[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house for the contract to be working there. That's highway robbery. These people are crooks. And I'm like, if they're charging you 50 an hour, I'm concerned that we have bigger issues. Like they're undercharging you. And these guys are going to run away because they decided to do something that is, um, well, a problem because a contractor that underbids it is just as dangerous as someone that overbids it.

[00:00:31] Eric Goranson: The overbids it well, guess. You're going to, they're going to be, you're going to be paying extra for that. But the underbid, there's a high chance that they're going to get into a project, realize that they're upside down on that project. And so the next thing that happens is, is they bail on you or they take shortcuts to try to make up for it.

[00:00:49] Eric Goranson: So you want to have a contractor that did a legitimate bid and got it there. So be very careful. When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to [00:01:00] know, but we've got you covered. Is around the house, welcome to the round the house show. can find out more about us over at around the house, online.

[00:01:18] Eric Goranson: com. It doesn't matter if you're listening on the radio and the talk media network, or if you're catching the podcast, which can be heard on any podcast player. Well, today I wanted to talk about something that I've seen, uh, you know, we've talked about it in a year or so ago, but, uh, one, one thing I wanted to talk about today that was really important is how bad information on social media groups and influencers causes construction mistakes.

[00:01:42] Eric Goranson: And here are my top 10 things of bad advice that I see on the internet today when someone sits there on social media. Especially in one of these Facebook groups, um, and posts up and says, Hey, I've got this and I've got this going on. [00:02:00] And I tell you what, the bad questions. And the even worse answers get tough.

[00:02:07] Eric Goranson: And, and here's one of the things that I really see out there that gets tough. So many people out there want to tackle those projects themselves as homeowners. And they go on to the social media groups asking for help. Okay, where do I start? How do I do this? And it's all under good intentions. They're trying to figure it out.

[00:02:26] Eric Goranson: But what happens is, is the deluge of conflicting information, of bad information, mixed with good information, and well, maybe outdated information, because that's how we did it 30 or 40 years ago. That is where things get tough to navigate. So I wanted to kind of give you an idea here. If you're out doing this, if you're out taking a look, what are some of the warning signs to watch out for if you're getting information that way?

[00:02:50] Eric Goranson: Because so many people now turn to the internet to get information and sometimes it's just plain wrong. And so I wanted to talk about that today to see if we can help you [00:03:00] get on the right track. So let's just start out here with number 10, which is probably my most favorite slash unfavorite comment that I see out there.

[00:03:12] Eric Goranson: And you see this when you have, um, maybe it's one of the tile groups out there that I'm in or it's one of the home improvement groups. Uh, and there's a lot of, uh, a lot of them. What I see is this statement right here. I've been a contractor for 30 years. And I've always done it this way, and I've never had any callbacks.

[00:03:36] Eric Goranson: This is like the poster child of somebody taught me this bad habit 30 years ago. I've done it that way, and no one's ever busted me for it failing. Even though, quite frankly, I might have done it wrong the entire time, and there's not a contractor out there that will tell you. I mean, here's the thing.[00:04:00]

[00:04:00] Eric Goranson: There's not a contractor out there that's going to sit there and lie to you and say, well, I've always known. No, every single one of us out there that have been in this trade. We had some bad habits that we learned from somebody. And then later on, we figured out we're wrong. And through continue education, I'm Through, uh, material upgrades, things like that, you know, you used to see in the 70s, people putting tile in, in bathtubs around the shower surround, they would put green board up there and then, um, put up some mastic and install tile and grow out over the top of it.

[00:04:33] Eric Goranson: And everybody thought that was fine, but then 7 years later, it starts leaking. It starts coming apart. People haven't maintained it. And then the drywall, which just has a water resistant coating on the top of it, the stuff on the inside the same. Yeah. But all of a sudden things start failing, but the experience from these people are not that someone actually called them up with a warranty and said, you had to come back and fix it.

[00:04:57] Eric Goranson: There could have been a [00:05:00] just a decade of destruction behind them as people have gone along and had to repair their work. But people were so frustrated or they just went, wow, this guy didn't know what he was doing that all of a sudden guess what they never had got called on their bad work and they just kept doing it and kept going down the road and no one ever held him accountable.

