December 20, 2025 • 31 mins
Dean takes all your home design calls, including safe, non-toxic ways to get rid of gophers in the garden, as well as how high your baseboards should be in your house.
Dean is your sherpa up the mountain of home design!!!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty. I am six forty Live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer,
custom home builder, custom home Designer. It's an all calls weekend.
(00:22):
I love these weekends. I love taking your calls, talking
with you about what's going on with your home, and
you know, hoping out if I can. So let's do
it all right, Let's talk to Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Tom. Welcome home Bean.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Yes, sir okay. I live on a hillside lot. My
house is on the upper portion of the hill with
a yard created by retaining the old style retaining wall
with concrete about two hundred and forty feet front to back.
And I want to get down to that lower pad
(00:58):
to build an ADU. And I got to put in
a driveway. If I bulldoze straight down the slope, I'm
going to be over twenty percent. And I don't even
want to be twenty percent. I'd like to be twelve percent.
And I'm thinking, rather than try to stretch the driveway
along the ridge to lengthen it and reduce my slope,
(01:22):
is there some way, like like an elevated boardwalk a
driveway built on piers that somebody does. I mean, obviously
it could be done, but you know, it cost a fortune.
And I'm just wondering if if anybody does anything prefab
like that.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Oh gosh, yeah, you know what if somebody does, I
have not heard of them. You know, we've had some
tricky driveway grating scenarios before, and you know, it's not
uncommon to have to get the structural engineers out and say, okay,
we got to bring this driveway in on an estate
property across this creek bed or across this gully, or
(02:00):
we've got an elevated portion of it and essentially build
a bridge or an elevated platform for a portion of
the driveway. But I know of no one out there,
and I'm not saying that there isn't, but I personally
don't have knowledge of anybody out there who has prefab
systems that are just ready to go. And the problem
is the problem with the reason is is because it's
(02:20):
all site specific, it has to do with your you know,
geological situation, your soil quality. Because it's not so much
the structure itself, it's what it's bearing on and how
much of a seismic and lateral load. It has to
withhold as well as the dead load itself. So geological
engineer and structural engineer, those are going to be unavoidable
(02:42):
in your situation. Doesn't necessarily have to be concrete. I've
seen them. We've actually successfully built some some bridges over
gullies out of wood, out of you know, kind of
like the old covered wood bridges. We've successfully done it
out of wood and steel and or concrete. But it's
going to have to be one of those formats, and
(03:04):
it's going to be uh, it's going to be site specific,
and so you're just gonna, unfortunately have to price that out. Tom,
thanks for the call. It is super interesting question. I
wish I could help more on that. I want to
talk to Shannon. Hey, Shannon, welcome.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Home, Hie, thanks for taking my calls. Well, I have
a pervasive gopher problem in my yards in my back
and my strint, which has prevented me from planting anything,
and mostly weeds are popping up and weeds die, and
I have all these hills and mounds and holes, and
(03:39):
so I wanted to do a native garden, but I
don't know where to begin and how to.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Get rid of the gopher h Gophers Nature's annoying, adorable rodent. Okay,
so Shannon, here's the thing. Here's what I don't want
you to do. Please do not poison your gophers with
a rat poison blood thinning rat poison, because it is
(04:05):
not only doing damage to them, and yes, it will,
you know, knock out your gophers in general, but it
will end up damaging the entire ecosystem around you. I'm
not going to get on my soapbox and talk about that.
I'm just going to say, don't do it. Blood thinners
end up in all the predators that eat the gophers
as well, and it affects everything well beyond the edge
(04:26):
of your house. Now, you can live trap gophers, or
you can just kill them dead with the mechanical traps,
but that doesn't solve the problem because you know, it's
just an ongoing war. So in your situation and for
everybody who has a gopher issue, what I'm about to
suggest may sound extreme, but in reality it is actually
(04:49):
the easiest, most stress free, permanent way to deal with
gophers in your yard, and that is simply to not
allow them in in the first place. Now, how do
you do that? Well, you do that by again having
a strong commitment we don't want gophers in this yard.
What it means is this, let's take your lawn, your
(05:13):
planterbed areas wherever it is that you are planning on
planting and don't want gophers coming up. You're going to
remove some soil okay, two, three, sometimes as much as
four inches of soil in an area, and you're going
to stake down and bury gopher cloth. And what do
(05:34):
I mean by gopher cloth? I mean either a nylon
cloth that is, and I say cloth, it's actually full
of holes. Okay, it's more like a mesh, but basically
think of chicken wire, but on a much much smaller
scale opening so that a gopher can't get through a
layer of chicken wire essentially, And please forgive me for
(05:56):
using it. I just want everybody to picture what it
is that I'm saying, a layer of chicken wire buried
a couple of inches underneath the soil of everywhere in
your yard.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
The simple truth of the matter is the gophers can
tunnel underneath your house all they want and all around,
but they're not going to be popping up and they're
not going to be doing as much, if any, damage
to the roots of everything that's going down. Now, will
they occasionally gnaw on a deeper root, sure, but not
to the extent that they're going to destroy anything. So
(06:29):
without question, the once and for all solution for gophers
is actually to just put a fence in between them
and being able to pop up in your yard.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Awesome that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
It is simple. I mean simple for me to say.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
It's like, oh yeah, just to dig up all the
dirt in your whole backyard and completely cover it over
with seamless fencing. It's a it's a task, it's a chore.
But honestly, when you think about, well, do we want
to do that or do we want to forever have
gophers making holes in the backyard. So this way, the
gophers don't die, your plants don't die, your yard stays lovely,
(07:10):
and you just have a barrier. So it's a gopher bear.
If you go online, you're gonna find all sorts of
options in that regard subterranean buried gopher barriers. You're gonna
find them. You can price them out, you can make
your own decisions. But they work. I know they work.
We've seen them work and at the end of the day, boom.
You do it once, you do it right, and you
(07:31):
don't have to worry about it again. So Shannon, thank you.
Good luck on that. Thanks for the call. When we
come back, more of your calls. I'm so glad you
joined me this morning. Hang tight, so much more to come.
