KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Good morning, Good morning KAFI AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. I design custom homes and on the weekend, starting right now, I am your guide to better understanding that place where you live. Today on the show, as always for our Saturday mornings. Now we are taking calls.
So hey, I want you to pour yourself a cup of coffee, slap yourself around on the face a little bit, wake up and give me a call. Ask me that question that you have been wanting to ask for so long, regarding your home. Anything regarding your home, whether it is a design question, architecture, whether it is a construction issue, a DIY concern, whether it's a yard, inside, outside, landscape, hardescape decor whatever the case may be. I'm here to
help you take your home to the next level. In fact, I'm here to help you transform your ordinary house into an extraordinary home. The phone lines are open right now. Producer Richie is standing by. He's ready to take your calls. And we're gonna get started in just a couple of minutes. With it all, let me introduce our awesome team. Sam is on the board. Good morning Sam.
Good morning Dean. How you doing well. There is our wow their tipper this morning. They just came in a are not so live studio audience.
We get a fresh can of them every week. They came in a little hot today. They're they're they're just a little worked up. Oh yeah, for that one I just opened. I cracked the can on it and just came right out. They were fresh, fresh and bubbly. They might have overflown a lot little bit, but they were swell perves today. Like I said, Producer Richie standing by, take your to take your calls. He's not near a microphone right now because he's on the phone with you,
I hope again. The number to reach us eight three to three two. Ask Dean, eight three to three, the numeral two, Ask Dean, And there is my buddy Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk. Good morning, Eileen, Good morning Dean. How's it going. It's going well, going well. I'm rested. We took a few days. I'll talk about it in just a bit we were in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico. I've been in New Mexico last two or three weeks. Well, I shouldn't say for the last two
or three weeks, that's not true. Over the last four weeks. Weirdly enough, I have been in the Southwest three separate times on business and and other stuff. So, uh, it's it's been. It wasn't really planned out that way. But you know what, right now in late spring, Arizona, northern Arizona, south or New Mexico as well, beautiful, beautiful places. I'll tell you a little bit about right now, is it. No, No, it was like seventy two, seventy three perfect, Oh my gosh,
it is. And so many people don't understand. They just well, yes, it is a desert place, okay, But northern Arizona, northern New Mexico very very different than what you expect. Mountain forests gorgeous. Oh yeah, exactly. Yeah, pine trees everywhere. Albuquerque, which is not really northern New Mexico, I guess, more central New but Albuquerque is at the same elevation. Actually,
it's a little higher in elevation than Denver. Okay, so you you fly in Albuquerque, and then Santa Fe is about an hour drive north of Albuquerque, and Santa Fe is up in the seven thousand, I mean literally in two or three weeks, what is it three and a half weeks now, we're taking our granddaughter Olivia on her very first overnight backpacking trip up in the Mammoth Arey, just a little south of Mammoth in the Eastern Sierras,
which is my old haunts. And it's just weird to think that Santa Fe, New Mexico is essentially at the same elevation or close to the same elevation as Mammoth Village in Mammoth. Yeah, a little different, but so cool, so cool. Well, I've got a lot to share with you guys about that. But how are you doing this morning? Eileen?
Doing great?
Got my tea going, you know, starting waking up. They woke up late today, did you? Yeah, I did five minutes.
Ago or no, I woke up usually when I leave the house, so I rushed out the door. Yeah, but I got here in time and got everything ready in time, So it's all good.
It's good that you woke up when you leave the house, not afterwards. Yeah, exactly, that's how I feel most of the time. Yeah, that thing kind of happened. But yeah, speaking of somebody who's still asleep, this is when I introduced the person who's usually sitting across the table from me. That's right, Tina is not here at the moment. Tina is she's he's had a week, so she's sleeping in this morning, just for a day.
I didn't say it. I did not say that, Sam. I didn't say she was a bigger great slip. Sorry, I didn't say she was a big baby. It probably is, but I didn't say that. So all right, all right, y'all, why don't we dive in So Saturday morning, it's time to take some calls. Oh my gosh, who's walking into the studio right now?
Wait? Wait stop, I was about to go to break who's here? We were just making fun of you. Grab your microphone, I said, ny, I said, you were still sleep. Nope, you're here, and right away we win welcome home.
Wow.
Wow. Well, just so you know, in no way did Sam play the baby crying sound when I described that you. All right, Well, Tina is here. This is my best friend in all the world. The co owner and co founder of House whisper, and the reason I get up most mornings. Right there there, she is all right, y'all. So we are going to go to the phones. We got a couple of calls on the board already. It looks like which is always just mind boggling to me at six in the morning, But there is a ton
more room for you. The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight three to three the numeral two. Ask Dean. Anything you want to talk about regarding your home. We'll do it, can't hi, Dean Jarp the house whisper. Hey, whether your home is a condo, cottage, a castle matters not to me. Architecture great design, and have no doubt design matters most. It applies to all of them. And I am here to help you take whatever it is that you call home to the next level.