[00:05:22] Eric Goranson: So they never got any callbacks because people went, ooh, I'm not calling you back. I get that, but these are where the bad information comes from. And this is just my number 10 and it gets better from here. So be really careful. Um, you know, there's a lot of great contractors out there that have learned continuing education as they get along that, uh, you know, they've stayed up with technologies and are now really on top of what they're doing.

[00:05:49] Eric Goranson: There's a lot though that have, um, well, they're still using their flip phone and we'll leave it at that. And that's, that's where they've only done it one way and they have not decided to push [00:06:00] themselves and move along with the times. So be really careful with that. That's number 10. Number 9 is something I just talked about here.

[00:06:08] Eric Goranson: But again, I mean, I just literally had this 1 on a discussion today where, uh, in 1 of the, uh, 1 of the remodeling groups. A homeowner went on and said, Hey, how do I do, you know, should I do red guard? Should I do waterproofing over the top of my concrete board before I put my tile up in my shower? And one guy came up and he went for the two for today because he actually hit the, well, I've been doing it forever.

[00:06:34] Eric Goranson: I never had a call back, but then. He explains to this homeowner that waterproofing is not always necessary, but then he starts showing pictures of a Schluter system install that he did that was really messy, but at least it was there and, you know, it was an install and showed him how he does it right.

[00:06:55] Eric Goranson: And, and again, I think this is one of those things. Where, [00:07:00] you know, he had the best intentions, but again, was steering this customer. Um, if he was, since he was a contractor, it would've been his customer or a homeowner that was just trying to ask, ask a question that didn't know any better. And so that's really where these mistakes happen.

[00:07:16] Eric Goranson: So here's what I would do in if, for instance, with the, with the waterproofing in a shower, I would jump on. And before asking that I would jump on to Google or duck, duck, go, or whatever you're using out there, edge, Safari, jump on there and say, what are the best waterproofing systems for a tile shower now that you've got brands.

[00:07:39] Eric Goranson: Go back and watch their training videos. They all have them. You can figure it out in that way. You can find out the information from the companies that they do, because all these companies that make these systems have some kind of a video training system for their consumers, contractors, remodelers, tile setters.

[00:07:59] Eric Goranson: So it [00:08:00] much wreck much more recommend you jump on from an expert like that and find out from the companies instead of finding people that you have no idea what their background is. Are they good at what they do? Are they a problem where they're out there installing horrible projects? I mean, I've seen some horrible tile jobs recently.

[00:08:21] Eric Goranson: They could be one of those people. So be very careful when you measure that up. Now, the next one here is an important one that I see. Probably one of the biggest offenders and this is number eight here. How to deal with asbestos or lead abatement Around your house. So maybe you have Asbestos in your house.

[00:08:42] Eric Goranson: Maybe you have lead or you're concerned about it I really start to see this when I see somebody that is pulled up carpet in their basement, right? 60s house they pull up carpet. They have nine by nine tiles down there that are broken up And they're in small pieces and they ask, how do I deal with this to the group?[00:09:00]

[00:09:00] Eric Goranson: Now you'll have the people on there saying that asbestos is a conspiracy theory that no one's ever gotten hurt from asbestos, which we clearly know is, is not the case. And they say, oh, it's no big deal. Put a desk mask on and chip it up, take it out, you know, and, and, uh, run a HEPA air filter for a little bit down there, which of course is really horrible advice.

[00:09:23] Eric Goranson: So we come back. I want to talk about the best way to find out how to deal with those things in your area because. In my area could be completely different than what you see in your neck of the woods. We'll talk about that just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:09:41] Eric Goranson: What's

[00:09:57] Eric Goranson: up? This is Dick and Satchel from [00:10:00] steel Panther. And you are listening to around the house with Eric G. We love Eric G and you should too.

