December 28, 2025 • 30 mins
Today’s first caller needs a dehumidifier for her house, which was remodeled in 2000 and does not have air conditioning, due to mildew from living close to the beach. She wants Dean's input on how to reduce the damp.
The next caller has a big porch that needs resurfacing, especially due to pooling water, so he’s asking Dean about the best products to use?
To tack onto the first caller, this listener is wondering how to rid her home of moisture and mildew if the home is located in a cold environment?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
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 Whisperer on demand on the iHeart Radio app. I'm
Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer, custom home Builder, custom home Designer,
and your guide to better understand that place where you
live today on the show Final Show of twenty twenty five.
(00:21):
I almost said twenty twenty six, twenty twenty five final show,
and when we speak again next week, it will be
next year. So what am I doing. We're talking about trends,
some predictions, some movements, you know, and I'm giving you
some I think solid advice about how not to get
tied up and caught up in following the flighty trends,
(00:42):
but realistically talking about significant movements that are happening in
the world of home design, architecture, and home construction, not trends,
movements that I think are of great benefit to you
if you're aware of them as you are planning that
remodel or that change or whatever that may be. These
(01:03):
are the things that are lasting and new but going
to be lasting. These are true shifts in the world
of architecture and design, not some flitty, fashiony, corporate driven
trends that are here today and gone tomorrow, and we're
going to return to that conversation in just a bit.
But middle of the show, we've got some calls on
the board. We still have room for your call. By
(01:24):
the way, eight three three two, Ask Dean A three
three the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three two
beep ask Dean uh. And we're gonna go with phones
in just a second. But sitting across the table from me,
all of a sudden, here she is my best friend
in all the world, the person who has weathered this
(01:45):
relatively difficult year with me, the only person I want
by my side during thick and thin. Tina is here.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Welcome home.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
How you doing, Bud?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, I was away because I'm planning a secret trip
with another friend of ours, or a certain someone named
Dean Sharp who's having a birthday in January. And so
funny enough, we have some really good friends and the
wife of our good friends is also having a very
(02:17):
special birthday.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
She's two days older than me.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yes, she's two days older.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
We're both born in the same year, yep, two days apart, So.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
You're both having a very special birthday.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And we both kind of wished for the same thing,
which is where the purse, where the people? Well, and
I don't want to speak for cat, but but like
I'm the guy who like makes all the plans for
our vacations for you know, just does all the you know,
and when we host, like you know, everybody's looking to
me like, how are we going to do this, Dean?
(02:46):
How are we going to set this all up? And
so when you said to me this year specifically, what
do you want for your birthday? I'm like, you know
what I want. I don't want to be asked what
I want for my birth because number one, I'm not
hard to please. Okay, so it's not like, oh, you
got to really do some serious research. But the thing
that makes me the happiest is the idea that somebody
(03:08):
else just takes point for once and and I'm not
saying you know what I mean, you know what I'm saying,
I know you and and just handles it and just
just tell me when to show up and where to
be and I'm just going to be thrilled. And so
Tina and the the other her corresponding partner from the
(03:31):
other couple, they have taken on the whole thing to
plant it out secretly. We have zero idea of what We're.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Basically just going to tell them what to pack as
far as clothing.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
You know, so we are going on a little trip.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Oh yeah, you know you're going on a trip, okay,
and you know that it's going to be We know
the dates, you know the dates, but you just don't
know where, and you don't know yet exactly what kind
of clothing is.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Okay, but you will, we will, we will tell you.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
So.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, so this morning I had a call with my
buddy and we talked through I know what.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So that's where you were. So you're explaining, you're explaining
your absence from the.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Show mission it was very fun.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Well that's that's totally an acceptable excuse.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yes, I thought you'd appreciate your tardiness.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, I love you, Bud, I love you. You're the best.
All right, shall we go to the phones? Is it time?
Let's do it?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Let me talk to Jill. Hey, Jill, welcome home, Jill.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
BIHI, yes, hi, I'm here. Do you hear me?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Oh yeah, I hear you. Just fine? How can I
help you?
Speaker 6 (04:42):
So?
Speaker 5 (04:43):
I lived in a house that was remodeled in two
thousand and I live on the sand, on a little
island on the water. And when we built a house,
we didn't put in air conditioning. I've been told I
can't have air conditioning. There's no room there, there's no attic,
and I'm having problem with mildew developing on like furniture
(05:08):
and inside cabinets and stuff. Right, yeah, okay, I'm hoping
that you have some ideas about what to do. I
bought a room dhubidifier, but it's too noisy.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah yeah, yeah, they can be that way. Okay, So
give me a little bit more insight. First of all,
I'm just everybody is just totally curious. Where is this
island that you live on.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I live in Newport Beach on Ledo Island.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Oh okay, okay, all right, and so you're you know,
so okay, so you're here in southern California. You're living
out there, and yeah, there's a you're surrounded by moisture,
by mist and moisture and everything. And you're also right.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
And the island was formed by dredging the bay to
make the island, and it seems to be getting worse
over time. I'm thinking that the water level is rising.
You know, the whole island is just sand. So okay,
thinking my house is getting damper or the weather's getting
(06:11):
damper or something because it's getting worse.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
That might be the case. Actually it may there may
be an argument for that. Hotter summers for us now
are are including a little bit higher humidity, especially if
you're surrounded by water. So all right, So here's the
thing I'm going to dispose of, a myth of what
whoever told you? Now you've got I assume you've got
(06:35):
vaulted ceilings, there's no attic and so somebody told you
you can't have air conditioning. And the reason why I'm
pointing I'm turning back to air conditioning is because you've
already tried the dehumidifier, and the dehumidifiers too noisy and
so on. Now, I don't want to mess up your
interior decor, but I do want to open you up
to the possibility of an air conditioner. Air Conditioning is
(06:59):
first and forem A lot of people may not realize this,
but air conditioning was not invented to keep things cool.
