[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. We've been talking about is your house storm ready? Is it natural disaster ready? Are you ready to go in case something bad happens? And we like to keep it positive here on the show, but these are things that you should be doing to make sure you are dialed in. And we're just talking about drinking water, making sure that you've got enough for you, your family, your pets, your animals, everything else.

[00:00:29] Eric Goranson: Making sure that you've got everything ready to rock. So that's a big one, you know, making sure you've got two weeks of water. Second of all, backup power. Do you have a generator? Do you have, you know, an on demand generator? What are you doing to make sure that you can keep some power going for a while?

[00:00:50] Eric Goranson: If you've got a generator, how much fuel do you have stored? And Does that fuel any good when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home? There is a lot to know, [00:01:00] but we've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to The Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education.

[00:01:10] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining me today. I'm Eric G. We have got a fun show here and we're gonna talk a little bit about, is your Home Storm ready now? This is a big one right here because. It doesn't matter where you're located in the country. There are things you can do to help make sure that you keep you, your family, or anyone in your household safe.

[00:01:31] Eric Goranson: Through any storm or natural disaster. Now that's not just a general statement, but at least you'll be prepared. You know, sometimes it's pretty tough to dodge these things and we might not even have the technology to do it. However, there are things that you can do to be more prepared. And let's talk about those today.

[00:01:51] Eric Goranson: Hey, real quick, before we get started, if you need to get a hold of us, give us a call 8 with your home improvement questions. That's 8 3 [00:02:00] 3 2 3 9 41 44. Or if you want to check us out, head to around the house. Online. com. I want to say thank you to all the new stations out there on the radio that have been carrying around the house show, especially the new ones after Danny Lipford and today's homeowner retired.

[00:02:16] Eric Goranson: I do appreciate all of you guys out there that are tuning in. And if you want to catch the past episodes, uh, just check out on the podcast. We've got so many out there. Uh, this show has been going for about 37 years now. And so we have, uh, probably the last 10 up there. Thousands of episodes for you to catch.

[00:02:34] Eric Goranson: Just look for around the house online. com. All right, guys, or just look for around the house show on your favorite podcast player. So we're talking here. But first off, understanding what your local risks are, right? Do you live where a hurricane could hit you? You know, is it, um, a wildfire? Could it be a windstorm, tornado, earthquake?

[00:02:59] Eric Goranson: [00:03:00] What? Maybe it's all of them. So these are things that you should think about. You know, floods, what is it that is your highest and most prominent risk? For your household, and that's going to really start to help you define what you need to do to your house to make sure that you're prepared to make sure your home's prepared to make sure you have everything dialed in ready to go.

[00:03:26] Eric Goranson: So, is your home built up to current safety standards? You know, if you look, uh, for instance, to our friends down in Florida, if you're 1 of them down there. You know, Gulf Coast states, they have really enacted a lot of good building practices for those areas, you know, with impact resistant windows with extra tie downs and things that you can do to have a more sustainable home long term with a storm and they have done a better job than some of us with windstorms and you know, when you're talking [00:04:00] about that kind of stuff, hurricanes are prepped on the East Coast, especially down the South.

[00:04:05] Eric Goranson: You guys have done a great job. Of increasing your building codes to make sure that homes last a little bit longer. Now these are things that I really want you to pay attention to. Great example, if you are in a, um, hurricane, tornado, earthquake type area, if any one of those things are Susceptible in your area.

[00:04:29] Eric Goranson: There are some things you can do to the house structure to make it more reliable for you. Great example, homes before 1980, uh, in most areas of the country were rarely fastened to their concrete foundation. Many times there was a concrete nail or two. There were some regular nails and a soft concrete and the weight of the home.

[00:04:52] Eric Goranson: Connected those 2 together and you can jump on and see storm videos of tornadoes and hurricanes and you'll see that [00:05:00] 1930s home laying in the middle of a street. And that could have been 100 percent prevented by attaching that home to the foundation. And so it is really easy to do an earthquake retrofit.

[00:05:14] Eric Goranson: If you're going to pay to have somebody to do it and thousands of dollars. But really, what you're going to do is every three or four feet and always have an engineer look at it or have a professional look at it. You're going to take their tie straps and you're going to use these brackets, which are kind of C shaped to attach the foundation wall to the sill plate.

