off with a great, a standable
grate so that you can just walk on it and
then no concern. But the grate of course perforated so
that water that does accumulate as it starts to seep
(25:15):
through would find the lowest part, which is the water's
going to run into the pit, and then the sump
pump will take care of it before the water ever
has a chance to build up and actually start rising
up that one to two inches that is so worrisome
in the basement itself. So a deeper hole in the
center of the basement floor to permanently house the sump
(25:38):
pump pit. You can access the pump, you'll be able
to service the pump and with a permanent ejection line.
How does that sound?
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Sounds good. It sounds a little bit more involved, obviously
than what I'm doing the manual, And I guess the
water trips the pump. It as probably something that just
you know, water gets in, boom, it kicks in. Well,
that's a good, good thought. I appreciate those suggestions. Thank
you so much for that team.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
You're very welcome. It's just it's a middle of the
road thought, and yes it is. It's going to involve
a little saw cutting of the concrete and so on,
but it really compared to the other alternative, so you know,
it's just that middle of the road. And basically, hey,
if what you're doing works and you don't want to
spend the money, then you know, just stay with it
and do the diligence of getting the sump pump down there.
(26:27):
But yes, the pump in the pit would activate on
a float, on a little bit of float, so just
like the just like the valve inside your toilet tank, right,
so when the float lifts up, it turns on the pump.
It the potter pumps out until the float drops down
it turns itself off. So would all be automatic. I
(26:47):
don't know that it's going to one hundred percent alleviate
your worries about it, because anything mechanical like that, something
can always go wrong. But it's a much much less expensive,
more permanent and resolution to moisture intrusion than trying to
waterproof that whole basement and or and it's it's it's
(27:09):
more convenient than you having to roll out the gear
every time the big storm hits. But let me ask
you this, right, how long have you been in your
Monterey Colonial where is it and how much do you
love it?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Well? I love it. I mean I've been here thirty years.
It's in Westwood, and in the back of my mind
everything you've said is, you know, great suggestions. I always
think of that danky mold issue. It's kind of the
elephant in the room topic, like am I doing the
disservice number one to the structure number two? Do I
have mold that I don't even realize I have mold?
(27:47):
And is you know that's kind of a residual effect
of maybe having too much moisture. Again, it just doesn't
rain that much, and so cow that's I always need
to put it off.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, and if it's well ventilated and you know, another thing,
of course you can do it. Actually is helpful that
the furnace is down there because but if you need
additional help during times then the furnace is not rolling
during the dead of winter, which of course is when
it rains most of the time, you could always add
(28:19):
a dehumidifier down there just to dry the air out.
Mold is not going to survive dry air. It needs
the moisture. It needs moisture in the air to continue
to thrive. And so you know, if you haven't seen
mold issues, you're going to see the molds first. And
that's the thing. Mold does not go into its dangerous
(28:42):
spore phase until after it's been growing and establishing, establishing
itself on surfaces. You're gonna see mold first, and then
if that mold is allowed to grow after that, it's
going to develop into the spore giving stage that becomes
you know, a danger for people to breathe and so on.
(29:04):
So it doesn't do it in reverse. So if you
don't see it, you don't have it, Okay, if you
don't have evidence of it anywhere. If you're worried about it, though,
then you add a dehumidifier along the way. Okay, great, Brad,
thank you so much. When we come back from the break,
I'm still going to talk about Brad's house because I
(29:26):
because we just had two comments basically saying, what in
the world is a Monterey Colonial and so you know
we're going to take the time and explain it out,
plus more of your calls when we return your home
with Dean Sharp the house Whisper. Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
here to remind you that every home deserves great design
(29:46):
especially your home. Why because that's where you live, my friend.
And great design simply means this. It means the house
has maximized its potential, but specifically in the direction of
merging with your best life. That is what a true
successful custom home is is when a house becomes a
(30:08):
home because it merges its very best with the very
best life of the owners within it. That's what custom
design is all about. And that's what I'm here to
help you with. Every weekend. It's an all call Saturday morning.
I'm gonna get back to the phones in just a second,
but got to indulge me here, Brad our caller, Brad
who lives in a nineteen thirty five Monterey Colonial. That's
(30:32):
a term that is not familiar, I know to most
of you. And you got to give me an opportunity
to just geek out on some architecture here. So I
just want to share that with you. Most of you
who live in southern California or California in general, up
and down the coast, most of you have seen, you've
had eyes on at some point in your life. A
(30:54):
Monterey Colonial, just didn't know what it was. Because it's
a unique home, arguably one of the very very few
truly an indigenous home architectural styles to the US and
specifically to California. There go California Colonial or Monterey Colonial
(31:19):
started in Monterey, and so it has a very very
interesting history. A guy named Thomas Larkin back in eighteen
thirty two. Okay, just let that wash over you. Eighteen
thirty two, Okay. He was a merchant who arrived in Monterey,
California in eighteen thirty two. All right, he is the
(31:43):
one who's credited with coming up with this style. Okay.
