[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. Coming up in today's show week, answer all of your questions you've submitted over around the house online.com or if you've done it on Facebook, which is around the House Show. We have so many questions today from toilets to painting to so many things around your home. We are here to answer those questions for you now.

[00:00:24] Eric Goranson: If you do have a question, submit it over at around the house online.com. You can contact us there and write it out, or you can send us via Burst submission. Just head over to the Around the House website and you can take a look there and we'll have the instructions for you, which is around the house online.com, and that video could end up on a future show or my television show, which is also called Around the House when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home.

[00:00:49] Eric Goranson: There is a lot to know though. We've got you coming. 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 [00:01:00] information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, today we're gonna talk about some of my hottest questions we've had from listeners like you.

[00:01:08] Eric Goranson: And I've had a lot of questions coming over the last few weeks and we are just gonna tackle 'em today. So looking ahead, some of the stuff you're gonna catch this hour, we're gonna be talking about some exterior painting tips. And range Hood basics. We've had so many questions on Kitchen Range Hoods.

[00:01:23] Eric Goranson: We're gonna talk about that and so much more today. We'll see what we get to. Well, if you wanna find out more about Around the house, make sure you head over to around the house online.com and uh, make sure you check us out on Facebook. We have a big page over there, which is around the House Show. And make sure you join around the House Nation.

[00:01:41] Eric Goranson: That is our closed group. And if you have questions like this, make sure get over to around the house online and message over there, and we will be glad to give you a hand. And if you just wanna share up some pictures, we'd love to see what projects you're working on over at, around the House Nation. And, uh, make sure if you're over at the website to, uh, check [00:02:00] out the videos.

[00:02:00] Eric Goranson: Keep putting up videos from the latest shows over there from the TV show around the House Northwest, which you can catch streaming on Hulu and in the Portland area over on. Fox 12 plus. Well, today, you know, I wanted to talk about exterior painting tips cuz we're, we're coming right into exterior painting season.

[00:02:18] Eric Goranson: And this is a big deal because there's a lot of people out there, they're maybe just getting quotes. Uh, they're going to have somebody come do the painting. They don't wanna get up in the ladder. Maybe they got a two story plus house. And they were like, forget it. Well, one of the first things that I want to see is depending on the weather in your area, it could be a little early to paint and it depends on the paint that you're gonna put on the building.

[00:02:39] Eric Goranson: And here's why. Some of these paints, if you get that morning dew on a spring morning and you painted it the night before, it can actually cause the. Kind of the top coat of that paint to run a little bit or streak or get just absolutely kind of just not looking great and it can mess [00:03:00] with the sheen on the outside.

[00:03:01] Eric Goranson: So really, I wanna see daytime temperatures, you know, well into the fifties and sixties, and I wanna see overnights in the fifties for it really to be curing correctly. There are some paints though. That I will say that can go into the forties and even a little bit into the thirties at night. So make sure you understand what paint is being, being put on your place.

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: And that's a big deal right there. Now the other thing is too, is yeah, understand what paint's going on. Somebody could come on and say, yeah, I'm using Benjamin Moore. I'm using Sherwin Williams. Awesome. But what grade within that are they using? Are they using top of the line, middle of the line? The, the.

[00:03:40] Eric Goranson: The speed coat, lower part of the line. What are they doing? What are they using? And that's a key right there. Cause you want this to hold up. And with today's color choices you see out there with bold colors, better paint matters. Because what happens is, is the better paints, they have better UV inhibitors and stuff in there [00:04:00] to keep maybe that brighter color.

[00:04:02] Eric Goranson: From, you know, tearing up and getting broken down and looking chalky or fading or whatever else in full sun. So use as good a paint as you can afford. And there comes a point where it gets ridiculous out there. Don't get me wrong, once you get up over that 80 to a hundred dollars a gallon paint, now you're just paying for a name, to be honest.

[00:04:21] Eric Goranson: But you can spend, you know, look for the sales out there. But you'll see people out there getting some pretty expensive paints and they are cool, but you don't need to use that on your house. Now, here's the other thing I want to see too. I also worry, you know, about the prep work because the prep work is so important.