[00:05:32] Eric Goranson: But that's not all you do when you do this. I also want to make sure in that space down below, whether it's a crawl space. Or a basement. I want to see that sill plate attached. I want to see brackets that attach the entire system together. So I want to see straps that um, tie that sill plate, you know, brackets that go into the floor joists.

[00:05:53] Eric Goranson: Floor joists over to beams. Beams to post post to the ground. Those all need to be bracketed together [00:06:00] with your favorite structural bracket to make sure that they're nailed and fastened together. That will really help you keep from that house. Blowing is a complete thing out into the middle of the road.

[00:06:11] Eric Goranson: And really you're talking. Maybe a thousand bucks for the brackets and materials to the whole thing. Um, could be more, could be less depending on the size of the house, but going through and tying those things together is key. The next thing is if you're in a hurricane wind storm, even earthquake, it's always good to make sure that those rafter systems or the roof trusses.

[00:06:34] Eric Goranson: Are tied into the so plates in the, in the attic space. This can be a little bit tougher, but if you're doing any renovations, if you're doing any remodels, if you're even doing soft at work, sometimes you can do it there, but use hurricane ties to tie those systems together will make a big deal on wind uplift.

[00:06:53] Eric Goranson: Or even that structure moving around. The more you can tie these things together, the better off you are. [00:07:00] So, taking some time, making sure those are bracketed together. If you're doing siding or windows or things like that, and you're getting up into soffits and things like that, take a look and see what's bracketed and what's not.

[00:07:11] Eric Goranson: A little bit goes a long ways. I mean, my house built in the 70s, they did a great job of doing that. And it was pretty early, but, um, a lot of homes prior to the seventies don't have that. And if you can tie those together, that just makes for a tighter, stronger structure. So, uh, make sure you're using the right nails, the right fasteners, screws, that kind of stuff.

[00:07:30] Eric Goranson: They need to be the certified ones that come with the system that you're using. So that's good. So the next thing too, is with basements, just making sure that you've got those. You know, tied in that basement walls are strong that, uh, no cracks in the foundation. That's a good time to fix those as well because you don't want to see water and stuff going along.

[00:07:52] Eric Goranson: Now, the next thing is I want you to talk about in understanding your local risks to make sure that you've got the proper supplies [00:08:00] there. Now, in most cases, in most places in the U. S., it could take as long as two weeks for them to get. Your food, water, and even be able to help you get some heat on in your home after a natural disaster.

[00:08:14] Eric Goranson: It can take up to two weeks. So I want to make sure that you've got the right amount of food, water. If you go bigger, awesome. But have two weeks set aside. So I want to make sure, before we get into the rest of the things around the house, that you've got water to start with. That's the first one. Do you have multiple sources of water?

[00:08:34] Eric Goranson: Do you have it stored someplace? Do you have big water jugs? Do you have a way to clean that water that could be coming out of a, out of a stream, a lake, or a storage device? I mean, how much is your water heater? Okay, so you've got a water heater, right? Mine's 80 gallons, because it's a heat pump water heater.

[00:08:53] Eric Goranson: But if I was to have a natural disaster, the first thing I think I would do, if I knew it was coming, would [00:09:00] be to turn off the water. So that way I didn't contaminate that water, if there was any kind of an issue. Sometimes you'll see broken water pipe with an earthquake. You're not going to predict that, but turn that water off as quick as you can.

[00:09:13] Eric Goranson: That way, if you have any water contamination, it's not going to be an issue. And now I've got 80 gallons of water. If I've got a storm coming, putting some water in the bathtub as well is not a bad idea, because that way you've got extra water stored. So making sure that you've got something like that is not a bad idea.

[00:09:33] Eric Goranson: Now, if that, that bathtub is going to be a place that you're hiding for a tornado or hurricane here right now. That might not be the best place to do it. Round the house. We'll be right back. I've got more tips on is your home storm ready? Just as soon as around the house.[00:10:00]

[00:10:09] Eric Goranson: What's up, this is sticks it in you and satchel from steel Panther. And you are listening to around the house with Eric. Gee, yeah, we love Eric G. And you should too.

