[00:00:00] Intro: It's

[00:00:04] Eric Goranson: around the house. Hey guys, Eric G here. We've got a jam pack show here for different interviews for different segments, because this is the best of 2023. And I included something new for you here in this hour in the second segment. Yeah. We're talking to AC Slater. What really? Yeah. We're talking Japanese toilets with Mario Lopez.

[00:00:27] Eric Goranson: You've seen him on the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller center to, uh, all the different celebrities. Access Hollywood and all those different things. So we've got a lot to show here. If you want to get ahold of us, give us a call at 833 239 4144. That's 833 239 4144. If you're not writing it down, don't worry.

[00:00:49] Eric Goranson: Just head over to aroundthehouseonline. com and you can find it there. I got the one and only Mario Lopez up. Let's do this. When it comes to

[00:00:57] Intro: remodeling

[00:00:57] Eric Goranson: and renovating your home, there is a [00:01:00] lot to know. But we've got you covered. This

[00:01:03] Intro: is a wrap.

[00:01:04] Eric Goranson: Mario Lopez has gone from Saved by the Bell to a two time Emmy Award winner and host of Access Hollywood and Access Daily and even has his own radio show on with Mario Lopez.

[00:01:16] Eric Goranson: Welcome to Around the House. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time today, man. I wanted to talk today about your 50th birthday and the party you gave for yourself in your bathroom remodel.

[00:01:29] Mario Lopez: Well, that wasn't much of a, that wasn't so much a party, although it feels like a party.

[00:01:34] Mario Lopez: It was more of a gift to myself, you know, hitting the fifth level. Um, you can't hide it anymore because people Google you so you can't lie about your age anymore. But I've never been one to like splurge. I don't go by. Expensive jewelry or cars or, uh, clothes for that matter. I don't go take like these crazy lavish vacations.

[00:01:55] Mario Lopez: I'm pretty conservative with, with my stuff and try to save for a rainy day kind of guy, [00:02:00] but I figure, you know, 50 is a big one and I wanted to, I wanted to treat myself to something. So, um, I saw, saw a South park episode, true story. And, uh, I've seen that one. See that one where they, where they get the, they get the, the

[00:02:16] Eric Goranson: new, the Japanese toilet.

[00:02:17] Eric Goranson: Oh yeah. The Japanese

[00:02:18] Mario Lopez: toilet. I forget whose dad was, it was not Kenny's dad. Who was it? One of their dads. Yeah. They get a Japanese toilet and I'm like, damn, does that really exist? And it was like, he wanted to have parties and serve everyone Indian food and have people come blow it up at his house. With this incredible toilet and it got me so intrigued.

[00:02:31] Mario Lopez: I'm like, does that exist? So I went down a rabbit hole and started Googling it. I'm like, damn, they do exist. That's awesome. And they're expensive, but they seem like a solid investment because. I, you know, you obviously spend time in there and, and, um, I didn't realize it can do so many cool things. And in the South Park, it was, it wasn't too far off.

[00:02:51] Mario Lopez: So I said to myself, you know what, I'm gonna treat myself for my 50th birthday.

[00:02:56] Eric Goranson: Nice man. Yeah. I was looking at the [00:03:00] pictures and I tell you what, that total new arrest NX two is the Cadillac. That thing is amazing. I got to see it at the big builder show earlier in the year. That thing is stunning. It's a beautiful toilet.

[00:03:11] Mario Lopez: It is. It's it's a, I would even say it's the Lamborghini Cadillac Lamborghini. It looks like an art piece and, um, it does everything for you. You need like a degree in engineering to be able to. Handle it or it would seem, but it's actually pretty easy. My friends are very impressed and jealous and, uh, yeah, it was,

[00:03:32] Eric Goranson: it was, it's cool.

[00:03:33] Eric Goranson: I was going to say, what has been in the response to your guests? Because I'm sure people coming over, you know, hitting the bathroom or whatever, they come out just like, what is that? Well, they're scared

[00:03:42] Mario Lopez: to use it, to be honest, because it looks like it's complicated, but it's really not. And then they, they ask a lot of questions and I said, yeah, it's cool, man.

[00:03:49] Mario Lopez: And um, it, uh, it's definitely a

[00:03:51] Eric Goranson: conversation starter. Yeah. No kidding. No kidding. So did you remodel the entire bathroom or did you just kind of keep a little more localized? [00:04:00] Well, the house

[00:04:00] Mario Lopez: itself is new. Okay. Um, so we didn't have to do too much remodeling. So that was just like a nice. Splurge, if you will.

[00:04:07] Eric Goranson: Nice. Yeah. And you know, you're a big health and wellness guy. Has that really changed how you look at things on your 50th birthday? Well, I've

[00:04:15] Mario Lopez: always made health a top priority and I always try to encourage people to make it their top priority because if you don't have that, well, good as anything else, you know, and now that I'm in the back nine of my life, um, I think you should focus on that more than ever.