[00:04:40] Eric Goranson: You know that peeling paint should get dealt with. You know, they make, let's say you've got peeling paint on one side of the house. Maybe you missed a bunch of coats of paint and moisture's getting underneath there, and it's starting to peel. Maybe it's an old clabbered, you know, first off test for lead paint.

[00:04:56] Eric Goranson: Make sure that you're looking good there. That's easy to get at your paint storage. Just a little [00:05:00] pen test. See if you're working with it. The nice thing is we're starting to see with lead paint is it's starting to kind of go away. Cuz we've done so much painting over the years. The lead paint's starting to get pretty buried into a project now, or it's been completely removed, or the siding's been removed.

[00:05:14] Eric Goranson: But still test for it when you're in there. Check that out, make sure it's good, and then get in there and scrape and peel. If you don't have any lead paint, make sure you get all that loose stuff outta there. They do make primers now that are meant for peeling pain on the outside of the house. I've even used one that, uh, was really thick, so it tended to, um, really fill in those spots and help cover those areas where the peel was so you had less sanding and prep work to do, and it, it held up really well.

[00:05:43] Eric Goranson: And so those primers are available out there. But speaking of primers, when you're talking about painting, Make sure that if you've got any kind of a weird situation, like an old oil based or anything else on that house or, or uh, a weird color bleed, or you've got [00:06:00] things out there where the paint is pretty hammered, that primer is key.

[00:06:03] Eric Goranson: And do not trust the paint and primer is one that's not really primer. You probably heard me talk about that a lot, but that is the key to this, making sure that you've got a good primer. That bonds, that bonding primer is big. You know, some of the thicker ones are great for filling as well, but really having that primer down, and I think the primer's a great move, especially when you're going over old paint and a color change.

[00:06:27] Eric Goranson: It can really be helpful to give you something really solid as a base, and it'll also seal behind that. Next up is gonna be your pain. I wanna see if that's getting sprayed on there. I wanna see people backroll stuff out there because those blow and go guys out there that just. Spray the house and don't do any back rolling.

[00:06:44] Eric Goranson: Guess what? That's where it really doesn't stick very well, and that's where you get that paint that doesn't hold up. So you're gonna wanna make sure that when you're doing this, That you go through there and whether it's the painter or anybody else, make sure that they're [00:07:00] spraying it and backroll it. So that really gives that good adhesion and it actually evens out that coat a little bit as well.

[00:07:05] Eric Goranson: You'll get a more even coat on the outside out there by doing it that way. That way you don't have that thick spot and maybe a lighter spot that will help roll that out. And those are some of the keys there, but you know, Again, this is the time to go through and check all that caulking. And if you're just going around and doing touchups right now, maybe you painted A couple years ago I was just going through, starting a couple projects around my house and I realized that, wow, I need to go through and do some touchups and I just painted my house about 18 months ago, so I'm gonna go through and do some touchups.

[00:07:35] Eric Goranson: Most of it is caulking. And so I'm gonna go through and get that cleaned up a little bit and make sure that I've got that caulking taken care of because I want to, I wanna get that dialed in. And that's the key right there. Get that touched up, go back around, do some painting, get that looking good, and then, uh, I'll be ready for summertime.

[00:07:51] Eric Goranson: Now my last tips before we go out to break are gonna come down to the materials you're using. Buy good brushes, buy good rollers, that stuff will [00:08:00] last you forever. I have brushes that have lasted me probably eight to 10 years before they've worn out, and if they've worn out, it means I probably didn't take care of them.

[00:08:09] Eric Goranson: I don't do enough painting, nor do any homeowners do enough painting that you wear those out in a handful of years. So buy the better brushes, keep them. Maintain them correctly. Understand how to maintain a brush. Make sure I don't do the throwaway every time of the rollers, even though you can, they're fairly cheap, but get good rollers.

[00:08:28] Eric Goranson: Have a good roller frame. And if you get those materials and take care of them, they'll last you a long time. I went out and bought some really nice drop cloth and you know, something nice drop cloths or great to have around the house for painting projects. And I'm actually gonna go out and buy a couple more cause I have some more interior paint projects coming up that I'm gonna be tackling on those bad weather days.