[00:10:29] Eric Goranson: To the around the house show. This is what we hope to get the most out of your home through information education. Thanks for joining us. If you do want to give us a call, give us a call at 833 239 4144, that number 833 239 4144 or message us over at AroundTheHouseOnline. com. We've been talking about is your house storm ready?

[00:10:49] Eric Goranson: Is it natural disaster ready? Are you ready to go in case something bad happens? And we like to keep it positive here on the show. But, uh, these are things that you should be doing to make sure you are [00:11:00] dialed in. And we were just talking about talking about drinking water and making sure that you've got enough for you, your family, your pets, your animals, everything else, making sure that you've got everything ready to rock.

[00:11:13] Eric Goranson: So that's a big one. You know, making sure you've got two weeks of water. Second of all, backup power. Do you have a generator? Do you have. You know, an on demand generator, what are you doing to make sure that you can keep some power going for a while? If you've got a generator, how much fuel do you have storage?

[00:11:34] Eric Goranson: And is that fuel any good? You know, this is the thing. So many people have generators out there. I got a generator. When was the last time you tested that out? Is the fuel good in it? Is it gonna start right up? You're gonna have to remove old fuel. Because here's the thing, unless you're using any fuel stabilizers, Gasoline and a motor like that last months, not years.

[00:11:54] Eric Goranson: So if you've got two, three months out of gasoline with our modern stuff, with all the [00:12:00] alcohols and. Everything else that's in it and the chemicals, how good is that? You know, my recommendation is, is if you can find a place that has clear gasoline, you know, anywhere that's around farm areas, sometimes they'll have it.

[00:12:13] Eric Goranson: You know, you look for it out there. There's websites you can find that'll do it. That will help because it's pure gasoline. A lot of less additive packages in it. No alcohols, things like that that really burn off quickly. You'll get a longer lifespan out of that clear gas. And then if you put a conditioner in it like stable or 1 of the other ones out there, you're gonna be much better off.

[00:12:37] Eric Goranson: And then you're gonna have gas last a lot longer. Otherwise, kind of what you're forced doing is every 90 days or so or less, depending on how you're storing it. You probably should be putting that back in your vehicle at like 60 days. Thanks. And then turn around and fill in that can up again. And most people don't do that.

[00:12:54] Eric Goranson: That gas can is used for filling the lawnmower. It's used for filling this, filling that. And it's just [00:13:00] 1 of those things. That, um, we forget to do, but it's an important 1. So make sure that you've got enough fuel and you've got it stored and that you're cycling it through enough that you're good to go.

[00:13:11] Eric Goranson: So that's key right there. And then just making sure that it starts oil changes. Maintenance will be done. Well, it will start when it's 90 degrees outside. We'll start when it's 10 understanding that. We'll help you out next up is going to be the food situation, you know, and, and these aren't in a particular order.

[00:13:29] Eric Goranson: I would say that water and food are your top tiers here, uh, and then shelter in there as well. But really what you're talking about is food. What do you have for backup food? How long will the food last? That's in your fridge. How long, you know, is that a day? Is it hours? You have a generator. That's going to keep it going for a while.

[00:13:48] Eric Goranson: What do you have? You know, it's always good to have a couple weeks of freeze dried food put away. It'll last. 20, 30 years, depending on how you're storing it and where you're getting it from. [00:14:00] Um, I'm a huge fan of a local company here, mountain house. Uh, Oregon freeze dry, uh, they do it, they've got stuff that's lasting, you know, 20, 30 years, it works well, and it's freaking tasty too.

[00:14:12] Eric Goranson: So, you can eat well, while you're having to boil some water, and uh, and do that. Now here's the other thing, when you're talking about food, what are you going to do to finish things up? If you need boiled water, how are you going to do it? One thing I want you to be very careful with, and we depend on natural gas for generators.

[00:14:32] Eric Goranson: Barbecues, um, backup power, and I want you to be careful of that. And I was reminded to this in an ice storm. We had here recently. And here's why the power went out to the. Natural gas generation plants, substation, basically, where they, where it comes in, they make sure the pressure is right. It goes out.