You are home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Kay if I.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Am six forty and live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app,
you are home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
That's me.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
We are doing a all call weekend here on the program.
Every few weeks. We lay every topic aside so that
we can concentrate on just the things that are on
your mind regarding your home, be it a design issue,
or a construction question, or a DIY concerned whatever, all
(08:18):
of the above and anything in between. Anything you want
to talk to me about your home today, that's what
we're doing. It's time to go back to the phone
to do it. I want to talk to Jane. Hey, Jane,
welcome home.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
Thanks for taking my calls. I have a quick question.
We're looking to remodel our house and open up some
of the walls and we're not sure if we should
get a designer first to work out the layout and
the design, or if we should speak with a structural
engineer to actually let us know which walls we can
open up.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Excellent question, a procedural question on how you get started
with this kind of thing. The answer is a bit nuanced, Jane.
Number one. The first call the you always make that
everyone should always make when they're thinking about remodeling or
doing something different with their house, is you call a designer.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
All right. You start with the creativity, you start with
the art.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
You start with somebody who knows what they're doing in
order to help you come with the absolute best possible
design that works for you, that customizes your home, that
expresses you. Because, as I say here on the program
all the time, as you know, design matters most. We
start with design. However, sometimes design choices end up leading
(09:35):
towards Wow, we're going to move that wall, or we're
going to eliminate that wall, and we want to change
those windows, or we want to put in a much
bigger door. Things that infringe and touch now upon structural issues.
So this is why I say it's nuanced. What you
want is you want to call the designer first, and
you want to start having that conversation. What you don't
(09:56):
want is to pay a designer for a full on,
full blown finished design when you don't know what the
structural ramifications are. Okay, So you call a designer and
you begin to work with them in what we call
rough design mode or rough sketch mode, in which we
(10:17):
haven't you know, we haven't sold the farm yet for
this design. But we get to the point where now
we sense like, wow, we're really liking where this is going.
And the big question now looms what about that wall?
And that is when you call in a structural engineer
for a consultation and it's a couple three hundred dollars,
(10:39):
most structural engineers will show up and help you figure
out what's going on. Sometimes it's pretty simple to do
expect that they will. In order to make the most
of a consult like that, that you're going to want
to invest a little of a demo, and by demo,
I just mean a forensic opening up. You know, if
(11:00):
it's a wall in question, you don't know if it's
a bearing wall, or if you don't know if it's
a sheer wall, that's critical for the seismic strength of
the house, then you want to pull some drywall off.
Drywall is inexpensive to replace, Okay, it's just cost of
getting ready for your remodel. A little bit of forensic analysis.
So in other words, if we're talking about you know,
(11:22):
if we were talking about the house in terms of
let's say the metaphor of a patient going in for
some surgical procedure and there are some things that we
don't quite know about, then we would call this exploratory surgery,
in which we open things up just a little bit
to take a look around and to verify what it
is that we're dealing with there. So open up a
(11:43):
little section of drywall on a wall, Open up some
drywall on the ceiling right next to the top of
that wall. If we want to figure out what direction
the ceiling joysts are going, what's bearing on that wall
or not that kind of stuff, and then have the
structural engineer come out and give you an evaluation of
like okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see this. They might
(12:04):
just say listen, hey, thanks for paying for the console.
I think you're good to go. That's not a baring wall.
That thing can be removed and you don't have to
worry about it, or they may say, yeah, no, some
engineering is going to be required here and it's a
major deal, or some engineering is required and it's not
that big of a deal. So that's the information you
(12:24):
need you need at that juncture, and then you return
to the design process with that information under your arm
in order to finish out the design. You may decide
to abandon that design because you don't want to touch
that wall, or it may be full steam ahead, So
it's designer, engineer, back to the designer. And then as
(12:46):
you commit to a remodel, especially assuming that you're going
to be pulling permits and doing it the right way,
then once the designer is then committing to plans, the
engineer is going to get involved again and put in
their structural notes and pages in the places that you'll
submit to the city. And that's kind of the hopscotch
or leap frogging that happens. So don't pay a designer
(13:07):
everything up front to do a complete design when you
don't know the ramification structurally on the house. And just
to let you know, just as a little top er,
I'll tell you how Tina and I actually do. Even
when we have been hired to do a full design
on a home, we will still tell our clients listen,
we are going to take you to rough design in
(13:28):
which you're thrilled with the way everything's looking, and then
we're going to get an engineer involved to spec out
rough engineering specifications not even finished yet, but rough specifications,
because only then do you have with our drawing down
on the page and the engineering specifications. Only then do
(13:48):
you have the information you need to turn around and
hand it to two or three contractors to give you
what's called a rom a rough order of magnitude or
really rough estimate, and so you're not holding them to it,
but these are contractors that you're vetting and you're thinking
about using, and they give you a rough estimate, so
(14:09):
you get an idea like, ah, and this is what
our project probably is going to cost in the ballpark.
At that point you may find out m Yeah, all right,
that's in our budget, or no, that's too much, and
then you go back to the design and tweak it again.
So there's this inner play and this collaboration and that's
(14:29):
generally how it works.
Speaker 7 (14:30):
Does that help, yes, Thank you so much?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
All right, Jane. Good luck on that project. All right,
y'all when we come back, Let's try and take a
couple more before we are done today. Yeah, you are home?
Who is this?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Oh yeah, it's Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty KFI AM six forty live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. You are Home with Dean Sharp
the House Whisper. Hey, thanks for joining us on the
program this morning. All right to the phones, Eric, Welcome home.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Hello Dean.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
I am well, sir. How can I help you?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
So?
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I'm planning on taking carpet out and putting new wood
floors in the room.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I just put these new moldings in like maybe two
years ago, so I know there's.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Going to be a gap, and I'm wondering what you
think I.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Should do replace the moldings or do like a pillar
or something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Okay, So by moldings, you're talking about your baseboards. Okay,
baseboards in the room and baseboards. Just so everybody can
get caught up to speed here, when we install baseboards,
knowing that carpeting is going in a room, the baseboard
is actually we leave it off the ground. We leave
it up above the floor about yeah, depending on the
(15:48):
carpenter you talk to, anywhere from a quarter of an
inch all the way up to about three eighths of
an inch. So if Eric is going to yank all
the carpet in the pad out of a room and
put hard would down in its place, then it's the
chances that the hardwood is going to actually touch the
bottom of those base boards is unlikely. That means we
(16:09):
got a little gap underneath. Two ways to handle it, Eric,
just straight out you're either well, okah, yeah too realistically.