Air Conditioning was originally invented by William Carrier for industrial
uses during the Industrial Revolution in giant warehouses that were
cranking out machinery that were creating all sorts of humidity
(07:19):
and moisture inside a factory, heat and moisture, which you know, surprisingly,
for instance, if you were a paper mill, not a
good idea to have a lot of humidity inside your
paper mill. So William Carrier came up with this concept
of refrigerant as a dehumidifier. And I'm still surprised these
(07:40):
days how many people don't realize that their air conditioner
is in fact, primarily, first and foremost a dehumidifier of
air throughout the whole house. That's one of the reasons
why the air feels cooler. The other is the refrigeration aspect.
But the point is this, there is a possible air
conditioning solution for you, despite the fact that there's no attic.
(08:03):
But I'm up against a break, Jill, so I'm gonna
ask you to just hang tight with me through the
break and we will discuss it right on the other side.
So you stay put and everybody stay put, and we'll
talk about Jill's unique situation and can she have an
air conditioner And no, I'm not talking about a window
air conditioner. You hang tight. You're home with Dean Sharp
the house Whisper.
Speaker 7 (08:25):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
So glad that you're with us today. Hey, don't forget that.
We're all over social media as well. We're on all
the usual suspects, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x, you know, all
of whatever they all are. We're all over them. Home
with Dean same handle for them all. You can find us,
you can find out what a little special features we're
we're we're gonna I'm telling you this for twenty twenty six.
(08:53):
We are. It is our intention to ramp up more
social media for you, to ramp up more YouTube, more
visuals for you as well. That is our intention. Now,
I'm just being honest. You know, as they say, you
want to make God laugh, tell them your plans. But
it is definitely our focus and intention this year. Some
(09:15):
good things coming, if I have anything to say about it,
Some good things will be coming. So join us on
those channels and just follow us. We're not gonna spam
you or bug you, but you'll have access to all
the special little features that are happening around the show.
All right, we are in the middle of taking calls
right now, and I want to get back to Jill. Jill,
(09:35):
are you still with me?
Speaker 7 (09:37):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I am, okay. Thanks for hanging on through the break.
You know, we had to reintroduce Tina. She took up
some time. But anyway. Oh by the way, Jill, just
so you know, you're down in Newport Beach. Just so
you know, I didn't grow up there. I did not
have the the the blessing of growing up in Newport Beach.
But I was born at Hogue Memorial right dow on
(10:00):
the street from me, So I was born there near
the near the humidity and the moisture. So anyway, uh So,
the suggestion that I'm making for you is that you've
you've got you've got mold and mildew issues showing up
in the house and the cabinets. You don't have air
conditioning in the house because you've got vaulted ceilings and
(10:21):
you don't have an attic, and you've been told you
can't have air conditioning. Air Conditioning is your best option
for dehumidifying the house and keeping that humidity level under control,
so you're not having mold and miss mildew issues, that
is your best option and regardless of attic space for
duct work, uh and sight unseen you know, I mean,
(10:45):
I love beautiful design and I'd want to do this
as artistically and as minimally as possible. But the idea
of a mini split air conditioning system many splits. Many
splits do not use ducts. They have an outdoor condenser
just like you would a compressor, and condenser just like
(11:06):
you would on the normal air conditioner. That unit outdoors.
It's much smaller, It's only about a foot deep and
fits snugly up against the house, and then the refrigerant
lines run inside to what we call a cartridge. Now,
typically what people picture when they picture a mini split
is a big, old white, you know, cartridge that can
(11:29):
be mounted on the ceiling or at the top of
a wall and circulate air throughout the room. Real air
conditioner air quiet air conditioning, as silent and quiet as
regular central air conditioning. So the fan is there, but
it's super super quiet, and the noise of an air
conditioner is the compressor and that's outside, just like a
(11:50):
regular air conditioning system. But the point is it's ductless.
And there are many split systems now that can use
the standard cartridge. There are ceiling mountain cartridges that look
like flush vents. There are all sorts of different There
are units that one compressor runs three or four different
cartridges in and through the house and so and even
(12:13):
a moderate sized unit can handle nine hundred to one
thousand square feet just by itself, and you could have
more than one. So if that's an option, that's where
I would direct you to think about. First, you can
have air conditioning in a house that doesn't have an
attic because you can use a mini split system. You
want to do it stylishly. You want to do it
(12:36):
so that it's not ugly. It's not like it's a
window air conditioner or a big unit sitting in there
making a lot of noise. But a mini split system
in your home could make a huge difference on the
humidity levels because they are a dehumidifier first and foremost.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
And if I had one of those, what would be
the matchimum temperature that I could run it out because
I would have to run it all the time right
in the summer.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, you wouldn't have to run it all the time
in the summer because again, just like most people with
an air conditioner, you could run it at any level
of temperature that you want. But the longer you run it,
and these are very economical units, by the way, very
very energy efficient units, the longer you run it, the
more it dries out the air, even though it's not
(13:28):
fighting hard to lower the temperature in the house. So
that's the nice thing about That's why I love the
idea of a unit that can run long and low,
because it really has an opportunity to dry the air
out and that's our first and foremost goal in your situation,
and it's going to keep the house super comfy, regardless
of the temperature outside. Jill, I got to go. We're
(13:50):
up against another break. Thank you for your call. Take
a look at many split air conditioners and all of
their options. I don't think you'll be disappointed, and I
think you have an option there. All right, y'all more
when we return your Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 7 (14:05):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Tina and I were just having a we're just having
a pep talk about the year. It's been a hard year.