[00:14:56] Eric Goranson: And they've got pumps things to keep the gas pressure [00:15:00] up, whatever's in that. I don't understand. I haven't been in 1. so I can only imagine what's in those buildings power went out there. Everybody in this area of Oregon city, Oregon lost their gas in the middle of that storm. So anybody that had a natural gas fireplace, anybody that had a natural gas stove that was planning on using or barbecue, they're in trouble.

[00:15:21] Eric Goranson: So make sure that you've got. Something to depend on for that because it's not always going to be there. So be very careful with that. So how are you going to do this? You have a fire pit outside is going to work when it's raining. Do you have a wood fired barbecue or a charcoal barbecue? Are there ways for you to do this to keep this working well for you?

[00:15:41] Eric Goranson: So that's a key right there. How good can you keep this dialed in and be able to cook your food and not have to worry about ways to do that. So that's a key there. So make sure you got the food dialed in. And then next one here is communication. Now, one thing I learned after being in a big earthquake, when [00:16:00] your cell phones and internet can go down really quickly, and here's why everyone at one time is trying to tell their loved ones that they're safe.

[00:16:10] Eric Goranson: And when I went through the Nisqually earthquake in Seattle, the first thing within 10 seconds, cell phones were down. People were on it. You know, think about going to a sporting event, right guys, or a concert or a big thing like that. And you're like, man, I can't send out a text. I can't send out a picture.

[00:16:30] Eric Goranson: I can't even make a phone call because the system is overloaded. That's what's going to happen around your house. Rarely, is it going to work? Well, so make sure that you have a way to communicate. And this is where kind of creating that family plan works out. Well, where is everyone going to meet if there was an emergency during the day?

[00:16:50] Eric Goranson: Going to be at the house going to meet at the office. You're going to meet, we're going to meet on the weekends. Um, if there's a fire at the house, we're going to meet have a game plan. So nobody [00:17:00] wonders where they're supposed to be. And that way you can do it and also check to see. Some communities, and there's some in my area as well, have emergency storm food supplies stored in certain areas.

[00:17:14] Eric Goranson: And emergency, um, ways to talk, that kind of thing. You know, the ham operator community is good out there. But just think, if you want to tell your loved ones you're okay, a lot of this stuff's going to be down. Or if you're trying to communicate to a loved one, make sure they understand what the rules are, where they're supposed to head.

[00:17:32] Eric Goranson: And these are all good things to understand. And then the other thing is, too, on your phone, make sure your phone has all the emergency contact information of where you're located and all that stuff on your phone. Because if you end up having to call 9 1 1 and use, like, Wi Fi calling or something like that, or somebody's got a satellite service you're trying to grab a hold of, You know, like star link, that's still working.

[00:17:57] Eric Goranson: Make sure that your phone has all that [00:18:00] information. So if you're trying to call emergency personnel, they can see where you're calling from. And so let technology be your friend in that aspect and make sure that you've got that stuff filled out on your phone. I know on my Apple iPhone, you want to make sure and use that and update that information as you go, because it's easy to not have that information updated.

[00:18:17] Eric Goranson: And then if you're out traveling or if you're even at home, what are you going to do? So that's a key one right there. Any of that stuff can help you in the long run. And it just makes for a safer environment. Now we come back. We're going to talk about some other ones. I bet you didn't think of, and we'll do that just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:18:34] Eric Goranson: If you, Hey, if you've got any questions for us, your comments, 833 239 4144. And that's 833 239 4144 around the house. We'll be right back.[00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is Ron Keel, the metal cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel band and Steeler. We are rocking around the house with Eric G.

[00:19:13] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. We've been talking about, uh, is your house storm ready? Are you ready to rock with all that? Is it ready to deal with whatever mother nature decides to throw at it or whatever natural disaster happens around you?

[00:19:32] Eric Goranson: And one of the ones I wanted to talk about in this segment are wildfires. And for you on the West Coast, this is a big deal, but this is gonna happen just about anywhere in the country. As we've had wildfires over the last few years up and down the East coast as well. So this is something that can happen anytime you're in an area that has a dry and a brush and all of those things.