The prototype is now known as the Larkin House, and
it was built in eighteen thirty five. All right, so
that was almost two hundred years ago. Now, okay, so
the prototype, now what was it?
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Now?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Imagine this what's going on in California in the eighteen
thirties is most dwellings are Spanish slash Mexican Adobe. You know, ranchos, Okay,
single story ranchos. Now Larkin, he's a guy from the
East Coast, from New England, right, and he's coming out
(32:24):
and what does he do. He pulls off what is
very rare in architecture, which is the merging of two
very very different styles together to actually have a baby
that is pretty gorgeous. And so you know you've seen
people before. You're looking at like you the husband, the wife,
(32:46):
those two partners, and you're thinking, wow, I don't know,
I'm not sure they should have kids, because that kid's
going to look very interesting. So of course you've never
said that out loud, but you have thought it. So
here that's the situation. So what Larkin did was he
brought and I don't know, I mean, he was a merchant,
(33:06):
he wasn't an architect, but he brought his New England
colonial sensibility. Now, a New England colonial house is classically
a two story house. It's a two story house that
in the facade of the house, the front of the house,
you've all seen them, very very symmetrical central front door
and then windows to the left and the right, and
(33:28):
then upstairs windows to the left and the right, all
laid out very nice, a little colonial box of a house.
And he brought that and e merged it with Spanish
Mexican Adobe rancho style out here and actually made, by
the way, the very first two story homes in California.
(33:52):
And since he lived in Monterey, the style became known
as the Monterey Colonial. So imagine a a California Spanish
rancho now two stories tall and laid out like a
New England Colonial as far as symmetry is concerned. Now,
they didn't remained completely symmetrical. But the one thing that's
(34:14):
really distinctive, and this is the thing that you will
probably think, oh, yeah, okay, I think I've seen one
of those before. Two story house, and the most distinctive
architectural feature of a Monterey Colonial is that the second
story has a running balcony on it that cantilevers out
over the first floor. So the balcony protrudes past the
(34:39):
wall of the first floor, and it's usually a long
on some of them. On many of the classic ones,
it runs along the entire front face of the house,
a functional, walkable, cantilevered balcony that extends out past the
first floor. And it kind of looks like a house
(35:00):
built on top of a ranch house, right, And so
if you can imagine that, then yeah, you've seen it.
And they don't have to have Spanish style roofs or
anything like that. Spanish tile roofs the original did. But
that's the idea of a Monterey Colonial home. A hybrid
of a Spanish rancho single story Adobe rancho and a
(35:23):
New England Colonial. These are two styles that most people
would argue should not be thrown together and have a kid,
but nevertheless they did and a whole new architectural home style.
And now so that was back in the eighteen thirties, okay,
but we saw a revival of that in the early
(35:46):
nineteen hundreds. From like nineteen ten to the late nineteen thirties,
there was a complete revival of Monterey Colonial styles, especially
here in southern California. And that is one of the
houses that Brad is living in, built in nineteen thirty five,
a revival a Spanish I mean a Monterey Colonial Revival style.
(36:09):
Wonderful home. And you know, why is it important to
know the kind of home you live in and what
it's capable of, because you know, it's all about turning
an ordinary house into an extraordinary home. Is all about
starting with really knowing what you've got, really understanding it
for what it is, what's its capabilities, what's its genetic heritage,
(36:31):
what is it capable of becoming? Because you know, anybody
can build anything on a lot. You can just tear
a house down and start over. Again. But if you
really want to change and move and work with the house,
then you've got to understand it first, otherwise you're going
to abuse it. You got to know the home to
start with, and then you're going to be in a
(36:53):
better position to make it everything that it could be.
And so there you go. There is your little architecture
geek out for the day. All right. I may not
be the last though, Just just know you can trip
me into that mode anytime when we come back more
of your calls. You are Home with Dean Sharp, the
(37:13):
house Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Good morning,
my friend, Welcome home. I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer,
custom home Designer, custom home builder, and every week your
guide to better understanding that place where you live. Hey,
(00:25):
whether home for you is a castle or a cottage,
it matters not. You know why, because luxury does not
a great homemake. It is design that matters most when
it comes to your home. And I invite you to
think of it this way. New parts to a home.