[00:04:29] Mario Lopez: And a big part of that is self care.

[00:04:32] Eric Goranson: Amen, man. Amen. And so it's one of those things that, you know, I saw that same episode and, you know, I've been in this industry for a long time and I thought, wow, South Park did a great job of making an almost the best commercial for these, for these, uh, you know, beautiful bidet toilets, because they made a big deal out of it.

[00:04:49] Eric Goranson: And it even grabbed you in, which I think is absolutely hilarious.

[00:04:53] Mario Lopez: It did. The episode was funny, but it, it, it subliminally just got me intrigued. Um, and [00:05:00] yeah, I don't know if that's what they set out to do, but that's the true story of why I got into

[00:05:04] Eric Goranson: it. Nice. Has your family been up knocking on the door, trying to get you out of the bathroom now, because you know, we're guys, we tend to spend a little more time in the bathroom sometimes and go for a little solace from time to time.

[00:05:15] Mario Lopez: Oh, yeah. I just, I got three kids and two dogs, so I try to escape whenever I can. Um, but yeah, the, the wife knows where to find me and so do the kids for that matter.

[00:05:25] Eric Goranson: That is great. And I heard you've got a new game show coming out here too as well, right?

[00:05:30] Nick Schiffer: I do. I'm excited

[00:05:31] Mario Lopez: about that. It's called Blank Slate.

[00:05:33] Mario Lopez: It's premiering on GSN on January 9th and it's fun. It's a little like matching game. You have partners and teammates and there's comics that are involved and you try to do fill in the blank answers. Two popular questions and if you match up with your teammate, whoever ends up with the most points wins.

[00:05:50] Mario Lopez: There's nothing better than giving people money. Um, so it's a, it's a fun gig and I love games.

[00:05:55] Eric Goranson: Nice. Nice. That's going to be great. When's that coming out again? January 9th [00:06:00] on the game show. Now. Perfect man. Well, Mario, thanks for taking the time today, man. And I really appreciate it. You guys are doing some great stuff.

[00:06:08] Eric Goranson: I mean, you're gotta be one of the busiest working men's in Hollywood. Oh, I

[00:06:12] Mario Lopez: appreciate it. Yeah. I feel very blessed with the radio show on with Mario and I heart and access daily and access Hollywood. Um, and, uh, the game show coming up blank slate, uh, excited about, uh, all the other stuff we got going on with the holiday movie and stuff.

[00:06:25] Mario Lopez: So yeah, I feel very fortunate that we're as busy as we are. Yeah.

[00:06:28] Eric Goranson: And, and geez, I saw you at the tree lighting. That looked beautiful. That looks stunning.

[00:06:32] Mario Lopez: That was a good time. Yeah. New York's always fun. That time of year, a little cold, but, uh,

[00:06:36] Eric Goranson: well worth it. Exactly. Hey brother, thanks for taking the time today.

[00:06:39] Eric Goranson: I really appreciate it. You got it. My pleasure. Nice talking to you. You too. All right. Take care. You know, I do have to sit here and say that Mario Lopez is 1 of the kindest and nicest guys in Hollywood. And, uh, boy, what a pleasure to sit down and talk with him. And, you know, something I just so funny to me when you look at [00:07:00] that episode of South Park, where they were kind of.

[00:07:03] Eric Goranson: You know, maybe making fun of bidet toilets, but you know, something more people have connected with that episode, it's almost been, you know, the absolute best sales piece for a generation, which I think is absolutely hilarious. And I got to thank Toto because, you know, Toto, if you are not familiar with them, you've got to check them out.

[00:07:27] Eric Goranson: I have used them as my toilet of choice in my remodels that I've worked with, with clients for the plat, you know, for the past 20 years. And That has been my go to brand. I'm sorry, Kohler. I'm sorry, American Standard. By the way, Toto makes more toilets and says sold them for 20 years, more than American Standard, Kohler combined.

[00:07:49] Eric Goranson: But if you want to have something that is nice, if you want to have something that is going to be reliable, and something that is going to work well, Toto [00:08:00] is the way to go. And you know, they have never paid me a cent to say that. But I tell you what I wave their flag every single year. They make the best stuff in the marketplace out there.

[00:08:13] Eric Goranson: And I always say that if you're out there doing a rental, go, don't go, don't go down to the home center and buy the 200 toilet there. Because you know something, the first time your renter flushes something down the toilet, they weren't supposed to guess what you're calling the plumber out there at three o'clock in the morning.

[00:08:30] Eric Goranson: And you know something, if you spend a little bit more and get like a Toto Drake or something like that, You're gonna be so much better off. So I wave the flag of Toto very, very fondly because they have not done me wrong In 20 plus years and those guys have been wonderful to work with over the years Now if you're looking at a bidet toilet seat, I tell you what those guys Whether you're looking at the, uh, total washlet or something even nicer, that is the only way to fly.