[00:19:54] Eric Goranson: So these are things that you should be careful with. And there's something that's new out there that, um, I wanted to [00:20:00] talk about, uh. Because I think it's a great option for people that live in high risk wildfire areas. And there's different companies doing different things out there. But one of them is, for instance, frontline wildfire defense, and they're at frontline wildfire.

[00:20:14] Eric Goranson: com. I have not spoken to these people. So this is not any kind of a paid segment here. This is just something that you might want to take a look at. And there's similar products out there. And so what they're doing is that they have different sprinklers that they install around your house to be a frontline defense.

[00:20:32] Eric Goranson: Against wildfires. So of course you want to do the things you're normally going to do to harden your home, right? You're going to want to control the landscaping. You're gonna want to make sure that you've got the right vents and things like that, where embers can't blow back in, but really when it comes down to it.

[00:20:47] Eric Goranson: This is an interesting one here. So this fire tracking software that comes with it turns on automatically. When fire is within 7 miles of your home, and that's more than 100 times [00:21:00] faster than traditional sensor based systems. So once active the sits that basically saturate your property with water and a biodegradable firefighting foam, basically, they just create an environment that is too wet to burn.

[00:21:14] Eric Goranson: And so this is a sensor system. And, um, it is crazy how well this stuff works. And so what's cool is it's always connected. So it has satellite cellular wifi. There are different ways for it to communicate, but these are an interesting way to discreetly install a system around your house. And so they have different zones there.

[00:21:36] Eric Goranson: They have the immediate zone, basically. And then they have a second one that's out farther on the property. And so it's depending on what you want to do. They can do eave sprayers, roof rotors, and basically just what manages the water. And then it has a class A foam as well. So this works good. And um, this is something that's really cool to just keep things [00:22:00] safe.

[00:22:00] Eric Goranson: And so, a lot of different cool systems out there like this. But I think it's something to take a look at. If you're trying to defend your house, um, you know, it could help you with your homeowners insurance. Um, there's a lot of different things that can help with this, but, uh, it could be expensive. Let's be honest.

[00:22:17] Eric Goranson: Anytime you're putting in any kind of a sprinkler system that can be very expensive, but it might be cheaper than having to replace everything and you can defend your property. Now there's another one out there outside of, uh, you know, wildfires are one thing, but you know, you can have significant damage to your house from a lightning strike or a surge.

[00:22:36] Eric Goranson: And so there are now surge protectors that you can put in line to your system. Your electrical system that will keep those surges from coming in and doing damage to your home. It's something I'm gonna do It's on my list of upgrades that I want to do to my house is to have a surge protection system here And you can do that as well as lightning protection systems just depending on how often that stuff happens for me It's not that big a deal on lightning [00:23:00] because I've got these trees that are full canopy cover over the top I am much more likely to get damaged to my house From bark coming off a tree that was hit by lightning versus getting something that was a direct, you know, lightning hit to my house, just because it is well protected by a tree canopy that is 95 percent over it.

[00:23:20] Eric Goranson: So, I don't have to worry about that, but I tell you what, I do not want to be outside if I had a lightning storm, because that lightning can go down through the roots. It can cause problems. And, uh, you just want to kind of stay back out of the way and be smart of that stuff, but really take a look. And it's like we talked about in the first segment, understanding what the risks are at your home is really key to make sure that you understand what's going on.

[00:23:45] Eric Goranson: And that way you can keep that. Dialed in and, um, you know, I think it's good because it doesn't take much. It takes a windstorm to blow a tree over maybe to cross some power lines and put a surge down through the system. Um, these are all things that I think are really smart [00:24:00] to, um, stop electronics damage and potential fire risks within your home because the last thing you want to do is overclock stuff, burn them up.

[00:24:09] Eric Goranson: And that's when you have an issue. So that's a big one right there. Now, one thing that we didn't talk about earlier that I want to talk about is have you got all the food for your pets and all of your medical supplies? Do you have a couple of weeks of that? Heck, I tell you what, I had some issues here in my area when there were some robberies of the Walgreen's stores around in my area.

[00:24:31] Eric Goranson: And all of a sudden we had pharmacies that were shut down for days on end. And so I had to travel a fair distance just to get a refill done, and it took days longer. And that was just crime that had nothing to do with a natural disaster that could take down, you know, geez, it could take down your power and utilities for a couple of weeks.