It's been a hard year. But you know what, we're
still here. We're still stand in, standing tall, and it's
hard to imagine life at this point throwing us, throwing
much more at us, that's going to take us out,
and I don't think it's going to happen. So you
(14:32):
know what, we're rejoicing and thankful and grateful, and we're
going to take the next few days and just continue
to appreciate all that we have and appreciate things like
the fact that I can sit here with you and
have meaningful conversations about your home. Speaking of that, it's
middle of the show. We're taking calls and I want
(14:53):
to get to let's see, just throw a dart board
at the callboard. Let's talk to Frank. How about Frank? Hey, Frank,
welcome home.
Speaker 6 (15:05):
Hello, Hello, yeah, hello, are you there?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I am still here?
Speaker 6 (15:11):
Okay, good, good good. I live in Canyon Lake, which
is basically the desert, right so, and I have this
huge porch in the front of my house. It goes
along the front and then in the side. And I
have two problems. One is the original coating. It was
built in ninety two, so the original coating on the
porch credit's cracking. It's you know, like a tar based
(15:35):
coating whatever it is. So it's cracking, so it leaks
and goes down into the garage, and I, you know,
so I want to replace that. But the other problem
is that when the water gets on the porch, it
collects before it goes over to the scuffers, and so
it's been suggested that what I do is take up
(15:56):
all the old plywood because it's probably war for whatever underneath.
So I was thinking to take all that out and
then slope it so that the water drains better to
the scuppers. And then that's one thing I was thinking
of doing. But also my big question is what is
the best coating to put on the outside porch because
(16:19):
it's in the you know, basically in the desert, and
that's how I wanted to put something that's going to
last and look good.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Got you? Got you? Okay? So okay, so a couple
of things. So you're you're calling it a porch, but
you say that there's a garage underneath it, so it's
a waterproofed deck area. Yes, yeah, yeah, okay, gotcha. Okay,
So first of all, your idea about you know, at
this point, it's cracked there's leaks, and if water is
(16:50):
puddling and not moving towards the scuppers where the water
needs to go, absolutely, without question, sounds like it's time
to tear it all up, pull it all out. It's
not that big of a deal, strip it all back
and uh and by the way, you might want to
wait till winter is over.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
Uh so that yeah, yeah, tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Yeah, don't get caught with your pants down with the
fact that right exactly. So, uh yeah, pull it all
out and now you you I would have a conversation
with now you can do it one of two ways.
I might want to have a conversation with a decking
(17:30):
company who's gonna, you know, redeck it for you, uh,
and ask them, do you think I need to pull
the plywood and then actually, you know, put some furring
strips into actually slope the plywood deck, or can you
guys do a sufficient build up when you're putting down
the new material so that you get the sufficient slope
(17:52):
at the end of the day. I don't really care
which way it is one or the other. I just
want to know what's the preference, because what we're looking
for is a minimum of one eighth but now that
it's outside and exposed, what I really want is a
quarter of an inch per foot slope, because that's the
equivalent of a flat, flat roof. Quarter of an inch
per foot of slope. You're not going to have any pooling.
(18:15):
If that's the case, nice and flat quarter of an
inch per foot slope down into the scuppers. Now, as
far as the material goes, you really have options this.
The standard material to use would be fiberglass layers and
resins and and those If you talk to decking companies,
waterproofing balcony companies, they're gonna you know, there are various formulations,
(18:37):
but they all basically amount to the same thing. A
really good waterproofing layer, multiple layers of fiberglass and resin
that go down and vinyl, you know, liquid vinyl that
bonds it all together, and you'll have a really good
new balcony space that's really well water sealed. Then, since
(18:58):
it is an extension of the house and not just
a roof area, then because of the conditions out in
Canyon Lake, and I know Canyon Lake. I have a
very dear friend friends who live in Canyon Lake. With
you out there, well, yeah, just a little bit north
of Temecula, and it's warm, to say the least during
the summer. Sun not rain. Sun Light is the enemy
(19:22):
of roofing, Okay, it's the enemy of your waterproof decking.
So you could just waterproof it and leave it with
its own UV resistant finish. But what I would be
tempted to do is put some kind of a floating
deck on top of it. Whether you decided to tile it. Okay,
you could put exterior grade tiles out there, because the
(19:45):
water would shut off the tiles. Whatever would soak through
the grout would soak in and hit that waterproofing layer
and move out as well and not be a problem.
You could put a floating wood or wood composite decking
material out there that probably be the simplest and quickest
and least expensive, not connected to the deck. So we're
(20:05):
not talking about putting holes down in the waterproofing material.
We're talking about actually just suspend, you know, having it
laid out there on sleepers, which would basically be like
a pressure treated two by fours underneath laying flat that
you would put this decorative decking material on. The water
would shoot right through the deck boards, hit the waterproof
(20:27):
layer and head back out to the scuppers and then
you'll have a decorative layer that you'll love. You'll have
the waterproof layer underneath, and most importantly, that decorative layer
is actually blocking ninety nine percent of all the UV
light from the sun that would break down and prematurely
age the waterproofing. And that's what that'd be. My goal
(20:49):
with that deck balcony area is to make it both
esthetically pleasing and long term lasting for the waterproofing layer underneath.
And the key that would be to put them both together.
And this is an area where the best possible aesthetic
design and the best possible build of the waterproof layer
actually compliments each other for the longest term, longest lasting product.
(21:14):
Does that make sense, Yeah, it makes sense.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Okay, So that would be I see I see online
a lot of times. You know, these new coatings that
you can put out there. You just brush them on,
but I just I wasn't sure if they're even last
or you know, yeah, there are.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Coatings, there are coatings, there's patches. You could always give
it a try, but at the end of the day,
my recommendation would be, if it's that far gone to
have a pro it's not gonna cost that much to
do to have a pro actually give you that waterproof
base and then for you to take it from there
and put an esthetic protective layer on top to block
(22:00):
the sun and to make it, you know, ten times
more attractive than just the waterproofing of a deck coding.
