November 17, 2024 • 28 mins
Dean continues with part three on the topic, “It was like this when we bought it.” Dean talks about design of demolition of concrete and hardscape around the home, great hardware such as Johnson Hardware, for its great quality. Also, about pocket doors, renovations and restoring homes
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, welcome home.
I'm Dean Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes,
I build custom homes, and I am your guide to
better understanding that place where you live. Today. On the show,
(00:23):
part three of it was like this when we bought it.
That's right, that beautiful list that we've been moving through
of mistakes and bad things that you inherited when you
bought your home from the previous owners, hopefully not from yourself.
But it's a big list. We've taken two now three shows,
(00:45):
and today will be the wrapping up of that list.
So lots of great stuff ahead, and of course your
calls as always. Eight three three two ask Dean A
three three the numeral two. Ask Dean. That's the number
to reach me. Anything you want to talk about regarding
you home, anything that's got you scratch in your head,
(01:06):
give me a call. Let's talk about it. We'll get
it worked out, I promise. Eight three to three the
numeral two. Ask Dean. Let me introduce you to our
awesome team.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Elmer is on the board. Good morning, Elmer, Good morning, Dean,
Good morning everyone. Always kind of way back there. It's
like way over there, way over there. Oh, now there
you are there. You are a right good to see you, bud.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Uh. Producer Richie is standing by. Uh oh he's busy
taking calls of course. Uh so he's getting it done
as he always does. Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk,
Good morning, Eileen, Good morning Dean. How are you today?
I am well, how are you doing that? Doing great?
As always? Oh, it's just so peppy. Make it till
(01:55):
you make it right. Yes, that's absolute true. Somebody who
doesn't fake it very often. I mean, just like one
of the most honest, straightforward you know, you get what
you pay for people on planet Earth. Sitting across the
table from me, my better half. Stop looking at that,
(02:15):
put on, put your headphones on and get your microphone.
My design partner, the co owner, co founder of House Whisper,
my best buddy in all the world, Tina is here. Welcome.
Why does that elephant follow you around everywhere you go?
(02:36):
He's my little friend, your little friend, Yes, your little friend.
I found a way to shrink him down and he's
the size of a dog and he comes around with
the averywhere that is your dream? Actually, that's like, that's
one of your great fantasies. And ephant to have an
elephant the size of a dog as a pet. Oh wow.
(02:57):
He's just walking around, walking around the studio. He's quite active.
He's saying everybody, Oh goodness. All right, y'all, hey, I
need to tell you today. Today, it's the last day.
It's the last day for you to enter to win
a seat at next week's House Whisper Holiday Home Show,
(03:22):
a live audience event that we're doing right here at
iHeart Studios in Burbank Sunday, November twenty fourth, That is
next Sunday's show in the helpful Honda Lounge iHeart Studios, Burbank.
You can visit the home of home at iHeart here
in La and hang out with me and the team.
(03:45):
We got refreshments, we got some special guests coming, and
you're going to get some expert advice on site from
the decor pros at Aldack Home. Because Aldick is sponsoring
the whole show next week, you can watch them decorate
one of their unbelievable Christmas trees seven and a half
(04:06):
foot tall. Aldk Ah gold Christmas tree, fully professionally decorated
before your eyes as we do the show, and then
one of our lucky audience members is going to get
to take that tree home. That's right. Oh my gosh.
I don't want to attach a value to it, but
you know what, that is an incredible, incredible thing because
(04:29):
these are literally the best Christmas trees in the world
and Al Dick really knows how to decorate a tree.
So here's what you do. Today? Is it? Today? This
is it? You go to Home with Dean on Instagram
or Facebook Home with Dean and you will find right
there a post, a Holiday Home Show post right at
(04:51):
the top. It should be pinned to the top so
you'll see it run when you go, and you can't
miss it. It's all sparkly with you know, decorations and
all all that jazz says Holiday Home Show. All you
have to do to enter to win is just leave
a comment and say, hey, I would love to be
at the show. And that's it. You've entered to win,
(05:13):
because we're going to start making those decisions. Actually, some
of those decisions have already been made from previous weeks,
all right, and today is the last day for entries
and then all the final decisions will be made. But
there is still time for you, so and so. Yeah,
and Tina's whispering something to me. Check your inbox, Oh yeah.
(05:34):
For those of you who've already entered, yep, check your
inbox on Facebook or Instagram for direct messaging people the
congratulations noticed. So because if you've already entered and you've
been selected, you've got a message waiting for it, and
we need to hear from you before the day is out.
Otherwise we're going to hand that seed over to somebody
(05:56):
else who's looking to get in. So go right now,
right now, and check your Instagram and Facebook messages and
then let us know, get back to us and let
us know. And that's the Holiday Home Show. It's going
to be a blast.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I promise you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
All right, we are into it. Let's dive back in.
This is part three of our three part series. It
was this way when we bought it. Inheriting somebody else's
mistakes with your home, but more importantly, how to fix them.
