Leaks and Drainage Issues | Hour 1

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp the
house Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app, Custom home Builder,
Custom Home Designer, and every week your guide to better
understanding that place where you live. You know what, whether
your home is a castle or a cottage, it matters not.

(00:22):
You know why, because luxury does not a great homemake.
It is design that matters most. Good design makes all
the difference in every home on every level. Every house
deserves it, every house should enjoy it, because once good
design is at work, every house has a path forward

(00:43):
toward becoming a great home. And that's what we are
all about here on the program every single week for you.
Today on the show, well, I'm going to issue a
couple of warnings about dealing with your leaks or your
drainage issues. So I want you to stay with me
on that and listen up, because as the sun breaks

(01:06):
out again, now is the time to get on this
and to deal with the aftermath of what the water
has done improperly on your property. And today we're going
to be talking specifically about what I want you to
be doing in the aftermath of this atmospheric river so

(01:26):
that it doesn't happen again, all right, So lots of
good advice, lots of good counsel, even some design direction today,
especially when it comes to gutters. All of that is
where we're going with the show today, So don't go anywhere.
It's worth every minute, I promise, And of course we're
going to be taking calls if we get calls today.

(01:47):
The number to reach me eight three to three to
ask Dean A three three The numeral to ask Dean
A three three to ask Dean. If you've got design questions,
construction issues, landscape DIY decor whatever has you scratching your
head about your home. I got you. That's what I'm
here for. We'll put our heads together and we will

(02:09):
get it figured out. Eight three three two ask Dean.
That's the number to reach me. The phone lines are
open right now. We'll be going to the phones just
a little bit later in the show as the calls
build up, but you can call now, jump into the
queue and you'll listen to the show while you wait.

(02:29):
All right, sitting across the table from me, there she is,
my design partner, my better half, my best buddy in
all the world. Tina is here. Welcome home. How you
do great. I love the rain, yep, you do. I do,
so do I And we need it, yes we do.
I know that it can cause some issues, but that's

(02:50):
why we're here right exactly. But you know, it's always
I don't know what it is in southern California. It's
always feast or famine, right, It's like no rain, zero zilch,
and then we get too much too quick. But hey,
great stuff on the way. You're listening to Home with
Dean Sharp the House Whisper.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI Am sixty.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
I don't want to make a big issue out of it.
I know we tend to overreact. I just want to
be clear on this. We tend to overreact to rain
in Southern California, any weather that isn't just sunshine and warmth,
and you know, it's it's kind of fun, isn't it.
There are real things that happen to homes when it rains, leaks,

(03:41):
drainage issues and so on. And I would say probably
here in Southern California, perhaps we have more of those
issues than the rest of the country in many many ways.
Why because we don't normally worry about it. And so
when systems are installed and we're not exactly clear on

(04:01):
the fact that they've been done in a substandard way.
You know, you can go several years without even realizing
that it's a problem until a big one hits and
then you realize, wait, that why isn't this working the
right way? So that's what we're here to talk about today.
You can get this product, and I promised I would
talk about it a little bit. Quick dam d Am,

(04:24):
quick dam you know, as in the thing that holds
back water. It's a fantastic company and an innovative company.
And what they've really done is they've taken taken diaper
technology and expanded it to the home level. And what
I mean by that is, if you've never seen a
quick damn product before, they are essentially what they call

(04:47):
sandless sand bags. Okay, So instead of running down to
you know, the hardware store or wherever you you know,
the builder supply and getting a bunch of empty bags
and then getting a bunch of sand and putting hundreds
of pounds of sand bags all around your property and
the backbreaking labor that that is, the quick damn sandless

(05:09):
sand bag. You'll walk out of the store with, you know,
ten of them, twelve of them, you know, underneath your arm,
weighing less than a pound in a small plastic package.
And you get home and when the rain starts to come,
you take them out of the package, depending on the
size that you bought, and they come in various sizes.