[00:08:48] Eric Goranson: But these are things to take a look at. Good materials for painting. Good tools for painting are what really leaves a really good project, and that's what it's gonna look like. And then [00:09:00] get to know your paint around your area. You know, each climate has the paint that works better. You know, sometimes that's where sometimes local paint companies do really well is they have made something for your region that will hold up because something that's gonna hand up in, in Phoenix or in, um, you know, down in.

[00:09:20] Eric Goranson: And the Southwest is gonna hold up to different stuff than it will in my area where we get rain for six months outta the year. All right, everybody, when we come back, more questions and more answers just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:09:38] Eric Goranson: Why

[00:09:46] Eric Goranson: should I? Is so hot.[00:10:00]

[00:10:09] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we have to get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, we've been talking about a lot of your questions that come into us, and I'm gonna tackle those in today's episodes and we've got a lot of 'em.

[00:10:25] Eric Goranson: You know the next one here, we were just talking before about our exterior painting tips, but range hoods are a question that has been coming up more so than ever before, and I think it's because, you know, you've seen people talking about the gas range bands because of the. You know, indoor air quality being poor and all the stuff that, that, quite frankly, the electrical companies were out there pushing.

[00:10:48] Eric Goranson: And, uh, some environmental organizations as well talking about how bad gas ranges are. Well, I wanna say this, that, uh, I wanna be very clear, and I've said this before, is it's not [00:11:00] just a gas range problem, it is a cooking indoors problem. And the problem is created because you need to have ventilation.

[00:11:09] Eric Goranson: Ventilation is key here, so that's the key. You cannot have an electric range and go, oh, I changed out my gas range. I'm not gonna use a range hood, and now my air is gonna be clean inside. That's not how this works. This is a ventilation problem. So I'll start out by saying, here in the United States, If, if your area does not require it in building code, guess what it's going to because it's a safety thing and there are a few areas out there that are still way behind in building codes, especially when it comes to ventilation.

[00:11:40] Eric Goranson: So there are a few states and cities out there that are the exception to the rule, but generally speaking, across the US people that are following the international building code and are staying somewhat current, a kitchen range hood is required. To vent all the way outside from your kitchen period. [00:12:00] Uh, my state, a lot of states around me have had that for decades.

[00:12:04] Eric Goranson: Uh, my entire career of designing kitchens, it was required, and that was 30 years. So this is not something that's just new, and here's why. Your range puts off so many different chemicals. When you cook now, you could be taking formaldehydes. Now. Yes, formaldehyde is something that is naturally occurring.

[00:12:25] Eric Goranson: There are, you know, an apple is high in formaldehyde, for instance, but you've got that, you've got carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, you've got a lot of different things that burn off, and the biggest part of that is particulate matter. And so that particulate matter gets to be really big. Now there's, you know, PM 2.5 pm 10.

[00:12:44] Eric Goranson: I'm not gonna get into the. Deals with this, but you can watch your, your indoor air quality go bad just as soon as you start doing something on that range, whether it's an electric induction, gas, whatever, gas just adds a little bit more to [00:13:00] it because you're combusting fuel to do it, but it doesn't matter.

[00:13:03] Eric Goranson: Most of the particulate matter is not coming from the flame, it's coming from the food that you're trying to cook. So there's the key right there. So first off, when you're designing a range, Situation here with that hood, you have a cooktop or a range. You need to figure out what size you need first, but that's gonna depend on what you have going there.

[00:13:24] Eric Goranson: You know, of course, a range hood has to cover the cooking surface completely. So if you've got a 30 inch range, you can put a 30 inch hood over the top of it if it's made of metal. But if it's a wood hood, you probably will need a 33 or a 36. Why is that a 36 inch wood hood? That wood can't be hanging over the cooking service cuz if you have a fire.

[00:13:49] Eric Goranson: Of course then that's gonna be a problem. So the key here is, is to make sure that that metal liner that's on the inside of the wood hood covers the entire range cooking surface. So that's why you need a [00:14:00] 33 or 36 inch wide. And then you can't have anything combustible typically, uh, on average within 30 inches of that cooking surface.

[00:14:09] Eric Goranson: So you need to have some height there as well, considering you have an 18 inch gap between the. The cooktop, you know, between the countertop and the cabinets, you need to have a little bit more for that. And so I see people out there trying to put in a shelf for the microwave over the top foot, and guess what?