And man, we have talked about some doozies of mistakes,
some really important ones, and I've got a whole list
(06:40):
now for today as well. Let's get to this one.
This one is near and dear to my heart because
I love landscaping. I love outdoor space around your house.
I love it in all shapes and forms. I love
the soft scape, I love the hardescape, I love the
plant materials. I love paving areas just I love creating spaces,
(07:05):
whether it's decks or walkways or what have you. And
I also am a huge fan of what I like
to call and I believe I've coined this phrase myself,
design by demolition DM designed by demo. What does that mean.
It means that of all the things that you would
(07:27):
pay somebody to do for your home, right of all
the money you got to come up with for stuff,
building stuff, demolition is almost without exception, the least expensive
of those kinds of things. And that's good news. And
it's especially good news if you can actually improve something
(07:49):
just by tearing out something that's there, and that's it,
I mean by removing or demolishing something that shouldn't be there.
If what you get when you're done is already way
way better, then you have achieved design by demo and
you've paid a minimal amount of money for a maximum
(08:12):
amount of effect. So what does this have to do
with the topic of it was this way when we
bought it. Well, we need to talk about concrete and
hard escape around your home, too much of it. There
are too many houses that have too much concrete and
(08:33):
hardescape around your home. Now, setting aside those of you
who have no desire whatsoever to interact with the natural world,
that's fine, all right, Well, you know I have I'm
resigned to accept that you don't like the idea that
outside there are things like, I don't know, dirt bugs,
(08:56):
things you can't control. You would like to make your
entire property from wall to wall one gigantic clean room
and and just not deal with it. Right, I don't
want to have to water things. And believe me, I've
seen those houses. I've seen way too many of those houses.
And if that's your thing, you know what, Hey, I
(09:16):
who am I to say that you can't have your
house that way? It's not my place. It is my
place to say though, that generally speaking, that's not good design.
And I have never seen an overpaved house that I
would say, Wow, this is really, really lovely. The fact
(09:37):
of the matter is this, and I'm going to be
giving you this advice as a home designer, right and
I'm just being perfectly honest with you. The principle that
I want you to hold to is that hardescape hard escape,
no matter how beautiful we may make it. And that's great,
(09:58):
all right, let's make it as beautiful as possible. But
hardscape is a utility. It's a utilitarian function, all right.
Hardescape does not exist to just gaze upon for beauty.
If we could just pave your entire backyard, because all
(10:18):
we want to do is go outside and just look
at the paving, then that's the thing that would happen
all the time. But it's not. Okay, hardescape is a utility,
And by utility, I mean it enables us to move
from point A to point B without you know, getting
our feet money, without walking on unstable ground. All right,
(10:42):
it's a utility. It serves a utilitarian function. And as such, right,
have you embrace that idea? I mean, are you okay
with me saying that that it's a utility. It embraces
a utilitarian function, not primarily a decor function. Okay, So,
as such since it's utility, we want as little of
(11:06):
it as we can get away with. Why because it
takes up space, and we don't want a utilitarian facet
or component of your yard to be taking up the
space that something truly beautiful could be using that same
(11:27):
space for, such as softscape, plant material, other structures, whatever
the case may be. So this is my approach, right
And if you think that that's crazy and out, you know,
to lunch, then you're not going to hire me as
a designer. But let me tell you I'm right.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I am.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I am right about this, okay. And so one of
the things that I have built a reputation for is
stepping into a design scenario of existing homes and minimizing
i e. Designed by demolition, removing as much superfluous hardscape
as possible. And what is superfluous hardscape? What is bonus
(12:13):
hardscape that we don't need if it's not defining a
space like it's holding up a set of furniture, or
it's not part of a kitchen an outdoor kitchen, or
it's not part of a driveway where things are actually
going to get parked and you're actually going to walk
on it, or it's not part of a pathway to
get from the house to one of those areas outside
(12:35):
that we don't need it. And yeah, when you really
think about it, I mean, if you really get technical
with your back patio, with all the stuff in your
front of your house as well, walk out, park the cars,
walk around the yard and track where you're walking around,
what furniture where, and then take a look at places
(12:58):
you never step. I mean, yeah, you know where you
have those eighteen potted plants all clumped together. Well, guess what,
Guess what the back of your head, your subconscious has
actually been trying to tell you. Nobody walks there and where.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Those eighteen pots are setting That could just as well be,
and probably should be, just the absence of the concrete
underneath those pots and the absence of the pots, and
just plant those suckers right into the soil.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
You following me, all right?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Anything that's got you scratching your head about your home,
give me a call. We'll work it out. No judgment here.