[00:24:55] Eric Goranson: Are they even going to be operating? So making sure that you've got, you know, [00:25:00] weeks worth of medications, stuff for your pets. All of that stuff dialed in is really super smart when it comes to, um, doing these kind of things and making sure that you've got at least a couple weeks ahead of time. And that way you're not running down to the last pill to the last little bit if you have asthma or insulin needed or any of those things like that.

[00:25:20] Eric Goranson: Just make sure you've got a safe amount, not too much. You don't want to go bad, but you just want to make sure that you have enough of that medication that you're going to be safe and you're going to be good to go. And I think that's going to really help you out in the long term. Now coming up here, I want to talk a little bit about, um, you know, resources in great places to find more information on all of this stuff.

[00:25:40] Eric Goranson: And the first one is one of my favorites. And they have done a really good job of working with the insurance Institute, uh, insurance. They're working with insurance companies out there to really make sure that you have, you know, the most durable home. And I love their certification [00:26:00] process and fortified home.

[00:26:03] Eric Goranson: org is a place for you to go take a look. About this. So what is it that's primarily used down in the South, but they're expanding out across the country. A fortified home construction method is a voluntary construction standard backed by decades of research. That's your roofing contractor and builder can use to protect your home against severe weather.

[00:26:24] Eric Goranson: And these guys do a great job and I've worked with them on a few things. But, uh, they have a bunch of different systems. So they have fortified roof, which is, um, basically a system designed to keep, you know, have the right roof system put on. They have, uh, fortified silver, which includes all the protection of fortified roof and adds additional protection to vulnerable and overlooked components.

[00:26:51] Eric Goranson: And then there's a building standard called fortified gold. And that is kind of their ultimate protector package. And so [00:27:00] this is what the, the, the differences are between these. And it's really cool. So just the fortified roof gives you an enhanced roof deck attachment, sealed roof deck, lockdown roof edges, impact resistant shingles rated by them.

[00:27:15] Eric Goranson: And wind and rain resistant attic fence. Now, if you go to the silver program that adds impact resistance for windows and doors. Pressure rated garage doors, impact rated, chimney bracing, reinforced soffits, anchored attached structures, and gable and bracing. Now when you go to the gold standard, that gets you a lot of different stuff here.

[00:27:37] Eric Goranson: Where it gets you pressure rated windows and doors, stronger exterior sheeting. Engineered roof to wall connections, engineered story to story connections and engineered wall to foundation connections. And so these are things, um, they have a lot of different programs here. You can get hail ratings, you can get all these different things within them.[00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Eric Goranson: And I think this is super important. And, uh, you want to make sure that you've got that extra line of defense. And, uh, I think it's a really good thing to take a look at, especially. If you're putting in a new roof, if you're building a new house. If you're doing this, this is somebody you should probably talk to, and you can do that at fortifiedhome.

[00:28:20] Eric Goranson: org. Round the House will be right back with more important information for you just as soon as we return. Don't go anywhere.[00:29:00]

[00:29:03] Eric Goranson: It's the end of the show. Now drinkin down people, it's time to go. It's that time again. It's last call. Welcome back to the Round the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. And I do want to say, if you want to get ahold of us and be part of the show, give us a call.

[00:29:21] Eric Goranson: It's 8 9 41 44 that number 44 and I'll tell you what, uh, we've got some exciting stuff coming up here for around the house in the future here that you Don't want to miss. And, um, there's going to be some exciting things coming around the corner here that, uh, boy, I can't wait and not talking about it just yet, but, uh, we are going to be loaded for bear here soon.

[00:29:47] Eric Goranson: And, uh, man, I am so excited and when I can't wait to make that absolutely sweet announcement. Well, let's get back into this show here where we've been talking about, um, is your home storm ready? [00:30:00] And one of the things that, uh, is out there and this is going to be where we're getting into more comfort and communication, right?

[00:30:06] Eric Goranson: But, uh, I have, if you are a Comcast Xfinity internet customer out there, um, something that's cool that they have and I have at my house, which is their storm ready wifi, which means when your internet goes down and many times that happens after a power outage, you know, the power goes down and all of a sudden you're trying to figure out what's going on.