[00:14:25] Eric Goranson: You're just asking for a fire. You're just asking to burn up that microwave if you're gonna use, I'm not a fan of over the range microwaves, because they don't vent well. They don't work well and I don't like having to lean over a hot cooking surface to put something hot inside a microwave. It's just is a really bad idea.

[00:14:42] Eric Goranson: Have I used them in designs in the past? Yeah. Most of the time it's in a condo where that's kind of the only option, but generally speaking, I'm not a fan of them for that reason. Now, the worst situation I've seen with microwaves. And just a little sidebar on this, which was kind of funny. I have seen people try to put in a [00:15:00] double oven.

[00:15:01] Eric Goranson: With a microwave over the top of it, which is ridiculous cuz it ends up being at about six feet high. So, uh, be careful with your designs out there. But with hoods, here's the thing you need to be careful with. So if you have a 400 CFM hood in many areas, once you get over a certain C F M, which is cubic feet per minute, what you think about is a basketball of air.

[00:15:26] Eric Goranson: That's about a cubic foot. So if you think about that, that basketball, you're moving 400 c f m out in many places, that's gonna require makeup, air, makeup, air means that you are pulling out, creating a vacuum. Air outta the building. So you need to create incoming air to replace it. So that's even bigger.

[00:15:47] Eric Goranson: Like at my house where I've got a 1200 CFM hood, which is 1200, 1200 basketballs per minute. If that was on, now, that is moving a ton of air, so I have to create makeup air for [00:16:00] that. Now here's the thing with ventilation, many times ventilation is based right at the machine. So I could have a 1200 CFM hood.

[00:16:07] Eric Goranson: I might only move 900 out, I might only move 800 out, depending on how far that has to go and where it goes and what restrictions you have, which restrictions being elbows and corners and things like that. But makeup air is key. So that's where, you know, if you've got a newer house, especially, it's tight.

[00:16:24] Eric Goranson: Or if you have a gas furnace, gas fireplace. Or a gas water heater inside the house. I strongly recommend bringing in a, um, H V A C professional to make sure they do the calculations. So you'll be good. I wanna make sure you've got that dialed in because that is a huge concern for me is to make sure you're not sucking in carbon monoxide as that goes.

[00:16:49] Eric Goranson: So be really careful. That, you know, you're not creating that problem there because that can be a huge issue. So makeup air is big, and then getting a quality hood, you know, if. [00:17:00] There are some new ones out there as well. Let's put it this way, that are automatic. So if you turn on its senses, heat, um, you or the cooktop below, it turns on and AME has something like that.

[00:17:11] Eric Goranson: Uh, best by Bro has something like that. So it's senses. Those are automatic, which I like. But really when you comes down to cooking surfaces and having a cooktop over the top, Please make sure that that is venting outside. Do not use a recirculating hood. If you have a recirculating hood in your in your home right now, I strongly recommend you swapping that out for one that vents outside.

[00:17:34] Eric Goranson: That way you'll be a lot better off. You're gonna get that air outside. I am seeing air testing where you actually test the air inside the kitchen after cooking a big meal, and it can be as bad or worse than anywhere in the world, including third world countries outside in a polluted city. So you don't need that in your house.

[00:17:53] Eric Goranson: You don't need the asthma and all the other respiratory illnesses that can happen by having that inside. So make sure that [00:18:00] you've got this done correctly. That range hood is key. Use it when you're cooking because I tell you what, it is a bad habit to cook without it, and you're gonna have better air.

[00:18:10] Eric Goranson: Less respiratory. And if you've got people in the house with asthma or or, or grandparents or anything like that, or somebody with, uh, lung issues, make sure you're using it for them because it's gonna pay off. All right. We come back. I've got so many more questions that have come in that we're gonna tackle.

[00:18:24] Eric Goranson: We'll do that just a soon as a wrap.[00:19:00]

[00:19:09] Eric Goranson: Welcome to The Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, today we are tackling all sorts of questions that have come in on projects and I'm gonna try to help you get through them. And the latest one here, which came in here, uh, via the website, which was great, thanks for sending that over, is about a fiberglass tub, shower, and.

[00:19:33] Eric Goranson: Actually even a fiberglass shower. It's the same kind of thing. And how to deal with those, especially when they're failing Now, you know, fiberglass tub showers are those basic, you know, whether it's a tub or the shower or both. It is that builder basic that it was very inexpensive for that builder to put in.