Two ways you could You could try and remove the
baseboards carefully and reinstall them, but.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That never works out.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
So I'm not even gonna tell you that one because
you know you're gonna end up cracking something and messing
it up and messing up the wall. So number one,
you pull the baseboards. You're just like, well, okay, fine,
I'm gonna sacrifice this room full of baseboards. You pull
the baseboards, you leave the walls bare, get the floor installed,
and then nicest, best, absolute cleanest looking job. Once the
(16:46):
floor is down, you install new baseboards, bump right on
top of the hardwood, nice and tight, clean line, clean
corner done. The other way to do it, if you
really really want to save those baseboards is you simply
use a base shoe, which is just a secondary molding.
You don't want to fill in underneath the baseboard because
that never ends up looking right. You try and glue
(17:08):
it or try and nail it in, you're always going
to see the seam. Even if you don't see it
right away, you'll end up seeing a seam. So the
traditional way, the conventional way is to use a base shoe,
which is kind of like a quarter round, kind of
like some people boxy use cord around a quarter of
a circle. But base shoe, actually, if you get the
right stuff, is actually taller than it is thick as
(17:30):
far as coming out into the room, and so it's
a little bit more just slightly more streamline than QRD around.
And what you'll do is you'll go ahead and lay
the floor, get it underneath the or up to at
least the line of the baseboard, and then cover the
gap with a piece of base shoe. Now I prefer
(17:50):
as a designer, it says, no, this has nothing to
do with carpentry. I prefer as a designer that you
would paint that base shoe with your so that the
floor stays the floor, and the base shoe just becomes
a part of your baseboard. From a design perspective, I
think that's a cleaner, better look. Some people like to
(18:11):
try and buy a base shoe, a base shoe that's
the same material right as the floor. I think that
just makes the floor feel like it's creeping up onto
the wall, and for us, that's not a good look.
So that's what I'm gonna recommend my friend one of
the two. If you pull out the baseboards, how tall
are they?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
By the way, there's like about three inches, So I
got all.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Right, they're too short. They're too short, So no seven
seven inches?
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Oh wow?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, I know right, I know everybody.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Everybody's jaw drops every time I say that. But I'm
just saying, if you've got a traditional house with kind
of a traditional motif, don't hesitate to fill that house
with taller baseboards.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
I guarantee you. A wall is.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Visually, whether you've never thought of it this way or not,
a wall is a column. It's like a column that
has been split and laid out flat. So the base
of that wall. You can imagine a big, strong column
that has no base on it whatsoever, like a Greek
column that just kind of runs into the dirt. A
base the base of a column needs a really nice pediment.
(19:19):
And I guarantee you the general rule is seven is
what we call the seven percent rule, the seven to
ten percent rule. And so that basically means baseboards can
afford to be seven percent of the height of a wall.
That means in an eight foot ceiling they can be
almost seven inches tall. It will look fantastic. So if
you decide to replace the baseboards, all I'm saying is
(19:42):
think about going taller with them.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
And then, of course you can blame me for spending
more money in the rest of the house, because after
you love that room as much as you do.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
You're like, oh, great, Dean had me change this room.
It's now the best looking room in the house, and
now I have to replace all the baseboards. It's everywhere.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You are welcome, all right, thanks buddy for the call.
Do I have time to sneak another one in here?
Let's do it, Ragnar, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
My wife and I just bought a new house in Hawthorne, California.
It's built nineteen fifty two, and we have retaining walls
are on the outside of the property and from settling.
The soil is clayish and the settling has created a
wall cracks in the retaining walls. I mean, it wasn't
been made a center block. But in institutions stick How
can I stick saladavu to replace the walls?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Okay, So when we say retaining walls, do we mean
that these walls are actually retaining soil or when we
say retaining walls, you just mean like a garden block
wall that's dividing you and the neighbors.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Oh, garden block wall deviding me and the neighbors.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Okay, Yeah, So just to be clear, if it's not
actually holding, if the soil level on the other side
of the wall isn't significantly higher than on your side,
or vice versa, it's not a retaining wall. It's it's
just a blockwall.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Okay. So a block wall.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
And if it's got it, if it's settled, uh, and
you know there's and that happens, you know, because honestly,
a retain if it were retaining wall, you probably wouldn't
see any cracks in it, because a retaining wall gets
solid filled with concrete in all of the cells, in
the grouts in between all of that, and there's steel
and there's a significant footing. But a block wall can
just be a simple garden wall. They kind of tend
(21:23):
builders tend to minimize the footings under it. So I
totally get it that it's settled some. If it has settled,
then you've got cracking happening. You can actually you can
actually find concrete epoxy patch kits at like a local
hardware store, builder supply home depot, that kind of thing.
It's not going to and that'll get you patched up
so that the cracking doesn't continue, and it's not hard
(21:46):
to use. A lot of it comes in the calking
tube form where you can put it in a calking gun,
squirt it in there, fill up the crack and then
uh and then kind of troal it smooth. Now it's
not going to look pretty on your side, just to
say not gonna look pretty, so you may want it
can at some point, once you fix all the cracks,
you may want to consider actually painting the wall so
(22:06):
that it all blends in better. Because there's no way, unfortunately,
to patch that wall unless the cracking was actually just
in the mortar joints. There's no way to actually crack
to fix a cracked cinder block wall without the patch
showing up unfortunately, just as much if not more visible
once you patch it than the crack was to begin with.
(22:29):
So you get some options in after you've patched it.
If you're going to keep the wall like that, you know,
maybe paint the wall over, Maybe decide to grow something
in front of it, or let something like a creeping
fig kind of ivy sort of creeping plant cling to
the wall and cover it over, make it more attractive
(22:49):
in that sense. Or maybe at some point you'd say,
you know what, we'll patch it for now, but let's
replace this. Let's replace it with a fence, a wood fence.