And so it's a win win situation that basically you'll
do this now and twenty years from now you'll still
be like, yeah, it's all it's all great out there,
you know, because if the sun cannot get to that
waterproof layer, it will not break down prematurely. That waterproof
(22:23):
layer could sit there for decades upon decades and handle water,
just not UV sunlight. And that's the key. Frank. Thanks
for your question, buddy, I appreciate it, and good luck
on that when we return more of your calls your
Home with Dean Shark, the House Whisper.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I'm here to remind you every home deserves great design,
especially yours. So I hope you keep listening because I'm
going to help you get there. That's what we do
every week right here. We take that home, that house
that you're living in that ordinary house and I help
you make it an extraordinary home. We are going to
be returning to our conversation about new movements for you
(23:13):
to be aware of, real movements, not trends or fads
for twenty twenty six, but real movements in the design
and architectural world that you should be aware of. We're
returning to that conversation in just a bit, but right
now it's my last shot at taking some calls, and
so I'm going back to the phones. I want to
talk to Carrie. Hey, Carrie, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Hi, Hi jan thanks for taking my call. I just
have a quick question regarding a previous color that you
have with Jill from Newport Pach.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I live up in Vancouver, Washington, so it's really cold
and rainy up here. But I have the same problem
as Jill, so I was curious what options I might have.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yeah, okay, so you have the same problem, meaning that
you've got moisture and mildew issues inside the house, but
for a very different reason, for the opposite reason. Actually
you've got you've got cold, rainy weather up there. Jill's
got a lot of moisture coming in from the ocean. Yeah,
(24:17):
so all right, so remind me how cold it gets
in Vancouver during the winter.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Right now, it's like thirty nine to forty four degrees outside.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So not crazy cold, but not southern California cold either. Okay, right, okay,
So here's the thing for everybody who lives in a
cold climate. Okay, the same kind of mold and moisture
issues can plague you. Typically though, that comes from the
(24:48):
fact that the house is all sealed up and you've
got all sorts of moist things happening inside the house.
We're taking hot, steamy showers, we're walking around our own
and body heat is losing moisture into the air, our
breath is putting moisture into the air. There's like one
hundred different ways that moisture is being added to the
(25:12):
interior environment. And it's all locked in place because we're
keeping the doors and windows shut. So for homes that
are in extreme cold, and I wouldn't say yours is extreme,
but it's cold enough for homes that are built in
cold environments, there are some solutions. Now, I'm going to
give you a couple of shoot from the hip solutions
(25:33):
at least one, and then I'll give you a bigger one.
So let's start with the longer term solution. You could
look into heat recovery ventilators hrvs. Okay, Now, they come
in various shapes and sizes. Some of them are simply well.
In cold weather homes, we would install a heat recovery
(25:55):
ventilator as a bathroom fan instead of your typical bathroom fan.
Typical bathroom fan just takes air out of the bathroom
pushes it outside because you know, keeps it from being
overly moist. A heat recovery ventilator actually pushes air out,
moist air out, brings outside air in to the house, okay,
(26:18):
which in cold weather, the outside air is much much
drier than in terms of humidity. That's why the snow remains.
It's much drier than the inside air of the house.
So the real key is to bring some of that
cold outside air in. Now, a heat recovery ventilator brings
it in, but takes the heat out of the air
(26:40):
that's leaving and puts it back in the house. So
you don't actually make the house colder with a heat
recovery ventilator, but you're bringing dry outside air in without
the windows being open and freezing your toukus off and
at the same time we're pulling moisture out of the house.
So long term solution. They come in various shapes and sizes.
They come in bathroom vent sizes. You can also add
(27:03):
one to your heating and air conditioning system as well.
That'd probably be like a fifteen hundred dollars AD, but
it could make a radical difference. Those come in very side,
So that's something for you to think about long term. Okay,
short term, here's a trick. The trick is this to
(27:24):
open up the house to cold air for a certain
period of time. Now, this is what we call shock ventilation, Okay,
not what you would think, which is like, Okay, Dean's
advocating that I should leave a window. It's thirty degrees outside,
and he wants me to leave a window open, okay
all day. I don't want you to do that because
(27:45):
that's counterproductive leaving the window open. Because there's two Okay,
let me back up real quick. There are two things
that get heated in your house, the air and the
things that we call thermal mass in other words, the
stuff the wall, the studs in the walls, your kitchen, cabinets,
you your furniture. Okay. So if you leave a window
(28:07):
open all day long, then what we're doing is, yes,
we're letting in cool, dry air, but we're also cooling
off all of that stuff. Okay.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
And that's not good because that was because when the
house heats back up, if the wall is cold, just
like the side of a cold glass, you know that
you pour soda in, Yeah, water's going to condensate on
those surfaces. We want to keep the stuff warm, okay,
So that's why we're not going to leave a window
open all day long. But but if the house is
(28:39):
nice and cozy, warm, and for a particular period of time,
and I mean five to ten minutes, okay, five to
ten minutes, you throw open every window you can, okay
for five to ten minutes. That's called shock ventilation. So
what we're doing is we're allowing that drop outside air
(29:01):
to barrel in and replace the moist inside air. Okay.
So the air is gonna get cold, but it won't
be long enough for the stuff to cool down. And
then you just close the windows up and bring everything
back up to temperature, you'll see a radical reduction in
interior humidity. By shock ventilating the house. So I know
(29:23):
that's a thing, and it may not be the most
pleasant thing to think about. But in lieu of having
heat recovery ventilators installed, or you know, in the meantime,
while you're still thinking that, through shock ventilate the house.