[00:19:50] Eric Goranson: And many times when they put 'em in, they built the house around 'em. They came in when there was studs, they had a rough floor. It goes in, it gets screwed in to the, [00:20:00] to the studs. It gets drywalled around the floor, comes up to it, and the plumbing gets hooked up, and that's how they go. But, If they weren't installed correctly or they just broke down this, can we be where the problems happened?

[00:20:13] Eric Goranson: So here's what happens. Many of the tub showers, there's different makes out there, but most of the ones that I'm familiar with, when they set them, they should have mixed up like a bag of mortar mix or even now spray foam and set the bottom of that in a bed. So that way it had a, some support underneath it.

[00:20:32] Eric Goranson: Cuz many times you'll get a crack in the floor and that's just because that fiberglass time, after time of a decade or more of people stepping on it, the bottom of that will flex enough that you'll start to get those hairline cracks and then it starts leaking. And once you get water underneath there, you got a hot mess.

[00:20:49] Eric Goranson: And so really there's two ways to do it. Now, I've done this a couple different ways. Now, ones, I have actually fixed ones carefully to be [00:21:00] able to do this. Now, if you've been able to, if you've got it where it's just flexing and it wasn't installed correctly, and if you have access underneath it, maybe it's a basement or there's drywall underneath there.

[00:21:11] Eric Goranson: What I want to do is get in there with some low expansion spray foam and try to give it some support. And so what I'll do is I'll go in and, uh, drill a couple holes very carefully cuz if you over drill it, you can drill into the tub. So this is where you don't want to get a hole saw or anything where you don't, where you can't control the tip.

[00:21:29] Eric Goranson: You'll know how much wood is there, but you need to just slowly drill, slowly drill, get through the wood without nicking or hitting the bottom of the tub. So if you can get up in there and then really get in there with spray foam, I have been able to save those in the past and then have somebody come in and.

[00:21:48] Eric Goranson: Basically patch and fill those fiberglass cracks, and then they can paint the whole tub. And you think about it, a fiberglass tub shower is just like a Corvette. It's like the old Corvette. You can go in there, [00:22:00] you can patch that up, clean it up and paint it, and it's gonna be a really good surface down there.

[00:22:05] Eric Goranson: And the secret to all of that is making sure that, you know, you get those cracks stopped and you get things sanded and finished. And many, for most people, that means bringing in a professional, having them come in and get that taken care of. That's the easy answer there. But I have been able to go in and rescue these without having to tear the whole thing out.

[00:22:24] Eric Goranson: And that can be nice. Now, if you've got, you know, flooring that's bad and you've got drywall that's bad, and plumbing, that's gonna get swapped out, tear the whole thing out and do something better. But if you're on a budget, they can be saved, but you just gotta be really, really careful with it. And that's the key right there, is being really careful.

[00:22:42] Eric Goranson: And then you can go through and, and get that done. Now they do make two and three piece units that will, uh, basically you'll go in there and, uh, put on the dust mask, safety glasses, get the saws all out, turn the water off, and you can go in there with the saws all and literally cut the existing one up into pieces.

[00:22:59] Eric Goranson: [00:23:00] Carry it outta there. And that's really your only option if you've got like mold or water damage below it. You just gotta rip the thing out, cut it up, get it outta there, and that'll be the best way to do it once you get it out of there. Then you can go down and fix the framing and the subfloor and those kind of things and get it done right.

[00:23:16] Eric Goranson: Preferably at this point, what I would do is actually go in there and take the, um, take a regular cast iron bathtub and then do, or a. Do a whole new tile shower, for instance. I would go that direction instead of buying a two or three piece. One. I know it's more money, but it will last a lot longer. So I'm a big fan of the cast iron bathtub in the tile surround or a slab surround or doing a uh, a tile.

[00:23:43] Eric Goranson: Shower system or a acrylic base with a tile wall system in there, that's gonna be your best bet. Either one of those will work really well. I just wanna make sure that you've got that kind of dialed in. So, uh, you can do that, but that is how you save it. Now the other thing you just gotta really worry about too [00:24:00] is, is a shower door.