[00:08:59] Eric Goranson: [00:09:00] And it's so funny because we did a segment here a number of years ago, uh, probably four or five, maybe six years ago. I did where we had one of those, uh, you know, 99 or a hundred dollars. The day toilet seats that were off the Internet and you know something it did exactly what it said. It was gonna do It's a hundred dollar toilet seat.

[00:09:20] Eric Goranson: And unless you like using cold water and an uncomfortable cold seat That's probably for you. But if you want something more refined Toto is the way to go. Alright guys, we got three more interviews. Don't go changing that dial. We're just getting started. Around the House will be right

[00:09:36] Intro: back.[00:10:00]

[00:10:09] Intro: What's up? This is Dixon Inya. And Satchel from

[00:10:12] Eric Goranson: Steel Panther. And

[00:10:13] Intro: you are listening to

[00:10:15] Mario Lopez: Around the House with Eric G.

[00:10:17] Eric Goranson: Yeah.

[00:10:18] Mario Lopez: We love Eric G and you should

[00:10:21] Intro: too.

[00:10:26] Eric Goranson: Welcome to around the house show. This is where we talk everything about your home every single week. Thanks for joining us today. I don't know why this is the first time he's being on the show, but Matt Whitbeck, Whitbeck construction. Welcome to around the house, brother. Thanks for having me, man. Really appreciate it.

[00:10:44] Eric Goranson: This is great, man. I mean, you and I go way back from sharing stages to even watching you film those Lowe's commercial pieces kind of that were those education pieces with my buddy time. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:58] Matt Whitbeck: How's it going to hook up? Ty's [00:11:00] awesome. Got to come out and see you guys on the West coast. Do a little bit of touring out there.

[00:11:04] Matt Whitbeck: I was a lot of

[00:11:05] Eric Goranson: fun. Yeah, man. And then sheesh got to see you, your mug on the TV all this last year with, uh, you being the official contractor for this old house project. Yeah,

[00:11:17] Matt Whitbeck: we get to do season 43, uh, with this old house, Saratoga Springs, which, uh, was, was really neat. Cause. I grew up watching this old house, uh, you know, lived on the end of a dead end road in the middle of nowhere.

[00:11:29] Matt Whitbeck: And we had like the funky, crazy giant antenna. So we had like four stations and one of them was PBS. And then that was the jam, man. I loved

[00:11:38] Eric Goranson: it. Dude. Sam, that's, I think I would not be doing what I'm doing about that show. And, uh, I've awkwardly told Kevin and everybody else on that show the same thing, because they're, you know, one, it's just real.

[00:11:49] Eric Goranson: It's just so real. And, you know, it's honest, which I love what, what was the experience for you going through that, man? We'll just dive into that. Cause that's gotta be some hoops to jump through to begin with. [00:12:00]

[00:12:00] Matt Whitbeck: Yeah. Yeah. So a little bit of filming experience doing a little less than that. I did do a couple of commercials and some, um, You know, video work with a YouTube series with Lowe's called building science, which was really cool.

[00:12:14] Matt Whitbeck: So I had at least a little bit of experience with working on camera. Um, but I didn't know what to expect cause I've seen some various things between doing like a, a simple, small YouTube show to doing some commercials. You see various things between audio and video. Um, I did work with one. Professional actor doing some commercials, which was really neat to later on, turn on a television and see him on like an actual movie.

[00:12:38] Matt Whitbeck: And I'm like, holy cow. I know that guy.

[00:12:41] Eric Goranson: Um, so

[00:12:42] Matt Whitbeck: I mean, you don't quite know what to expect when you get into something that's supposed to be reality TV because you hear. All kinds of crazy stuff about what's scripted, what isn't. And one of the, um, heads of the, um, film group when we were doing the Lowe's stuff, you know, he does a whole bunch of, um, [00:13:00] reality TV stuff.

[00:13:01] Matt Whitbeck: Like one of the race car shows that's on. And, um, so he's giving me some of that stuff, you know, telling me about what happened. So I didn't know what to expect. And when I got into it, like you said, it's real, it's actually happening. We're building the house. They're coming in. It's a lot of, um, You know, the various professional members of their staff coming in to do interviews with all of our trade partners.

[00:13:25] Matt Whitbeck: And it's, it was great. It was refreshing to find out that what I hoped and thought it might be. It was as authentic as it really

[00:13:32] Eric Goranson: was. It's funny growing up. I always thought the show was different, but now that I've, you know, been in the, in this industry for about 30 years now, I start to think of it different as it's not this old house building a house they're coming on, for instance, to whip back construction and almost reporting on the progress.