That's home repair, new paint that's home maintenance, all important.
New design that is truly the definition of home improvement,
(00:49):
and home improvement is our ultimate goal here on the program.
Of course, i'm gonna help you fix your house. Of course,
we're gonna help you figure out what's going wrong with it.
But but after we've taken care of what needs to
be taken care of, after we've fixed what needs fixing,
then we get onto the serious discussion about how can
(01:09):
we truly improve it and turn it from an ordinary
house into an extraordinary home. And that's when we talk design.
And of course every Saturday morning that you and I
sit together. It is an all calls Saturday morning. You,
my friend, get to determine the content of the show
(01:30):
today by giving me a call. So let's talk about
your home. The number to reach me as always eight
three three to ask Dean. It's just that simbol eight
three three the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three
two Ask Dean. Whatever's got you scratching your head about
your home? Of course, design, construction questions, DIY issues inside, outside, landscape, decor,
(01:58):
everything about your home.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I got you.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
We'll put our heads together. We will get it figured out.
How does that sound? It is a sleepy Saturday morning
after a long storm, A very unusual time through the
end of twenty twenty five, has it not been? It's
been an unusual year. I'll tell you that right now,
and you understand that fully. It is just it's been
(02:23):
a year. And so what was the last time we
actually had a torrential not just a little sprinkled or
something like that, but a torrential rain storm all the
way through Christmas week? Wow? What a thing. But here
in southern California, and I know we're still looking at
all sorts of crazy weather across the country, but here
(02:45):
in southern California the rains should be passed us now
for a time, at least until end of next week
when the Rose Parade rolls around. Prediction of possible rain
on Rose Parade Day, by the way, ten times in
the one hundred and thirty five thirty seven one hundred
and thirty something history of the Rose Parade, ten times
(03:10):
only as it rained on that day. The last one
was in two thousand and six, and the time before
that nineteen fifty five. So literally in my lifetime once
once did it rain during the Rose Parade. But the
Rose Parade goes on rain or shine. So anyway, it's
(03:31):
been an odd year for weather for sure, but here
in southern California we are looking at hopefully bright sunny
skies today and cool temperatures highs in the mid to
upper sixties at most, lows in the fifties or the
upper forties for the next few days. As we just
(03:52):
soored out everything that's been going on in relationship to
the rains, and if you've got rain issues, flood issues,
water intrusion, leaky roof, anything like that, then you and
I should talk about that today as well. Sitting across
the table from me, my design partner, my better half,
(04:16):
my best friend in all the world, the person I
celebrate the most every time Christmas rolls around. There is
her spirit animal in the background. Tina is here.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Welcome home.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
How you doing.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I'm good. Yeah, it's been a lovely Christmas.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, talk to me about it. Well.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I love the rain made it extra cozy and fun.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
It wasn't great for all the people that did have
trees fall and flooding, and that's terrible.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
We had a big branch on one of our trees
come down.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
We did.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Are we going to use that as an excuse to
no longer advocate for trees near a house? Nope, no way,
Uh it is. It's just kind of nature sorting itself out.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
We had a pretty sizable branch come down, fortunately did
not fall on anything. It's gonna have to get in fact,
it's actually yeah, yeah, it's kind of propped up into
place right now. So we're gonna have the guys, uh
kind of address that on Monday when when the gardeners
get here, Like, let's slowly remove that from the rest
(05:26):
of the tree. But no damage. You know, we had
some stuff get ruffled around here, that's for sure. That's that,
you know what, it's not just that it's not the rain,
it's the rain and the wind. And that wind went
it went like cuckoo cuckoo for cocoa pups kind of
wind and uh, and then the power went out. And
(05:46):
that always helps. It always helps, just kind of round
out the entire storm experience, does it not? So anyway, Uh,
it's uh, it's been a week for some of you.