[00:10:21] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. Now, if you're just joining us for the first time, we really appreciate you tuning into around the house. This is the original around the house show, whether you're on the radio, you're catching the podcast or whatever. Thanks for tuning in today. We've been talking about in this segment here, how bad information on social media groups can cause construction mistakes, especially with homeowners.

[00:10:42] Eric Goranson: This is kind of my top 10 list of the big offenders out there and not people, but just the bad advice that I see being given out there that you should be very careful with. And of course, how to find the right advice for it. So when we went out to break, uh, we had to get out to break for the radio and we were talking about dealing [00:11:00] with asbestos or lead abatement.

[00:11:02] Eric Goranson: So here's what I would do. Now I would find out in your area who is the You know, who is your legal authority that deals with this stuff? Is it your department of environmental quality that you have? Is it, um, the federal government, state government, local government? Who are the people that, that, um, deal with those laws in your area?

[00:11:26] Eric Goranson: So many times those are statewide laws, but sometimes they're, uh, environmental agency laws within your, um, either state or local government. So start finding out, um, you know, what you need to do to deal with asbestos in that area. And really, to be honest, the first thing I would do is I would have a testing company come out.

[00:11:49] Eric Goranson: And test the areas that could be asbestos that you're going to be working on and for a few hundred bucks, you've got test results and you know what you're dealing with. Now, like I was talking about earlier, if they're 9 by 9 tiles [00:12:00] with a black tarmastic underneath it, you most likely have. Now they made tiles in other sizes, but when they're nine by nines, it was a style.

[00:12:09] Eric Goranson: And in that era that the better tiles had the asbestos in them because it was more durable. So, I mean, I've seen plenty of ads out of the sixties, you know, new tiles with added asbestos for durability. That's kind of what that was. And so when you have that, just call and have it tested. It's a few hundred bucks, then you know what you're working with.

[00:12:30] Eric Goranson: And then what you can do is follow up and find out what your local laws are to deal with it. Some places a homeowner can do the abatement, which I don't recommend. Some places they have a very specific way of getting rid of it. And so really you want to figure out in your area, what is the legal action you have to take many times.

[00:12:49] Eric Goranson: So you can encapsulate that and go right over the top. And since it's a capsulated, it's not becoming friable, which means it's dusty with little parts and pieces, and that's a big deal. Now [00:13:00] you will get on social media if you bring up an asbestos question and a lot of groups now they've started actually put in there that you can't talk about asbestos and mold because of the fights that happen, that you will have a group of people on there saying, Oh, that's just, uh, that's just a fear thing from the government and whatever, you know, you hear all the stories.

[00:13:20] Eric Goranson: But really you need to deal with this, you know in your own way that is legal with your area here in my state I have seen 30 50 even a hundred thousand dollar potentially fines that were levied against homeowners or building owners that um Did not follow the laws So this can be very expensive And even worse when you have to go in and pay somebody to come in and clean up because what happens with asbestos fibers Just so you fully understand You could put a dust mask on go down there bust it up haul it off But those fibers are so small and light.

[00:13:54] Eric Goranson: They can stay around for years to come within your house. Every time you're dusting, you're getting them up a little bit. [00:14:00] It's in the air. It's kind of like when you see the sun come in the window, those little dots, it's stuff like that. No, I'm not saying that's asbestos, but what I am saying is it will stay floating in the air like that.

[00:14:11] Eric Goranson: And it can settle and you can have multiple exposures within your house from it. So it's something you want to be very careful with. So be super careful with, uh, lead paint and asbestos and make sure you're following your local laws, codes, all that stuff. And that you're at least following the federal basis of what you should be doing and find out what those tips and tricks are there.

[00:14:33] Eric Goranson: And you can go on to, uh, EPA, find out those things. But make sure that you're pulling all the permits and doing that stuff for that because many times you'll have to pull an asbestos permit. In many areas, so just make sure you're doing this correctly when it comes down to your health. I don't want to see those mistakes being made.

[00:14:49] Eric Goranson: That can be a big 1. now we've talked about this 1 here. This is, um, see, so let's go back and actually recap real quick. So, 10 was the, I've been a contractor for 30 years and this is my favorite way [00:15:00] of doing it. Number 9 was, um, skipping waterproofing in a tub or tub shower when you're doing tile. Um, number 8 is the illegal asbestos or lead abatement.

