[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home. There is a lot to know though. We've got you covered. This is around the house. Hey guys. Welcome to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. This is the midweek special.

[00:00:33] Eric Goranson: This is where we talk about the stuff. That didn't make it into last weekend show and not make it into this weekend show. Well, today I wanted to talk a little bit about little bit about gardening and building garden beds and building those raised beds, cuz now's the time that people are starting to get, at least in my area, those things planted.

[00:00:51] Eric Goranson: And one of the biggest conversations that I have with people is using the wrong materials, for instance. You should [00:01:00] never, and I say never have a garden bed that has railroad ties around the outside of it because of the chemicals that are in railroad ties. You do not want that in your food. So, you know, you think about it, creosote, that's caked all over those things was first patented for use in on wood in the thirties.

[00:01:21] Eric Goranson: And when I lived up in the Tacoma area, Tacoma, Washington area, they had a big, huge railroad type factory there that made creosote for the in treated railroad ties. And they were going around and digging up people's yards all around. The area to make sure that they didn't get poisoned from the creosote that had just came out of the air.

[00:01:45] Eric Goranson: So it's interesting. So this stuff here, you know, it's really effective against killing like fungi and insects and marine bores and things like that. The oily texture of the treated wood will ruin [00:02:00] clothing, hand footwear, and it gives sun sensitivity for workers in contact. And there is a strong suspicion that the chemical components are carcinogenic and toxicity of plants growing nearby.

[00:02:16] Eric Goranson: So, and you, I mean, it's so toxic you can't even saw a sand or paint it without taking some serious health risks. So if you think about it, creosote is a restricted use pesticide. That is primarily used to treat rare tide utility poles and marine structures, and maybe some bridge timbers. That's why you should never use it around your house.

[00:02:39] Eric Goranson: And I've seen people that actually had retaining walls made of this, and they had some really big struggles because they were getting it cleaned up and then they did some soil samples and realized that they needed to haul some soil out around them because that was toxic from the water washing off the creosote into the ground around it.

[00:02:56] Eric Goranson: So you do not want that. In your garden beds. [00:03:00] And the same goes with the lots of other treaty treatments as well. There's a lot of different woods out there that are, um, you know, like in the pressure treated stuff that is not rated for food or, you know, contact around there. So really, when you're making a.

[00:03:16] Eric Goranson: Any kind of a raised garden bed. I want to make sure that when you're building these, you're building 'em with maybe a composite product or something like that, that does not have any of these different finishes on 'em. A lot of these copper ones like the, uh, a C Q is another one that's uh, um, It's pretty low risk, but there's a lot of different finishes out there.

[00:03:38] Eric Goranson: You know, there's a c q, there's ca, which is copper aole, that's a water-based wood preservative. Um, you know, it's widely used through the US and Canada and it's got copper, boric acid and uh, you know, other stuff. But really, The problem that you see is the copper does migrate from that into the soil immediately [00:04:00] adjacent to the planter sides.

[00:04:02] Eric Goranson: So even though the copper levels were not higher in roots, in, in, like of radishes and carrots and things like that, uh, copper levels however, were elevated in the foliage. So those are things that you should kind of keep an eye on any of these treatments, you know, um, user that Copper Z is using for millwork, shingles, shake siding, plywood, and structural timber fence posts.

[00:04:25] Eric Goranson: It's a very common treatment, so be very careful. I don't wanna see that stuff ending up in your, um, You know, end up, end up in your food because, uh, any of these coppers can, that copper can migrate and so be very careful with that. So yeah, just build a regular lumber. I would go through and, uh, make sure you use composites where you can, and you'll be fine if you have to rebuild it.

[00:04:51] Eric Goranson: I'd much rather see you build it again and, Five to 10 years and to use some treated stuff that's gonna make you sick. Cuz that right there is a key to watch out for is [00:05:00] treated woods and your planters. Uh, you can use, uh, take a look at the stains. You know, a lot of the times if you're gonna do a wood and you're gonna stain it, just use one of the, uh, regular oil-based stains.

[00:05:10] Eric Goranson: You know, those will be, those will be fine for that. Um, you know, you'll be good. But it's just those preservatives. That you're looking for. So be very, very careful with that. So, um, you know, and of course if you're doing any treated work out there, make sure that you are using dust masks and uh, and you know, goggles and gloves if you're doing anything else doing that.

[00:05:31] Eric Goranson: So I'd use that. Any one of the plastic lumber, stones, concrete blocks is framing material. There's a lot of different ways you can do, you can also use naturally decaying wood like cedar, cypress, black walnut, locust, you know, redwood. Those are all little bit more expensive, but they are more durable and, uh, some of those can last up to 25 years in contact with soil.

[00:05:56] Eric Goranson: So be, be cautious when you're doing that. All right, well that [00:06:00] wraps up our garden little piece there. Just make sure that we're, uh, you know, being safe with building those things. And then I wanted to talk for a minute here about heating and cooling. Right now there are some killer rebates here in the United States.

[00:06:12] Eric Goranson: Whether or not you like that, uh, energy. Rebates that came out of the, um, so-called inflation reduction Act. They are giving away lots of money to help pay for you getting into a higher efficiency heat pump. So take a look. If you're looking at upgrading your H V A C system right now, you know it's expensive.

[00:06:34] Eric Goranson: No question. H V A C prices went up a few years ago. I don't see them coming down anytime soon. But really the H V A C out there with the rebates are really helping you. And I don't think there's gonna be a time in the near future we are gonna see rebates any better than what they are. So they are state to state, region by region.

[00:06:53] Eric Goranson: So, uh, tuck, take a look at, uh, your local energy provider and your state's rebates and take a look cuz [00:07:00] that's kind of where the money went to and take a look and see and get, of course. All your quotes. And one of the things that I say, you know, I work, you know, here in the Portland area with, um, the company I work with for years, pyramid Heating and Cooling, and they're a carrier dealer.

[00:07:12] Eric Goranson: But make sure, you know, you can find or buy the best high quality system out there, but if you have a low quality installer, This is where that's gonna get to be a problem because the best quality system with a worse, with a bad quality installer ends up being a heck of a mess that you don't wanna mess with.

[00:07:33] Eric Goranson: So having the right installation company that is certified by and trained by the manufacturer. Is by far your best way to go. The uh, truck and a truck, H V A C technician is not a place that I would buy an H V A C system from because they could get the sizing wrong, they could get the install incorrectly.

[00:07:54] Eric Goranson: And um, now you've spent a lot of good money on a system that won't work right? Cuz it was never designed to work right. [00:08:00] So be very careful with that. I want you to make sure that you get the right people in the job, so it doesn't matter if you're looking at train or carrier, whoever else you're out there looking at.

[00:08:09] Eric Goranson: Just make sure you've got the right people doing it and do your research out there. There are brands that are very reliable. And there are brands that are not so reliable, and I want you to really get online and do some research out there. You know, the big ones, the, the, the carriers and the trains are very reliable.

[00:08:28] Eric Goranson: There are some other ones out there that have been having some serious reliability problems and nobody wants, when a year warranty wakes, you know, just goes out the door to have failures and then you're spending money on a system. That, uh, well didn't hold up and that happened to my neighbor a couple years ago.

[00:08:46] Eric Goranson: Uh, they bought a house. The people had put a brand new H V A C system in, had had troubles all along the way. They moved in and, um, Their home warranty ended up buying a brand new system cuz it was cheaper to put a brand new [00:09:00] other brand system in than it was to come out and replace the unit that was defective and they were having that many problems and it was a major brand out there.

[00:09:08] Eric Goranson: So, uh, be very careful. With, uh, what brands you pick because it does make a difference out there. All right, everybody, I'll give you a little tip for the show this weekend. Coming up on the radio, we've got, uh, how to hire a Designer and an hour number two, we're gonna be talking with Ari Vent about those cool designer events for your H V A C system and then on around the House Northwest, the TV show.

[00:09:31] Eric Goranson: Make sure you head over to YouTube. You can catch all my videos over there, so go YouTube at Fox 12, Oregon. And so just look for the Fox 12 Oregon YouTube page and go to the Around the House playlist. And I think we've got like 55 or 60 videos over there from the show that we've cut out, and you can take a look and see what's going on over there.

[00:09:49] Eric Goranson: There's a lot of great tips and tricks over there if you had to take a look at. So there's a lot th a lot there. And so much more coming up on Saturday, we're gonna be going out to, uh, we've got some fun stuff that we're gonna be doing [00:10:00] on Saturday. So I'm gonna be doing, uh, how to swap out and install. A deadbolt and a door that never had a deadbolt.

[00:10:07] Eric Goranson: So I took an old seventies door and, and drilled through it and show you how to do that. And we've got a lot of cool new pieces coming up this weekend as well with a new maid in Northwest or made in the United States segment, uh, that uh, can't wait to show you guys. It's gonna be a lot of fun. So all that and more coming up this weekend on the round the house show.

[00:10:24] Eric Goranson: And, uh, around the House Northwest. If you need more information or if you got questions for me, head over to around the house online.com and you can find out over there, uh, what's going on. And of course, get a hold of me. All right, everybody, have a great rest of the week. Happy midweek. Special, we'll see you on Saturday.

[00:10:40] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning in to around the House.