[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. Now today we've been talking about my top 10 homeowner tricks that can make that project easier for you. And now this one here is one that has been, um, a struggle for many people out there. And I totally get it because it was something that was a struggle for me when I first started doing it.

[00:00:22] Eric Goranson: And that is dealing with touching up texture inside, you know, around your house. Basically, if you've got that orange peel or a knockdown and they're. Some secrets that I have to making sure that this works correctly for you. Now, this is one of those things that, uh, there's kind of multiple tricks to this and let me show you what it is.

[00:00:42] Eric Goranson: The first one is when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to the round the house show. This is where I hope you get the most out of your home through [00:01:00] information and education. Happy New Year, everybody.

[00:01:03] Eric Goranson: Welcome to 2024. And man, I can't believe what happened to 2023 and it's already behind us. Well, I wanted to catch you up here on around the house show. If you're brand new catching us, uh, we've added so many stations on the radio out there. Welcome. This is where we talk about home improvement, whether you've got one hour or two for the show, it doesn't matter.

[00:01:23] Eric Goranson: You can always catch the podcast. If you miss us. And this show has been going for 36, 37 years now. So this is not a new show and we've got, uh, well over a thousand episodes on our back catalog, anywhere you catch podcasts, and you can catch that at around the house online. com. Which is our website, which shows everything that we've got going on.

[00:01:45] Eric Goranson: Well, if you want to be a part of the show, if you've got a home improvement question, this is not your typical call in show, but we do take your questions. And that number is 833 239 4144. Give us a call toll free 833 239 [00:02:00] 4144. And you might end up in an episode of a future show. Well, today I wanted to talk about in this episode, my top 10 homeowner tricks.

[00:02:09] Eric Goranson: That can make your projects so much easier. And these are things that I've learned over the years that, uh, boy, I tell you what they can make. Life's so much easier, especially when you're dealing with difficult materials to use. And the first one here is going to be silicone caulking. Now, latex for many people is what they're used to using.

[00:02:33] Eric Goranson: But the problem is, is when you're dealing with stuff, uh, where you're trying to seal up maybe tile in a shower. Or a backsplash anywhere, like with tile, for instance, anytime you change direction. So, like, uh, on the inside corners of a shower system or between a shower and a tub or a shower and a, a base, uh, or anything like that, or countertop and a backsplash.

[00:02:55] Eric Goranson: That's not the place to be using latex. That's where you don't want to be using grout. That's where you want to be [00:03:00] using a pure silicone caulking and color matched if you can find it. And that's where the key is right there. Well, so many people go, oh my gosh, silicone, it's on my hands. It's on everything.

[00:03:11] Eric Goranson: And it's so hard to clean up. Now, here is my secret to it. Now, there are some new products on the market now that are, um, that are meant for getting, you know, using and working with caulking, but it's a little harder to find. And this is my secret. And everybody you see out there, if you've been to the grocery store, if you've been to the home improvement store in the cleaning aisle, you will see the spray metal spray can of the foam aerosol window cleaner, the stuff that just foams up.

[00:03:40] Eric Goranson: And this is my secret to doing silicone caulking. So what I do is is make sure that the, the joint is cleaned out into the old caulking is removed. Everything's good. And then what I do is I lay my bead of silicone caulking down. So I laid across that plane, get it in there right where I need to. And then I [00:04:00] spray that spray, you know, window cleaner on my hands, on the tools, on the area around it.

[00:04:06] Eric Goranson: And then I'll use the ease of my finger or a finishing tool. And I'll spray the finishing tool, get everything covered with this. And then I'll go wipe it off. You'll realize at this point that that window cleaner, which is a surfactant. Makes it so the silicone temporarily doesn't stick to your hands to your tools or everything else.

[00:04:24] Eric Goranson: And so this cleans up so much easier than latex because latex is almost like a thick paint. And so you'll get that kind of streakiness out of that and it becomes a problem. So my secret here is to go ahead and use that. Clean it up, wipe it down around it. And then that window cleaner just dissolves and dries.

[00:04:44] Eric Goranson: And then you've got this beautiful layer of silicone and it is so much easier to keep cleaned up. And it's so much easier. And if you want to see a video of me showing you how to do it, you can head over to, uh, uh, the KPTV Fox 12. And actually if you [00:05:00] head over to, uh, the website around the house online, I'll post it up up there.