[00:24:01] Eric Goranson: And shower doors. You wanna make sure when those get put in, and I'll be honest, I'm at a point now in my life where I will never install another shower door, shower doors when I'm doing big ones like this. I just have them installed. I have done so many shower doors in my life and I'm. Not that old, but old enough to go, man, I hate doing those things.

[00:24:21] Eric Goranson: I would much rather pay a little bit more and have a shower company come in, build the right one. You know, the, the problem that you have with, with these universal ones is they look like universal ones. The ones you get from the home, you know, the home center, you've got a big piece of metal that's meant to adjust the width.

[00:24:38] Eric Goranson: You've got to cut down, you've got, you know, overlaps to me. Yeah. And it's more money. And sometimes a lot more money. Having that custom shower door is really nice. And that shower door, shower door when installed correctly, and you have to make sure that you, that, that those fasten points where they fasten in aren't leaking water.

[00:24:57] Eric Goranson: So you need to make sure that you've got the right silicone or [00:25:00] whatever is required for that to seal off those screw holes cuz you don't water to get back in that. That can be a whole other problem. That's the worst when you have a brand new shower system and you have created problems with that. But really having a nice shower door can stop water damage as well as, uh, give you some control there.

[00:25:17] Eric Goranson: Now if you're doing a new shower system, um, again, this is one of those things too, as you're working on this, if you have hard water issues before you start this project, get your water conditioned. Get the water test, send it off. Um, no sense putting in a brand new tub shower. If you've got hard water, that's just gonna ruin it.

[00:25:37] Eric Goranson: Why do that? Spend the few hundred bucks or a thousand bucks or whatever it costs. I know it's expensive, but get your water condition. It is going to extend the life of your water heater, your refrigerator, ice maker, your faucets, all those things in your house. It will extend the life of those if you get the water treated.

[00:25:53] Eric Goranson: So make sure you've got that under control and that will help as well, because the other thing with any of these fiberglass [00:26:00] tub showers is you never want to use an abrasive cleaner because this is like a car finish that is a gel coat. So that is one of those things that you need to be really careful, always use.

[00:26:10] Eric Goranson: Cleaners that are meant for fiberglass, which means not the comets, not the subs, soft scrubs, not the bar keeper's friends. You are creating micro scratches with that, and that micro scratch makes it where the hard water deposits, the soap, the scum. Will actually attach itself to it. And when that happens, it really creates a problem because now you're making it so it gets dirty so much quicker.

[00:26:34] Eric Goranson: So anything like that. One other little trick that I've done with these two is you don't do it on the bottom of it, but I've done it on the walls around there. But you can actually polish and wax those and really get it. So, uh, it helps sheet the water off a little bit. And, uh, just never get into that floor service cuz you'll create a very slippery surface.

[00:26:52] Eric Goranson: So do not do that. And then the other thing I've done too is if I've got the glass that's clean, I've put rain X on there. Some of the bathroom cleaners that [00:27:00] help sheet that off there, all that is, is a wax that really helps and, uh, that will really make a big deal on making that be better. And I think you'll be better off Now, one other quick side note on this, I wanna make sure that we, we cover before we go out to break here.

[00:27:13] Eric Goranson: And it's an important one. I think the style of shower and tub shower that you put in should relate to the price point of your house. And I think this is an important one. If you have a. Entry level house or an entry level to mid house, there is no issue with having a fiberglass tub shower. But if you've got a million dollar plus house and you had a fiberglass tub shower in it, I would certainly not put one back into it cuz that is something that will hurt you on resale those fiberglass tub showers.

[00:27:51] Eric Goranson: Or fiberglass showers. Those systems have always been known to be kind of builder basic, and if you're trying to put. Or show your [00:28:00] house is a more luxury home, that is not what people are gonna expect to see in it. So if you've got a higher end home, I would not put one of those back in it. I would go with a tile or a slab or something like that.

[00:28:12] Eric Goranson: So you put the right material in the right grade of house, no sense being. A little cheap and putting the wrong material in that'll hurt you on resale someday around the house. Be right back with more questions that you've asked just as soon as around the house returns.[00:29:00]

[00:29:04] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. This is where we hope to get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining me today. Well, we've been tackling on the show questions. That people have had on projects that have come in over the last week or two. I just wanted to see if we could get these tackled out.