Of are choosing so that you get a better architectural look.
That's the best I can tell you. Thank you, Ragnar,
and thanks Eric for your calls. How about some more
(23:09):
of your calls when we return. You are listening to
Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper caf I AM
six forty and live streaming in HD everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Hey, welcome to home, where every week we.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Help you better understand that place where you live. I
am Dean Sharp, the house whisper, custom home builder, custom
home designer, most importantly, today, your guide to turning your
ordinary house into something truly extraordinary. I tell you what
we're doing today. It's an all calls day. It is
it you set the agenda. Anything that is going on
(23:49):
with your home, whether it be construction issues, DIY questions,
design concerns, anything at all. The phone lines are open.
I am here to help you sort it all out.
We'll put our heads together and we'll get it sorted.
On that note, how about we go to it. Hey, Mary,
(24:11):
welcome home.
Speaker 6 (24:12):
I have a question about reroofing. I have a small
house about fourteen hundred square feet, was built in nineteen
eighty eight. But it needs the tile lifted and then
the paper laid underneath it. And I'm getting bids on it,
and some of the bids bidders are saying two layers
(24:32):
of paper and others are saying one.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Okay, So your question is is are two layers necessary?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Is that a good idea? Is it too much?
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah? I have a couple of thoughts about it.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Number one is two layers always better than one when
it comes to roofing paper, especially because roofing paper will age,
it will become brittle eventually over time. And the more
protection you have up there underneath the t tiles, the
better off you're going to be, a lot of people
(25:03):
don't realize this, but you know, tiles, roofing tiles, any kind.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Of roofing material.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
The surface material that we all look at and say, look,
there's the roof. That is just the top layer, and
it is not a guarantee in and of itself that
the roof doesn't leak. What's really doing the true protection
of the home is the underlayment, that is the building
paper underneath the tiles. So I always tell people, do
(25:30):
not shortchange your budget in terms of the underlayment.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Get the best stuff possible.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
But Mary, since we're on that subject and you raise
the subject, here is the thing I would prefer. And
this is just me, and it's up to you, and
you should bring this up to the roofers who are
bidding your project. We don't use builder paper anymore, roofing
paper anymore in the homes that we design and specify
and in the homes that we actually participate in building,
(25:57):
because for so long now rubber rized membranes have been
proven themselves so far superior to builder paper. So I
would recommend that you actually go back and say, okay, fine, fine, fine,
two layers of building paper. That's fine, but let's talk
about using a modern membrane underneath my tile. The modern membrane,
(26:20):
they are self ceiling. They lap onto each other, they seal.
That's something that builder paper does not do unless the
builders actually tar it all in which on a normal
residential roof rarely happens. So the membrane seal, and as
a result, Number One, when they're all done laying it,
you have essentially, for all practical purposes, one continuous membrane,
(26:44):
not just tiers of paper over the house. And two
other things about them. Number one, they're rubberized, they're they're bitimus,
they have stretch and give that they never actually lose,
and so as a result, they do not become brittle
and tend to break down as quickly over time. In fact,
(27:05):
they last a lot lot longer than builder paper. They
even go so far during installation as self ceiling around
every single nail that gets punctured through them when the
actual tiles are put on. So there is no doubt
in my mind, no question in my mind that these
(27:25):
new modern membrane under layments are superior to builder paper. Now,
do they cost a little more, Yeah, they do do.
A lot of builders lead with them when they're bidding
a job. Know they don't, because it means that their
bid comes in higher, and then they have to sit
there and explain to you why it's higher, because you know,
(27:46):
we're using a better material, and some homeowners just don't
agree or don't believe them, but you can take it
from me. I would zero in on the roofer that
you're thinking about using, and then talk to them about
a continuous, you know, more advanced underlayment. If you really
want this this roof job to last forever, talk to
(28:07):
them about a modern underlayment instead of the roofing paper.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
And there you go.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
And that's just one layer that they put down with that.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
That's all you need with that stuff is just one
layer because it is thick and like I said, it's
self seals, seals around the nails and it remains pliable
throughout the years. So one layer is all you need
and that forever it's gonna last. Yeah, yeah, I mean
this is this is how we do lifetime roofs.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
I'll put it that way.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Great.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
I really appreciate the help.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You are so welcome, Mary, and I appreciate the call.
All right, let's talk to Julie. Hey, Julie, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (28:44):
Hi Deine. We're looking at getting new windows and I
love the black frame windows, but they're obviously a lot
more expensive.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
So I was wondering, what are your thoughts.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
On if we just if someone just adjusted black frame
windows in the back of the house and kept the
traditional white frame lens in the front.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Have no general problems with that whatsoever. In fact, if
you hear me talk on the show quite often, I'll
talk about the tech. One of the techniques for upgrading
a house without touching its traditional curb appeal is to
treat the facade of the house differently than the backside
of the house, because from the the facade of the
(29:21):
house is something that is viewed from outside the house,
standing on the curb in the street looking at the house.
Then you move into the house, you walk in, and
once you're past the face of the house, now we're
inside the house looking out through windows into the backyard,
it's a completely different experience. And so the idea of
(29:42):
using black frame windows for the backside of the house
because you love them and because they work with the
configuration that you're looking for, in my thinking, in most
cases most cases, don't quote me on this universally, but
in most cases, yeah, your freedom to mix it up,
I would even say, depending on decor. There are times
(30:04):
when you know there are well, actually you know, I'll
tell you this. We just finished designing from the ground
up a new house in Studio City. Some of those
windows are white traditional framed windows, some of them are
dark bronze and black traditional windows. Just depending on room
for room and the effect that we're looking for, and
(30:24):
on some of the elevations of the house, you can
see both at the same time. It all depends on
whether it works with that theme. But as a general rule,
you know, it's kind of the mullet approach, right, all
business up front and party in the back. So keep
your white frame windows facing the street and do back
black towards the back of the house and have a blast.
(30:45):
I think you're completely free to do that in most cases.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Thanks Julie. For the call. Yes, Yes, it's my mullet theory.