[00:05:04] Eric Goranson: So you can see it in the front page there. So you can see this video. It makes life so much easier when it comes to doing caulking. And this is my trick and I will give you full disclosure. I learned this from my friend, William White over at Ardex. He's the one that taught me this trick. And, uh, it is one that I use all the time.

[00:05:23] Eric Goranson: So I wanted to make sure and pass that along. We talked about it last year, I think. But it's just one of my favorite tricks in doing caulking and it makes life so much easier and this is for silicone caulk. So that is a good one. Now the next lesson is a hard lesson that I've learned and I don't know about you but I've always hated spending lots of money on saw blades, on You know, reciprocating saw blades or sawzall blades or multi tool blades.

[00:05:51] Eric Goranson: And I've come to the conclusion that there is just no getting around buying the right, correct blade for the [00:06:00] project you're working on. I have tried all the blades off Amazon. I have tried to even go through and re sharpen some of them. But the problem is, if you're starting out with a poor, low quality steel blade, when you sharpen it, even You still end up having a sharp, low quality steel blade that ends up getting dulled just like the other one did.

[00:06:20] Eric Goranson: And so I have gone back to buying higher quality blades that saved me tons of time that I get a lot more life out of. And we'll do the job for the project I'm working on. And I had a handful of blades that were ones that I had bought from Amazon that I had bought that were, you know, nine bucks for 20 of them or nine bucks for 50 of them, depending on what sale you get.

[00:06:43] Eric Goranson: But I tell you what, um, there is nothing like getting the right blade for the project. When you're doing a sawzall and you're doing demo, I was running some cheap blades and I put in. One of the, uh, demo record blades from, uh, well, the, this was a Milwaukee one at the time [00:07:00] I put that in last weekend and you know, something.

[00:07:02] Eric Goranson: It saved me a lot of time than trying to stomach through that old one. So the next one I tried to do is again, I tried using that in the multi tool. I had a multi tool blade that was low quality and guess what? That thing burned me as well. So now I use the fine, uh, blades. They're so much better and things have just gone really well.

[00:07:23] Eric Goranson: So I have learned this lesson, but it's a good tip for you. Go out and really get good quality blades. It's going to make a better cut. It's going to save you time on the project and you know something, it's just the cost of doing the project and that is not the place to save money. And, uh, that is my mea culpa today is, uh, buying good quality blades, whether it's for your circular saw, your chop saw, or whatever you're doing.

[00:07:49] Eric Goranson: That makes a huge difference on the quality of your work and having something that cuts through that you have control of that. You're not having to push it. You're not burning motors up. You're not fighting it. [00:08:00] It just saves time. So that's my my thing for 2024 is I'm done buying cheap blades And we're gonna put good ones to the test and that is something that I've learned now speaking of that if you've been watching my television show and you can catch that on YouTube or you can catch it on the Fox 12 YouTube page and you can find that over there on my page as well around the house online I have been doing a lot of testing of tools and, uh, cheap stuff off Amazon, to be honest, and that is something that we've been buying.

[00:08:30] Eric Goranson: I've caught a little bit of heat. You know something? I can take it. If you want to bash on me, feel free. But you know something? I am not promoting these knock off things out there. I'm showing you what works and what doesn't. And the ones that tend to be, uh, well, maybe questionable On whether they should be sold on Amazon.

[00:08:48] Eric Goranson: That's not my battle to fight. People are out there buying them anyway, and that's a battle between that manufacturer and Amazon. So I'm not going to get involved in that, but I am going to show you. How many of those are not what they say they [00:09:00] are. They're pretending to be a knockoff and you know something, they're poorly engineered.

[00:09:05] Eric Goranson: Many of them don't work and, um, they're kind of a waste of your money. So it's not worth going out and picking many of these things up. Versus getting the real one that's made by some inventor that came up with the process. So of course, yes, I do support our manufacturers out there. And if somebody's out there, you know, ripping it off, doing a copy on a trademarked product or something that is a patent on it.

[00:09:28] Eric Goranson: Then absolutely those people need to go after Amazon and all those people out there that are knocking 'em off. But if it's for sale out there, I'm gonna show you why it works and more importantly, why it doesn't around the house. We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go any

[00:09:46] Eric Goranson: should.[00:10:00]

[00:10:15] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show this. We hope you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. If you want to track us down and get more information, head over to around the house, online. com. And that's also where you'll find our phone number. If you've got home improvement questions where you can give us a call toll free 41 44.