I feel it. I feel you here to help. We
got some calls coming up on the board, so we
will go to those when we come back from our
(06:08):
next break. But tell me what's your favorite part of
Christmas this year? Geting together with family? Yeah, we spent
some good time with family.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
We did.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
We actually took a little mini vacation which was a
lot of fun. We'd never done that as a big
group before. And we went to the Cambria Finds Christmas Market. Yeah,
and that was really fun. We've done that last year
just the two of us, well, the four we went
with a couple of friends. But we went last year
and we absolutely loved it and said, oh, we have
to bring the family back.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And we managed to bring the family back this year.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I kind of feel like this is going to become
or like I wanted to become an annual tradition. I
would love that, don't you think that would be nice?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
It would be really really fun.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I mean it's a little bit of a drive, but
not a crazy drive. What it's three three and a
half hours from where we are up to Cambria, and yeah,
and you make stops along the way. We stopped in
Solvang on the way up there, which is just a
cute little town. But there are some things that I
love to see in Solvang. There's a clock store in
an antique store in Solvang that might as well be
(07:14):
an amazing museum of claw. I mean, they've got trum
what is it, Renaissance antiques, it's what it's called. And uh,
I think it's worth going to Solvang. I'm a nerd
when it comes to those things anyway, but I think
it's worth the trip just just for that, just for that.
But we also had Turkish coffee.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Oh that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
First time I've had Turkish coffee served to me in
the classical Turkish coffee way. And that was that. I
swear there was chocolate in there. It was so rich
and so earthy, but there wasn't. It was just the
way it's done, kind of surprisingly like cowboy coffee that
(07:58):
my dad used to talk to me about and once
served to me. And I was like, but just you know,
finely ground coffee put in the bottom of a of
a little brew cup, no filter, no drip, pour the
hot water in, let it steep and then carefully pour
it into a small cup and to try and keep
(08:18):
most of the grounds back behind. Man, that was good coffee.
I mean, man, that was good coffee. Wow. So anyway,
so we can stop in solving. You stop in Pismo
for We'll give all the recommendations here. We stop in
Pismo for Old West cinnamon rolls in Pismo. We were
gonna stop and see the monarch butterfly sanctuary in Pismo,
(08:41):
but lo and behold.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Badly their population is quite low.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, it's a not a good year for the monarch
butterflies in California. There were I called ahead and I'm like,
what do we got? And one of the lowest years
in recent history. Like the entire saying to where they
said that they'd spotted or counted like four hundred of them,
which is not anything for that sanctuary. So we skipped that.
But we went on a Passo Robles, awesome place to
(09:10):
spend time. We love the plaza and downtown Passo Robles.
And we went and went up to Piedris Blanca's Point,
saw the elephant seals. Always a joy to see those
little fatties crawling around on the beach.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Told us why it was blancos meaning white because of
all the bird poop.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yes, they.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I don't know if that's true or if that's become
a you know, a legend.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Well, I mean, I mean pages bluncus means white rocks,
so the they, that's what has got named by like
the I think this the Spanish and so there's a
reason the rocks are white.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
It's not snow.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
It's not snow. Don't eat the rocky snow. So yeah, anyway,
all good things, and we're back and we're here with you.
We are live here in the final weekend of twenty
twenty five, tomorrow's big show. By the way, we're going
to be talking about predictions, as I always do, trends.
(10:15):
Predictions will look back a little bit, but not so
much looking back, got to look forward. You got to
look forward. What's going to be hot? What's what are
the things that to be looking for for homes in
twenty twenty six, for your home in twenty twenty six,
And I do I've got some gems for you, for
those of you who are students of design and who
long to transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home.
(10:40):
You're not gonna want to miss tomorrow's show as well.
And you're not gonna want to miss today's show. And
we'll tell you what. When we come back, We're going
to go to the phones, because guess what, on this
sleepy Saturday morning, we've got calls on the board, so
we will address them. The number to reach me, and
there's room for you eight three three two Ask Dean
eight three three Read the numeral to ask Dean more
(11:02):
great stuff on the way. You are home with Dean Sharp,
the house Whisperer. Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer, here to
help you take your home to the next level. With
some lovely smooth jazz in the background. Hey, good morning
to you, my friend. No, I'm not throwing you know,
(11:23):
one hundred and fifty percent of vocal energy behind the mic,
because I just thought i'd be doing you as solid
if we all just kind of woke up together and
relaxed and had some serious conversations and some good conversations
about your home. So here we are, and we've got
calls on the board, but we also have room for you.
(11:43):
I'm going to be going to the calls in just
a moment. But here is the number. It is an
all calls Saturday morning, which means anything you want to
talk about regarding your home, or just call me in
tell me how your holidays were. Truly, I'm fine with
that too. The number to reach me eight three three two,
ask Dean, eight three three, the numeral two beep, ask Dean.