[00:30:25] Eric Goranson: Yeah. That power goes down. And then the next thing that happens is that after a few hours that that local substation for Comcast Xfinity happens and that goes down because they're on battery backup or it goes down and then guess what? Internet goes away. So what they've got now is their storm ready wifi, which goes and turns into using a cell phone system.

[00:30:47] Eric Goranson: For your wifi, but it's seamless, your password, everything else works. It's just grabbing up as a secondary off of, uh, you know, 5g or LTE or whatever's in your area. So this is a great way to be able to [00:31:00] continue to communicate with people. And there's a decent chance that it might work for you. So something to think about pretty cool.

[00:31:07] Eric Goranson: And, um, I'm excited to be able to, uh, to use that. And it worked well, the last time I had a power outage, I had just installed it and you know, something. It was pretty solid. So it's one other tool in the toolbox, but it's nice to be able to communicate when things are down. Now, one thing I wanted to talk about here today, that's super important is to have some backup materials.

[00:31:30] Eric Goranson: Ready to rock and I'm talking about maybe some heavy duty tarps if you have wind or storm damage Do you have some two by fours? Do you have screws? Do you have stuff to do a quick roof repair because here's what happens just like any time that you have a major storm whether It's a hurricane or a snowstorm or you're trying to find dust masks in the northwest here in wildfire season Here's what happens somebody goes in and in 20 minutes that stock is gone So here's what I would recommend is to [00:32:00] build Yourself, your home, a kit that will help you get ready for the storm.

[00:32:05] Eric Goranson: And here's the thing. I don't really, I'm not the biggest fan of like getting the blue tarps out, but if that's what you got, that's good. One of the things that I liked, it's super heavy duty and you could probably order this from your local home center or lumber yard, but grip right makes these heavy, heavy duty tarps and they're basically what they make to build, to wrap around high rise buildings.

[00:32:28] Eric Goranson: With scaffolding, so it's a high grade plastic. It's got the, the woven in, you know, kind of mesh on the inside of it in this stuff is durable and you can get them, I think, as big as 30 by 40. And so you could almost wrap the top of a good section of your house with that, depending on the size of your house.

[00:32:48] Eric Goranson: That's a big, heavy tarp. Now it's about 75 pounds. So, you know, You would need somebody to help to get something that big up there, but having something, you know, it's about the size of a carry on suitcase, but you know, something having that in the corner of the [00:33:00] garage or something half or quarter at size would work great.

[00:33:03] Eric Goranson: And then having some two by fours, having some, some roof repair stuff, maybe a couple of tubes of, uh, Roofing tar, you know, some couple sheets of plywood to board up some windows, just some basics like that, you know, some screws to put it in with making sure that you've got the materials to be able to kind of, you know, maybe even a small role of roofing felt something that you can put up to keep the water from coming into the building.

[00:33:30] Eric Goranson: Let's say you had a, um, a storm come through a wind storm come through and it ripped up, ripped up part of your roofing. What can you do to clean that up real quick and make it waterproof? Now, if you had a, a new roof put down, or you had a new sheeting put down and use zip system or something like that, it's not as big a deal because that already has its membrane built into it, but you know, maybe it's some small thing of ice and water shield or whatever it is, what can you do to be more prepared?

[00:33:59] Eric Goranson: In [00:34:00] case you had to do some fixes, you know, these are important things and as you go around your house and you're doing these remodel projects like you're maybe you're in windstorm area or you're in hurricane area or you're in tornado area, what can you do to be more prepared down the road? And these are all things that I think are super important that you can do.

[00:34:21] Eric Goranson: And it's okay. Hey, I got a hundred bucks. I'm going to buy myself a really nice tarp. Hey, I got 50 bucks. I'm going to go buy some lumber that I can put away throw up in the crawl space Or in the attic or someplace like that that I can get out of the way or in the corner of the garage or in the shed Lean up in the corner.

[00:34:36] Eric Goranson: So I've got something to work with Give yourself the right amount of tools get some rope Get some stakes if you need to put it down Or even if you just had some of those washers with nails that you could You know, nail into the trim that you could go back and, and clean up later. That's all important stuff that will really buy you some extra time to, you know, [00:35:00] get somebody out there to fix it.