My mullet theory applies to lots of things. All the time.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
You're listening to Home We Dean Sharp, the House Whisper
on KF This has been Home with Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM
six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time,
and every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time,
or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty. I am six forty Live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer,
custom home builder, custom home Designer. It's an all calls weekend.
(00:22):
I love these weekends. I love taking your calls, talking
with you about what's going on with your home, and
you know, hoping out if I can. So let's do
it all right, Let's talk to Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Tom. Welcome home Bean.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Yes, sir okay. I live on a hillside lot. My
house is on the upper portion of the hill with
a yard created by retaining the old style retaining wall
with concrete about two hundred and forty feet front to back.
And I want to get down to that lower pad
(00:58):
to build an ADU. And I got to put in
a driveway. If I bulldoze straight down the slope, I'm
going to be over twenty percent. And I don't even
want to be twenty percent. I'd like to be twelve percent.
And I'm thinking, rather than try to stretch the driveway
along the ridge to lengthen it and reduce my slope,
(01:22):
is there some way, like like an elevated boardwalk a
driveway built on piers that somebody does. I mean, obviously
it could be done, but you know, it cost a fortune.
And I'm just wondering if if anybody does anything prefab
like that.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Oh gosh, yeah, you know what if somebody does, I
have not heard of them. You know, we've had some
tricky driveway grating scenarios before, and you know, it's not
uncommon to have to get the structural engineers out and say, okay,
we got to bring this driveway in on an estate
property across this creek bed or across this gully, or
(02:00):
we've got an elevated portion of it and essentially build
a bridge or an elevated platform for a portion of
the driveway. But I know of no one out there,
and I'm not saying that there isn't, but I personally
don't have knowledge of anybody out there who has prefab
systems that are just ready to go. And the problem
is the problem with the reason is is because it's
(02:20):
all site specific, it has to do with your you know,
geological situation, your soil quality. Because it's not so much
the structure itself, it's what it's bearing on and how
much of a seismic and lateral load. It has to
withhold as well as the dead load itself. So geological
engineer and structural engineer, those are going to be unavoidable
(02:42):
in your situation. Doesn't necessarily have to be concrete. I've
seen them. We've actually successfully built some some bridges over
gullies out of wood, out of you know, kind of
like the old covered wood bridges. We've successfully done it
out of wood and steel and or concrete. But it's
going to have to be one of those formats, and
(03:04):
it's going to be uh, it's going to be site specific,
and so you're just gonna, unfortunately have to price that out. Tom,
thanks for the call. It is super interesting question. I
wish I could help more on that. I want to
talk to Shannon. Hey, Shannon, welcome.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Home, Hie, thanks for taking my calls. Well, I have
a pervasive gopher problem in my yards in my back
and my strint, which has prevented me from planting anything,
and mostly weeds are popping up and weeds die, and
I have all these hills and mounds and holes, and
(03:39):
so I wanted to do a native garden, but I
don't know where to begin and how to.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Get rid of the gopher h Gophers Nature's annoying, adorable rodent. Okay,
so Shannon, here's the thing. Here's what I don't want
you to do. Please do not poison your gophers with
a rat poison blood thinning rat poison, because it is
(04:05):
not only doing damage to them, and yes, it will,
you know, knock out your gophers in general, but it
will end up damaging the entire ecosystem around you. I'm
not going to get on my soapbox and talk about that.
I'm just going to say, don't do it. Blood thinners
end up in all the predators that eat the gophers
as well, and it affects everything well beyond the edge
(04:26):
of your house. Now, you can live trap gophers, or
you can just kill them dead with the mechanical traps,
but that doesn't solve the problem because you know, it's
just an ongoing war. So in your situation and for
everybody who has a gopher issue, what I'm about to
suggest may sound extreme, but in reality it is actually
(04:49):
the easiest, most stress free, permanent way to deal with
gophers in your yard, and that is simply to not
allow them in in the first place. Now, how do
you do that? Well, you do that by again having
a strong commitment we don't want gophers in this yard.
What it means is this, let's take your lawn, your
(05:13):
planterbed areas wherever it is that you are planning on
planting and don't want gophers coming up. You're going to
remove some soil okay, two, three, sometimes as much as
four inches of soil in an area, and you're going
to stake down and bury gopher cloth. And what do
(05:34):
I mean by gopher cloth? I mean either a nylon
cloth that is, and I say cloth, it's actually full
of holes. Okay, it's more like a mesh, but basically
think of chicken wire, but on a much much smaller
scale opening so that a gopher can't get through a
layer of chicken wire essentially, And please forgive me for
(05:56):
using it. I just want everybody to picture what it
is that I'm saying, a layer of chicken wire buried
a couple of inches underneath the soil of everywhere in
your yard.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
The simple truth of the matter is the gophers can
tunnel underneath your house all they want and all around,
but they're not going to be popping up and they're
not going to be doing as much, if any, damage
to the roots of everything that's going down. Now, will
they occasionally gnaw on a deeper root, sure, but not
to the extent that they're going to destroy anything. So
(06:29):
without question, the once and for all solution for gophers
is actually to just put a fence in between them
and being able to pop up in your yard.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Awesome that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
It is simple. I mean simple for me to say.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
It's like, oh yeah, just to dig up all the
dirt in your whole backyard and completely cover it over
with seamless fencing. It's a it's a task, it's a chore.
But honestly, when you think about, well, do we want
to do that or do we want to forever have
gophers making holes in the backyard. So this way, the
gophers don't die, your plants don't die, your yard stays lovely,
(07:10):
and you just have a barrier. So it's a gopher bear.
If you go online, you're gonna find all sorts of
options in that regard subterranean buried gopher barriers. You're gonna
find them. You can price them out, you can make
your own decisions. But they work. I know they work.
We've seen them work and at the end of the day, boom.
You do it once, you do it right, and you
(07:31):
don't have to worry about it again. So Shannon, thank you.
Good luck on that. Thanks for the call. When we
come back, more of your calls. I'm so glad you
joined me this morning. Hang tight, so much more to come.
You are home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Kay if I.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Am six forty and live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app,
you are home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
That's me.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
We are doing a all call weekend here on the program.