(12:05):
You just spell it all out, eight three three to
ask Dean. It's just that simple. All right, let's go
to the phones. I want to talk to Brad. Hey, Brad,
welcome home.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Hey, thank you Dean. Merry Christmas to you and your
production team.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Oh well, Merry Christmas to you, my friend. Did you
have a good one?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
I did? Thank you. I'd like your show and I'm
an early writer and I wanted to call you this
morning with a question. I wanted to get your professional
opinion on the following. With all the recent rains, it
reminds me in the back of my mind, I'm always
thinking to my doing more harm than good when it
comes to rain seepage that goes into my basement. My
(12:47):
home is a nineteen thirty five Monterey Colonial. It's so
it's an older home and it's never had a sump
pump put into the basement. So as you know, in
so call, it doesn't rain very often, but when it does,
I get about two inches of rain down there. So
about seven or eight years ago, I bought a pump
(13:07):
at home depot and I plug it in, but I'm
going to run a hose up the stairs, out the
front door, down the porch, down to the sidewalk, so
it's about twenty six feet of hose. It works. The
floor is still wet, the ground floor in the basement,
but eventually it evaporates, you know, with the airflow down there.
(13:29):
So my question is that remedies it. But am I
potentially doing more harm than good? Would you say, Brat,
you need to get a sump pump. You're wrecking your house.
So there's my question for you.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Oh, it's a really good question. It's a really good question.
So here, you know the basement, it's partial basement, what
we could call a California basement, I assume for the
old furnace, Yes, what you've got down there. Yeah, by
the way, if you're listening anywhere across the country at
California basement, not a full basement like you've got you
(14:07):
know in homes that are you know east of the Rockies,
California basements. Just enough space down there to service and
locate the old gravity furnace, which is just a furnace
without a fan, and it's low. It has to be
lower than the rest of the house because you know,
(14:27):
hot air rises, and the whole idea of a gravity
furnace is it heats up, the air goes in and
it rises up through the ductworks and comes out of
the floor vents. And that's how it all used to
work back in the day. Now, of course, nearly one
hundred years later, Brad has no use for the gravity
furnace down there, but he does have a basement still.
And going on one hundred years plus here or headed
(14:51):
towards one hundred years, especially in California, very very rarely
do we have to deal with moisture down there. But man,
when it rains, like it has been raining, water builds
up or in the soil around the house and you
can end up with some stuff there. So here's the thing, Brad,
(15:12):
are you doing yourself a disservice? Well, no, of course not,
because this is the house that you've got and this
is how it has functioned for nearly a century. And
you know you're basically in good shape. Now it's a
pain in the booty. I know that. But here's the
solution to that. Could I mean, the total solution to
(15:34):
that basement would be waterproofing it. Okay, waterproofing that basement
is a chore. I mean it is a chore at
this point because it's down in the ground. Now, can
it be done, Yes, it can be done. Would it
be very disruptive of the whole situation. Yes it would,
and it would be costly. And if it's important enough
(15:58):
to you, if it's important enough to you, then you
could actually waterproof the basement. But yeah, you have to
do it from the outside of those concrete walls, which
means they have to be dug around and they have
to be dealt with. And you know, our foundation repair
la experts. We've done this with them before. They've done
just this kind of thing. In fact, they at the
(16:21):
beginning of last year out in I want to say,
Studio City. Studio City had a client in Studio City,
beautiful client, and they bought a nineteen thirty five single
story ranch out there with almost a full basement. Okay,
this is an unusual situation, and that thing leaked like
(16:42):
a sieve. And so we actually took an honest bid
from Foundation Repair LA for excavating around those exterior walls
and dealing with waterproofing that basement better. And it was
going to be pricey, but it would also be effective.
So just you know, and no, I do not know
how to tell you how much it's going to cost,
(17:04):
because every situation is different, but just so you know
it can be done if that is something that you're
interested in doing. But that is kind of the nuclear
option and it's expensive. Now, if you're not experiencing undoe
toil or trouble and undo humidity down there, I mean,
(17:25):
it sounds like you've got your routine down pretty dang
good when it comes to what you do when you
get rain and water intrusion down there and it doesn't
sound like you've got anything valuable down there that's going
to be damaged by an inch or two of water
standing and you get out your some pump and so on.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
So if I may interrupute, You've got all the right thoughts,
and I think I heard every word you said makes sense.
I do want to point out I do have a
replacement three year old furnace down there. The gravity You're
absolutely right with the original with the gravity furnace feed
(18:02):
up through the house. So what I have down there
is a expensive two zone heater system that's tied into
the air conditioning and it's on a you know, a
standard pedestal down there. And so what I do notice
when it rains, I keep one eye on it, like
is that water going to crest that pedestal? And if
(18:23):
it does, that's not good. That would be very bad.