(05:30):
They come everything from twenty four inch long kind of
sandbag sized bags to seventeen foot long tubes that go
in front of your garage door right long enough for
a single bag to go all the way across the
entry to the garage door. And oh, by the way,
not a sponsor of the show. This has just Dean

(05:51):
giving you some insight in a product that is in
no way financially connected to the program whatsoever. I just
we've used them again and again. They're very very effective
and for the homeowner, very very efficient as far as
not killing yourself to get it done. The key is
that these bags have a powder inside them, a crystaline

(06:11):
powder that becomes gelatinous when water hits them. And so
the point is, that's why I said, it's kind of
like a diaper for your home. The point is they're
super lightweight. You just go to the store, grab a
couple of boxes of them, bring them home. If you
need to use them, you roll them out, you wait
for the water to come, because as soon as the
water hits them, they start to absorb it and they

(06:34):
swell up, and then now you have essentially a water
filled sand bag across the threshold of the back door
or wherever it is that you're trying to divert water,
and they will hold that water indefinitely, definitely through the
end of the stormy week or so. So they're a
very very effective product, and I strongly recommend them for

(06:55):
those of you who are not in the mood to
go out and be lifting heavy sand bags around and
tossing them around, especially in the middle of a rainstorm.
So quick dam is the product. Right now you walk
into your local I think Low's home depot, local hardware store,
local builders supply. If they know what they're doing, they're

(07:15):
the first thing you're going to see as you walk in.
In fact, I walked into our local home depot the
other day and there they were right up front, because
everybody knew the rain was coming, so you should see
them right as you walk in. Orange and black packaging quickdam,
and just realize that there are various sizes and kind
of size up what it is that you would be thinking. Essentially,

(07:36):
however many sand bags you'd end up using, that's what
you were going to use in terms of quick dam.
Not as cheap as a sand bag, because a sand
bag is less than a buck for the bag, and
then the sand also very inexpensive, and the quick dam
obviously you're going to be paying a few bucks for
per bag, but well worth you not straining yourself or

(07:56):
breaking yourself open. All right, Okay, when we come back,
let's talk about leaks in your home and what is
not quite as obvious as it seems, and that is
tracking down where it's coming from, that and so much
more Your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Welcome to the program. Wherever you are, I hope you
are taking the lighter side of it and just embracing
that this is a great entry way into the holiday
season for all of us. But you know, weather causes problems,
and here in so cal we are talking about the
aftermath of leaks and drainage issues that were proven out.

(08:42):
Even as we speak, as the rain continues to come
down here and what are we going to do about it. Also,
we'll be going to the phones in a bit if
we've got some calls coming up. The number to reach
me eight three to three two ask Dean eight three
to three the numeral two ask Dean eight three to
three to ask Dean. You can call me about anything

(09:03):
you want to talk about regarding your home. I'm talking
rain and leaks and drainage and gutters today, but you
are free to set the agenda when it comes to
your call, anything at all, No apologies, whatever has got
you scratching your head about your home eight three to
three to ask Dean. Okay, let us move forward now

(09:24):
with this conversation on leaks and drainage. How do you
track down a leak? Well, here is the thing, the
number one thing that I want you to understand is
that to wherever the leak is coming through into the
interior of your home. Don't assume that it's just as

(09:45):
simple as well, it's right above it. It's right above that,
right you know, that's where we would go up onto
the roof and figure out where the leak is yeah,
not really Usually the case, water, by the way, has
an extremely high surface tension. And what does that mean?
That seemed a little science d What does that mean?

(10:07):
It means that water clings to things. If you haven't noticed,
it can cling, and it can run a great distance
before it actually builds up enough weight for gravity to
overcome its own surface tension and make it drip down.
And what does that mean in regards to a roof leak.
It simply means that the water could be coming from

(10:27):
a significantly you know, a large distance away from where
the leak has actually managed to find its way through
the dry wall and dripping into your home. So what
do we do, Well, if we can't get direct access overhead,
then we got to open up the drywall. It's a

(10:49):
good idea to open up the dry wall anyway where
the leak is because that little section of dry wall,
unless it's just been a trickle, I mean just a trickle,
but chances are given an exposure, that section of drywall
is really messed up. Now soft mushy Okay. Drywall is
made of gypsum. Gypsum is the softest mineral on the

(11:09):
planet and once it had and it does a fantastic
job of being our wall surface materials considering. But once
it's wet, uh yeah, it's pretty much done. When the
paper is wet on both sides and the Egyptian has
been completely soaked, it's lost its adhesive bonds and as

(11:32):
a result, it needs to be replaced. So tracking down
a leak, step one it would be to open up
a section of the drywall where the leak has been
intruding into the room, assuming that you're going to have
to cut it open and replace it anyway. And it
doesn't mean the whole sheet, it just means the affected area.
That's number one. Number two we want to follow along

(11:54):
from that point. Horizontal members. Horizontal members you know your roof,
are your ceiling in the room, let's start with that
is made up of ceiling joist and those if you
don't have a vaulted ceiling, those ceiling joysts are running flat.
And the fact of the matter is that water could
be tracking along the line of that ceiling joist, either

(12:15):
on top or where it joins the dry wall, for
several feet before it actually pools puddles and decides to
make it through down into the room. So we want
to look along those horizontal members, and very likely we
want to look for culprits upslope, because your roof is sloped.