Every few weeks. We lay every topic aside so that
we can concentrate on just the things that are on
your mind regarding your home, be it a design issue,
or a construction question, or a DIY concerned whatever, all
(08:18):
of the above and anything in between. Anything you want
to talk to me about your home today, that's what
we're doing. It's time to go back to the phone
to do it. I want to talk to Jane. Hey, Jane,
welcome home.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
Thanks for taking my calls. I have a quick question.
We're looking to remodel our house and open up some
of the walls and we're not sure if we should
get a designer first to work out the layout and
the design, or if we should speak with a structural
engineer to actually let us know which walls we can
open up.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Excellent question, a procedural question on how you get started
with this kind of thing. The answer is a bit nuanced, Jane.
Number one. The first call the you always make that
everyone should always make when they're thinking about remodeling or
doing something different with their house, is you call a designer.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
All right. You start with the creativity, you start with
the art.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
You start with somebody who knows what they're doing in
order to help you come with the absolute best possible
design that works for you, that customizes your home, that
expresses you. Because, as I say here on the program
all the time, as you know, design matters most. We
start with design. However, sometimes design choices end up leading
(09:35):
towards Wow, we're going to move that wall, or we're
going to eliminate that wall, and we want to change
those windows, or we want to put in a much
bigger door. Things that infringe and touch now upon structural issues.
So this is why I say it's nuanced. What you
want is you want to call the designer first, and
you want to start having that conversation. What you don't
(09:56):
want is to pay a designer for a full on,
full blown finished design when you don't know what the
structural ramifications are. Okay, So you call a designer and
you begin to work with them in what we call
rough design mode or rough sketch mode, in which we
(10:17):
haven't you know, we haven't sold the farm yet for
this design. But we get to the point where now
we sense like, wow, we're really liking where this is going.
And the big question now looms what about that wall?
And that is when you call in a structural engineer
for a consultation and it's a couple three hundred dollars,
(10:39):
most structural engineers will show up and help you figure
out what's going on. Sometimes it's pretty simple to do
expect that they will. In order to make the most
of a consult like that, that you're going to want
to invest a little of a demo, and by demo,
I just mean a forensic opening up. You know, if
(11:00):
it's a wall in question, you don't know if it's
a bearing wall, or if you don't know if it's
a sheer wall, that's critical for the seismic strength of
the house, then you want to pull some drywall off.
Drywall is inexpensive to replace, Okay, it's just cost of
getting ready for your remodel. A little bit of forensic analysis.
So in other words, if we're talking about you know,
(11:22):
if we were talking about the house in terms of
let's say the metaphor of a patient going in for
some surgical procedure and there are some things that we
don't quite know about, then we would call this exploratory surgery,
in which we open things up just a little bit
to take a look around and to verify what it
is that we're dealing with there. So open up a
(11:43):
little section of drywall on a wall, Open up some
drywall on the ceiling right next to the top of
that wall. If we want to figure out what direction
the ceiling joysts are going, what's bearing on that wall
or not that kind of stuff, and then have the
structural engineer come out and give you an evaluation of
like okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see this. They might
(12:04):
just say listen, hey, thanks for paying for the console.
I think you're good to go. That's not a baring wall.
That thing can be removed and you don't have to
worry about it, or they may say, yeah, no, some
engineering is going to be required here and it's a
major deal, or some engineering is required and it's not
that big of a deal. So that's the information you
(12:24):
need you need at that juncture, and then you return
to the design process with that information under your arm
in order to finish out the design. You may decide
to abandon that design because you don't want to touch
that wall, or it may be full steam ahead, So
it's designer, engineer, back to the designer. And then as
(12:46):
you commit to a remodel, especially assuming that you're going
to be pulling permits and doing it the right way,
then once the designer is then committing to plans, the
engineer is going to get involved again and put in
their structural notes and pages in the places that you'll
submit to the city. And that's kind of the hopscotch
or leap frogging that happens. So don't pay a designer
(13:07):
everything up front to do a complete design when you
don't know the ramification structurally on the house. And just
to let you know, just as a little top er,
I'll tell you how Tina and I actually do. Even
when we have been hired to do a full design
on a home, we will still tell our clients listen,
we are going to take you to rough design in
(13:28):
which you're thrilled with the way everything's looking, and then
we're going to get an engineer involved to spec out
rough engineering specifications not even finished yet, but rough specifications,
because only then do you have with our drawing down
on the page and the engineering specifications. Only then do
(13:48):
you have the information you need to turn around and
hand it to two or three contractors to give you
what's called a rom a rough order of magnitude or
really rough estimate, and so you're not holding them to it,
but these are contractors that you're vetting and you're thinking
about using, and they give you a rough estimate, so
(14:09):
you get an idea like, ah, and this is what
our project probably is going to cost in the ballpark.
At that point you may find out m Yeah, all right,
that's in our budget, or no, that's too much, and
then you go back to the design and tweak it again.
So there's this inner play and this collaboration and that's
(14:29):
generally how it works.
Speaker 7 (14:30):
Does that help, yes, Thank you so much?
Speaker 1 (14:32):
All right, Jane. Good luck on that project. All right,
y'all when we come back, Let's try and take a
couple more before we are done today. Yeah, you are home?
Who is this?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Oh yeah, it's Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty KFI AM six forty live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. You are Home with Dean Sharp
the House Whisper. Hey, thanks for joining us on the
program this morning. All right to the phones, Eric, Welcome home.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Hello Dean.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
I am well, sir. How can I help you?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
So?
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I'm planning on taking carpet out and putting new wood
floors in the room.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I just put these new moldings in like maybe two
years ago, so I know there's.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Going to be a gap, and I'm wondering what you
think I.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Should do replace the moldings or do like a pillar
or something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Okay, So by moldings, you're talking about your baseboards. Okay,
baseboards in the room and baseboards. Just so everybody can
get caught up to speed here, when we install baseboards,
knowing that carpeting is going in a room, the baseboard
is actually we leave it off the ground. We leave
it up above the floor about yeah, depending on the
(15:48):
carpenter you talk to, anywhere from a quarter of an
inch all the way up to about three eighths of
an inch. So if Eric is going to yank all
the carpet in the pad out of a room and
put hard would down in its place, then it's the
chances that the hardwood is going to actually touch the
bottom of those base boards is unlikely. That means we
(16:09):
got a little gap underneath. Two ways to handle it, Eric,
just straight out you're either well, okah, yeah too realistically.