[00:13:52] Eric Goranson: Is that accurate? Yeah, that is pretty

[00:13:55] Matt Whitbeck: accurate. I mean, Tom Silva owns a contracting company with his brother. [00:14:00] So they do a lot of contracting for this old house. So there is a bit of it where it's kind of like a lot of the members of this old house are working on a house. So they work on projects kind of exclusively, I should say exclusively, but a lot of the projects they work on are being filmed for this old house in some capacity, if it's asked for this old house or, you know, even for like small clips, but, um, when they come on, yeah, they're, they're kind of acting, um, more in the reporting.

[00:14:29] Matt Whitbeck: Aspect of things. So they come on and they're sort of interviewing people and a lot of what they do. And I love this about what they do is they're really trying to shed a good light on the professional contractors, what their, their real day to day grind is, and the things that they're bringing to the table that are important or interesting, uh, that most people want to get that kind of behind the scenes view.

[00:14:52] Matt Whitbeck: If they didn't have that show of seeing how these contractors are putting things together. So they, they pay a really great homage [00:15:00] to the everyday subcontractor and builder.

[00:15:03] Eric Goranson: You know, that's great. And those guys just, you know, it's, it's interesting because you know, they come on the show, they, they know the challenges, but for me, even with my experience, your experience, there's always something I get out of that show.

[00:15:15] Eric Goranson: Every time I watch it going, Oh, that's interesting. We don't do it that way out here or whatever it is. Yeah. And that's the fun part with that.

[00:15:23] Matt Whitbeck: Yeah, it is. It's, and it's nice. And those guys, because they do all of those things and, you know, you and I have both worked with, with guys like Kevin Ireton. So, you know, Kevin being the editor of final home building for decades, they get to interview so many people.

[00:15:38] Matt Whitbeck: So they have just this amazing encyclopedia, just full of interesting tricks that we don't get to see when we're kind of ingrained in our own local color. You know, so that's one of the awesome parts about them touring around the country and just really trying to pay a great light on, um, what's happening out there and what people are going through, because we don't all do it the same [00:16:00] way, but we're not all dealing with the same environment, you know, we're, we're building habitat for human beings, but it's in different environments,

[00:16:07] Eric Goranson: so.

[00:16:09] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. And Kevin, jeez, what a, just a wealth of knowledge. And that's 1 of the things looking back and I'm not really doing the stage much anymore, just because this media things kind of been keeping me 100%. But, uh, man, some of the stuff I learned by just watching and listening to. Everybody from their different perspectives, you know, with all the different people, whether it's you, whether it's Walt, whether it's Kevin, you know, that whole group and many more, um, just such a great brain trust.

[00:16:38] Eric Goranson: And it's so fun, like you mentioned, because something that you do up there and and. Saratoga, New York, and something I do in Portland, Oregon, maybe we have the general ideas, but so many times it's done a different way just because of climate, construction, or even materials that we're using that are different.

[00:16:57] Eric Goranson: Yeah, they

[00:16:57] Matt Whitbeck: have things that we're just accustomed to, you know, like, [00:17:00] you know, is it a jack or a trimmer?

[00:17:02] Eric Goranson: Great question. What

[00:17:04] Matt Whitbeck: are we putting in there? You know, is it worm drive or direct drive? You know, there's certain things guys, just you move around the country. And that's just a staple thing. You know, it's, it's like

[00:17:15] Eric Goranson: PBR Budweiser or something.

[00:17:17] Eric Goranson: People just

[00:17:18] Matt Whitbeck: have what they're used to. And that's the thing where you are and everybody's just accustomed to it. But that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't doing something that's super similar or using slightly different vernacular for what it is. Um, at the end of the day, I mean, we're, we're not.

[00:17:34] Matt Whitbeck: Really reinventing much, you know, buildings been happening for so long. We're just trying to come up with creative ways to do it and kind of do it economically for people. Um, and that's, that's really what's important, I guess. Right.

[00:17:48] Eric Goranson: Yeah. And you know, climate's part of it too. I mean, like you were talking about, I mean, for instance, my neighbor's got a, a, a big waterline leak right now in front of his house.

[00:17:56] Eric Goranson: It's running down my driveway. They're going to be digging that up here soon, but [00:18:00] I got to put it at 18 inches underground here because of our climate. Yeah. Wouldn't be doing that up in your area. No, I mean, if

[00:18:06] Matt Whitbeck: you can see behind

[00:18:07] Eric Goranson: me here, you know, we,

[00:18:11] Matt Whitbeck: we got snow already and it's sticking, it's not melting.

[00:18:15] Matt Whitbeck: Um, but you know where I am, it's kind of funny because, um, a short commute away, I drive like eight, nine minutes down the mountain. And there's no snow, so that's kind of the funny part about where we are, you know, not too much different from where you are in Portland, right? You drive up and on snow driving to Portland, you're in the bay and

[00:18:33] Eric Goranson: things are different.