[00:29:22] Eric Goranson: We'll have even more here in hour number two today, but I wanted to give a little rant, a little bit of information here of stuff that you really need to be careful out there. And I am in probably four or five different Facebook. Closed groups for home improvement, whether that's a old house or a renovation, or tips, whatever.

[00:29:47] Eric Goranson: And I can tell you what, and this is one thing I really want people to get, uh, if you take away one thing outta here is know where you're getting your information from. Because I tell you what, um, [00:30:00] there is some horrible information that's given out that is completely incorrect. On Facebook, YouTube, everywhere else of just really, really bad information.

[00:30:15] Eric Goranson: And this is stuff that I really want you to be careful with out there because that is one of the biggest challenges of trying to navigate taking on home improvement projects or even hiring a contractor to come onto your project cuz you just don't know who you're working with. And more importantly, you just don't know what the best way to do it.

[00:30:36] Eric Goranson: You know, if you go onto a site and somebody starts talking about doing a tile shower and whether it's a face group, you know, group or not, and you've got people on there that say they've been a contractor for 30 years. And they're describing things that there is no way that that shower's gonna last five years.

[00:30:56] Eric Goranson: And these guys have been just blown and going through projects and [00:31:00] warranties out. Shower fails in five years. Guess what? Customer's not coming back anyway. Somebody else can do the shower again. And I see people actually designing their projects around this bad information. And the same thing goes on with hdtv.

[00:31:15] Eric Goranson: There are plenty of projects on there and. There are, there are good ones. There's bad ones. Um, I went on a ranch probably a year ago about one where they were doing a attic bathroom and they cut through floor joists. They ruined structure. They did a whole bunch of bad stuff on there and left a really junky job site with all the building materials, scrap materials left in the floor, joists.

[00:31:41] Eric Goranson: And it was just stuff that was just really lazy. And this is where I really want you to make sure that. You work on your sources, you do your research, know your products. You know, if you've got a contractor coming in that's getting ready to do a shower or do a tile in a wet area, and they're not having that conversation with you about doing [00:32:00] waterproofing behind the shower and what they're doing, or they're not talking about the trim that they're gonna use or where the niches are, you probably hired the wrong contractor.

[00:32:09] Eric Goranson: You know that tile needs to have a waterproofing system behind it. You know, that's just one example. You know, electrical issues. Oh my gosh, it has been weeks that I've been seeing horrible electrical stuff. You know, connection's not done in boxes using the wrong light fixtures. I don't want this to sound too negative, but just be very careful out there, guys.

[00:32:31] Eric Goranson: I want everybody to, if you're spending money, to be doing it the right way and not creating something that's gonna be a hazard to your home. Or a hazard to your family. And that's, that's crazy. And so that's just one of those things I really want you to be careful with out there of knowing your sources, of knowing your, your people, because there are a lot of people out there that, that, on social media that are, uh, claiming to be experts that aren't anywhere near that.[00:33:00]

[00:33:00] Eric Goranson: And that's something to be really careful of because a lot of people are having to do projects twice because of it. Now one great resource. So when you're tackling a project that I will say, you know, outside of around the house here, of course, is go over to the manufacturer's YouTube page. Many manufacturers, if you're taking on a tile project and you're thinking about using Art X or Weedy, or Schluter or one of those, head over to their website, take a look.

[00:33:30] Eric Goranson: They are going to give you the best practices for what you're working on. And then you can make the decision if you're gonna tackle it or if you're hiring people, that you've got the right people to tackle it. And another one too is if you are having a larger project done, maybe it's roofing or siding or H V A C, make sure that you're hiring somebody that is trained and referred from the manufacturer.

[00:33:55] Eric Goranson: You know, if you're gonna go look at an H V A C system, go out and hire the [00:34:00] person to do it. Awesome. If you don't have a referral from somebody, jump on that brand's website and make sure that you've got their premier dealer. You want somebody that knows it and has a good relationship. What I don't want to see is you hire an H V A C professional that doesn't have one of those things that's working outta the back of their truck.

[00:34:20] Eric Goranson: That's going down to the wholesaler. And Byron. Byron, the cheapest unit, not knowing how to correctly install it. They could get it installed, but it's sized incorrectly. You want to have that support and for someone to be trained by that company, and a lot of times your warranty is based upon that. So that's a key right there to make sure that you've got that.