Two ways you could You could try and remove the
baseboards carefully and reinstall them, but.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That never works out.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
So I'm not even gonna tell you that one because
you know you're gonna end up cracking something and messing
it up and messing up the wall. So number one,
you pull the baseboards. You're just like, well, okay, fine,
I'm gonna sacrifice this room full of baseboards. You pull
the baseboards, you leave the walls bare, get the floor installed,
and then nicest, best, absolute cleanest looking job. Once the
(16:46):
floor is down, you install new baseboards, bump right on
top of the hardwood, nice and tight, clean line, clean
corner done. The other way to do it, if you
really really want to save those baseboards is you simply
use a base shoe, which is just a secondary molding.
You don't want to fill in underneath the baseboard because
that never ends up looking right. You try and glue
(17:08):
it or try and nail it in, you're always going
to see the seam. Even if you don't see it
right away, you'll end up seeing a seam. So the
traditional way, the conventional way is to use a base shoe,
which is kind of like a quarter round, kind of
like some people boxy use cord around a quarter of
a circle. But base shoe, actually, if you get the
right stuff, is actually taller than it is thick as
(17:30):
far as coming out into the room, and so it's
a little bit more just slightly more streamline than QRD around.
And what you'll do is you'll go ahead and lay
the floor, get it underneath the or up to at
least the line of the baseboard, and then cover the
gap with a piece of base shoe. Now I prefer
(17:50):
as a designer, it says, no, this has nothing to
do with carpentry. I prefer as a designer that you
would paint that base shoe with your so that the
floor stays the floor, and the base shoe just becomes
a part of your baseboard. From a design perspective, I
think that's a cleaner, better look. Some people like to
(18:11):
try and buy a base shoe, a base shoe that's
the same material right as the floor. I think that
just makes the floor feel like it's creeping up onto
the wall, and for us, that's not a good look.
So that's what I'm gonna recommend my friend one of
the two. If you pull out the baseboards, how tall
are they?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
By the way, there's like about three inches, So I
got all.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Right, they're too short. They're too short, So no seven
seven inches?
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Oh wow?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, I know right, I know everybody.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Everybody's jaw drops every time I say that. But I'm
just saying, if you've got a traditional house with kind
of a traditional motif, don't hesitate to fill that house
with taller baseboards.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
I guarantee you. A wall is.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Visually, whether you've never thought of it this way or not,
a wall is a column. It's like a column that
has been split and laid out flat. So the base
of that wall. You can imagine a big, strong column
that has no base on it whatsoever, like a Greek
column that just kind of runs into the dirt. A
base the base of a column needs a really nice pediment.
(19:19):
And I guarantee you the general rule is seven is
what we call the seven percent rule, the seven to
ten percent rule. And so that basically means baseboards can
afford to be seven percent of the height of a wall.
That means in an eight foot ceiling they can be
almost seven inches tall. It will look fantastic. So if
you decide to replace the baseboards, all I'm saying is
(19:42):
think about going taller with them.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
And then, of course you can blame me for spending
more money in the rest of the house, because after
you love that room as much as you do.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
You're like, oh, great, Dean had me change this room.
It's now the best looking room in the house, and
now I have to replace all the baseboards. It's everywhere.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You are welcome, all right, thanks buddy for the call.
Do I have time to sneak another one in here?
Let's do it, Ragnar, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
My wife and I just bought a new house in Hawthorne, California.
It's built nineteen fifty two, and we have retaining walls
are on the outside of the property and from settling.
The soil is clayish and the settling has created a
wall cracks in the retaining walls. I mean, it wasn't
been made a center block. But in institutions stick How
can I stick saladavu to replace the walls?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Okay, So when we say retaining walls, do we mean
that these walls are actually retaining soil or when we
say retaining walls, you just mean like a garden block
wall that's dividing you and the neighbors.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Oh, garden block wall deviding me and the neighbors.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Okay, Yeah, So just to be clear, if it's not
actually holding, if the soil level on the other side
of the wall isn't significantly higher than on your side,
or vice versa, it's not a retaining wall. It's it's
just a blockwall.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Okay. So a block wall.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
And if it's got it, if it's settled, uh, and
you know there's and that happens, you know, because honestly,
a retain if it were retaining wall, you probably wouldn't
see any cracks in it, because a retaining wall gets
solid filled with concrete in all of the cells, in
the grouts in between all of that, and there's steel
and there's a significant footing. But a block wall can
just be a simple garden wall. They kind of tend
(21:23):
builders tend to minimize the footings under it. So I
totally get it that it's settled some. If it has settled,
then you've got cracking happening. You can actually you can
actually find concrete epoxy patch kits at like a local
hardware store, builder supply home depot, that kind of thing.
It's not going to and that'll get you patched up
so that the cracking doesn't continue, and it's not hard
(21:46):
to use. A lot of it comes in the calking
tube form where you can put it in a calking gun,
squirt it in there, fill up the crack and then
uh and then kind of troal it smooth. Now it's
not going to look pretty on your side, just to
say not gonna look pretty, so you may want it
can at some point, once you fix all the cracks,
you may want to consider actually painting the wall so
(22:06):
that it all blends in better. Because there's no way, unfortunately,
to patch that wall unless the cracking was actually just
in the mortar joints. There's no way to actually crack
to fix a cracked cinder block wall without the patch
showing up unfortunately, just as much if not more visible
once you patch it than the crack was to begin with.
(22:29):
So you get some options in after you've patched it.
If you're going to keep the wall like that, you know,
maybe paint the wall over, Maybe decide to grow something
in front of it, or let something like a creeping
fig kind of ivy sort of creeping plant cling to
the wall and cover it over, make it more attractive
(22:49):
in that sense. Or maybe at some point you'd say,
you know what, we'll patch it for now, but let's
replace this. Let's replace it with a fence, a wood fence.
Of are choosing so that you get a better architectural look.
That's the best I can tell you. Thank you, Ragnar,
and thanks Eric for your calls. How about some more
(23:09):
of your calls when we return. You are listening to
Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper caf I AM
six forty and live streaming in HD everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Hey, welcome to home, where every week we.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Help you better understand that place where you live. I
am Dean Sharp, the house whisper, custom home builder, custom
home designer, most importantly, today, your guide to turning your
ordinary house into something truly extraordinary. I tell you what
we're doing today. It's an all calls day. It is
it you set the agenda. Anything that is going on
(23:49):
with your home, whether it be construction issues, DIY questions,
design concerns, anything at all. The phone lines are open.
I am here to help you sort it all out.
We'll put our heads together and we'll get it sorted.
On that note, how about we go to it. Hey, Mary,
(24:11):
welcome home.
Speaker 6 (24:12):
I have a question about reroofing. I have a small
house about fourteen hundred square feet, was built in nineteen
eighty eight. But it needs the tile lifted and then
the paper laid underneath it. And I'm getting bids on it,
and some of the bids bidders are saying two layers
(24:32):
of paper and others are saying one.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Okay, So your question is is are two layers necessary?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Is that a good idea? Is it too much?
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah? I have a couple of thoughts about it.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Number one is two layers always better than one when
it comes to roofing paper, especially because roofing paper will age,
it will become brittle eventually over time. And the more
protection you have up there underneath the t tiles, the
better off you're going to be, a lot of people
(25:03):
don't realize this, but you know, tiles, roofing tiles, any kind.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Of roofing material.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
The surface material that we all look at and say, look,
there's the roof. That is just the top layer, and
it is not a guarantee in and of itself that
the roof doesn't leak. What's really doing the true protection
of the home is the underlayment, that is the building
paper underneath the tiles. So I always tell people, do
(25:30):
not shortchange your budget in terms of the underlayment.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Get the best stuff possible.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
But Mary, since we're on that subject and you raise
the subject, here is the thing I would prefer. And
this is just me, and it's up to you, and
you should bring this up to the roofers who are
bidding your project. We don't use builder paper anymore, roofing
paper anymore in the homes that we design and specify
and in the homes that we actually participate in building,
(25:57):
because for so long now rubber rized membranes have been
proven themselves so far superior to builder paper. So I
would recommend that you actually go back and say, okay, fine, fine, fine,
two layers of building paper. That's fine, but let's talk
about using a modern membrane underneath my tile. The modern membrane,
(26:20):
they are self ceiling. They lap onto each other, they seal.
That's something that builder paper does not do unless the
builders actually tar it all in which on a normal
residential roof rarely happens. So the membrane seal, and as
a result, Number One, when they're all done laying it,
you have essentially, for all practical purposes, one continuous membrane,
(26:44):
not just tiers of paper over the house. And two
other things about them. Number one, they're rubberized, they're they're bitimus,
they have stretch and give that they never actually lose,
and so as a result, they do not become brittle
and tend to break down as quickly over time. In fact,
(27:05):
they last a lot lot longer than builder paper. They
even go so far during installation as self ceiling around
every single nail that gets punctured through them when the
actual tiles are put on. So there is no doubt
in my mind, no question in my mind that these
(27:25):
new modern membrane under layments are superior to builder paper. Now,
do they cost a little more, Yeah, they do do.
A lot of builders lead with them when they're bidding
a job. Know they don't, because it means that their
bid comes in higher, and then they have to sit
there and explain to you why it's higher, because you know,
(27:46):
we're using a better material, and some homeowners just don't
agree or don't believe them, but you can take it
from me. I would zero in on the roofer that
you're thinking about using, and then talk to them about
a continuous, you know, more advanced underlayment. If you really
want this this roof job to last forever, talk to
(28:07):
them about a modern underlayment instead of the roofing paper.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
And there you go.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
And that's just one layer that they put down with that.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
That's all you need with that stuff is just one
layer because it is thick and like I said, it's
self seals, seals around the nails and it remains pliable
throughout the years. So one layer is all you need
and that forever it's gonna last. Yeah, yeah, I mean
this is this is how we do lifetime roofs.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
I'll put it that way.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Great.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
I really appreciate the help.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You are so welcome, Mary, and I appreciate the call.
All right, let's talk to Julie. Hey, Julie, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (28:44):
Hi Deine. We're looking at getting new windows and I
love the black frame windows, but they're obviously a lot
more expensive.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
So I was wondering, what are your thoughts.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
On if we just if someone just adjusted black frame
windows in the back of the house and kept the
traditional white frame lens in the front.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Have no general problems with that whatsoever. In fact, if
you hear me talk on the show quite often, I'll
talk about the tech. One of the techniques for upgrading
a house without touching its traditional curb appeal is to
treat the facade of the house differently than the backside
of the house, because from the the facade of the
(29:21):
house is something that is viewed from outside the house,
standing on the curb in the street looking at the house.
Then you move into the house, you walk in, and
once you're past the face of the house, now we're
inside the house looking out through windows into the backyard,
it's a completely different experience. And so the idea of
(29:42):
using black frame windows for the backside of the house
because you love them and because they work with the
configuration that you're looking for, in my thinking, in most
cases most cases, don't quote me on this universally, but
in most cases, yeah, your freedom to mix it up,
I would even say, depending on decor. There are times
(30:04):
when you know there are well, actually you know, I'll
tell you this. We just finished designing from the ground
up a new house in Studio City. Some of those
windows are white traditional framed windows, some of them are
dark bronze and black traditional windows. Just depending on room
for room and the effect that we're looking for, and
(30:24):
on some of the elevations of the house, you can
see both at the same time. It all depends on
whether it works with that theme. But as a general rule,
you know, it's kind of the mullet approach, right, all
business up front and party in the back. So keep
your white frame windows facing the street and do back
black towards the back of the house and have a blast.
(30:45):
I think you're completely free to do that in most cases.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Thanks Julie. For the call. Yes, Yes, it's my mullet theory.
My mullet theory applies to lots of things. All the time.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
You're listening to Home We Dean Sharp, the House Whisper
on KF This has been Home with Dean Sharp, the
House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM
six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time,
and every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time,
or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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