[00:18:34] Eric Goranson: Don't go anywhere around the house. We'll be right back with my favorite interviews of 2023.[00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Intro: Hey, this is

[00:19:01] Eric Goranson: Ron Keel, the metal cowboy from Keel, the Ron

[00:19:04] Intro: Keel band and Steeler. We are rocking around the house with Eric G. Ray is

[00:19:11] Eric Goranson: welcome to the around the house show. This is where we talk everything about your house every single week. Thanks for joining us. We've got a special guest in the studio today.

[00:19:21] Eric Goranson: Nick Schiffer, welcome to around the house, man. What's up,

[00:19:24] Nick Schiffer: man? I'm glad to be here. Appreciate it. Happy to have ya!

[00:19:27] Eric Goranson: I have seen you on the different NHB stages and everything else. You and I, like, kinda cross paths between friends and stuff, but never have really spent time

[00:19:35] Nick Schiffer: together. Yeah, I, I, I As I dug into, like, who you are and how, like, what you do in the industry, I'm like, how have we not met?

[00:19:42] Nick Schiffer: It's, it's, it's interesting, especially, I feel like it's so, even when you go to the, the like IBS and things like that, I feel like I see the same people and it's, and it's people that even live in Boston that I never see in Boston, but then I'll go to the, a million square foot trade show and I'll [00:20:00] bump into them six times.

[00:20:02] Nick Schiffer: How does that work? Right? Yeah. I don't know. So,

[00:20:05] Eric Goranson: yeah, we have a lot of common friends. It's hilarious. Well, man, you have been doing so much good stuff out there with NS builders, and I mean, you're just legendary in the Boston scene across the U S as well, but let's talk about you and your chops a little bit.

[00:20:17] Eric Goranson: Cause uh, sure. You do a lot of the stuff that I love my, my background kitchen designer for 30 years. So I did a lot of the interior modeling stuff, a lot of that kind of stuff that you've done on the, on the, on the remodeling side as well. Luxury home.

[00:20:31] Nick Schiffer: Yeah, yeah. I mean, for me, you know, especially when we started growing as a business and outside of just being a carpenter or a carpentry business, that's where I really kind of sat my, my role into kind of helping design.

[00:20:46] Nick Schiffer: I'm not a designer. I'm not an architect. I don't, I don't have any licensing or training in it, but that's where I started really pushing the level of, Detail and how we executed particular things. Um, and that's where, you know, a lot of my [00:21:00] mind just kind of got encapsulated by how do we do this better?

[00:21:03] Nick Schiffer: How do we, how do we make this detail better or cooler? Uh, and, and most of the time that works out for me, there's been the handful of times where I make something quote unquote cooler and it becomes wildly expensive and a nightmare to maintain and my guys hate me for it. But. The, you know, the point is, is I, I like to challenge the normal way of, uh, doing something and constantly question, like, how do we do this better?

[00:21:26] Nick Schiffer: What can we do to make this better? Well, and

[00:21:29] Eric Goranson: you come from a part of the country where, where the craft is big, you know? I mean, I've worked all over the country with, with different people like you have, you know, and. There's just something about the old world craftsmanship of the Northeast. And it's cool.

[00:21:46] Nick Schiffer: It is. And I guess part of me is a little bit. Naive to that where I just think it's normal. And then when I do travel to different parts of the country, people are like, yeah, you're so lucky, man. Like craftsmanship is like still a thing up there. [00:22:00] Like, what do you mean? Like I'm walking a project here in California and this is pretty awesome.

[00:22:04] Nick Schiffer: Like, yeah, man, but it's, it's just different. It's, you know, it's not put together the same way with the same type of people. They're just not, there's not that many of them, you know, in different parts of the country. And you know, I think about that when we talk about on the, the, the modern craftsman, it's, you know, we, we, we oftentimes talk about the Northeast and like our market.

[00:22:24] Nick Schiffer: And even when we talk about money, it's, it's really difficult to understand that, you know, a lot of what we talk about doesn't relate to the majority of the population. It's tough. Yeah. And, and. And I, and I feel like we, we, we try to do a good job about, you know, calling that out and, and being true to the fact that we don't know, you know, the entire market across the U S.

[00:22:44] Nick Schiffer: But yeah, I mean, I'm, I, I, I do feel fortunate that we are in the Northeast and there's a lot of people that love craftsmanship and I'm hoping that, you know, what we're doing with creating awareness on social and podcasts and things like that, that we're, you know, [00:23:00] encouraging people to get into it. Um, because it, you know, I have a lot of thoughts on this, but it's not a, it's, it's not an easy career to be in.

[00:23:11] Nick Schiffer: Um, and it's not something that is, you know, there, there's this kind of, I don't know if we want to go down this path, but you know, there's this kind of over glorification of, Hey, you can be super wealthy in the trades. And I don't think that that's false, but I do think that there's too much focus on it in the sense that.