[00:34:42] Eric Goranson: Because if you're paying somebody to do it, why not have them do it? And that's really where I think one of the biggest things of hiring that non-licensed and bonded and insured contractor, uh, where that really can bite you, you know, outside of the, uh, you having the problems here with the, uh, with them being your employee and getting [00:35:00] hurt and you're having to pay their medical bills.

[00:35:01] Eric Goranson: That's a first one. So those are things that you need to be really careful with, but make sure that you've got the right people on the job. And the big thing is make sure you've got the right installation process, so the expensive materials that you're purchasing are gonna get there, and, um, make sure that they're getting installed correctly, uh, per the manufacturer's recommendations.

[00:35:22] Eric Goranson: So the, you're paying for it, you want it to hold up like it was intended. Now, one of the bigger topics I want to address here real quick at the end of the show as well of this hour is I want to talk a little bit about asking those questions. And making sure that you've got the right people on the project, for instance.

[00:35:39] Eric Goranson: So I can't tell you how many times that I see what are very complex plumbing questions being asked on social media, and then you get the 30 or so experts that are popping in that are, that are given the advice, and I'll be honest, if you're on asking that to even a professional, would be a complex [00:36:00] question.

[00:36:01] Eric Goranson: You really want to turn around and probably be bringing in. That homeowner, that that plumber a homeowner. When you're in over your head on that, if you're asking those questions on a social media page, I'll be honest, that is the best time to bring that plumber in to do it right. I can't tell you how many questions that popped up in my inbox that have pictures that, um, I know people are trying to be on a budget.

[00:36:25] Eric Goranson: I totally get that. But man, those complex situations, especially when you're talking with pipe that is 30 to 70 to a hundred years old, I want to get somebody in there to look at the, look at the poly look and see how that is put together. And is it, does it all need to be ripped out? Can you add to it?

[00:36:46] Eric Goranson: Can you replace a piece? These are all things that I really want you to make sure that you have addressed. And the same is with electrical, with complex electrical questions on social media. I would really like to see it where somebody gets in there. Puts their [00:37:00] hands on the project and starts taking a look at amperage and OMS and draw and all the things that you should be taking a look at with this that don't get addressed in a social media post.

[00:37:11] Eric Goranson: So there are things like that that I think you are just better off bringing in that pro and having that plumber on call. And that's something as a homeowner that I would do, unless you are an expert DIYer, know who that electrician is, know who your H V A C person is. Know who that plumbing company is you trust and that you've had out before.

[00:37:33] Eric Goranson: Because when you call to have that emergency, That's really the key right there, is to have them. They know who you are if you've done business with them before and they're coming out to fix a broken pipe, or they're fixing a, uh, an electrical issue that you've got at the house. Maybe a tree fell in the, in the, it damaged the pole coming into your, the line coming into your house, so it pulled something outta the panel or something.

[00:37:57] Eric Goranson: You wanna be first on the list and many [00:38:00] times these professionals, professions and professionals, when it's an existing customer, many times you get priority treatment. Then the new one because they know who they're working with. So I think it's great, just like when you know, you know who your doctor is, you know who the hospital is, you go to, you know who the ER is.

[00:38:19] Eric Goranson: Also good to have that with your building professionals, have those people know who they are, and that way you've got an account there and uh, they know where you live and when you call up, you can get somebody out there quickly because when there's been all these different damages out there and all these different things happening, Make sure that you've got that address.

[00:38:38] Eric Goranson: Cause I really wanna make sure that, uh, you get helped quickly without paying additional fees that cost you even more money. All right, everybody. Hey, make sure you tune in here each and every Saturday. We've got around the House Northwest. That is my TV show that airs over in here in Portland on Fox 12 Plus.

[00:38:55] Eric Goranson: So if you, uh, go to YouTube, Google Kpt V. Fox 12, and go to the [00:39:00] around the house tab that's on the playlist. You'll find all probably almost 50 videos we have over there that are answering a whole bunch of DIY questions, including some new made in USA stuff. All right everybody, this was the end of our number one.

[00:39:14] Eric Goranson: We've got so many more questions and our number two. Make sure and tune in. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. Come on and thanks for listening as always to around the house.