[00:15:12] Eric Goranson: And then number seven, here's an important one. And it is one that I want you to really be careful with. Uh, this is the ads that show up on Facebook marketplace or next door for handymen or unlicensed contractors. And this is a really big deal. And a lot of it is, is like here in the state of Oregon, for instance.

[00:15:36] Eric Goranson: Um, and I don't know if this is the case now, but a year ago it was, is that, uh, I was talking to an interview with, uh, our local construction contractors board, and they said that, um, many of the social media groups would not let them patrol in the social media group, because for instance, if you're in, let's say next door.

[00:15:56] Eric Goranson: And the state is trying to police to [00:16:00] make sure there's nobody posting up illegal contractor ads, which can be happening. So only a licensed bond or insured contractor in my state can actually post up an ad because they have to put their CCDB number with it. Otherwise people get fined. So what happens is, is they are not allowed to go on there because they won't give them global access to the program.

[00:16:19] Eric Goranson: So if you are one of the enforcement officers, you can log into where your home is, but you can't check anywhere else around. So you're just basically checking out your neighborhood and you're stuck there. And so what happens is there's a lot of contractors that were forced out of, out of business because of poor work, or they just ran out of money because they weren't quoting things correctly.

[00:16:39] Eric Goranson: And now they're on here preying on the public. And I see this anything from, uh, from, uh, construction, exterior construction, landscaping to windows and doors to general handyman to everything else. So this is something to be really careful with. And, um, these are places that is kind of the Wild West these days with hiring [00:17:00] contractors.

[00:17:00] Eric Goranson: And, you know, I've talked about a bunch of times. So, um, just bear with me as I quickly mentioned that, uh, hiring an unlicensed contractor can put a lot of liability on you when it's the people they're working. So if you have a. Unlicensed contractor out there and he has 2 or 3 people he hired out there.

[00:17:17] Eric Goranson: You are now their insurance company and you are now, um, responsible for their health and well being on the on the on the project. So if they actually go up on the roof and somebody falls off the roof, guess what? That's your medical bill because now you as the consumer are now their employer https: otter.

[00:17:38] Eric Goranson: ai 1099 employees, so this can be its own problem when you're hiring people that are not licensed, bonded, insured because now you're an employer. And so with anybody getting hurt with anybody causing damage to your home, uh, maybe your neighbor's home or somebody else getting hurt like they, they didn't, um.

[00:17:59] Eric Goranson: You know, they, they [00:18:00] caught your house on fire and it burnt the neighbor's house down because it did something wrong. Yeah, that's all on you because they are not licensed bonded insured. So be very careful with that. This is one of those gotchas that you have to be very careful with as a homeowner is that, uh, you can lose everything just on having the wrong people at your house and I've seen it happen.

[00:18:19] Eric Goranson: So be very careful with this. Now, the next one here is really important. And this is, uh, uh, number five. And we're going to talk about this when we come back, because this is, uh, one of the biggest ones that I see some of the most damage occur to a home from this one right here. We'll talk about that just as soon as Around the House returns.

[00:18:39] Eric Goranson: Don't go anywhere. Hey,[00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Eric Goranson: this is Ron Keel, the Metal Cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel Band and Steeler. We are rocking Around the House with Eric G. Raise your... Welcome back to the Around the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks to my buddy Ron Keel there from the Ron Keel Band and Steeler for...

[00:19:19] Eric Goranson: Getting us in coming back from break. Well, we've been talking about how bad information on social media groups causes construction mistakes and my top tens here. We've been talking about, well, before we get into that, I wanted to talk about a couple of things here real quick, just to get you up to speed.

[00:19:32] Eric Goranson: No, we have 178 videos now over on my, uh, my, uh, around the house playlists. You can find that two places. One, you can go over to YouTube and type in Fox 12, Oregon. And around the house and my playlist will be there. We have all our new projects, including some fun ones where we talked about how to do a hot tub on a budget.