So I wanted to make sure you knew that and
I and I think it might change your thoughts. Possibly
it hasn't changed mind completely because I do deal with
this This pump I put down and it takes about
an hour and gets the water out, but it does
have that furnace, and I do have storage down there
of some you know, old artwork, you know, memorabilia up
(18:47):
on shelves, So I just wanted to point that out.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Great, Okay, that's really good info. So you do have
some valuable things down there, especially the furnace, which you
absolutely don't want that thing getting soaked. All right, So
here's the thing, bred There is another option in between
the rolling out the sum pump and running the hose
and doing all that thing, you know every time it
(19:10):
rains severely. In between that option, which is, you know,
the labor intens of geez, if I'm not home when
the rainstorm hits, you know, I'm worried situation, and the
dig out everything and waterproof that basement for you know,
major Bucks. There's something in between, and if you can
hang tight, we're up against a break. When we come back,
(19:32):
I will give you that middle of the road option,
which I think you might find pleasingly acceptable and quite
a bit more worry free than what you're dealing with
now without breaking the bank. So can you hang tight?
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yes, I'll stand by all right, Brad.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
You hang on. We'll come back and we will address
this very very interesting situation. More and more older homes
here in southern California, and across the nation, and that's
not changing. Our homes are aging a good amount. I
mean when I you know, when we come back, we'll
talk about what percentage of homes are in the United
(20:12):
States are approaching the century mark now as compared to
a year's past. We will do that will answer Brad's question.
We'll also take more of your calls. The number to
reach me eight three three two Ask Dean A three
three the numeral to ask Dean. You are Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. You're listening to Home with
(20:35):
Dean Sharp on demand from KFI Am six forty. Good
morning to you, Dean Sharp, the house Whisper here to
help you transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home.
It is our all calls Saturday morning, as we do
every Saturday morning here on the program. And it is
(20:57):
the final Saturday of twenty twenty five. So you know what,
if you're just sick of twenty twenty five Saturdays, this
is it. Don't worries, and if you love them, then
I'm sorry to tell you that this is the last one,
but there will be more, I promise you. In twenty
twenty six. We are taking calls the number to reach me.
(21:18):
By the way you get to set the agenda for
today's show eight three three two, Ask Dean eight three
three the numeral two. Ask Dean, you just spell it
out and boom, here you and I are. We were
talking to Brad before the break about his nineteen thirty
five Monterey Colonial home. He's got a what we call
(21:42):
a California basement, which is a basement just large enough
for the old gravity furnace, but he now has a
very modern furnace set up down in there and storage.
And you know, a house that's ninety plus years old,
he is experience seeing water down there in the bottom
(22:02):
of that basement after heavy rains like what we've just
gone through. And Brad, you know, he does the whole,
the whole procedure of getting out the sump pump and
making sure that water stays under control. And you know,
that's a worrisome thing, especially if you find yourself not
around or near when it starts to happen. Because it's
(22:22):
got some storage down there. He got things that are
valuable down there, and that furnace doesn't You don't want
that furnace getting messed up. So the question that Brad
had for me, was you know, am I doing myself
a disservice just by doing this? As there something else
I should do? I explained before the break that yes,
there are ways. It's it's not inexpensive, but there are
(22:44):
ways to after the fact, take this nearly one hundred
year old basement, excavate all around it, and actually do
a better job of waterproofing it. But that is heroic,
to say the least, and I think there is a
better way. And Brad, by the way, after we talk
about this middle of the road solution, which in my
(23:08):
mind is probably what I would do if I had
your home, and by the way, beautiful home, and I
after we talk about that, I want to talk about
your home just a little bit to introduce people to
the Monterey Colonial, if you don't mind, because that's a
very very special house here in California anyway, So we'll
get out my architecture nerd along the way too. But
(23:31):
here's my thought, Brad. My thought is this, and that is,
you know, if we were going to build this home today,
of course the basement would be waterproofed and all of that.
But the way that we would build this home is
that any home that has a full basement of course,
has an integrated some pump into it, and that integrated
(23:51):
some pump, let's say we're building in the east, would
would be down below the concrete of the floor in
its own little pit, and all hooked up with a
permanent ejection line. And that is something that without breaking
the bank in terms of excavating and trying to waterproof
(24:11):
the entire basement, that is something that I wouldn't hesitate
to do if I was in your position. So, in
other words, right there in the center of the basement floor,
you could have that a portion of the floor cut out,
a square in the floor cut out of the slab there,
(24:32):
and then have a small pit just to house the
sump pump installed there. The sump pump goes down in
the pit, it has permanent power running to it. It
has a permanent ejection line run up and out of
it and out of the basement, so you don't have
to run the hose through the house and over the
top of the foundation walls and all of that stuff.