[00:10:35] Eric Goranson: That's toll free 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. Give us a call at any time. Leave us a message and I will call you back and maybe get you into a future episode of around the house Now today we've been talking about my top 10 homeowner tricks that can make that project easier for you And now this one here is one that has been a struggle for many people out there And I totally get it because it was [00:11:00] something that was a struggle for me when I first started doing it and that is dealing with touching up texture inside You know, around your house, basically, if you've got that orange peel or a knockdown, and there's some secrets that I have to making sure that this works correctly for you.

[00:11:16] Eric Goranson: Now, this is one of those things that, uh, there's kind of multiple tricks to this, and let me show you what it is. The first one is, is an hour or two before you get. That thing going make sure that you have that nice and warm that can that you're going to use needs to be like above 80 degrees. Not too hot because I don't want you to blow that thing up, but just nice and warm.

[00:11:39] Eric Goranson: Like it was sitting outside on a. On a countertop in the shade on an 80 degree day would be perfect. So what I say is get some warm water and submerge it up to the most of the top way and it just leave it in there and let it get warmed up, especially this time of year when it's cooler outside. All you guys in the South, maybe it's not a big deal, but anybody out there where it's, you know, not hitting [00:12:00] 70 degrees or that can could be 50 or 40 degrees.

[00:12:03] Eric Goranson: Make sure you've got that thing nice and warmed up. That is going to give you some added workability and it's going to spray out a little bit nicer. Now the second thing is, and that's my trick too, if you're doing roofing cement or even if you're working with other products like that, make sure it's up to operating temperature before you use it.

[00:12:23] Eric Goranson: Now the second thing is, is to get a piece of cardboard or, you know, put up some butcher paper, something that you've got that you can texture. To test out before you have to go make a mess and that way you can get it dialed in Before you go do it on the wall And so that's 2 of my secrets to doing that texture.

[00:12:42] Eric Goranson: Now, the 3rd one in that is going to be, uh, to make sure that you've primed it and you put a good adhesion primer down before in that area that you're going to texture. So if you put a bunch of patch on, maybe it was a whole or a doorknob went in anything like that. Make sure you've got that dialed in.[00:13:00]

[00:13:00] Eric Goranson: So that way you're good to go. And that way you can actually have that. So you get that set and that way it works really well for you. So get that, get the mud, get the things going, you know, prime it, and then use the texture over the top of it. That way you're good to go. And that will make for a better project when you're all set and done.

[00:13:19] Eric Goranson: Cause, uh, that really ends up looking good. When you can get that thing dialed in. So that is one of my great tips. So make sure that you're using a warm can and you've, you got that. So that's just going to be a good tip for you on doing that next patch job on your next project. Now, my fourth tip is an important one.

[00:13:40] Eric Goranson: And this is when you're dealing with a, uh, maybe it's a top mounted sink that you're going to drop in for a bathroom vanity, or it's a kitchen sink that's going through a laminate countertop or a tile, or it's a top mounted sink. Where you're not going through and, uh, you know, just a traditional sink that way, maybe it's a tile sink that you've dropped through, whatever it is.[00:14:00]

[00:14:00] Eric Goranson: So here's what I'm saying that you should do on this. Install as much as you can before you have to put the sink in the hole. So if you've got a set of, uh, you know, work benches, or you've got someplace flat to work on, put down a towel just so you don't scratch things up and that's where I would get the drain assembly put in, whether it's a kitchen.

[00:14:21] Eric Goranson: Or a, you know, if it's a kitchen sink, great. Go ahead and put in that garbage disposal ring. Uh, get your faucet put on, get as much pre assembled as you absolutely can and then drop the sink in. There's no sense laying on your back doing this, you know, because you drop the sink in and then you put the faucet in and now you've got it.

[00:14:43] Eric Goranson: Doing it where you're fighting, why fight it, put it all in together and drop it in is one unit. And the more you can get done from the top side that way, it's going to be a lot easier because you can get those things set and you're not having to fight it while you're upside down. So the more you can do that way, the better off you are, you know, and [00:15:00] the same goes for when you're taking it apart, don't have to disassemble the whole thing right there.