[00:19:54] Eric Goranson: If you're thinking about needing a hot tub and you don't want to go out and spend 10 or 12 grand on how to do it. Um, [00:20:00] I came up with a way to do it for, um, under two grand, depending on what your electrical has to be done, but a hot tub and a budgeted over there. So if you need that. Uh, you can find it right there.

[00:20:11] Eric Goranson: Well, we've been talking about all these different things here. Now, by the way, in those 178 videos are all different ones. And so, uh, there's a lot of great information there on projects and some tips around your house, including on ways to save some serious money. So, uh, just like that hot tub, we've been talking about my list here.

[00:20:27] Eric Goranson: And so one of the biggest ones here that I think causes some of the most damage, uh, that I've seen is people posting up, asking these questions. Is this load bearing and they post a picture up of maybe the kitchen wall in there and to be honest With this, most people, including contractors with the pictures you post up are probably not going to be able to answer legitimately whether that is something that you can tackle or not without putting a [00:21:00] beam in.

[00:21:01] Eric Goranson: So here's what happens. Many times people go, Oh, it's not load bearing, but then there's a picture up in the attic where I can see, you know, a post coming down, landing on that, or there is some load or some sheer or other things within that. So you have to be really careful. So the right answer is. You want to bring in a structural engineer to take a look at it.

[00:21:22] Eric Goranson: Now, here's what can happen. You know, you can have a really good contractor, go up in the attic and look at it and go, okay, there's no load sitting on top of it, the, the. Roof trusses or floor joists are going the other way, but if you get into older homes like pre 1970s and they don't have truss systems that aren't hand framed and stuff, there can be little pieces of load because I have looked at walls in the past and went, wow, this doesn't look load bearing.

[00:21:49] Eric Goranson: And then the, the. Structural engineer goes up there and goes, yeah, but this is why this could be load bearing. And there is some load on top of it. And they do the calculation and find out there's 500 to a [00:22:00] thousand pounds of load on that, which could be a lot. Now it's different if you've got wind and snow and things like that, but that can be there as well.

[00:22:07] Eric Goranson: Or that wall was designed to be sheared to keep that building from racking or moving around. So these are things why you really want to bring in that, um, structural engineer to figure that out for you to make sure, because Here's what I've seen happen before and this is something that, that I've seen go wrong is people will go in there and they'll put a beam in the kitchen.

[00:22:29] Eric Goranson: The contractor moves it out, uh, to a wall that was load bearing and goes down there, but then the footing below is not designed for that. And so you've got maybe an old steel post that was rotting at the bottom and now it compresses and then that floor settles in. So what you really want to do is make sure that you've got the right.

[00:22:49] Eric Goranson: Balance there between carrying load, making sure you've got sheer covered and as well as the right size footing going underneath it. I have had projects where we've had the stuff come back from the [00:23:00] structural engineer and the little footing for the basement post that was holding down there. We had to put a 3 ft by 3 ft by 24 inch.

[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: Slab down there, huge piece of slab to, uh, set the post on to make sure that, uh, it was supported correctly in the floor. So you can have, depending on your climate, depending on what's going on, you can have some huge issues. With making sure that, um, that you've got low distributed correctly. And so, um, if you think about a building code before, where maybe you had a post that went, uh, you know, upstairs, went down into that, went downstairs and now it's on maybe a 4 by 4 and a little pure block.

[00:23:42] Eric Goranson: Now you've exceeded that peer block with the new load. So this is why that's really important to get that from all the way to the top of the building, carried down all the way down into the foundation. And that could require going in and cutting up a floor. I've, I've seen many times when we're doing second story additions, for instance, that are on top of, uh, [00:24:00] maybe it was that 1920s farmhouse that had the, the loft upstairs, you took the narrow set of stairs up to, and that's where storage was, it was never designed to actually carry a bunch of stuff.

[00:24:10] Eric Goranson: So the floor joists aren't carried correctly. They're 2x6s or 2x4s, or they need to be 2x8s or 2x10s, that kind of thing. And so what happens is, is you have a lot of catch up to do on that. And many times you're in a position where you can't do what you need to do to meet code. And that could be a much bigger problem.