[00:23:30] Nick Schiffer: You know, this isn't a career that you get into because you want to be uber wealthy. This is a career that you get into because you are passionate about it, and can you make a good living on it? Of course. Can you support your family? Of course. But It's hard work,

[00:23:45] Eric Goranson: no matter what way too much struggle here to be a get rich quick scheme.

[00:23:49] Eric Goranson: That's

[00:23:50] Nick Schiffer: for sure. And it's very hard work. It's very labor intensive. And there, there has to be that balance between, yes, I know I can be successful. I know I can make a good [00:24:00] living and support my family. At the expense of the fact that I truly love working with my hands and working with my body and, and, and doing laborious work.

[00:24:11] Nick Schiffer: And I think that, you know, that just needs, there needs to be a bigger conversation around that because I think a lot of, you know, some people get into, you know, particular trades or, or careers because they think it's the fastest way to wealth and, you know, that it just. It's not, that's not entirely true, especially in, in construction related fields.

[00:24:33] Eric Goranson: Well, you think about it, that's where that craft of craftsmanship comes in, right? It's a craft and you have, you're always learning that craft. You walk on and do something different. You're learning. I'm learning. There's always a learning process to this. You're never done learning in this craft.

[00:24:52] Nick Schiffer: Yeah. I mean, that's, and that's one of the best parts and that's what I love about it is, you know, everything we do, you know, like I said, I challenge it [00:25:00] and, you know, we have material millwork now where, you know, I get to dig into the details with Ken and Ian and James in the shop and, and talk about, you know, how we make something cooler.

[00:25:11] Nick Schiffer: You know, like how do we, we're building this pantry right now. That's a big slat wall. And there's a pot, there was a pocket door detailed on it. I'm like, man, it would be really cool. If when that door shut, it flushed out with the face of it. So when you step back, it didn't look like there was a door there.

[00:25:26] Nick Schiffer: Nice. Sure enough, we sourced the hardware, tested it. It works. It looks dope and it's, you know, and was it necessary? No, but it, we accomplished, accomplished something different that now when that end user Experience is it? And I think that's a key word is like the experience. They have a different experience.

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: Yeah. And I want to go back and make sure that I'm not ripping on here. All the crass people that we have across the U. S. And I'm just saying, Oh, you're in Southern California. You're not that I want to make sure and not leave that hanging for all you guys out there. But [00:26:00] yeah. There's just seems to be a, you know, in your area up there, just more of an appreciation of that.

[00:26:05] Eric Goranson: And there are some great people all across the

[00:26:07] Nick Schiffer: country. Oh, 100%. I just densely populated up here. Yeah. Yeah. Where it's, it's very spread out there. And, you know, I don't know. I, I it's, it's something I struggle with, you know, just, uh, trying to position myself as. Someone that wants to help the industry as a whole and be, you know, incredibly aware of all these markets and, and what type of people are in these trades.

[00:26:31] Nick Schiffer: And yeah, I mean, I'm with you. I'm not ripping on any part of the country or any, any market or anyone that's in different parts that truly does love the craft. It's just that it's, you know, at least it's something that's communicated pretty often that the Northeast is densely packed with people that appreciate craft on both sides more than other

[00:26:49] Eric Goranson: areas.

[00:26:50] Eric Goranson: You know, it's funny. And I learned this a few years ago. I was up in Boston speaking for the N. R. N. R. L. A. Up there for the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association. Up there. [00:27:00] I was talking home tack to a bunch of lumber yards that weren't ready to talk home tech yet because they're very old school and I appreciate that, but they weren't ready to consume that yet.

[00:27:12] Eric Goranson: So I've seen the other side of that too, where sometimes technology Gets to be a little slower because that old world craftsmanship is the way

[00:27:20] Nick Schiffer: to go. Yeah, it's, it's interesting, man. You know, I think we, you know, it's when you talk about tech, right. And I think about software and how things are developing so quickly.

[00:27:33] Nick Schiffer: There's all of the, I mean, there's. An enormous amount of people in the tech space for construction right now. And there's, everyone is coming up with a new, new idea to do something faster. And I see a lot of it, but a lot of them reach out to me. I have a friend of mine who's really in that space that constantly is getting my feedback on things.

[00:27:54] Nick Schiffer: And I saw a product yesterday where it's, you know, designed to help, you know, commercial construction wall [00:28:00] layout on big, you know, concrete slabs. Right. And I'm like, love the idea. I watched the video. And it was like, first you do this, and then this, and then you do that, and then you, and then all of like step 13, I'm like, dude, Lost me.

[00:28:12] Nick Schiffer: Yeah, you lost me, like, this, this, this is just a different way of doing it, like, you were trying to change the way we do something, rather than, Make it more efficient.

[00:28:25] Eric Goranson: Yeah, if you're gonna cut the steps by half awesome But if I'm gonna learn days of process to do the same thing and

[00:28:32] Nick Schiffer: that's and I think that's just like that With craftsmanship

[00:28:36] Eric Goranson: around the house.

[00:28:37] Eric Goranson: I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere[00:29:00]

[00:29:06] Eric Goranson: Welcome 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 Well, we got a special guest in the studio because, you know, there are so many people out there that are tackling larger projects and, of course, probably haven't done it before.

[00:29:23] Eric Goranson: And Corbin Clay really has this new program helped, designed to help you out. Welcome to Around the House, my friend.

[00:29:31] Corbin Clay: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

[00:29:33] Eric Goranson: Let's talk a little bit about you, man, and your background, because you come from a fun background and before we get into what you're doing, I think we need to tell your story a little bit.

[00:29:43] Corbin Clay: Yeah, absolutely. I, um, I, uh, out of high school went to a, um, motorcycle mechanic school. Nice coincidentally enough and long story short, um, turns out I do not care why your turn signal doesn't work [00:30:00] or why that tire keeps going flat. Now, if you want to make it look better or go faster, let's chat. So it turns out, um, to do that, you know, professionally, uh, at a manufacturer's level requires an engineering degree.

[00:30:15] Corbin Clay: So, um, flash to or cut to 22-year-old Corbin , kind of a, kind of a heart to heart with myself. Do I want to be, because I didn't go to college. Yeah. So it's like, okay, do I want to be a 22-year-old freshman entry level of my career at probably 28, 29 Or I'd happened to have gotten a remodeling job to help pay for the community college I just enrolled in.

[00:30:45] Corbin Clay: Yep. Um, or do I want to maybe explore this woodworking thing because I really liked the kitchen and bath part of that specific remodeling job. So, yep, made the decision to [00:31:00] go full steam ahead with it. Um, 2 weeks later, I joined an apprenticeship at a cabinet shop, a pretty high end cabinet shop in Clearwater, Florida.

[00:31:09] Corbin Clay: And then, yeah, we're off to the races. So I did a two year apprenticeship, then moved to Boulder, Colorado. And there I ran a cabinet shop for a while. They kind of morphed into a, um, a furniture shop and then they had ultimately closed. Meanwhile, I was learning about. The 4 million acres of dead pine trees that are in the Colorado Rocky mountains from the result of a beetle infestation.

[00:31:36] Corbin Clay: I don't know if you guys have any of them. I know California certainly does.

[00:31:40] Eric Goranson: Yeah. We still have them here too. They just, they're just sitting out

[00:31:42] Corbin Clay: there ready to burn. Exactly. So British Columbia has 40 million of these dead countries. So anyway, um, you know, while I was working for this, uh, this cabinet company, we would have customers often ask us like, Hey, why don't you guys do anything with this pine?

[00:31:59] Corbin Clay: [00:32:00] All these dead pine trees just sitting there. Why don't you guys do anything with it? And honestly, I didn't have a good answer for them. I thought, surely it's, it's, you know, it's good. It's too soft or it's, um, the infestation. There has to be a reason why no one is doing anything about this. Um, so I reached out to the, um, U.

[00:32:20] Corbin Clay: S. Forest Service and the forestry department, Colorado State University. Turns out there's a big outbreak back in the 80s of the exact same beetle, the exact same problem. It comes from the winter is not being as cold, so the beetles don't die off every year. Well, there was just this confluence of, it was kind of a perfect storm.

[00:32:40] Corbin Clay: You had warmer winters and couple that with basically no age diversity in the forest. When we moved West in the industrial revolution, we basically cut down like every tree in the forest. So then all of the trees are about the same age. So now all the trees are kind of [00:33:00] old. And and more, um, susceptible to an infestation.

[00:33:04] Corbin Clay: So that's why I just gone crazy because the beetles are killing trees year round and most of the trees in the forest are old and weak. So that's why I started my company was to create as many good things as we can from that. Toothpicks, pencils, furniture. Whatever anybody wants to buy that we can make.

[00:33:23] Corbin Clay: Let's see how much of a good situation we can get from a really bad situation. Um, I, that company got much bigger than I ever planned on it than it getting. Um, and, uh, I'm very much a product customer facing. Uh, fellow, I'm not very interested in, in, um, you know, corporate operations and that type of stuff, but at scale, you need all these things.

[00:33:49] Corbin Clay: So, so in 2019, we decided, well, actually earlier we decided to sell the company. But in 2019, we sold that business. I then got into, [00:34:00] um, custom spec building. Okay. Um, some for ourselves, others, you know, to, to sell. So then I got this awesome education over the course of three years. With, um, green building design, you know, performance building, um, yeah, just, I mean, just really nerding out on building science and how to do things properly and post sell, open sell, all that stuff.

[00:34:22] Corbin Clay: Um, Oh, there's so much to it. And the thing is, is you move, you move this one and then three things over here. Oh

[00:34:30] Eric Goranson: yeah. It's a chess game.