(24:55):
And it is just sitting there, ready ready to go
anytime water collects on the basement floor. And of course
you would finish this off with a great, a standable
grate so that you can just walk on it and
then no concern. But the grate of course perforated so
that water that does accumulate as it starts to seep
(25:15):
through would find the lowest part, which is the water's
going to run into the pit, and then the sump
pump will take care of it before the water ever
has a chance to build up and actually start rising
up that one to two inches that is so worrisome
in the basement itself. So a deeper hole in the
center of the basement floor to permanently house the sump
(25:38):
pump pit. You can access the pump, you'll be able
to service the pump and with a permanent ejection line.
How does that sound?
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Sounds good. It sounds a little bit more involved, obviously
than what I'm doing the manual, And I guess the
water trips the pump. It as probably something that just
you know, water gets in, boom, it kicks in. Well,
that's a good, good thought. I appreciate those suggestions. Thank
you so much for that team.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
You're very welcome. It's just it's a middle of the
road thought, and yes it is. It's going to involve
a little saw cutting of the concrete and so on,
but it really compared to the other alternative, so you know,
it's just that middle of the road. And basically, hey,
if what you're doing works and you don't want to
spend the money, then you know, just stay with it
and do the diligence of getting the sump pump down there.
(26:27):
But yes, the pump in the pit would activate on
a float, on a little bit of float, so just
like the just like the valve inside your toilet tank, right,
so when the float lifts up, it turns on the pump.
It the potter pumps out until the float drops down
it turns itself off. So would all be automatic. I
(26:47):
don't know that it's going to one hundred percent alleviate
your worries about it, because anything mechanical like that, something
can always go wrong. But it's a much much less expensive,
more permanent and resolution to moisture intrusion than trying to
waterproof that whole basement and or and it's it's it's
(27:09):
more convenient than you having to roll out the gear
every time the big storm hits. But let me ask
you this, right, how long have you been in your
Monterey Colonial where is it and how much do you
love it?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Well? I love it. I mean I've been here thirty years.
It's in Westwood, and in the back of my mind
everything you've said is, you know, great suggestions. I always
think of that danky mold issue. It's kind of the
elephant in the room topic, like am I doing the
disservice number one to the structure number two? Do I
have mold that I don't even realize I have mold?
(27:47):
And is you know that's kind of a residual effect
of maybe having too much moisture. Again, it just doesn't
rain that much, and so cow that's I always need
to put it off.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, and if it's well ventilated and you know, another thing,
of course you can do it. Actually is helpful that
the furnace is down there because but if you need
additional help during times then the furnace is not rolling
during the dead of winter, which of course is when
it rains most of the time, you could always add
(28:19):
a dehumidifier down there just to dry the air out.
Mold is not going to survive dry air. It needs
the moisture. It needs moisture in the air to continue
to thrive. And so you know, if you haven't seen
mold issues, you're going to see the molds first. And
that's the thing. Mold does not go into its dangerous
(28:42):
spore phase until after it's been growing and establishing, establishing
itself on surfaces. You're gonna see mold first, and then
if that mold is allowed to grow after that, it's
going to develop into the spore giving stage that becomes
you know, a danger for people to breathe and so on.
(29:04):
So it doesn't do it in reverse. So if you
don't see it, you don't have it, Okay, if you
don't have evidence of it anywhere. If you're worried about it, though,
then you add a dehumidifier along the way. Okay, great, Brad,
thank you so much. When we come back from the break,
I'm still going to talk about Brad's house because I
(29:26):
because we just had two comments basically saying, what in
the world is a Monterey Colonial and so you know
we're going to take the time and explain it out,
plus more of your calls when we return your home
with Dean Sharp the house Whisper. Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
here to remind you that every home deserves great design
(29:46):
especially your home. Why because that's where you live, my friend.
And great design simply means this. It means the house
has maximized its potential, but specifically in the direction of
merging with your best life. That is what a true
successful custom home is is when a house becomes a
(30:08):
home because it merges its very best with the very
best life of the owners within it. That's what custom
design is all about. And that's what I'm here to
help you with. Every weekend. It's an all call Saturday morning.