[00:35:01] Eric Goranson: Or so you can go buy the materials to fix it yourself. So something to board up a window, something to tape up something, you know, there's some great waterproof duct tapes up there. These are all things that make life so much easier if you can do it. And, uh, being able to stop that water damage before it happens.

[00:35:19] Eric Goranson: You know, right after a storm, maybe you had something go through there. You can at least buy yourself some time because I tell you what, as we know, during hurricane season or during some of these storms, stuff goes, we're supposed to be getting snow here this weekend coming up. And, um, of course it's a few days before that, but I tell you what, go to the grocery store.

[00:35:36] Eric Goranson: Anytime that happens. And everybody's out there because we don't typically get snow that much out here. So the week before that we see snow on the forecast, good luck getting to the grocery store because everything's getting taken out. It's, uh, we always joke about it here in the Pacific Northwest of the great kale shortage because all of a sudden people go out and buy everything and load up for just 24 to 48 hours.

[00:35:58] Eric Goranson: Kind of like the great toilet [00:36:00] paper shortage of 2020. These are things that are never fun, but guess what? It all tends to come around when, uh, when these things happen. So, uh, make sure that you're prepared. If you're going to go for the last minute, you're going to really run into some issues because unless you are foreseeing this before other people do that stuff runs out quick.

[00:36:19] Eric Goranson: Now it can take days for people to get in there. You're seeing the home centers. During natural disasters, they have done a really good job of, of rushing semi trucks with materials in to really help out, but it's just depending how big a storm, if it's a tornado that went through a small section of town, that is going to be easier to get materials.

[00:36:36] Eric Goranson: Then a wildfire that runs up there on the West Coast or a hurricane hitting on the East Coast. So think about this, just things to have things backed up, you know, for power, for heat, you know, if you're in a cold area, what happens when you lose power, do you lose your, your, do you need a generator? Do you lose all your heat?

[00:36:56] Eric Goranson: What can you do to heat the house while these things are going? So just [00:37:00] think ahead a little bit, plan for those things. And you know something that is going to make life so much easier for you. And I think that is something that makes life so much easier for you and you can sleep a little bit better night knowing that you are dialed in.

[00:37:14] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody. Well, that's enough of that subject right there. And a few things that I wanted to talk about here just as we close out the show today. I really appreciate all you guys tuning in. Share with a friend. Make sure and follow us on social media as well. We are on Facebook. I have a YouTube channel.

[00:37:30] Eric Goranson: Just start looking around the house show. And you're gonna see that stuff come up and I did post up my first brand new, uh, little short video that was a trial over there, exposing. Yeah, I exposed somebody that was telling you on social media when you cut your drywall short. Yeah, they were trying to use spray foam and I call them out on it and there's going to be a lot more of that.

[00:37:56] Eric Goranson: I am chasing after people out there that are giving you [00:38:00] bad information and you're going to see more of that on social media coming up. And if you're listening on the radio and just make sure you catch the podcast as well during the week. If you're missing, if you're catching us on the radio show out there on the talk media network.

[00:38:11] Eric Goranson: I appreciate you guys tuning in because, uh, you are the backbone of this organization here and all of you on the radio. Thank you for tuning in. Thank your stations and your program directors and all you guys out there that have been supporting us for years. We have been on the radio for what, uh, geez, 37 years now.

[00:38:30] Eric Goranson: And uh, I am the fourth, fourth person hosting around the house and I'm going to be here for a long. Time to come, so that's the cool part of this and I really appreciate you guys tuning in. So here's the thing, make sure you contact me over around the house online if you have any questions. And that is our website where you can track us down and then, uh, feel free to go back.

[00:38:50] Eric Goranson: I think our episode that we have up right now is like 1, 668. So we've got a lot of them up on the web, so you can catch any [00:39:00] of those on your favorite podcast player. All right, everybody have a great rest of the weekend. Enjoy yourself. Thanks for tuning in around the house. On the podcast, we'll see you on Wednesday and the radio.

[00:39:09] Eric Goranson: We'll see you next weekend for a new episode of Around The House Show. We'll see you next time.