[00:15:04] Eric Goranson: If you can remove the water lines, remove the drain line and pull the whole thing out, then you're good to go. That just makes it that much easier. So the more you can do with that. The better off you are, why take it all apart there when you can do it apart where you're standing up in front of a workbench or a countertop and you're working correctly.

[00:15:20] Eric Goranson: So take your time, get her done, right? And the least work you have to do while you're upside down, the better off you are. And you know, something that's going to be a better project when you're all said and done anyway. All right. Our next one here is one of the most important ones. And this is what I think are your must have power tools in your collection.

[00:15:40] Eric Goranson: If you're a basic DIYer now, this is not for the woodworker, but this is something, if you're thinking about maybe getting a gift for a new homeowner or somebody that is, you know, trying to think about you'd really tackling those projects for 2024. Here are my favorite tools that you should have as a basic.

[00:15:58] Eric Goranson: Basic set. [00:16:00] So here's the thing. And one thing that I want to talk about here before we go out to break too, because we're going to, this is a little bit more detail here is that I think all of these tools should be under the same brand and it doesn't matter, uh, what brand that is, just make sure that you're getting something that's all, there's no reason to have four different chargers.

[00:16:19] Eric Goranson: If you can have one set of tools under one brand. So stay in that platform. Now there are a few platforms now that you're starting to see in the higher end stuff where batteries are Interchangeable and that is gonna be like Bosch and fine those guys on their new battery systems are working through and that's really cool How that plays together, but here's the thing if you stick with one brand, it's just gonna make life easier Now when we're talking brands for a minute, let's have this conversation because you know, I have some nice higher end brands tool sets I don't have a festool Uh, just because I just haven't went out and spent the money on it.

[00:16:54] Eric Goranson: But depending on what, what you're using them for, you don't have to get something crazy, you know? I [00:17:00] mean, you can go down and get, uh, heck, you can head down to Harbor Freight. If you're just doing a couple of projects around the house and get some basic tools, you don't have to go down and buy the best of Milwaukee.

[00:17:12] Eric Goranson: Uh, that's not for the basic homeowner. It's not designed for that. But the, you know, the, uh, real bees and those kind of things. Yeah, those are great for that. So think about that. What tool brand to use, but whatever you're going to use, just stick with that and go with it. Now, here's the thing. Here are my most important tools to make your life easier.

[00:17:33] Eric Goranson: The first one is going to be that impact driver. Now you can go. With a drill as well, but I do like the impact driver because it does put a lot more torque when you're trying to put in screws and things like that. I do like that for that. So whether or not you have the drill or the impact driver, both can get the job done, but I prefer the compactness of the impact driver.

[00:17:55] Eric Goranson: And many of us are just drilling little screw holes and things like that. We're not tackling those big projects. So that [00:18:00] big drill isn't as big a deal, but if you're doing a lot of drilling, you're putting a lot of holes in things, maybe getting that drill instead of the impact driver. We'll get the job done.

[00:18:09] Eric Goranson: Now, my second one here is an obvious one. It is just circular side as one that you can cut plywood. You can cut boards. You can do all this different stuff with. So a circular saw is going to be my number two so that way you can cut simple boards You can use the impact driver drill to put things together and that's good.

[00:18:24] Eric Goranson: We come back I'm gonna talk about my favorite tool. We'll do that just as soon as around the house returns. Don't go[00:19:00]

[00:19:12] Eric Goranson: Welcome back guys to the round the house show. I'm Eric G where we've been talking here about my top 10 homeowner tips And tricks that'll make that project easier. Now, if you want to get ahold of me, you can just give me a call at 8 tool free. If you've got a comment, if you want to be part of the show with a question, 833 239 4144.

[00:19:33] Eric Goranson: Now, we were just talking about the impact driver, and my circular saw is two of my most important power tools to have in the toolbox. The next one is my absolute favorite. And that is the multi tool. Now, this was originally invented by fine multiple years ago, and just about every brand has their version out there.

[00:19:54] Eric Goranson: But I will say, and this is something that I have learned. If you can get a better one, it will be easier [00:20:00] on your body. And I have used, I've got probably 100 hours on my Milwaukee, but you know, something that fine is just so much better tool. And nothing against Milwaukee guys. I'm still a fan, but it is just a better tool for doing the job.

[00:20:17] Eric Goranson: They invented it. They've done a really great job of making the blade swap out so much easier as well as reducing vibration. So when I'm cutting on something, I'm not feeling that vibrating back to the handle. So if you've got injuries, If you're using this all day long, I tell you what, this is the time to get a better tool.

[00:20:36] Eric Goranson: Now, if you're just doing it for every once in a while, I wouldn't worry about it. But when you're doing more and more of it, this is one of those things that I think it's really important for you to get as high a quality tool as you can afford. Let's talk about that for a minute because We talked about a little bit of that in the last segment, but it's really important here is to be getting the grade of tool for what you're doing.

[00:20:55] Eric Goranson: I mean, I'll be the 1st to say that I had to use a tool a couple of times. It was a [00:21:00] 1 use. I knew I'd never use it again. I went down to my friends at Harbor Freight. Who's a great company. And you know, some sometimes I would push that tool way harder than it was ever intended to be. And I'd have to warranty it out.

[00:21:12] Eric Goranson: So I mess with it. When, you know, you can get the right tool and it's not Harbor Freight's fault. They didn't design that to be an iron worker tool or whatever you were doing it with. So just make sure that you're getting the right quality tool for the right project and they'll be better off. And it's just going to be designed better for what you're trying to do.

[00:21:29] Eric Goranson: The next one up here is going to be a, uh, uh, random orbit sander or an orbital sander. You know, there's ones that you can get that are cordless now, which are nice because you don't have to worry about that cord getting in the way. So find a good sander. And then the last one is going to be a quality chop saw.

[00:21:45] Eric Goranson: Now, if you're not doing a ton of the chop saw work, then don't worry about it. You can always go rent one for the big project, but that is the thing. If you've got a nice chop saw that you've got a good blade on, that you've got it squared up and true, you're going to be good to go. And I actually have two of them.

[00:21:59] Eric Goranson: I [00:22:00] have one that is my big Bosch that I use for my multiple projects, and then I've got a, that's a big 12 inch one that is high quality. The next one I have is a lot smaller. And it's a seven and a quarter, which takes your regular framing saw blade that I want to use for other projects. Like when I'm cutting steel studs or I'm working with something like that, I just use that and put a metal blade on it and it's good to go.

[00:22:21] Eric Goranson: So that is a lot more of my more framing, just simple, light duty, um, saw in the both of them are cordless, but the 12 inches, the 1 that I use for my bigger projects and when I want more of a finished. You know, finished quality work on it. So that is my tip there. But when in doubt, you can always go rent it if you don't use it.

[00:22:39] Eric Goranson: And that is going to be the next one here, which is number six on my list. And that is going to be tool rental. Now, I don't think you need to go out and buy, especially if you're low on funds. I would actually rather see you go buy higher quality tools. Then you can use those every day. And then when you need to buy the table [00:23:00] saw.

[00:23:00] Eric Goranson: Maybe not go out and buy the table saw unless you're gonna be using it a lot It takes up a lot of space and they're pretty expensive You're better off going down and renting one in using it and that way you're not having to store it. You're not using a lot It's okay, and then you can go get that tool There's a lot of times that I go down to the tool center and I rent tools that I'm gonna use one time lifts Scaffolding these are things that I don't just use enough and quite frankly that take up a ton of space So for me, it's easier to go down there And you know something, and here's one little tip too.

[00:23:31] Eric Goranson: I have had some struggles with the big box store rental centers out there. And, um, I don't know if you have, I have, uh, and it could just be the ones in my area. Maybe you've got some great ones out there, but the problem with mine is everything that I go in there with is fairly worn out and not well maintained.

[00:23:48] Eric Goranson: And for instance, You know, here in the Portland metro area in Oregon, where I live, if I go down and rent a track hoe or something, or if I rent an excavator from Home Depot, and [00:24:00] I'm sorry, Home Depot, this is just what happens when I go down to my local store. And I go down there and the treads are, are worn off of the thing.

[00:24:08] Eric Goranson: They're well beyond their end of end of life. You get stuck on grass with the things because they don't have any grip left or things are just absolutely beat up. Uh, my last project I went down when I did my fence and I rented a, a postal auger, I spent the first two hours trying to get the thing running because it kept breaking.

[00:24:29] Eric Goranson: Because the, uh, you know, there are multiple problems and so I ended up having to take it back, but I spent a lot of time trying to get that thing running and that's not a good use of time, especially when you're renting something. So I tend to go to the more local rental centers. Um, just because, um, there's some of them out there, like, in my area.

[00:24:48] Eric Goranson: Uh, here in the Pacific Northwest. I go to Park Rose Hardware here in the Portland area because they have newer equipment and it's super maintained. And so if I go get something that's got low hours and they tend to swap them out every [00:25:00] year and they're not getting beat up every single day. So, I like finding a place that has high quality tools, ones that I can rent, ones that I can treat right.

[00:25:09] Eric Goranson: And the next time that I go get it. It doesn't look like it's been stolen and driven like it was a car. So just make sure that you get the right ones and then it's safe. And that's going to be a key to going out and renting tools. Now, the next one here is, is a tip that is a rule generally across the board.

[00:25:29] Eric Goranson: And I don't want us to make this sound like I'm bashing on the home centers because I'm not, but here's the details. I really want you to take a look at the materials that you get at the home center versus a specialty store. Now let's talk about this for a minute. Well, let's use tile as an example. When you walk down into a home center, the home center, if you take the entire market out there of what you're working on, if you take low end high end And you look at the stuff that 80 percent of the people out there would [00:26:00] use on a project.

[00:26:00] Eric Goranson: And I'm not talking about your big mansions and crazy stuff, but I'm talking about your basic DIY or your home centers have the lower 40 or 50 percent of the market when it comes to building materials. Now, if you walk down the tile aisle and you see. You know, um, a lot of the stuff that's on the shelf as far as your mastics and your grouts, most of that stuff is kind of your lower end materials.

[00:26:28] Eric Goranson: And you know something that makes your project a lot harder sometimes to work with. And there are a lot better materials out there. So instead of going through and spending that time. When you're working on stuff like that, what I would do is instead of going there, go to your local specialty tile store, you know, head down to a, to a Dow tile, head down to a Bedrosians, head down to one of these brands out there that working.

[00:26:55] Eric Goranson: Really, really well. So these are things that I would much rather see you go [00:27:00] and stay out of the home center and that goes to buying faucets that goes to buying plumbing fixtures because many times there's a different grade in the home centers than what you see at those specialty plumbing stores. So.

[00:27:12] Eric Goranson: My, my, my request to you is if you want to get a little bit better product for a similar price, head over to your local store where the trades people go. Now, if you're in a small town, that might be a little bit harder, but if you've got a local tile store, if you've got a local plumbing store, if you've got an electrical place like that, see if you can get access in there and go buy the materials there and talk to those experts.

[00:27:37] Eric Goranson: And generally you're going to have a better idea of where the trades go. So if you can do your shopping there. One, you're probably going to have higher quality materials to they should be reasonably priced in three. You're going to have a more reliable product and something that's going to be nicer when it's all said and done, because sometimes when you go out and buy low quality tile that's warped, it's really hard for a [00:28:00] D.

[00:28:00] Eric Goranson: I. Y. R. to make that look really good. 50 cents a square foot, Or a dollar a square foot and got something that was super level and it looks beautiful because you put it down right and you weren't fighting low quality materials. You end up having a much better project when you're done. So, make sure that you're getting the right stuff and that goes for lumber too.

[00:28:20] Eric Goranson: And we'll talk about that when we come back because. There is a, a belief that the, the home centers have a lumber problem and it's not, it's how they store it. We'll talk about that just as soon as around the house returns.[00:29:00]

[00:29:04] Eric Goranson: Welcome back. Welcome the house show. I'm Eric G and we've been talking today about my top 10 homeowner tricks that make your project easier. And I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the myths that we have here. And this is an important one. This is something that, um, I really want to talk about because this is one of those things that has been going on for years and years and years, and I want to see if I can fix it to make.

[00:29:27] Eric Goranson: That project go a little bit easier for you the next time around. Let's talk about lumber and whether it's better in the lumber yard or it's better in the home center, because this is a big deal. And I think we got to stop a bunch of these kind of rumors and myths so we can tackle these projects the right way and not worry so much about where we're getting the materials, because a lot of this is just kind of common sense.

[00:29:50] Eric Goranson: So, you know, there has been a debate over the last probably 20 years of whether the lumber coming out of the home centers or lumber coming out of your independent lumber yards is the [00:30:00] same or what the story is with it. And, you know, I'm always a big supporter of our local lumber yards. Those people really are on, you know, the, the education track.

[00:30:11] Eric Goranson: They know what they're talking about. And, uh, they've been working with the trades and working with the contractors for years. So they know exactly what's going on, which I'm always a supporter of those guys, but I have no problem with the home centers, but let me explain where most of the problems come from.

[00:30:26] Eric Goranson: Now, when you walk into a lumber yard and let's say you're just going to go by eight foot, two by four framing material, you know, whitewood stuff, nothing pressure treated, nothing crazy. And you're going to go do that. Well, here's the thing, you know, a lot of those lumberyards, they spend a ton of time pulling materials and shipping them out.

[00:30:46] Eric Goranson: So they come off the top of the stack and they go into a pile and they get delivered or a whole unit gets delivered out to a job site. Truck shows up, gets delivered. The differences is when you walk into a home center. [00:31:00] And then the other thing is most of this stuff is actually sitting outside at the lumberyard.

[00:31:03] Eric Goranson: Most of it's not covered in many, many markets. So what happens is, is. That stuff's kind of acclimated outside and it's, it's doing well. Well, the issue is, is that when you get into a home center, you have two things going on. One, you're in an air conditioned, heated and cooled space. And two, what happens is, is you've got every homeowner digging through.

[00:31:26] Eric Goranson: And high grading everything and trying to steal the best wood out of it. And then what happens is it's a lot of work for people to write off the materials there that are warped and ugly and nasty. So what happens is, is when that bunk has been all picked through a two by fours, the, you know, near minimum wage person that's working there at the home center comes in there at the forklift, they drop a new unit in.

[00:31:48] Eric Goranson: And they stack in the old stuff that was there and put it right back on top again. And this happens over and over and over again until somebody decides to go through and call that out. Whereas [00:32:00] in a lumber yard, a lot of that stuff, it just gets talked off to the side and there's not as much stuff there as well as it hasn't been sitting, drying out and warping because it's sitting there drying incorrectly, even for kiln dried stuff that's sitting there indoors.

[00:32:15] Eric Goranson: And so you have kind of a duplicate. You could have the same bunk of lumber. That you say that looks really good inside a lumber yard, you know, that's sitting out, but if you put it in that situation in the home center, you got a problem because now you just got the same situation. So it's not that their lumber so much is junk.

[00:32:37] Eric Goranson: Now, there are different grades of lumber, so make sure you're getting the grades and then when you walk into Home Depot, even they have different grades in there. They have their utility grade, which is their cheapest. And then they have their, their nicer grade. So look at your lumber grades. That does make a difference on price, but really.

[00:32:54] Eric Goranson: It's it's the whole environment. That's the problem. Not so much of the lumber that's [00:33:00] coming in. And that's just something to think about when you're thinking about lumber. Now, here's the other thing to that has been a debate on a lot of the old house groups and everything else is that all the old growth lumber is better because it's got the tight rings.

[00:33:14] Eric Goranson: And to be honest, it really doesn't matter if you're looking at him for like any of those or whatever grade of lumber. It's about the wood species, not about if it's old growth or new growth, because here's the thing. If you look at an engineering table, like, if you're going to calculate how much a hem for beam is going to carry.

[00:33:37] Eric Goranson: It's by this wood species compared to what cedar would be or what yellow southern yellow pine would be or whatever It's a wood species thing not a old growth new growth thing So don't get hung up on the how many rings are there or which all that tells you is how fast the tree was going Growing or how slow the tree was growing and if it was in a bunch of different [00:34:00] places Like if it was if you have one that's out on the edge where it's getting full sun all day It might grow very differently Then if it was sitting there inside a grove of trees, and so that really is what, you know, or what the soil conditions are, what the weather has been, or how much rain has happened.

[00:34:15] Eric Goranson: There's so many different variables to that. But really, it's about the wood species more so that old growth and new growth. So that's just 1 thing to consider when you're looking at all of these things. Is that, uh, look at the wood species you're getting and make sure that you've got good straight lumber to start with.

[00:34:32] Eric Goranson: You don't need to have all the clearest, beautiful stuff for framing. It has to be good enough to get the job done. So that's one that's really important there. And so just pay attention when you're going to the home center or this, or your specialty store, what's our lumber yard or a plumbing wholesaler, pay attention to what you're doing and you're going to end up better off.

[00:34:52] Eric Goranson: Now here's the next one, which has been a hot, hot item for painting. And here's my tricks for this. Primer [00:35:00] versus paint versus primer and paint all in one. And you've heard me talk about this before if you're a regular listener, but I'm going to bring it up again. Cause it's super important. Here's the deal when you're looking at primer and paint all in one, by no means does that say that you don't need to use primer.

[00:35:18] Eric Goranson: You should always be using primer when you're starting off doing something. It doesn't matter if you're going over brand new drywall, then you're going to use a PVA primer on that to seal it. That's what you want for that. Or, or if you're going over bare wood that you want a, uh, adhesion primer, that is going to be a stain blocker as well.

[00:35:37] Eric Goranson: So it doesn't let the oils come through. Like if it was cedar or an exterior wood like that, or if it was a plywood that you're going to paint up, you want some kind of a primer to go in to really grab hold of the wood fibers or the drywall and seal it off. You got to have the right primer for the right project.

[00:35:55] Eric Goranson: So that's the key right there. Make sure you get that paint and [00:36:00] primer all in one is, is helpful. If you're going over a dark color and making it lighter or anything like that. But if you're going over a bright red wall with a light color paint, you still want to go through and use a color blocking primer.

[00:36:13] Eric Goranson: To make sure that is dialed in. So don't rely on going through and making sure that, uh, that you got the primer and paint all in one. It's a great marketing tool and you know, something it will cover probably better. It might even require one less coat of paint, but it will never require. It'll never really be that thing that you're looking at and go, okay, that's going to take the place of it.

[00:36:37] Eric Goranson: No, you still need primer. You still need paint. And the other one here, which is my other tip here, which is number nine has to do with paint. And that is get as best pain as you can afford. Because the most expensive paint is the cheapest paint because if I need to go out and I look at a big room and Go, I need three gallons of paint.

[00:36:59] Eric Goranson: Guess what? I [00:37:00] might only need a gallon and a half or two if I get the good paint So the cheap paint doesn't cover as well It doesn't last as long and you know something if you have to go out and buy another gallon of cheap paint You probably could have bought the better paint and did it in one less coat and have a more durable surface Later on so that's a key right there So just something to think about when you're looking at, uh, when you're looking at paint now, here's my last one.

[00:37:31] Eric Goranson: And this is a common thing that many of us, including I do when I'm looking at new projects is I jump on social media. I look at YouTube. I look at reels. I look at everything for tips on new products or how to install it. Be very careful of looking at tips online. We have a new trend. For 2022 and 2023, it's carrying over to 2024 that I'm going to be exposing this year, and you're going to see it on social media.[00:38:00]

[00:38:00] Eric Goranson: There are social media influencers out there in the home improvement field that are now out there playing for clicks, and they're giving out horrible, borderline dangerous advice so they can have people like you, my smart audience, comment on it and go, what are you doing? And they are giving bad, bad information just so they can get the clicks for people to watch it so they can share it up and they get the hate because guess what they still make the money off of it.

[00:38:36] Eric Goranson: And so it's a new business model for home improvement. So be very careful of your sources for tricks and tips out there. I just watched a guy what you're going to see in a video coming up said, Hey, I'm short on my spray on my, on my sheet rock here by about an inch. And so instead of getting the right piece of sheetrock, just fill it in with spray foam and mud over the top of it.

[00:38:57] Eric Goranson: You won't even need tape. This is the kind of [00:39:00] stuff out there that I'm really going to spend some time trying to stop this year. So I'm going to be exposing some of these people and calling them out on social media. So, people like you Can make sure and get the right advice or at least well intentioned advice.

[00:39:13] Eric Goranson: I just want to stop the stuff out there that people seem to be doing just to get the clicks and it's going to put you in a bad spot because you end up doing a process project or a process wrong and that's going to cost your money. All right, everybody, that's the end of our number one today. Thanks for tuning into around the house.

[00:39:29] Eric Goranson: We'll see you in the next episode. I appreciate you. Happy new year as well. Happy 2024.