[00:24:28] Eric Goranson: So you want to make sure and deal with that early on. So those are some solid gotchas that could get you in trouble right there. Now, next up here is an important one. And it's bad advice on dealing with mold around your home in general cleaning, because here's what happens so many times people say, Oh, just wipe it down a bleach.

[00:24:46] Eric Goranson: She'll be good to go. And generally you should not be using bleach to kill mold because many surfaces It's going to make the mold so you don't see it. So it'll take the black off the mold, let's say, and I'm talking color, not the [00:25:00] specific black mold, but it will take the color off it, make it clear or opaque.

[00:25:05] Eric Goranson: So you can't really see it and it will hide it. And the problem with bleach is, is when it doesn't kill it, like on a porous surface where you never want to use it, that, um, water that sits around as a residual later. That will actually help feed the mold that you missed. So, uh, bleach is never a good thing to be using with mold.

[00:25:23] Eric Goranson: If you want to use something more natural, go hydrogen peroxide or M or one of the many mold cleaners out there like concrobium. There's a lot of different ones out there that can work for you, but just be very careful following social media advice on how to clean up. Around mold and in dealing with that.

[00:25:42] Eric Goranson: And quite frankly, the first thing I want to see you do if you have a significant mold problem in your house is to figure out why is it your humidity is above 60%. Do you have a water leak? What is causing that? There is a cause to what's happening to that. So maybe it's [00:26:00] a lack of maintenance. Maybe it's high humidity.

[00:26:02] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's a water leak, whatever those are. You need to solve that problem because it's going to keep coming back. So this is an important one. So deal with the reason, but if you've got high humidity in the house, for instance, then you have mold probably another spot. So I would go through and take a mold test before you touch anything.

[00:26:23] Eric Goranson: Take a test inside, outside, do the full air test, find out what's going on, then deal with the mold. Once you get that dealt with, make sure you do another mold test again in your air to make sure you got it. Because if you have high humidity, I bet you you have more than one location of mold within the house.

[00:26:42] Eric Goranson: So these are things you want to make sure that you've got in those air tests, you know, uh, you know, my friend, Caroline, uh, Blazowski, former host of the show here, uh, you know, uh, America's healthy home expert. She has her own tests over there and, uh, you can Google her up and order those there. But anyway, those [00:27:00] tests are really what you want to be doing.

[00:27:01] Eric Goranson: So then you can take the test results and make sure. Because if you have multiple places in the home that has mold, it will show up on those air tests and most likely because that air is moving around and you want to make sure you have it all. So that's a surefire way to make sure that you've got it taken care of.

[00:27:17] Eric Goranson: And then if you need a dehumidifier, if you need to fix the water leak, if you need to do better maintenance around your house, you can then address it and know that you've gotten it taken care of. So that's a big one right there that I really want to make sure. That you've got it dialed in, because that's a serious health issue that you needed to make sure that the place that you're spending a majority of your day is healthy for you and your family.

[00:27:41] Eric Goranson: Now, next up here is 1 that, uh, boy, I tell you what, most most groups actually have not allowed this discussion because it gets so ugly and it literally gets. Just nearly violent with the words that are being used and no words are not violence. So don't get [00:28:00] me there, but really it is just one of those just violent subjects where people start yelling and screaming each other on social media, which isn't pleasant when someone is just legitimately.

[00:28:12] Eric Goranson: Trying to find out good information and the conspiracy theorists jump out and it gets pretty wacky too. Now, when we come back, we're going to talk about that one, because that's an important one that we should all be paying attention to. We'll do that just as soon as around the house.[00:29:00]

[00:29:01] Eric Goranson: It's the end of the show drinking down people. It's time to go. It's that time again, it's last call. Welcome back to around 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 how bad information on social media causes so many construction mistakes by DIYers and homeowners out there.