(12:36):
Even those of you who have a flat roof, there
is a slope to it. Flat is a relative term,
meaning that we don't perceive the slope, but flat roofs
are sloped at one quarter of an inch per foot.
You're gonna hear me say that again and again through
the show today because it applies to all drainage. It's
the minimum pitch of all of your sewer lines, it's

(12:56):
the minimum recommended pitch of all of outside lies, and
it's also the minimum pitch of any effective roofing material
and roofing substrates. So one quarter of an inch per foot.
In other words, for every foot of horizontal travel, the
roof has to drop in slope one quarter of an inch. Okay,

(13:19):
that means the roof will drop one inch every four feet.
Right there you go, So you understand how that works out.
So we want to look up slope. We want to
look for penetrations, like anything that is moving through the roof.
Vents coming up from plumbing. That's a penetration through the roof.

(13:41):
Anything that has required the roof to break open and
not have a continuous layer of roofing shingles or tiles
or whatever it is that you have there. So anything
penetrating the roof upslope in the close vicinity of the
leak is a likely suspect. It doesn't mean you have

(14:02):
to arrest them immediately, but they are a person of
interest at this point. Let's just put it that way
when we're tracking down leaks. So if we've got a
vent from a bathroom, one of those pipes running up
through your bathroom, through your attic and out into the roof,
if we have a chimney, chimneys are notorious for masonry chimneys,
especially for this, If we have a skylight, any of

(14:25):
these things, Okay, that's what we're looking for. Likely culprits
upslope and we want to look for signs of moisture
penetration at those places, because, let's face it, it's not
a guarantee, but it is not the most common thing
for a field of well laid roofing material to just
start leaking right in the middle of that field. That field,

(14:48):
uninterrupted is an awfully, awfully good, you know, barrier against
rain and moisture unless it's just gotten to the age
now where it's cracking or there are broken shingles or
missing shingles. But that's what we're looking for. That we're
looking for the most likely culprit and usually penetrations flashing areas. Okay,

(15:13):
a flashing, by the way, is the metal that would
surround the thing that is going through the roof, the pipe,
the metal, you know, that's surrounding the pipe. Flashing l
flashings around fireplaces and so on. Skylight's the same flashings
are there to transition, to create kind of a curb,

(15:35):
as it were, between the object that's moving through the
roof and the rest of the roofing materials and flashing,
by the way, technically it's a vulnerability, but in a
well laid roof where all the flashings are done properly. Also,
those are not to be of concern to you. But
if we've got a leak, then we have to identify

(15:57):
the most likely suspects, right, that's the whole point. So
it's just like, you know, what do the cops say
when a family member is murdered. It's almost always you know, oh,
it's the husband, it's the husband or the wife. Right,
it doesn't mean you've even got evidence of that first,
but that's where you look first because statistically that's the case.

(16:19):
So statistically, when it comes to roof leaks, we're looking
for these penetrations, vents, chimneys, skylights, and then we move
on to broken shingles, defective flashings and the like. Makes sense,
all right, how do you know your roof needs replacing?
We'll talk about that on the other side. Your Home

(16:40):
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Every home deserves great design, every home, especially yours. Why
because you live there and I like you? What can
I say? Hey, A you all right? We are we're
talking about kind of builder stuff today. I'm gonna you know,
you know, there are two people who live inside me.