It is a Saturday morning, and we've got calls on the board. And by the way, let me give you the number to reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two. Ask Dean give us a call. We are live this lovely what looks to be a warm Saturday morning. Let's go to the phones and talk to Yvonne, Yvonne, welcome home.
Hi, Good morning, Dean, good morning. I have a question about a kitchen granite countertop.
Fire wing.
It's got a crack where the bosson and the fixture you know, are on the top all along the back, so it's not very wide there, and I wondered, do I have to replace all the granite or can it be fixed and repaired because I've seen some information about repairing it where they cut it out. I think I'm not sure.
Okay, So describe the crack to me. Is it a hairline crack? Is it something that has opened up a little bit? Are there granules of granite that are missing?
Now?
Is it rough and jagged? What kind of a crack are we talking about.
It's whiter than a hairline, so it's in some areas. The little shards of granite, you know, were loose, so I just lifted them out and threw them away. But it's wide, I mean, I would say in one area it might be close to a quarter of an inch and then it narrows, you know.
So but it's.
Pretty extensive because it goes from one almost from one end of the sink to the other.
Yeah, okay, so it's long. It's long, So it's running just behind the sink, kind of parallel to the back of the sink.
Yes, like right in the middle of that whole section, then parallel, You're right, okay.
And did it crack like along the fawcet line? Is it behind the foster. It's where the faucet is sticking up through where the holes are.
For the faucet, behind the faucet.
Just behind Okay, that is an earthquake. Oh okay, Well, all right, I guess that makes sense that that's a I was going to say it's a it's a little bit unusual place to have a crack occur exactly where it's located. But I get it. During an earthquake, all right, it happened. You know, maybe the back splash puts some undue pressure down on that piece, that small section. So here's the thing I am not going to I'm not gonna blow smoke here. I will just give you a straight,
honest answer. Granted, is a natural stone, and that piece of granite is you know, came from a certain place at a certain time, cut from the mountain in a certain location, and it is long gone. Now that piece of granite as far as now, there's no doubt there are other pieces of granite out there in the world that are very very similar to it. But that veining,
that particular pattern, I mean, it is very unique. And that's one of the things that's so great and awesome about natural stone is that everybody gets a very very unique countertop, even the most what we would call the most typical. Like I've seen that one hundred times before. You haven't, really, Nope, you really haven't. You know. It's kind of like the old saying, no person steps in
the same river twice, right. I mean the granite, the chunk of granite, the block of granite that was quarried out of the mountainside was then sliced up into three quarter to seven eighths of an inch thick pieces, like slices in a loaf of bread. And your slice, just like any slice of a loaf of bread, even though it might look like the others, it's not. The bubbles are in a different place. The texture is a little different,
and that's the same with your granite. So the idea of cutting out a section and patching in a new piece of granite, that only works if for some reason, and I've yet to see this be the case in
my opinion. But if for some reason, a totally different kind of granite, a different color, a different shade somehow works with the countertop, it's incredibly difficult to do, and to do it well with the countertop in place, And so it's not likely that we're going to be able to cut out that piece and patch in because it is just very, very unique. The graining is not going to match, and the fix will be more obvious even than the crack, if you can imagine that. But but
but here is the good news. If there is some good news. The good news is and you need to You'll need to do this. This will be due diligence on your part. There are, and do you live here in southern California, by the way, yes, okay, there are here in southern California, some very very talented granite and natural stone repair services companies. The best way, the least expensive way, the most hopeful way to save that countertop
is to have the crack filled with epoxy. Okay, epoxy that color matches the granite around it, And those who are exceptionally good at doing this cannot only fill the crack with epoxy. And yes, when the epoxy dries and is all finished up, it will in fact be stronger than the granite around it. Okay, so it's a real fix. As far as the structure of the stone is concerned, it's a real fix. But the thing is, epoxy is
not going to look exactly like the granite. But there are some that I would say go beyond the area of craftsmen, even into the zone of artisans who can color match and dabble the epoxy in such a way.