[00:29:24] Eric Goranson: And we've been talking about my top 10 lists. Let me go backwards here. Number 10. Is my favorite line in home improvement social media Which is I've been a contractor or a builder or a modeler or tile setter or whatever for 30 years And this is I've always done it and I've never had any callbacks my favorite comment all around that was number 10 number 9 Skipping waterproofing in a shower or tub shower and that debate number 8 Not dealing with asbestos or lead abatement or taking it seriously Number seven, non licensed contractors posting on Facebook marketplace or next [00:30:00] door.

[00:30:01] Eric Goranson: Number six is, uh, is this wall load bearing question? And of course the group answering it and being way, way off. And then by not hiring a structure, structural engineering causing those problems, right? That would do it. And then bad advice on dealing with mold and then bad advice on radon. This is the next one here.

[00:30:27] Eric Goranson: This is number, uh, this is our number four, actually number, yeah, number four. Sorry. And with bad advice on radon, radon is one of those things that I tell you what, because it's odorless, it's silent, it is a silent killer out there. And there is no debate that radon can cause lung cancer and cause some major issues, but there is a huge conspiracy theory saying it's something from the government or whatever.

[00:30:56] Eric Goranson: That it's, there's nothing bad about it. And radon can be [00:31:00] very interesting. Like my house has no radon in it, but my house next door I can see has a radon detection device because at some point they measured radon there. And it's really depending on where the house is located. If there's a crack underneath the house or there's a place under the house.

[00:31:16] Eric Goranson: Where radon is coming up now in my state, for instance, here's what happens. This is something that's big here Uh, I have to have two things when I sell a house So in the state of Oregon where I live when we sell a house There are two inspections that are required One of them is a sewer scope to make sure the sewer line is working correctly And the next one is a radon test So every single house has to have a radon test when you sell it And so you can go through.

[00:31:43] Eric Goranson: There's a right on test. No big deal. You're good to go. And that's when you're forced to deal with it. Now, this is 1 of those things that again, be very careful with it. And to be honest, this is not a test you do yourself. You bring in a, you know, a licensed attorney to acquit you. Your licensed [00:32:00] at. Testing expert to bring their, their, their testing equipment in to do that.

[00:32:05] Eric Goranson: And you just have to rely on that. Now, what I've seen is, you know, you could have radon one day and if there's any kind of a seismic activity or something like that, I would strongly recommend if radon is prevalent in your area that after seismic activity, like a small, you know, probably two, three earthquake on up.

[00:32:27] Eric Goranson: That maybe every few years, if you have those regularly, which we don't really hear, but they do happen, you test yourself again to make sure because all of a sudden the ground can move around a little bit and where it wasn't moving before, in theory, you could have rustled things up enough that it's moving again.

[00:32:45] Eric Goranson: And, uh, there have been a lot of stories here in my area because we have some homes that have really, really bad rate on here. And so what can happen is, is that you got to be really careful that, and so that can, that can create a ton of issues. When it [00:33:00] comes to, to your health. And so just be very careful of that guys.

[00:33:03] Eric Goranson: So watch out for that. Now, the next one, um, I have seen this, um, and this is something that I see from the, uh, stone countertop industry. And these are things that I'm very, very worried about that. I want you to be careful with. My concern is in the stone countertop industry. There has been a lot of problems right now with people in that industry getting silicosis from silica dust.

[00:33:30] Eric Goranson: So what happens is, is that silica that's in the dust gets into your lungs and can cause lung cancer. And so you have to be very careful of that silicosis basically. And where I have a problem with is when you have a countertop company that shows up and they're out in your front yard and they're sawing.

[00:33:49] Eric Goranson: With a dry saw bit and they're cutting your countertops and there's dust flying around everywhere that in most areas is, um, not allowed. So you can't do that. You [00:34:00] have to be using a wet saw. You have to have your duster under control, like a HEPA vac or something like that. You have to have a dustless operation.

[00:34:08] Eric Goranson: So, every time I drive by someone's house in the neighborhood that's having countertops down and somebody's out there making a huge cloud of dust, whether or not they're cutting concrete, whether or not they're cutting. A stone countertop that generally is against the law and against, um, you know, common health OSHA practices.