(17:11):
There's a builder and then there's the artist and the designer.
And sometimes they hold hands and just skip down the
street happily together, and other times they're fighting for the microphone.
And the designer would really like to have a conversation
about gutters today, And I'm gonna try and carve out
some time so that he can give you some advice

(17:33):
on the role of gutters in the essential esthetic of
your home. Gutters are an immensely practical thing. And the
builders like, yeah, yeah, they are, and we're going to
talk about them getting clogged and draining properly. All right,
just calm down, calm down, all of that and more
as we go. But where did I leave you hanging

(17:54):
last time? Right on the other side of the break,
I know, I remember we were talking talking about or
I asked the question, how do you know if your
roof needs replacing? Okay, this is always a question that
comes up following some minor leaks or some questions. A
lot of people did not have any leaks or not

(18:15):
having any leaks right now, and you didn't have a
single leak during the storm. But you're gonna find rock
granules on the ground around just directly under the edge
of the roof. Eeve little line of granules, not just water,
but like tiny granules of rock. And you're gonna ask
yourself the question did that come off my asphalt composition

(18:38):
shingle roof? And the answer is yes, it did, Yes
it did. And the question of how much how many
granules or how much rock is there is a fair
question in regards to does this mean it's time for
the roof to get replaced or to get looked at.
So we've got those issues, So how do you know? Okay, well,

(19:00):
obviously number one, multiple leaks, multiple leaks. Okay, now we're
talking whole roof replacement here. Okay, so one leak does
not justify the replacement of an entire roof. I'm never
going to give you that advice. One leak justifies the
repair of that leak. But if the roof is leaking

(19:22):
in multiple locations, that that is an indication that as
a whole, whether it's a failure of the tiles on
top the shingles are the tiles on the top surface
of the roof, or the vapor barrier and under layment
or roofing paper, whatever it is that you want to

(19:43):
call it. And just understand that roofs have essentially two
components to them. Okay, two major components. A third component
would be flashings that we've already discussed, but the main
components are the decorative of finished shingle and or tile
that you look at when you look up on your
roof and say, oh, that's my roof, and of course,

(20:04):
those tiles go a long way to protecting the roof.
They are a major part of that. However, they are
not the primary thing that water seals your roof from
the weather. The primary thing is the underlayment, whether it
was double sheets of a builder's felt. And by the way,
that's very old school now, and you will never hear

(20:26):
me recommend that as a roofing underlayment. Ever. Ever, used
to be the only thing we had, and so that's
what we would do. We would roll out this asphalt
embedded thick roofers felt. And I'm sure you've all seen
it in the past, and there are roofers out there
who are still using it. And I suppose, I suppose,
in a budget crunch that there are homeowners that opt

(20:50):
for it because the roofer presses them and says, listen,
it's just the least expensive way to do it, and
it'll hold for a while, and yeah, okay, all right,
but understand, there are some materials out there now that
are so much better and nominimally. Nominimally I added an
extra syllable there, nominally nominally more expensive, not much more

(21:15):
expensive than the roofers felt. And I'm talking about self
ceiling bitamois. Okay, that's a technical term that just means
rubberized self ceiling, stretchable rubberized membranes that roll out onto
the roof. Now, it used to be back in the
day that was a luxury thing and a very very

(21:37):
expensive thing, because these were thick piece of material and
we would have to torch them down. In other words,
we'd roll one sheet and overlap it on another sheet,
and then we'd have to come along with a roofer's
torch and melt them into each other. And those still
exist for the thickest possible barrier connections, but they're actually
far less less common these days, far less common because

(22:00):
now we've got you know, like companies like W. R.
Grace and Owen's Corning. They've come out with these fantastic
roof membranes self ceiling around the nails that you put
in them to hold them down. Yeah, and very stretchy,
and and they seal on top of each other with
their own adhesive strips just as well as any torchdown

(22:22):
melting a situation never did so in an underlayment situation.
By the time you get all of this laid down,
sealed around the flashings. Before a single shingle has been
put onto the roof, before a single decorative tile has
been laid onto the roof, that roof is one hundred

(22:42):
percent dried in, one hundred percent water tight, and will
remain as such. And really it's such an effective barrier.
You could make the argument, although no roofing company ever
will say it this way, but I'll say it this way.
You could make the argument that at this point, the
shingles and the tiles on top, their main job is

(23:03):
to keep the sunlight from breaking down the real waterproof membrane, okay,
because UV light is the biggest enemy of the roof,
not water. So that's what a roof is made out of.
And when multiple leagues start to pop up, that's what
makes you think, okay, maybe the underlayman is failing. When
the underlayman fails, then it's time to replace more on

(23:27):
this right on the other side, your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper. 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.