[00:34:32] Corbin Clay: Yeah. And it's, you know, we get asked a lot of way home, for example, it's like, should I use spray foam? And it's like, well, we need to, well, I mean, hold on now, like, is your crawl space, is your crawl space sealed?

[00:34:44] Corbin Clay: Because if your crawl space isn't sealed, putting spray foam on the roof probably isn't going to do that much. No. But now if your entire house is, is fairly airtight, then yes, get that spray foam up there because that'll air seal as well. You know, so there's just, there's so many variables. [00:35:00] So yeah, to your point, it's just like, there are very few, there are very few, just one size fits all answers.

[00:35:08] Corbin Clay: And you know, no matter what research you do, unless you have all the information, like that phrase, you don't know what you don't know is really, really applicable to, to home building and furniture and the trades and finishes.

[00:35:22] Eric Goranson: Yeah. So building science. So, I mean, this is something that's evolving. What you learned 10 years ago, doesn't relate to today.

[00:35:30] Eric Goranson: Right.

[00:35:31] Corbin Clay: Yeah. The notion that houses need to breathe, like we want leaky windows and leaky roofs because we're, we're breathing in air from the crawl space, the vented crawl space. And then we're extending through. It's like, no, how about we don't do that? How about we, how about we not, um, breathe in the filthy air from the crawl space, the unsealed vented crawl space?

[00:35:49] Corbin Clay: Like why don't we put an ERV in or an HRB? Wouldn't that be,

[00:35:52] Eric Goranson: wouldn't that be better? And you know, I think one of the biggest problems in that whole space of high performance homes. [00:36:00] Is that you have, I'm going to make a number up. You have 20 big companies out there that are making parts and pieces of the puzzle, but they have, they don't work together to see how they can all work together.

[00:36:13] Eric Goranson: If you're taking on a project and I've learned this with the projects I'm doing, where I got to call five companies. I know it's going to take me 10 times as long because I have to read through the fine print to see where the problems are just to get those five companies to play well together and they mean to play well together, but the instructions don't overlap.

[00:36:33] Eric Goranson: Right,

[00:36:34] Corbin Clay: right. So, yeah, I mean, it's, you know, you take that, you take all the confusion, you take a lot of bad information, you take. Um, every builder in the country approaching it differently, um, for better or for worse. Yeah. Basically no standardization in the industry. Um, the code only goes so far. The code is effectively there for safety.

[00:36:57] Corbin Clay: It doesn't necessarily apply. The crown molding is not in the [00:37:00] code. Um, cabinet door adjustment isn't in the code. Cabinet door finishes isn't in the code, you know, you

[00:37:06] Eric Goranson: and I could go install a kitchen. That was one inch out of level, including the uppers and they'd sign off on it. Even though everything's going to be sliding around in those cabinets because it's out of level, it's not covered.

[00:37:20] Corbin Clay: Just don't keep your marble collection in that cabinet, right? Yeah.

[00:37:25] Eric Goranson: Round put

[00:37:25] Corbin Clay: in the drawer. It's fine. But, um, but yeah, so there's that frustration coupled with throughout my entire career, you know, in the trades, I would have friends and family often didn't reach out and they would just sort of had a.

[00:37:41] Corbin Clay: You know, bathroom remodeled or kitchen countertops put in or whatever. And they would just say, you know, they, Hey, can we FaceTime you real quick? Like, yeah, of course. What's up? And they go, well, here, we just got this. Figured marble countertops. That was pretty veining. And the seam is right there, like, is that normal?

[00:37:57] Corbin Clay: And then it's, you know, it's all, it's all chewed up and it's [00:38:00] got, you know, a gallon of putty in it. And I go, well did you, did you see a rendering? You know where they did the, yeah. What was the layer took your exact, yeah, they took your exact slab and they mocked it up. Yeah, we saw it. Okay. Is that what it looks like?

[00:38:13] Corbin Clay: No. Did you a hundred percent have a case that is not right. I'd find a picture online like this is what a scene should look like done properly and, you know, whatever courts countertop or whatever. So, like, here's what you need to say to get that person to come back. Hopefully we've withheld money. Yeah, we've got 40 percent left.

[00:38:31] Corbin Clay: Great. That's your leverage and I just kind of coach him up and give him a bunch of good, like, visual assets for lack of a better word, videos or photos, and then say, let me know how it goes. And it's just always bothered me, like, what do people, the millions of people that have. Their countertops installed incorrectly or have someone botched their floors or go into a new build or a remodel just with this feeling of anxiety and, and, uh, [00:39:00] apprehension because no one's really just

[00:39:02] Eric Goranson: looking out for them.

[00:39:03] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning into around the house show today. If you want more information about us, head over to around the house, online. com. We'll be back next week with an all brand new episode. Happy holidays, and thanks for tuning in to Around the House. Enjoy

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