Throw open all the windows for five to ten minutes,
close them back up again. Do that a couple of
times a day. Your humidity will drop radically. And Carrie,
(29:45):
thank you. So you are so very welcome, and thanks
for calling from Vancouver. We are at the end of
a segment. When we come back, we're going to return
to our conversation on the movements that we expect to
see in twenty twenty six. Home with Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper. This has been Home with Dean Sharp, The
(30:05):
House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM
six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time,
and every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time,
or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisperer on demand on the iHeart Radio app. I'm
Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer, custom home Builder, custom home Designer,
and your guide to better understand that place where you
live today on the show Final Show of twenty twenty five.
(00:21):
I almost said twenty twenty six, twenty twenty five final show,
and when we speak again next week, it will be
next year. So what am I doing. We're talking about trends,
some predictions, some movements, you know, and I'm giving you
some I think solid advice about how not to get
tied up and caught up in following the flighty trends,
(00:42):
but realistically talking about significant movements that are happening in
the world of home design, architecture, and home construction, not trends,
movements that I think are of great benefit to you
if you're aware of them as you are planning that
remodel or that change or whatever that may be. These
(01:03):
are the things that are lasting and new but going
to be lasting. These are true shifts in the world
of architecture and design, not some flitty, fashiony, corporate driven
trends that are here today and gone tomorrow, and we're
going to return to that conversation in just a bit.
But middle of the show, we've got some calls on
the board. We still have room for your call. By
(01:24):
the way, eight three three two, Ask Dean A three
three the numeral two. Ask Dean A three three two
beep ask Dean uh. And we're gonna go with phones
in just a second. But sitting across the table from me,
all of a sudden, here she is my best friend
in all the world, the person who has weathered this
(01:45):
relatively difficult year with me, the only person I want
by my side during thick and thin. Tina is here.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Welcome home.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
How you doing, Bud?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, I was away because I'm planning a secret trip
with another friend of ours, or a certain someone named
Dean Sharp who's having a birthday in January. And so
funny enough, we have some really good friends and the
wife of our good friends is also having a very
(02:17):
special birthday.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
She's two days older than me.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yes, she's two days older.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
We're both born in the same year, yep, two days apart, So.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
You're both having a very special birthday.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And we both kind of wished for the same thing,
which is where the purse, where the people? Well, and
I don't want to speak for cat, but but like
I'm the guy who like makes all the plans for
our vacations for you know, just does all the you know,
and when we host, like you know, everybody's looking to
me like, how are we going to do this, Dean?
(02:46):
How are we going to set this all up? And
so when you said to me this year specifically, what
do you want for your birthday? I'm like, you know
what I want. I don't want to be asked what
I want for my birth because number one, I'm not
hard to please. Okay, so it's not like, oh, you
got to really do some serious research. But the thing
that makes me the happiest is the idea that somebody
(03:08):
else just takes point for once and and I'm not
saying you know what I mean, you know what I'm saying,
I know you and and just handles it and just
just tell me when to show up and where to
be and I'm just going to be thrilled. And so
Tina and the the other her corresponding partner from the
(03:31):
other couple, they have taken on the whole thing to
plant it out secretly. We have zero idea of what We're.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Basically just going to tell them what to pack as
far as clothing.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
You know, so we are going on a little trip.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Oh yeah, you know you're going on a trip, okay,
and you know that it's going to be We know
the dates, you know the dates, but you just don't
know where, and you don't know yet exactly what kind
of clothing is.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Okay, but you will, we will, we will tell you.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
So.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, so this morning I had a call with my
buddy and we talked through I know what.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So that's where you were. So you're explaining, you're explaining
your absence from the.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Show mission it was very fun.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Well that's that's totally an acceptable excuse.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yes, I thought you'd appreciate your tardiness.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, I love you, Bud, I love you. You're the best.
All right, shall we go to the phones? Is it time?
Let's do it?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Let me talk to Jill. Hey, Jill, welcome home, Jill.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
BIHI, yes, hi, I'm here. Do you hear me?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Oh yeah, I hear you. Just fine? How can I
help you?
Speaker 6 (04:42):
So?
Speaker 5 (04:43):
I lived in a house that was remodeled in two
thousand and I live on the sand, on a little
island on the water. And when we built a house,
we didn't put in air conditioning. I've been told I
can't have air conditioning. There's no room there, there's no attic,
and I'm having problem with mildew developing on like furniture
(05:08):
and inside cabinets and stuff. Right, yeah, okay, I'm hoping
that you have some ideas about what to do. I
bought a room dhubidifier, but it's too noisy.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah yeah, yeah, they can be that way. Okay, So
give me a little bit more insight. First of all,
I'm just everybody is just totally curious. Where is this
island that you live on.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I live in Newport Beach on Ledo Island.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Oh okay, okay, all right, and so you're you know,
so okay, so you're here in southern California. You're living
out there, and yeah, there's a you're surrounded by moisture,
by mist and moisture and everything. And you're also right.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
And the island was formed by dredging the bay to
make the island, and it seems to be getting worse
over time. I'm thinking that the water level is rising.
You know, the whole island is just sand. So okay,
thinking my house is getting damper or the weather's getting
(06:11):
damper or something because it's getting worse.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
That might be the case. Actually it may there may
be an argument for that. Hotter summers for us now
are are including a little bit higher humidity, especially if
you're surrounded by water. So all right, So here's the
thing I'm going to dispose of, a myth of what
whoever told you? Now you've got I assume you've got
(06:35):
vaulted ceilings, there's no attic and so somebody told you
you can't have air conditioning. And the reason why I'm
pointing I'm turning back to air conditioning is because you've
already tried the dehumidifier, and the dehumidifiers too noisy and
so on. Now, I don't want to mess up your
interior decor, but I do want to open you up
to the possibility of an air conditioner. Air Conditioning is
(06:59):
first and forem A lot of people may not realize this,
but air conditioning was not invented to keep things cool.