I'm gonna get back to the phones in just a second,
but got to indulge me here, Brad our caller, Brad
who lives in a nineteen thirty five Monterey Colonial. That's
(30:32):
a term that is not familiar, I know to most
of you. And you got to give me an opportunity
to just geek out on some architecture here. So I
just want to share that with you. Most of you
who live in southern California or California in general, up
and down the coast, most of you have seen, you've
had eyes on at some point in your life. A
(30:54):
Monterey Colonial, just didn't know what it was. Because it's
a unique home, arguably one of the very very few
truly an indigenous home architectural styles to the US and
specifically to California. There go California Colonial or Monterey Colonial
(31:19):
started in Monterey, and so it has a very very
interesting history. A guy named Thomas Larkin back in eighteen
thirty two. Okay, just let that wash over you. Eighteen
thirty two, Okay. He was a merchant who arrived in Monterey,
California in eighteen thirty two. All right, he is the
(31:43):
one who's credited with coming up with this style. Okay.
The prototype is now known as the Larkin House, and
it was built in eighteen thirty five. All right, so
that was almost two hundred years ago. Now, okay, so
the prototype, now what was it?
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Now?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Imagine this what's going on in California in the eighteen
thirties is most dwellings are Spanish slash Mexican Adobe. You know, ranchos, Okay,
single story ranchos. Now Larkin, he's a guy from the
East Coast, from New England, right, and he's coming out
(32:24):
and what does he do. He pulls off what is
very rare in architecture, which is the merging of two
very very different styles together to actually have a baby
that is pretty gorgeous. And so you know you've seen
people before. You're looking at like you the husband, the wife,
(32:46):
those two partners, and you're thinking, wow, I don't know,
I'm not sure they should have kids, because that kid's
going to look very interesting. So of course you've never
said that out loud, but you have thought it. So
here that's the situation. So what Larkin did was he
brought and I don't know, I mean, he was a merchant,
(33:06):
he wasn't an architect, but he brought his New England
colonial sensibility. Now, a New England colonial house is classically
a two story house. It's a two story house that
in the facade of the house, the front of the house,
you've all seen them, very very symmetrical central front door
and then windows to the left and the right, and
(33:28):
then upstairs windows to the left and the right, all
laid out very nice, a little colonial box of a house.
And he brought that and e merged it with Spanish
Mexican Adobe rancho style out here and actually made, by
the way, the very first two story homes in California.
(33:52):
And since he lived in Monterey, the style became known
as the Monterey Colonial. So imagine a a California Spanish
rancho now two stories tall and laid out like a
New England Colonial as far as symmetry is concerned. Now,
they didn't remained completely symmetrical. But the one thing that's
(34:14):
really distinctive, and this is the thing that you will
probably think, oh, yeah, okay, I think I've seen one
of those before. Two story house, and the most distinctive
architectural feature of a Monterey Colonial is that the second
story has a running balcony on it that cantilevers out
over the first floor. So the balcony protrudes past the
(34:39):
wall of the first floor, and it's usually a long
on some of them. On many of the classic ones,
it runs along the entire front face of the house,
a functional, walkable, cantilevered balcony that extends out past the
first floor. And it kind of looks like a house
(35:00):
built on top of a ranch house, right, And so
if you can imagine that, then yeah, you've seen it.
And they don't have to have Spanish style roofs or
anything like that. Spanish tile roofs the original did. But
that's the idea of a Monterey Colonial home. A hybrid
of a Spanish rancho single story Adobe rancho and a
(35:23):
New England Colonial. These are two styles that most people
would argue should not be thrown together and have a kid,
but nevertheless they did and a whole new architectural home style.
And now so that was back in the eighteen thirties, okay,
but we saw a revival of that in the early
(35:46):
nineteen hundreds. From like nineteen ten to the late nineteen thirties,
there was a complete revival of Monterey Colonial styles, especially
here in southern California. And that is one of the
houses that Brad is living in, built in nineteen thirty five,
a revival a Spanish I mean a Monterey Colonial Revival style.
(36:09):
Wonderful home. And you know, why is it important to
know the kind of home you live in and what
it's capable of, because you know, it's all about turning
an ordinary house into an extraordinary home. Is all about
starting with really knowing what you've got, really understanding it
for what it is, what's its capabilities, what's its genetic heritage,
(36:31):
what is it capable of becoming? Because you know, anybody
can build anything on a lot. You can just tear
a house down and start over. Again. But if you
really want to change and move and work with the house,
then you've got to understand it first, otherwise you're going
to abuse it. You got to know the home to
start with, and then you're going to be in a
(36:53):
better position to make it everything that it could be.
And so there you go. There is your little architecture
geek out for the day. All right. I may not
be the last though, Just just know you can trip
me into that mode anytime when we come back more
of your calls. You are Home with Dean Sharp, the
(37:13):
house Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty
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