[00:34:26] Eric Goranson: So as a worker, they can't be doing that. They need to be using a wet saw or vacuum system that does not allow that. And so this is something that's even coming into foundation companies. Like if you have somebody come in and do a, um, earthquake retrofit and they're down in your basement or crawl space and then they're down there digging and you've got concrete dust everywhere.

[00:34:47] Eric Goranson: Guess what? That can be a huge problem. And, uh, I have seen that happen many times where maybe someone's having their, their, uh, chimney repointed and somebody up there with a grinder and they're grinding out all the [00:35:00] things between the brick where the, where the mortar is to repoint that. Well, if they're not keeping that under control, um, I have seen OSHA show up at many places.

[00:35:10] Eric Goranson: Um, you know, maybe it's the next day or whatever. And, uh, there's a cloud of dust everywhere. And guess what? They're all over that looking for the offending party. So, uh, there's another warning right there. You should not be doing it as a homeowner. Um, and if you've got a tile. Or even more so a concrete slash contractor that is maybe doing it with, uh, with stone or quartz or whatever else, be very careful that can be its own health hazard, um, for you and most importantly for the workers that are there.

[00:35:41] Eric Goranson: So there is a warning sign there. If those guys are outside making big cuts outside for sink cutouts outside and they're doing it dry and you've got dust all over your cars and your lawn, you probably hired the wrong company. So be really careful with that. Now, and here's another one here that, um, I see this in the DIY [00:36:00] groups a lot.

[00:36:01] Eric Goranson: And this is something you got to be really be careful with because pricing is all over the place as far as where you're at in the country, what people are charging by the hour. But if you go in and say, Hey, I just had, uh, somebody's, I just had a quote for painting the inside of my house for 1, 900, I'm going to look at that and say, wow, somebody underbid that.

[00:36:26] Eric Goranson: I'd be very careful. You will also have about 25 people in that group sit there and say, wow, that's high rate. We're Aubrey. No, it's really not what I'm looking at. Numbers from a contractor out there these days, you know, you can spend thousands and thousands of dollars to have the inside of the paint.

[00:36:45] Eric Goranson: You know, I've seen small house projects be 678 thousand dollars really quickly. On into your house painting. So it's really depending on the prep work that's being done and what's happening. Are they sanding [00:37:00] everything? Are they, are they spraying the trim molding? Are they brushing the trim molding?

[00:37:03] Eric Goranson: What's going on? I want to know the level of details with that because I tell you what, most people on these groups that are commenting, except for the contractors that are in the group or the homeowners that have just been a. Through a residential remodel, the information you're going to get is their perception, which is usually fairly bad.

[00:37:25] Eric Goranson: Um, I've seen people coming in there and go, what? Somebody was charging you 50 an hour, uh, for the contract to be working there. That's highway robbery. These people are crooks. And I'm like, if they're charging you 50 an hour, I'm concerned that we have bigger issues like they're under charging you. And these guys are going to run away because they decided to do something that is, um, well, A problem, because a contractor that underbids it is just as dangerous as someone that overbids it, the overbids it.

[00:37:54] Eric Goranson: Well, guess what? You're going to, they're going to be, you're gonna be paying extra for that, but the underbid, there's a high [00:38:00] chance that they're going to get into a project, realize that they're upside down on that project. And so the next thing that happens is, is they bail on you. Or they take shortcuts to try to make up for it.

[00:38:11] Eric Goranson: So you want to have a contractor that did a legitimate bid and got it there. So be very careful of that. And our last one I want to get out here, number one, and I'm going to call some of these guys out right here, fake experts that give really bad advice just to gain clicks and there's a, I'm not going to get too crazy on the names here.

[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: There's a guy out of Canada. That has a DIY channel up there that I am fully convinced that, uh, the horrible advice that is generally unsafe or not smart for anybody is only bad because that gains clicks and 90 percent of his comments are people calling him out, given bad advice. So be really careful guys.

[00:38:57] Eric Goranson: And I really appreciate you tuning into the show today. Thanks for tuning [00:39:00] in. We'll see you next week on Around The House.