Air Conditioning was originally invented by William Carrier for industrial
uses during the Industrial Revolution in giant warehouses that were
cranking out machinery that were creating all sorts of humidity
(07:19):
and moisture inside a factory, heat and moisture, which you know, surprisingly,
for instance, if you were a paper mill, not a
good idea to have a lot of humidity inside your
paper mill. So William Carrier came up with this concept
of refrigerant as a dehumidifier. And I'm still surprised these
(07:40):
days how many people don't realize that their air conditioner
is in fact, primarily, first and foremost a dehumidifier of
air throughout the whole house. That's one of the reasons
why the air feels cooler. The other is the refrigeration aspect.
But the point is this, there is a possible air
conditioning solution for you, despite the fact that there's no attic.
(08:03):
But I'm up against a break, Jill, so I'm gonna
ask you to just hang tight with me through the
break and we will discuss it right on the other side.
So you stay put and everybody stay put, and we'll
talk about Jill's unique situation and can she have an
air conditioner And no, I'm not talking about a window
air conditioner. You hang tight. You're home with Dean Sharp
the house Whisper.
Speaker 7 (08:25):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
So glad that you're with us today. Hey, don't forget that.
We're all over social media as well. We're on all
the usual suspects, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x, you know, all
of whatever they all are. We're all over them. Home
with Dean same handle for them all. You can find us,
you can find out what a little special features we're
we're we're gonna I'm telling you this for twenty twenty six.
(08:53):
We are. It is our intention to ramp up more
social media for you, to ramp up more YouTube, more
visuals for you as well. That is our intention. Now,
I'm just being honest. You know, as they say, you
want to make God laugh, tell them your plans. But
it is definitely our focus and intention this year. Some
(09:15):
good things coming, if I have anything to say about it,
Some good things will be coming. So join us on
those channels and just follow us. We're not gonna spam
you or bug you, but you'll have access to all
the special little features that are happening around the show.
All right, we are in the middle of taking calls
right now, and I want to get back to Jill. Jill,
(09:35):
are you still with me?
Speaker 7 (09:37):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I am, okay. Thanks for hanging on through the break.
You know, we had to reintroduce Tina. She took up
some time. But anyway. Oh by the way, Jill, just
so you know, you're down in Newport Beach. Just so
you know, I didn't grow up there. I did not
have the the the blessing of growing up in Newport Beach.
But I was born at Hogue Memorial right dow on
(10:00):
the street from me, So I was born there near
the near the humidity and the moisture. So anyway, uh So,
the suggestion that I'm making for you is that you've
you've got you've got mold and mildew issues showing up
in the house and the cabinets. You don't have air
conditioning in the house because you've got vaulted ceilings and
(10:21):
you don't have an attic, and you've been told you
can't have air conditioning. Air Conditioning is your best option
for dehumidifying the house and keeping that humidity level under control,
so you're not having mold and miss mildew issues, that
is your best option and regardless of attic space for
duct work, uh and sight unseen you know, I mean,
(10:45):
I love beautiful design and I'd want to do this
as artistically and as minimally as possible. But the idea
of a mini split air conditioning system many splits. Many
splits do not use ducts. They have an outdoor condenser
just like you would a compressor, and condenser just like
(11:06):
you would on the normal air conditioner. That unit outdoors.
It's much smaller, It's only about a foot deep and
fits snugly up against the house, and then the refrigerant
lines run inside to what we call a cartridge. Now,
typically what people picture when they picture a mini split
is a big, old white, you know, cartridge that can
(11:29):
be mounted on the ceiling or at the top of
a wall and circulate air throughout the room. Real air
conditioner air quiet air conditioning, as silent and quiet as
regular central air conditioning. So the fan is there, but
it's super super quiet, and the noise of an air
conditioner is the compressor and that's outside, just like a
(11:50):
regular air conditioning system. But the point is it's ductless.
And there are many split systems now that can use
the standard cartridge. There are ceiling mountain cartridges that look
like flush vents. There are all sorts of different There
are units that one compressor runs three or four different
cartridges in and through the house and so and even
(12:13):
a moderate sized unit can handle nine hundred to one
thousand square feet just by itself, and you could have
more than one. So if that's an option, that's where
I would direct you to think about. First, you can
have air conditioning in a house that doesn't have an
attic because you can use a mini split system. You
want to do it stylishly. You want to do it
(12:36):
so that it's not ugly. It's not like it's a
window air conditioner or a big unit sitting in there
making a lot of noise. But a mini split system
in your home could make a huge difference on the
humidity levels because they are a dehumidifier first and foremost.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
And if I had one of those, what would be
the matchimum temperature that I could run it out because
I would have to run it all the time right
in the summer.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, you wouldn't have to run it all the time
in the summer because again, just like most people with
an air conditioner, you could run it at any level
of temperature that you want. But the longer you run it,
and these are very economical units, by the way, very
very energy efficient units, the longer you run it, the
more it dries out the air, even though it's not
(13:28):
fighting hard to lower the temperature in the house. So
that's the nice thing about That's why I love the
idea of a unit that can run long and low,
because it really has an opportunity to dry the air
out and that's our first and foremost goal in your situation,
and it's going to keep the house super comfy, regardless
of the temperature outside. Jill, I got to go. We're
(13:50):
up against another break. Thank you for your call. Take
a look at many split air conditioners and all of
their options. I don't think you'll be disappointed, and I
think you have an option there. All right, y'all more
when we return your Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 7 (14:05):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Tina and I were just having a we're just having
a pep talk about the year. It's been a hard year.
It's been a hard year. But you know what, we're
still here. We're still stand in, standing tall, and it's
hard to imagine life at this point throwing us, throwing
much more at us, that's going to take us out,
and I don't think it's going to happen. So you
(14:32):
know what, we're rejoicing and thankful and grateful, and we're
going to take the next few days and just continue
to appreciate all that we have and appreciate things like
the fact that I can sit here with you and
have meaningful conversations about your home. Speaking of that, it's
middle of the show. We're taking calls and I want
(14:53):
to get to let's see, just throw a dart board
at the callboard. Let's talk to Frank. How about Frank? Hey, Frank,
welcome home.