I have seen some epoxy granite repairs that are exceptionally difficult to actually notice, because not only have they filled the epoxy well and polished it to a nice shine which is equivalent to the granite arand it, which by the way, is difficult to do, but they've also matched the color matrix of the granite itself, which of course is speckled on some level. They've done that very artistically,
and it has made the crack virtually go away. Now, can any fix in a granite countertop just completely go away? The answer is no. But the alternative. The alternative is really pulling the piece of granite and replacing it, and that means replacing your whole countertop, and that's something I'm sure you're probably not thinking. Oh yeah, I've got the budget for that. So a granite countertop repair services. Look them up for your area. They're all over the place
in southern California. Look them up for your area, and then my friend interview and get a sense and look at the work that they've done, look at pictures and examples of work that they will that they've done. You will, i'm guessing, be able to find if you look hard enough. Okay, and there's no rush, so just take your time and look hard enough, you will be able to find somebody with the artistic capacity to speckle in and blend in the epoxy metric. Because it's a large crack in terms
of granite countertops, so it's going to take some skill. That, in my opinion, is your best hope for repairing that counter Don't patch in a new piece. Don't try to patch in a new piece. It's going to be expensive. You're not gonna like the results. It's either that or replace the countertop.
All right, thank you very much. I didn't know about that.
Yes, look around, get online, look for them in your area. And and you know, I'm confident that you're going to find a countertop prepare service. The question is, I just want you to keep looking, keep interviewing, ask for photos of work that they've done, and you'll see You'll be like, Wow, this this this person. They've got some some artistic qualities behind them. I think this is the person I'm going.
To go with.
Yvon, thank you for your question. Good luck with that countertop. H I know it's so disheartening. You've got all this granted everywhere, and now a crack. All right, y'all when we come back, more of your calls. The number to reach me A three three to ask Dean. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI A M six forty. I am forty dreaming everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Right, I have an urgent, urgent announcement here.
While we were in Santa Fe, as we were leaving, literally in the airport, I said to Tina, we didn't get a mug. We always we liked when we go to a place that we love, we want to remember we grab a coffee mug. And so I you know, we spent some time downtown. We could have gotten a mug there, but no. And we saw one in one of those little shops in the airport and it looked great, right, gold mug. And no, I can't buy a mug blind right because you got it's got to have the right field.
It's got to feel right in your hand. You can't just you can't just you can't just do that. It was heavy, It is heavy holding it right now. It's it had the new it's a gold mug. It had the new Mexico flag symbol on it, which is a really cool uh artistic image of the sun and the words Land of Enchantment, which is their state slogan. Now the mug having been washed once says chantment, and half of the sun is gone. Half of it is gone. Check that out here, you take a pic chantment. Half
the sun is gone. It's a decal. It wasn't even dishwashers safe, oh Man Airports. I swear well. I mean it's good. It's a good mug. The mug itself is good, but it was a decal. Now I have a mug that says chantman and the sea is almost gone. It's about to say hantmentt hantman Hey, Dean, how's that you like that hamtmant mug? Yeah? What is that pattern? No idea, No one knows, decal. Come on, come on, who builds? Who makes a not dishwasher safe coffee mug? I'm not gonna hand wash a coffee mug.
Ah.
Well, I just thought you'd you'd all need to hear that, just just so. If you find yourself in the Albuquerque, New Mexico Airport tempted to buy a New Mexico coffee mug, resist that temptation. Just resist. Okay, all right, fine, fine, all right, let's let's go back to the phones. Monica, Welcome home, thank.
You, welcome, Good morning everyone. My light switch won't turn off the bathroom light. And it's one of these fifties houses and it's stuck light.
Okay, so wait, describe that switch to me again.
It's just the light switch. My sister called me in the rest bathroom and it just the light won't go out. It's a real bright light. Okay, what I put the light witch? So what do I do? Go to the circuit?
Yeah, got to change it out, got to change it out. Switch is broken, change it out.
I won't do it. But the circuit. I have to have an electrician probably do it right kind of thing.
Yeah, I mean if you're not, if you don't feel you know, handy enough to do it. It's it's not something that that that is impossible for a homeowner to do, but you got to feel confident doing it. And first of all, that means making sure that the breakers are off, that there's no power running through the circuit, and then having the right screwdriver and taking off the plate and
pulling the switch out and replacing it. It is something that if you felt like doing yourself and you didn't want to pay an electrician to do that, you could do.
And my suggestion is always this, if you're going to do that, you have your phone with you so that you can take pictures as soon as you take the plate off and pull the switch out of its little seat there before you disconnect the wires, take a picture of the existing switch, where the wire's connected, which wire is on which side doing what, and then you've got that as a reference to put the wires back on the new switch. But that's only if you feel confident
doing that kind of a thing. If you don't, don't mess with the electrical just have somebody do it. And by the way, you could call an electrician. You could call a handy person, uh to do it, a handyman's service. Uh, it doesn't, it's not. It doesn't have to be a licensed electrician to help you change out a switch. And uh. And if possible, you know, call a family member and say, hey, are you any good at this? Could you do this?
Because electrician is going to call charge you. You know, I'm guessing one hundred plus bucks to do it, and you know it's Angie.