I know you hear my strong opinions when I'm talking
to you about design elements for your home. But you
also know that when you call and we sit down
and talk that I treat you right, great respect, No
(13:59):
stupid questions, only stupid radio hosts. That's the way it
works around here. All right, Let's get back to our
topic of the day. It's been our topic for a
week or so now, and that is it was this
way when we bought it. The things that you have inherited,
the mistakes that you've inherited when you moved into your place. Okay,
(14:24):
too much concrete hardscape. Okay, I don't want to belabor
the point, but I just want to underscore and make
sure you're all there with me that it's hard to
let go of and some of you are saying, I
just donette, you just you got to really really trust
me with this. I've taken driveways. I have a couple
(14:45):
of very very dear friends, family really, who asked me
to take a look at the front of their place
and tell them what's wrong with it. Why is it
just rip rip instead of but boom, And that's what
they said. I'm just quoting them, And so I'm looking
(15:05):
and I'm looking in one of the things that was
obvious to me. Now they happen to be, you know,
nicely situated, big three car garage. And guess what they
had right in front of their big three car garage
all the way out to the street a three car
wide driveway. And you're thinking to yourself, well, yeah, Dean,
because there's three cars three car garage. No no, No.
(15:27):
Here's the thing, when you really look at it, and
you really think through the process of entering the property,
you only need the width of the three car driveway
at the garage, in other words, at the street. You know,
unless you're planning on pulling three cars in simultaneously, which
(15:50):
is a thing that never happens, right, then we only
need the width of one car at the street, and
then the driveway, with the right curves and contours can
widen up and open up and allow that car to
choose any of the three garage doors. Now how big
of a difference does that make in this situation, It
(16:12):
made a huge difference. It enabled us to cut out
a large piece of the tarmac. And that is exactly
what I think of when I see most homes with
too much hardescape tarmac. Just it's an aircraft carrier. It
is a it's a landing strip. It's way too much.
(16:32):
And just remember, okay, just be guided by these two thoughts.
One that hardscape is utility. It is it is a
practical necessity to get from one space to the other. Now,
of course, we make it as attractive as possible, but
it's first and foremost job is not to be lovely.
It is to be useful. And because of that, because
(16:54):
other things can be more lovely, way more lovely than
hardescape and minimize it. Walk your yard, walk drive the front,
walk your yard, and don't take license. Just walk your
yard and be honest with the paths that you normally travel.
(17:14):
And notice that beyond that there is a ton, a
ton of hardscape space that is never getting walked on,
and it's just sitting there getting in the way of
making your ordinary house an extraordinary home. The end. Okay,
what's next on our list? Broken pocket doors? Now we've
(17:36):
jumped to the inside of the house. If you have
an older home that's had any kind of pocket door
in it from years past, what are the odds right now?
I would say the odds are seven out of ten
that you've got a pocket door in your house that
you never close. Why And as you're touring me around
(17:58):
the house, you'll say, oh, yeah, we never close. Is
that because it's stuck? That thing closes weird, It doesn't
close at all. We can't get it out of the
pocket so on, And I get it. How discouraging is that.
But here's the thing. You've given up on it. Don't
give up on it if you understand how a pocket
door actually works. And I'm not, by the way, saying
(18:21):
that your pocket door can or should be fixed. Not
that door that track, okay, because the reason very likely
that it's all junked up and stuck and not working,
or it rubs, or it scratches the door as you
open and close it, or whatever the case may be.
The reason that it's that way is that it was
(18:44):
a builder special It is literally the least expensive pocket
hardware that they could have bought and installed in that
home when it was built. And or you know, a
previous owner did it and went down to the big
box store and just picked up the thirty five dollars
pocket door set up and popped it in. There is
(19:07):
a massive difference. Okay, Now there is a price difference,
but just hear me out there, is a massive difference
between a thirty seven dollars pocket door and a one
hundred and thirty seven dollars pocket door. Yes, it's a one
hundred dollars difference in price, but the difference once it's
(19:27):
in your home is decades of accurate, efficient, trouble free performance.
A lot of people I meet think pocket doors are
the worst. As we design new spaces for people, they're like, oh,
you put a pocket door there. I don't want any
pocket doors. Pocket doors just break down and they and
(19:48):
they're useless after a while. Let's not use a pocket door.
I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no.
Let's not use a cheap pocket door. Let's not use
a bad one, but let's use use them. They exist
for a reason. They're brilliant in saving space and creating
all sorts of opportunities where the swing of a regular
(20:10):
door just gets in the way. But got to use
the right stuff. And what is the right stuff, Dean,
what is the right stuff? Well, there's more than one
great pocket door manufacturer out there. And I mean by
this I mean the pocket I don't really care about
the door. Okay. One of the things you need to
learn about pocket doors is the door can be any door,
(20:32):
any door, and it should be a door that matches
the rest of the doors in your house. But the
pocket hardware itself, the track and the pocket and all
of that. Johnson Hardware, just telling you right now, Johnson
Hardware the minimum soft, open, soft close, multiple wheel, multiple track, brilliant,
(20:53):
great hardware. And it's gonna, you know, set you back
about one hundred and thirty dollars or so ish, and
they go up from there. But that one right there, solid,
solid as a rock, and you'll never regret it. All right,
I got more. We'll pick up this discussion right on
the other side.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Welcome home. A couple of things to remind you about
next weekend, our big House Whisper holiday home show in
front of a live audience right here in Burbank at
iHeart Studios. If you have already entered to win a
seat at that event, then you need to be checking
your Facebook and Instagram messages, because we very well may
(21:44):
have reached out to you already to let you know
that you have won a seat, and you need to
get back and respond to us no later than today,
because if you don't confirm your seat, we're going to
hand it to somebody else who wants it as well.
So I know you want your seat, So check your
(22:05):
messages on Instagram and Facebook for a message from us.
See if you find one there, and if you do,
you are a lucky winner and you will be joining
us next weekend. Also, just want to remind everybody what
was the other thing? Now I've forgotten the other thing
I want? Oh oh yeah. Right after the next news break,
(22:26):
we're going to the phones. So the number to reach
me eight three to three two ask Dean A three
to three the numeral two ask dean. Phone lines are
open and we'll get to it right after the next break. Okay,
back to it, too much concrete, heartscape, broken pocket doors.
That's where we went thus far. Do you need to
(22:47):
know anything else about pocket doors? I know I told
you very quickly that pocket doors are a good thing,
not a bad thing. When they are the right pocket hardware.
That's the key, that's the key to the whole thing.
And do I know of what I speak? I do.
I have had the privilege of being a part of
(23:10):
renovation and restoration of some homes that are one hundred,
one hundred and twenty years old that have large, very
very heavy oak pocket doors that have been hanging on
those tracks for well over a century, and they just
glide like a butter Okay, it is not the concept
(23:31):
of a pocket door that is your problem. It is
the hardware, the track, the wheels, the bearings, and so on.
Don't buy cheap pocket doors and the other thing you
need to know. It's not a structural change out. To
change out your pocket door now, it will involve some
dry wall, okay, because the pocket has been covered in
drywall and you're going to have to cut that open.
(23:52):
But drywall, in the big scheme of things, is a
relatively inexpensive change out. And if you just take the
time to change out the pocket of the pocket door situation,
you too can have that back in action for the
life of the home. There's literally no reason why not. Okay,
(24:13):
shall we jump outside again or inside? Well, you know
what we're gonna stay. We're gonna jump outside for a
second because here's a real quickie. I told you about
getting rid of unnecessary hardscape outside yesterday. In the previous episode,
we also talked about getting rid of little brick planters.
(24:36):
That if if those planter lines and spaces don't define
the yard the way you want them to, don't just
accept the fact that, well, somebody drew a line in
my yard at some point in the past, and now
I have to obey it. No, you do not have
to obey that line, especially when it comes to something
(24:56):
that literally can come out in a matter of a
couple of hours and boom it's gone. You've been living
with it for decades and in two hours you can
redraw those lines. That's the brickplanter, the you know, the
the kissing cousin of the unwonted brick planter is for
some of you, the old broken down water feature or
(25:20):
fountain in your yard. Hy yay, they're made out of concrete.
Why no idea? Because you know what, guess what, concrete
not waterproof. It's not the same as having a pool
with pool plaster on it. Somebody poured a waterproof fountain.
You can see the concrete. There's nothing about it that
(25:42):
reminds you of nature. It's all broken down. It's just
sitting there collecting, you know, pine needles and who knows what.
You don't run rod or in it because it leaks
like a sieve. Let's get it out of there. Now,
you want a new water feature, great, love them, love them,
have a couple of them myself. I just don't want
(26:06):
you to try and rehab an old school, broken up
concrete water trough kind of thingy. You know where the
stones are like half embedded in the mortar and all
you know of what I speak. Let's get rid of
it again. Designed by demo. The yard will instantly thank
you for even if you don't put anything back in
(26:27):
its place, you will be instantly thanked for getting rid
of that old thing because there is no fixing it.
Do you hear me? There is no fixing it? And
believe me, this is coming from the guy who tells
you there is hope for just about everything. There is
no fixing that stuff. There's no ceiling it properly, there's
no waterproofing it or bringing it back to the point
(26:50):
where it's ever going to look like a mountain stream ever.
And so let's lose it and then we can get
serious about if you really want a water feature, we
can get serious about diying one in the right way.
In that can be just stunning stunning and not costly
all at the same time. So there you go. Get
(27:11):
rid of the old broken up water feature, whatever the
heck that thing was supposed to be, or the fountain,
whatever that was. Let's lose it. Let's move on. Let's
move on to the home and the yard that you want.
Now after calls, I'm going to promise you this. The
next step is one of the most troublesome and complicated
(27:33):
and emotionally trying things in your home, and that is
the fireplace, the fireplace inside the most important room in
their house, right the family room or the living room,
the weird fireplace, the damaged fireplace, the fireplace that might
be sitting on what is really the best view wall
(27:55):
or the best furniture wall in the room. This is
why they are so difficult. We'll talk about that when
we return to the subject. But right after the news,
we're going to the phones. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper on KFI. 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
(28:18):
to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon. Pacific time or anytime on demand on the
iHeart Radio app.
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, welcome home.
I'm Dean Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes,
I build custom homes, and I am your guide to
better understanding that place where you live. Today. On the show,
(00:23):
part three of it was like this when we bought it.
That's right, that beautiful list that we've been moving through
of mistakes and bad things that you inherited when you
bought your home from the previous owners, hopefully not from yourself.
But it's a big list. We've taken two now three shows,
(00:45):
and today will be the wrapping up of that list.
So lots of great stuff ahead, and of course your
calls as always. Eight three three two ask Dean A
three three the numeral two. Ask Dean. That's the number
to reach me. Anything you want to talk about regarding
you home, anything that's got you scratch in your head,
(01:06):
give me a call. Let's talk about it. We'll get
it worked out, I promise. Eight three to three the
numeral two. Ask Dean. Let me introduce you to our
awesome team.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Elmer is on the board. Good morning, Elmer, Good morning, Dean,
Good morning everyone. Always kind of way back there. It's
like way over there, way over there. Oh, now there
you are there. You are a right good to see you, bud.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Uh. Producer Richie is standing by. Uh oh he's busy
taking calls of course. Uh so he's getting it done
as he always does. Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk,
Good morning, Eileen, Good morning Dean. How are you today?
I am well, how are you doing that? Doing great?
As always? Oh, it's just so peppy. Make it till
(01:55):
you make it right. Yes, that's absolute true. Somebody who
doesn't fake it very often. I mean, just like one
of the most honest, straightforward you know, you get what
you pay for people on planet Earth. Sitting across the
table from me, my better half. Stop looking at that,
(02:15):
put on, put your headphones on and get your microphone.
My design partner, the co owner, co founder of House Whisper,
my best buddy in all the world, Tina is here. Welcome.
Why does that elephant follow you around everywhere you go?
(02:36):
He's my little friend, your little friend, Yes, your little friend.
I found a way to shrink him down and he's
the size of a dog and he comes around with
the averywhere that is your dream? Actually, that's like, that's
one of your great fantasies. And ephant to have an
elephant the size of a dog as a pet. Oh wow.
(02:57):
He's just walking around, walking around the studio. He's quite active.
He's saying everybody, Oh goodness. All right, y'all, hey, I
need to tell you today. Today, it's the last day.
It's the last day for you to enter to win
a seat at next week's House Whisper Holiday Home Show,
(03:22):
a live audience event that we're doing right here at
iHeart Studios in Burbank Sunday, November twenty fourth, That is
next Sunday's show in the helpful Honda Lounge iHeart Studios, Burbank.
You can visit the home of home at iHeart here
in La and hang out with me and the team.
(03:45):
We got refreshments, we got some special guests coming, and
you're going to get some expert advice on site from
the decor pros at Aldack Home. Because Aldick is sponsoring
the whole show next week, you can watch them decorate
one of their unbelievable Christmas trees seven and a half
(04:06):
foot tall. Aldk Ah gold Christmas tree, fully professionally decorated
before your eyes as we do the show, and then
one of our lucky audience members is going to get
to take that tree home. That's right. Oh my gosh.
I don't want to attach a value to it, but
you know what, that is an incredible, incredible thing because
(04:29):
these are literally the best Christmas trees in the world
and Al Dick really knows how to decorate a tree.
So here's what you do. Today? Is it? Today? This
is it? You go to Home with Dean on Instagram
or Facebook Home with Dean and you will find right
there a post, a Holiday Home Show post right at
(04:51):
the top. It should be pinned to the top so
you'll see it run when you go, and you can't
miss it. It's all sparkly with you know, decorations and
all all that jazz says Holiday Home Show. All you
have to do to enter to win is just leave
a comment and say, hey, I would love to be
at the show. And that's it. You've entered to win,
(05:13):
because we're going to start making those decisions. Actually, some
of those decisions have already been made from previous weeks,
all right, and today is the last day for entries
and then all the final decisions will be made. But
there is still time for you, so and so. Yeah,
and Tina's whispering something to me. Check your inbox, Oh yeah.
(05:34):
For those of you who've already entered, yep, check your
inbox on Facebook or Instagram for direct messaging people the
congratulations noticed. So because if you've already entered and you've
been selected, you've got a message waiting for it, and
we need to hear from you before the day is out.
Otherwise we're going to hand that seed over to somebody
(05:56):
else who's looking to get in. So go right now,
right now, and check your Instagram and Facebook messages and
then let us know, get back to us and let
us know. And that's the Holiday Home Show. It's going
to be a blast.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I promise you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
All right, we are into it. Let's dive back in.
This is part three of our three part series. It
was this way when we bought it. Inheriting somebody else's
mistakes with your home, but more importantly, how to fix them.
And man, we have talked about some doozies of mistakes,
some really important ones, and I've got a whole list
(06:40):
now for today as well. Let's get to this one.
This one is near and dear to my heart because
I love landscaping. I love outdoor space around your house.
I love it in all shapes and forms. I love
the soft scape, I love the hardescape, I love the
plant materials. I love paving areas just I love creating spaces,
(07:05):
whether it's decks or walkways or what have you. And
I also am a huge fan of what I like
to call and I believe I've coined this phrase myself,
design by demolition DM designed by demo. What does that mean.
It means that of all the things that you would
(07:27):
pay somebody to do for your home, right of all
the money you got to come up with for stuff,
building stuff, demolition is almost without exception, the least expensive
of those kinds of things. And that's good news. And
it's especially good news if you can actually improve something
(07:49):
just by tearing out something that's there, and that's it,
I mean by removing or demolishing something that shouldn't be there.
If what you get when you're done is already way
way better, then you have achieved design by demo and
you've paid a minimal amount of money for a maximum
(08:12):
amount of effect. So what does this have to do
with the topic of it was this way when we
bought it. Well, we need to talk about concrete and
hard escape around your home, too much of it. There
are too many houses that have too much concrete and
(08:33):
hardescape around your home. Now, setting aside those of you
who have no desire whatsoever to interact with the natural world,
that's fine, all right, Well, you know I have I'm
resigned to accept that you don't like the idea that
outside there are things like, I don't know, dirt bugs,
(08:56):
things you can't control. You would like to make your
entire property from wall to wall one gigantic clean room
and and just not deal with it. Right, I don't
want to have to water things. And believe me, I've
seen those houses. I've seen way too many of those houses.
And if that's your thing, you know what, Hey, I
(09:16):
who am I to say that you can't have your
house that way? It's not my place. It is my
place to say though, that generally speaking, that's not good design.
And I have never seen an overpaved house that I
would say, Wow, this is really, really lovely. The fact
(09:37):
of the matter is this, and I'm going to be
giving you this advice as a home designer, right and
I'm just being perfectly honest with you. The principle that
I want you to hold to is that hardescape hard escape,
no matter how beautiful we may make it. And that's great,
(09:58):
all right, let's make it as beautiful as possible. But
hardscape is a utility. It's a utilitarian function, all right.
Hardescape does not exist to just gaze upon for beauty.
If we could just pave your entire backyard, because all
(10:18):
we want to do is go outside and just look
at the paving, then that's the thing that would happen
all the time. But it's not. Okay, hardescape is a utility,
And by utility, I mean it enables us to move
from point A to point B without you know, getting
our feet money, without walking on unstable ground. All right,
(10:42):
it's a utility. It serves a utilitarian function. And as such, right,
have you embrace that idea? I mean, are you okay
with me saying that that it's a utility. It embraces
a utilitarian function, not primarily a decor function. Okay, So,
as such since it's utility, we want as little of
(11:06):
it as we can get away with. Why because it
takes up space, and we don't want a utilitarian facet
or component of your yard to be taking up the
space that something truly beautiful could be using that same
(11:27):
space for, such as softscape, plant material, other structures, whatever
the case may be. So this is my approach, right
And if you think that that's crazy and out, you know,
to lunch, then you're not going to hire me as
a designer. But let me tell you I'm right.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I am.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I am right about this, okay. And so one of
the things that I have built a reputation for is
stepping into a design scenario of existing homes and minimizing
i e. Designed by demolition, removing as much superfluous hardscape
as possible. And what is superfluous hardscape? What is bonus
(12:13):
hardscape that we don't need if it's not defining a
space like it's holding up a set of furniture, or
it's not part of a kitchen an outdoor kitchen, or
it's not part of a driveway where things are actually
going to get parked and you're actually going to walk
on it, or it's not part of a pathway to
get from the house to one of those areas outside
(12:35):
that we don't need it. And yeah, when you really
think about it, I mean, if you really get technical
with your back patio, with all the stuff in your
front of your house as well, walk out, park the cars,
walk around the yard and track where you're walking around,
what furniture where, and then take a look at places
(12:58):
you never step. I mean, yeah, you know where you
have those eighteen potted plants all clumped together. Well, guess what,
Guess what the back of your head, your subconscious has
actually been trying to tell you. Nobody walks there and where.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Those eighteen pots are setting That could just as well be,
and probably should be, just the absence of the concrete
underneath those pots and the absence of the pots, and
just plant those suckers right into the soil.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
You following me, all right?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Anything that's got you scratching your head about your home,
give me a call. We'll work it out. No judgment here.
I know you hear my strong opinions when I'm talking
to you about design elements for your home. But you
also know that when you call and we sit down
and talk that I treat you right, great respect, No
(13:59):
stupid questions, only stupid radio hosts. That's the way it
works around here. All right, Let's get back to our
topic of the day. It's been our topic for a
week or so now, and that is it was this
way when we bought it. The things that you have inherited,
the mistakes that you've inherited when you moved into your place. Okay,
(14:24):
too much concrete hardscape. Okay, I don't want to belabor
the point, but I just want to underscore and make
sure you're all there with me that it's hard to
let go of and some of you are saying, I
just donette, you just you got to really really trust
me with this. I've taken driveways. I have a couple
(14:45):
of very very dear friends, family really, who asked me
to take a look at the front of their place
and tell them what's wrong with it. Why is it
just rip rip instead of but boom, And that's what
they said. I'm just quoting them, And so I'm looking
(15:05):
and I'm looking in one of the things that was
obvious to me. Now they happen to be, you know,
nicely situated, big three car garage. And guess what they
had right in front of their big three car garage
all the way out to the street a three car
wide driveway. And you're thinking to yourself, well, yeah, Dean,
because there's three cars three car garage. No no, No.
(15:27):
Here's the thing, when you really look at it, and
you really think through the process of entering the property,
you only need the width of the three car driveway
at the garage, in other words, at the street. You know,
unless you're planning on pulling three cars in simultaneously, which
(15:50):
is a thing that never happens, right, then we only
need the width of one car at the street, and
then the driveway, with the right curves and contours can
widen up and open up and allow that car to
choose any of the three garage doors. Now how big
of a difference does that make in this situation, It
(16:12):
made a huge difference. It enabled us to cut out
a large piece of the tarmac. And that is exactly
what I think of when I see most homes with
too much hardescape tarmac. Just it's an aircraft carrier. It
is a it's a landing strip. It's way too much.
(16:32):
And just remember, okay, just be guided by these two thoughts.
One that hardscape is utility. It is it is a
practical necessity to get from one space to the other. Now,
of course, we make it as attractive as possible, but
it's first and foremost job is not to be lovely.
It is to be useful. And because of that, because
(16:54):
other things can be more lovely, way more lovely than
hardescape and minimize it. Walk your yard, walk drive the front,
walk your yard, and don't take license. Just walk your
yard and be honest with the paths that you normally travel.
(17:14):
And notice that beyond that there is a ton, a
ton of hardscape space that is never getting walked on,
and it's just sitting there getting in the way of
making your ordinary house an extraordinary home. The end. Okay,
what's next on our list? Broken pocket doors? Now we've
(17:36):
jumped to the inside of the house. If you have
an older home that's had any kind of pocket door
in it from years past, what are the odds right now?
I would say the odds are seven out of ten
that you've got a pocket door in your house that
you never close. Why And as you're touring me around
(17:58):
the house, you'll say, oh, yeah, we never close. Is
that because it's stuck? That thing closes weird, It doesn't
close at all. We can't get it out of the
pocket so on, And I get it. How discouraging is that.
But here's the thing. You've given up on it. Don't
give up on it if you understand how a pocket
door actually works. And I'm not, by the way, saying
(18:21):
that your pocket door can or should be fixed. Not
that door that track, okay, because the reason very likely
that it's all junked up and stuck and not working,
or it rubs, or it scratches the door as you
open and close it, or whatever the case may be.
The reason that it's that way is that it was
(18:44):
a builder special It is literally the least expensive pocket
hardware that they could have bought and installed in that
home when it was built. And or you know, a
previous owner did it and went down to the big
box store and just picked up the thirty five dollars
pocket door set up and popped it in. There is
(19:07):
a massive difference. Okay, Now there is a price difference,
but just hear me out there, is a massive difference
between a thirty seven dollars pocket door and a one
hundred and thirty seven dollars pocket door. Yes, it's a one
hundred dollars difference in price, but the difference once it's
(19:27):
in your home is decades of accurate, efficient, trouble free performance.
A lot of people I meet think pocket doors are
the worst. As we design new spaces for people, they're like, oh,
you put a pocket door there. I don't want any
pocket doors. Pocket doors just break down and they and
(19:48):
they're useless after a while. Let's not use a pocket door.
I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no.
Let's not use a cheap pocket door. Let's not use
a bad one, but let's use use them. They exist
for a reason. They're brilliant in saving space and creating
all sorts of opportunities where the swing of a regular
(20:10):
door just gets in the way. But got to use
the right stuff. And what is the right stuff, Dean,
what is the right stuff? Well, there's more than one
great pocket door manufacturer out there. And I mean by
this I mean the pocket I don't really care about
the door. Okay. One of the things you need to
learn about pocket doors is the door can be any door,
(20:32):
any door, and it should be a door that matches
the rest of the doors in your house. But the
pocket hardware itself, the track and the pocket and all
of that. Johnson Hardware, just telling you right now, Johnson
Hardware the minimum soft, open, soft close, multiple wheel, multiple track, brilliant,
(20:53):
great hardware. And it's gonna, you know, set you back
about one hundred and thirty dollars or so ish, and
they go up from there. But that one right there, solid,
solid as a rock, and you'll never regret it. All right,
I got more. We'll pick up this discussion right on
the other side.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Welcome home. A couple of things to remind you about
next weekend, our big House Whisper holiday home show in
front of a live audience right here in Burbank at
iHeart Studios. If you have already entered to win a
seat at that event, then you need to be checking
your Facebook and Instagram messages, because we very well may
(21:44):
have reached out to you already to let you know
that you have won a seat, and you need to
get back and respond to us no later than today,
because if you don't confirm your seat, we're going to
hand it to somebody else who wants it as well.
So I know you want your seat, So check your
(22:05):
messages on Instagram and Facebook for a message from us.
See if you find one there, and if you do,
you are a lucky winner and you will be joining
us next weekend. Also, just want to remind everybody what
was the other thing? Now I've forgotten the other thing
I want? Oh oh yeah. Right after the next news break,
(22:26):
we're going to the phones. So the number to reach
me eight three to three two ask Dean A three
to three the numeral two ask dean. Phone lines are
open and we'll get to it right after the next break. Okay,
back to it, too much concrete, heartscape, broken pocket doors.
That's where we went thus far. Do you need to
(22:47):
know anything else about pocket doors? I know I told
you very quickly that pocket doors are a good thing,
not a bad thing. When they are the right pocket hardware.
That's the key, that's the key to the whole thing.
And do I know of what I speak? I do.
I have had the privilege of being a part of
(23:10):
renovation and restoration of some homes that are one hundred,
one hundred and twenty years old that have large, very
very heavy oak pocket doors that have been hanging on
those tracks for well over a century, and they just
glide like a butter Okay, it is not the concept
(23:31):
of a pocket door that is your problem. It is
the hardware, the track, the wheels, the bearings, and so on.
Don't buy cheap pocket doors and the other thing you
need to know. It's not a structural change out. To
change out your pocket door now, it will involve some
dry wall, okay, because the pocket has been covered in
drywall and you're going to have to cut that open.
(23:52):
But drywall, in the big scheme of things, is a
relatively inexpensive change out. And if you just take the
time to change out the pocket of the pocket door situation,
you too can have that back in action for the
life of the home. There's literally no reason why not. Okay,
(24:13):
shall we jump outside again or inside? Well, you know
what we're gonna stay. We're gonna jump outside for a
second because here's a real quickie. I told you about
getting rid of unnecessary hardscape outside yesterday. In the previous episode,
we also talked about getting rid of little brick planters.
(24:36):
That if if those planter lines and spaces don't define
the yard the way you want them to, don't just
accept the fact that, well, somebody drew a line in
my yard at some point in the past, and now
I have to obey it. No, you do not have
to obey that line, especially when it comes to something
(24:56):
that literally can come out in a matter of a
couple of hours and boom it's gone. You've been living
with it for decades and in two hours you can
redraw those lines. That's the brickplanter, the you know, the
the kissing cousin of the unwonted brick planter is for
some of you, the old broken down water feature or
(25:20):
fountain in your yard. Hy yay, they're made out of concrete.
Why no idea? Because you know what, guess what, concrete
not waterproof. It's not the same as having a pool
with pool plaster on it. Somebody poured a waterproof fountain.
You can see the concrete. There's nothing about it that
(25:42):
reminds you of nature. It's all broken down. It's just
sitting there collecting, you know, pine needles and who knows what.
You don't run rod or in it because it leaks
like a sieve. Let's get it out of there. Now,
you want a new water feature, great, love them, love them,
have a couple of them myself. I just don't want
(26:06):
you to try and rehab an old school, broken up
concrete water trough kind of thingy. You know where the
stones are like half embedded in the mortar and all
you know of what I speak. Let's get rid of
it again. Designed by demo. The yard will instantly thank
you for even if you don't put anything back in
(26:27):
its place, you will be instantly thanked for getting rid
of that old thing because there is no fixing it.
Do you hear me? There is no fixing it? And
believe me, this is coming from the guy who tells
you there is hope for just about everything. There is
no fixing that stuff. There's no ceiling it properly, there's
no waterproofing it or bringing it back to the point
(26:50):
where it's ever going to look like a mountain stream ever.
And so let's lose it and then we can get
serious about if you really want a water feature, we
can get serious about diying one in the right way.
In that can be just stunning stunning and not costly
all at the same time. So there you go. Get
(27:11):
rid of the old broken up water feature, whatever the
heck that thing was supposed to be, or the fountain,
whatever that was. Let's lose it. Let's move on. Let's
move on to the home and the yard that you want.
Now after calls, I'm going to promise you this. The
next step is one of the most troublesome and complicated
(27:33):
and emotionally trying things in your home, and that is
the fireplace, the fireplace inside the most important room in
their house, right the family room or the living room,
the weird fireplace, the damaged fireplace, the fireplace that might
be sitting on what is really the best view wall
(27:55):
or the best furniture wall in the room. This is
why they are so difficult. We'll talk about that when
we return to the subject. But right after the news,
we're going to the phones. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper on KFI. 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
(28:18):
to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine
to noon. Pacific time or anytime on demand on the
iHeart Radio app.
Home with Dean Sharp News
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