Speaker 6 (15:05):
Hello, Hello, yeah, hello, are you there?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I am still here?
Speaker 6 (15:11):
Okay, good, good good. I live in Canyon Lake, which
is basically the desert, right so, and I have this
huge porch in the front of my house. It goes
along the front and then in the side. And I
have two problems. One is the original coating. It was
built in ninety two, so the original coating on the
porch credit's cracking. It's you know, like a tar based
(15:35):
coating whatever it is. So it's cracking, so it leaks
and goes down into the garage, and I, you know,
so I want to replace that. But the other problem
is that when the water gets on the porch, it
collects before it goes over to the scuffers, and so
it's been suggested that what I do is take up
(15:56):
all the old plywood because it's probably war for whatever underneath.
So I was thinking to take all that out and
then slope it so that the water drains better to
the scuppers. And then that's one thing I was thinking
of doing. But also my big question is what is
the best coating to put on the outside porch because
(16:19):
it's in the you know, basically in the desert, and
that's how I wanted to put something that's going to
last and look good.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Got you? Got you? Okay? So okay, so a couple
of things. So you're you're calling it a porch, but
you say that there's a garage underneath it, so it's
a waterproofed deck area. Yes, yeah, yeah, okay, gotcha. Okay,
So first of all, your idea about you know, at
this point, it's cracked there's leaks, and if water is
(16:50):
puddling and not moving towards the scuppers where the water
needs to go, absolutely, without question, sounds like it's time
to tear it all up, pull it all out. It's
not that big of a deal, strip it all back
and uh and by the way, you might want to
wait till winter is over.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
Uh so that yeah, yeah, tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Yeah, don't get caught with your pants down with the
fact that right exactly. So, uh yeah, pull it all
out and now you you I would have a conversation
with now you can do it one of two ways.
I might want to have a conversation with a decking
(17:30):
company who's gonna, you know, redeck it for you, uh,
and ask them, do you think I need to pull
the plywood and then actually, you know, put some furring
strips into actually slope the plywood deck, or can you
guys do a sufficient build up when you're putting down
the new material so that you get the sufficient slope
(17:52):
at the end of the day. I don't really care
which way it is one or the other. I just
want to know what's the preference, because what we're looking
for is a minimum of one eighth but now that
it's outside and exposed, what I really want is a
quarter of an inch per foot slope, because that's the
equivalent of a flat, flat roof. Quarter of an inch
per foot of slope. You're not going to have any pooling.
(18:15):
If that's the case, nice and flat quarter of an
inch per foot slope down into the scuppers. Now, as
far as the material goes, you really have options this.
The standard material to use would be fiberglass layers and
resins and and those If you talk to decking companies,
waterproofing balcony companies, they're gonna you know, there are various formulations,
(18:37):
but they all basically amount to the same thing. A
really good waterproofing layer, multiple layers of fiberglass and resin
that go down and vinyl, you know, liquid vinyl that
bonds it all together, and you'll have a really good
new balcony space that's really well water sealed. Then, since
(18:58):
it is an extension of the house and not just
a roof area, then because of the conditions out in
Canyon Lake, and I know Canyon Lake. I have a
very dear friend friends who live in Canyon Lake. With
you out there, well, yeah, just a little bit north
of Temecula, and it's warm, to say the least during
the summer. Sun not rain. Sun Light is the enemy
(19:22):
of roofing, Okay, it's the enemy of your waterproof decking.
So you could just waterproof it and leave it with
its own UV resistant finish. But what I would be
tempted to do is put some kind of a floating
deck on top of it. Whether you decided to tile it. Okay,
you could put exterior grade tiles out there, because the
(19:45):
water would shut off the tiles. Whatever would soak through
the grout would soak in and hit that waterproofing layer
and move out as well and not be a problem.
You could put a floating wood or wood composite decking
material out there that probably be the simplest and quickest
and least expensive, not connected to the deck. So we're
(20:05):
not talking about putting holes down in the waterproofing material.
We're talking about actually just suspend, you know, having it
laid out there on sleepers, which would basically be like
a pressure treated two by fours underneath laying flat that
you would put this decorative decking material on. The water
would shoot right through the deck boards, hit the waterproof
(20:27):
layer and head back out to the scuppers and then
you'll have a decorative layer that you'll love. You'll have
the waterproof layer underneath, and most importantly, that decorative layer
is actually blocking ninety nine percent of all the UV
light from the sun that would break down and prematurely
age the waterproofing. And that's what that'd be. My goal
(20:49):
with that deck balcony area is to make it both
esthetically pleasing and long term lasting for the waterproofing layer underneath.
And the key that would be to put them both together.
And this is an area where the best possible aesthetic
design and the best possible build of the waterproof layer
actually compliments each other for the longest term, longest lasting product.
(21:14):
Does that make sense, Yeah, it makes sense.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Okay, So that would be I see I see online
a lot of times. You know, these new coatings that
you can put out there. You just brush them on,
but I just I wasn't sure if they're even last
or you know, yeah, there are.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Coatings, there are coatings, there's patches. You could always give
it a try, but at the end of the day,
my recommendation would be, if it's that far gone to
have a pro it's not gonna cost that much to
do to have a pro actually give you that waterproof
base and then for you to take it from there
and put an esthetic protective layer on top to block
(22:00):
the sun and to make it, you know, ten times
more attractive than just the waterproofing of a deck coding.
And so it's a win win situation that basically you'll
do this now and twenty years from now you'll still
be like, yeah, it's all it's all great out there,
you know, because if the sun cannot get to that
waterproof layer, it will not break down prematurely. That waterproof
(22:23):
layer could sit there for decades upon decades and handle water,
just not UV sunlight. And that's the key. Frank. Thanks
for your question, buddy, I appreciate it, and good luck
on that when we return more of your calls your
Home with Dean Shark, the House Whisper.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I'm here to remind you every home deserves great design,
especially yours. So I hope you keep listening because I'm
going to help you get there. That's what we do
every week right here. We take that home, that house
that you're living in that ordinary house and I help
you make it an extraordinary home. We are going to
be returning to our conversation about new movements for you
(23:13):
to be aware of, real movements, not trends or fads
for twenty twenty six, but real movements in the design
and architectural world that you should be aware of. We're
returning to that conversation in just a bit, but right
now it's my last shot at taking some calls, and
so I'm going back to the phones. I want to
talk to Carrie. Hey, Carrie, welcome home.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Hi, Hi jan thanks for taking my call. I just
have a quick question regarding a previous color that you
have with Jill from Newport Pach.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I live up in Vancouver, Washington, so it's really cold
and rainy up here. But I have the same problem
as Jill, so I was curious what options I might have.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yeah, okay, so you have the same problem, meaning that
you've got moisture and mildew issues inside the house, but
for a very different reason, for the opposite reason. Actually
you've got you've got cold, rainy weather up there. Jill's
got a lot of moisture coming in from the ocean. Yeah,
(24:17):
so all right, so remind me how cold it gets
in Vancouver during the winter.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Right now, it's like thirty nine to forty four degrees outside.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So not crazy cold, but not southern California cold either. Okay, right, okay,
So here's the thing for everybody who lives in a
cold climate. Okay, the same kind of mold and moisture
issues can plague you. Typically though, that comes from the
(24:48):
fact that the house is all sealed up and you've
got all sorts of moist things happening inside the house.
We're taking hot, steamy showers, we're walking around our own
and body heat is losing moisture into the air, our
breath is putting moisture into the air. There's like one
hundred different ways that moisture is being added to the
(25:12):
interior environment. And it's all locked in place because we're
keeping the doors and windows shut. So for homes that
are in extreme cold, and I wouldn't say yours is extreme,
but it's cold enough for homes that are built in
cold environments, there are some solutions. Now, I'm going to
give you a couple of shoot from the hip solutions
(25:33):
at least one, and then I'll give you a bigger one.
So let's start with the longer term solution. You could
look into heat recovery ventilators hrvs. Okay, Now, they come
in various shapes and sizes. Some of them are simply well.
In cold weather homes, we would install a heat recovery
(25:55):
ventilator as a bathroom fan instead of your typical bathroom fan.
Typical bathroom fan just takes air out of the bathroom
pushes it outside because you know, keeps it from being
overly moist. A heat recovery ventilator actually pushes air out,
moist air out, brings outside air in to the house, okay,
(26:18):
which in cold weather, the outside air is much much
drier than in terms of humidity. That's why the snow remains.
It's much drier than the inside air of the house.
So the real key is to bring some of that
cold outside air in. Now, a heat recovery ventilator brings
it in, but takes the heat out of the air
(26:40):
that's leaving and puts it back in the house. So
you don't actually make the house colder with a heat
recovery ventilator, but you're bringing dry outside air in without
the windows being open and freezing your toukus off and
at the same time we're pulling moisture out of the house.
So long term solution. They come in various shapes and sizes.
They come in bathroom vent sizes. You can also add
(27:03):
one to your heating and air conditioning system as well.
That'd probably be like a fifteen hundred dollars AD, but
it could make a radical difference. Those come in very side,
So that's something for you to think about long term. Okay,
short term, here's a trick. The trick is this to
(27:24):
open up the house to cold air for a certain
period of time. Now, this is what we call shock ventilation, Okay,
not what you would think, which is like, Okay, Dean's
advocating that I should leave a window. It's thirty degrees outside,
and he wants me to leave a window open, okay
all day. I don't want you to do that because
(27:45):
that's counterproductive leaving the window open. Because there's two Okay,
let me back up real quick. There are two things
that get heated in your house, the air and the
things that we call thermal mass in other words, the
stuff the wall, the studs in the walls, your kitchen, cabinets,
you your furniture. Okay. So if you leave a window
(28:07):
open all day long, then what we're doing is, yes,
we're letting in cool, dry air, but we're also cooling
off all of that stuff. Okay.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
And that's not good because that was because when the
house heats back up, if the wall is cold, just
like the side of a cold glass, you know that
you pour soda in, Yeah, water's going to condensate on
those surfaces. We want to keep the stuff warm, okay,
So that's why we're not going to leave a window
open all day long. But but if the house is
(28:39):
nice and cozy, warm, and for a particular period of time,
and I mean five to ten minutes, okay, five to
ten minutes, you throw open every window you can, okay
for five to ten minutes. That's called shock ventilation. So
what we're doing is we're allowing that drop outside air
(29:01):
to barrel in and replace the moist inside air. Okay.
So the air is gonna get cold, but it won't
be long enough for the stuff to cool down. And
then you just close the windows up and bring everything
back up to temperature, you'll see a radical reduction in
interior humidity. By shock ventilating the house. So I know
(29:23):
that's a thing, and it may not be the most
pleasant thing to think about. But in lieu of having
heat recovery ventilators installed, or you know, in the meantime,
while you're still thinking that, through shock ventilate the house.
Throw open all the windows for five to ten minutes,
close them back up again. Do that a couple of
times a day. Your humidity will drop radically. And Carrie,
(29:45):
thank you. So you are so very welcome, and thanks
for calling from Vancouver. We are at the end of
a segment. When we come back, we're going to return
to our conversation on the movements that we expect to
see in twenty twenty six. Home with Dean Sharp, The
House Whisper. This has been Home with Dean Sharp, The
(30:05):
House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM
six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time,
and every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time,
or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Home with Dean Sharp News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.