Is there any of that? Can I ask you another real quick question. It's about the law the ceiling. It's it looks We talked before. You said it's it's a bad paint job. But I'm just wondering, how do you know if it's a bad paint job, because it's like it's the paint is kind of coming off, you know, the paint frish layer. I do you know it's not
a bad paint. How do you know it's not like something on top of the roof that created you know, is leaking now and I have to deal with you know what I'm saying in the roof instead of just ceiling with a new paint, but you got.
Got you got you. So, so the normal way of telling in a bath room, whether it is just paint peeling because of steam and moisture, or oh no, that's this is in the.
Living room and we haven't skylight. This one's in the living room.
Yeah, oh okay, so so well, the same the same rule is gonna apply. All right. So let's say paints peeling somewhere or bubbling or something like that. Here's what we want to find out. We got to get our hands on it. Okay, we gotta if if we've touched the ceiling and we notice that the dry wall itself, you know what, I'm just gonna I'm gonna here's the thing, Monica, we're running late to a break. I'm gonna put you on hold because I want to explain this in a
little bit more detail. So you hang tight and uh, I'm gonna finish. Uh in Monica's question, Hey, if PI deem charped the house, whisper, welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning. We're taking calls today, as we do on Saturday mornings. The number to reach me eight three three two Ask Dean eight three three. The numeral two. Ask Dean who puts a decal on a coffee mug. That's all I'm saying. No, this is done.
This is under my skin a little bit. I was at the Albuquerque airport and I know you're saying, well, Dean, why'd you buy a coffee mug at the airport because we were on our way out and we thought we hadn't gotten a mug, and I thought I found. I mean, it's a really good mug. It's a nice mug. I'm not I'm not going to put the mug away. I'm not going to get rid of the mug because it's
just one of those classic, great heavy mug shapes. But the sun symbol on it, the New Mexico flag symbol, and the words Land of Enchantment gone, I mean half of them are gone. They're decals.
Ugh.
Yeah, it's under my skin a little bit. Yeah, that's not how my that's not how our trip went. It wasn't income complete like this. It's not right, it's not right. All right, I'm going to talk to Monica again. Monica was on hold. Thanks for holding Monica. She had a light switch question. That was an easy one. It's broken. It needs to be replaced. But a little bit more
problematic question. If you've got a ceiling and you've got paint bubbling or peeling on it, how do you know whether it's bad paint or whether you've got some water intrusion and the leak. And so I know you've all been waiting with baited breath to hear the answer, and now here it goes, Monica. The answer is pretty simple. You got to get hands on the situation. And the reason is very simply this. If it's just bad paint or a paint problem, then as you feel the ceiling,
is you feel the drywall. The drywall itself will feel solid, smooth, you know, relatively smooth, and you're just gonna be looking at flaking paint and that kind of thing. So as you feel it, all you feel is the issue with flaky, bubbly paint. But the drywall behind it is still very much intact. If it is bubbling or flaking or cracking, if the paint is doing that because of water intrusion, because of the leak, then you're going to feel that drywall,
and that drywall is going to feel soft. Drywall is made of gypsum, it is the softest mineral on the planet, literally, and that gypsum one that's subjected to water is gonna get mushy, it's gonna get powdery. You'll be able to, you know, scratch into it with your finger without a sharp fingernail, and it may even feel spongy and muddy.
So the key to understanding whether you just got peeling paint on the ceiling or actual damage has to do with the firmness of the drywall and or plaster behind it.
If you live in an older home, and not every ceiling or wall that has cracking or peeling paint on it has been subjected to water damage, not even the old ones in the old you know, like when you see some old home that you know in a show that's been neglected for or abandoned for years, and the paint's peeling off the wall, that's not necessarily an indication
that the plasters messed up, It really isn't. That is actually a bit more of an indication immediately of the fact that that home has been abandoned and therefore has gone through extreme season for season sometimes you know, week for week or day for day, extreme temperature changes. Because yeah, the extreme temperature access to the paint caught microscopically for it to expand and contract and expand and contract, and the same with the wall expand and contract, expand in contract.
So when no one lives in a home or a structure for an extended period of time and there's been no temperature regulation of the interior of the home and it has swung from freezing to blazing hot and back and forth again, Yeah, paint can simply peel or start to you did here from the wall simply because the wall itself is going through some microscopic level expansion and contraction does not mean that there's damage. So you got
to get hands on and you feel it. If the dry wall is firm, you just have a painting problem. If not, if it's mushy or spongy or super powdery, then you should investigate further. Get up above it into the attic and find out if you've got water leaking that area. And there you go. Was that worth waiting for? I think so? All right, more about my defective coffee mug. After we come back from break. You are listening to
Dean Sharp the house Whisper on KFI. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty