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We're talking about the best of the Consumer Electronics show that just took place in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and that we all kind of skipped over because of all the wildfire activity. Well, I haven't let that go unnoticed, so we're hitting it now. But right now, as is our custom, top of the hour, it is time to go to the phones. I want to talk to Alexis. Hey, Alexis, welcome home. Do I have Alexis?
Hello?
Hi, buddy, you're doing I'm good.
How are you doing?
I'm good? How can I help you?
Okay? So I'm going to consolidate this if I can. About eighteen years ago, I had a renovation and an addition added to my bedroom, extending at about three hundred square feet. I have it's on a slab and I have two inch hardwood floors. On top of that, I have a French door on one wall that leads out to a patio. And everything was fine for about until about four years ago, and I noticed the floor was cupping and then it got I think with the rains,
it got really worse, and I looked around. It started buckling too in certain spaces, so I looked around for water. There was no water, no signs of water on the floor, nothing on the walls, nothing coming through the doors. And when the rains stopped, I had the floor replaced and told the flooring guy the whole situation, and we took the floor out, and I had a contractor come and checked for rain, for water. He checked the roof, he
checked the gutters. He felled the whole exterior of that side of the wind of the French doors and the sides near the gutters, just in case. And I had the floor replaced and it started cupping again. So I suspect that I'm going to have the floor redone, but I don't want to have it redone again until I can try to figure out what do I look for. I bought a moisture meter and I've been doing readings, although I don't know what I'm talking about or what they mean. And the highest that it got was on
to a fourteen, but usually they averaged probably twelve. And the place that they replaced the floor was the length of the room, but probably two two and a half feet out. They didn't do the whole room because the rest of the room is fine, and even parts of the replacement floor had been fine. So I don't know what to do.
Okay, my friend, it's a tough situation, but you are you're headed in the right direction.
Okay.
Now I'm not going to speak to all the ceiling of the outside. Here is your situation. It doesn't sound like you've got a leak. It doesn't sound like you've got anything from up above. It is groundwater. Somehow, something about the slab when it was originally poured is not resisting moisture coming up from underneath. Okay, the slab is too moist. Okay, So you are correct in saying having you know, having been hit twice by this. Now you are correct in being gunshy to put anything else down
there until this problem is resolved. There are steps that can be taken to help resolve the issue, but it has to be done very very intelligently as we move forward, other otherwise you're gonna end up with the exact same problem again.
Okay.
So the we're talking about moist and a lot of southern California. California homes have experienced an increase of slab moisture because of these heavy rains that we've had over the last couple of winters. Not so much this year clearly, but uh, but prior to so that's been an issue. And uh and and I have to say, I'm not pointing fingers, because this can happen even when that everything is done. Well, Uh, I'm not pointing fingers immediately at
a contractor, but I will tell you this. I have seen bits of slab prep for homes slip over the last few years because it's like, well, you know, do I have to get all the viscuins stretched out just perfectly or do you know so that it really is holding back moisture of vapor barrier underneath your slab before it was poured, you know, because it's been so dry, and you know, climate change and everything's just going to be super dry from here on out. So what's the
big deal? That's not proper thinking. The change that we're seeing climatically here in California is basically, from what we can tell, is going to point us toward climate extremes. We're going to have some very dry years and then some really wet years, and so on and so forth, kind of ping ponging back instead of you know, the
mildness and the averages that we're used to. But the point is this, when it comes to your slab, if you're now, are you using a moisture meter that you can actually make contact with the slab and you're getting readings off of that.
Here, According to the instructions and the description of it, it does, and it has it has different modes. One is for masonry, one is for dry wall, one is for hardwood floor, softwood floor. So I can't remember what it was.
You got a good meter and you're using it for masonry, you know, or for concrete. I'll tell you right now. The the the general accepted level, and every wood manufacturer is going to tell you this in the fine print of their actual literature, But the generally accepted level is that the ideal moisture content. Well for you know, Hey, I'm sorry, alexis I'm up against a break. I was
just alerted that I shouldn't go along here. Let me pop you on hold and we're going to pick this up right on the other side, okay, because I've got answers, Oh, all.
Right, you hold tight. Everybody else, hold tight.
We're going to see if we can solve this slab moisture problem your Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI a M six forty.
I'm taking calls right now at this moment.
Then we're going to get back to talking about the best of the Consumer Electronics Show for Homes twenty twenty five. But right now I've got Alexis on the line, got her on hold, Alexis, are you still there?
I am okay.
So Alexis had a bedroom addition made to her house a few years back, and she's had two different hardwood floors laid down and they've cupped, they've buckled. She's had contractors come out check for roof leaks and seal the concrete on the outside of the house all around. She's got a moisture meter that she's been using to try and figure this out. And she's kind of just working this problem on her own very intelligently. I could use some help, and so Alexis, So, here's the thing. A
couple of questions real quick. Number one, the kind of hardwood that you've been laying down. You said, did you say two inch strip hardwood? Is this engineered hardware or.
Is it solid?
No? It's solid solid?
Yeah, okay, so this is solid oak hardwood. Is that because you're trying to match the existing house?
Correct?
Okay? The most vulnerable houses.
I'm sorry, go ahead, no, no, go ahead, no, no, fine, the house was built when nineteen twenty eight.
Okay, that's what I thought. All right, So we're matching the existing solid oak strip flooring. So we've got to be super super careful because solid oak floor solid meaning just one piece of wood from top to bottom, not a plywood kind of situation, which is an engineered wood floor, are the most the most vulnerable to moisture because they
have nothing. There aren't other layers of wood underneath the finish layer that are set at, you know, at varying angles to each other to resist cupping and buckling and all of that kind of stuff. So yours is it is not an possible situation, but it is the most sensitive situations. We've got to be really careful about it. Checking moisture in the slab and what'd you say? Your readings were.
The highest I got was fourteen, but they averaged around twelve.
Okay, so that actually isn't high, very high for most slab readings. But here is the thing, and I don't know if you've been doing this. I'd be surprised if you had been, so don't feel bad about it. But it can be deceiving. Checking moisture in a slab can be deceiving because it is part of the interior condition space of our home. Whether you're using your air conditioner which dries air it's a dehumidifier, or whether you're using
your heater to keep the space warm. The point is there could be more moisture coming up through that slab than your re Your moisture gauge is perceiving because the surface of your slab is constantly being dried out by the condition of the air inside the space. So in other words, you may be getting a false read on that to a certain degree. So here's how we resolve that is you get yourself a small roll of a thick viscuen plastic right like heavy duty, like six mil
four mil six mil plastic. You can find this at the paint tile at the big box store. And a small roll you don't need a you know, one hundred foot long roll, just the smallest role you can find, but I wanted to be heavy duty, so it lasts for a while. And you're gonna cut let's take two or three readings in the room. You're gonna cut yourself, maybe a twelve by twelve or a twenty four by twenty four square of this plastic, three of them. And you're gonna get some heavy duty ducked tape, okay, and
you're gonna tape the on the edges. You're gonna tape this plastic down to the slab, okay, in these three or four locations, and then we're gonna wait a few days.
Okay.
What the plastic is gonna do. It's gonna keep the air temperature and the dryness of the air inside your house from flashing off the moisture that's really in the slab.
Okay.
In other words, it's gonna hold whatever moisture is in that little one or two foot square area there.
It's gonna keep it there.
And then after you know, three or four days, maybe even give it a week, then you're going to pull back the plastic and test that slab right then, and there. Okay, with that level, and we're gonna get the right reading this time. Okay, Uh, that's gonna so it's gonna it's gonna prevent the air from drawing out the slab.
So and that's all well and good.
I'm supposing that it's gonna be higher than you know, fourteen plus percent. But the point is this, it is still not a lost cause. We have installed very sensitive wood floors on slabs that are very problematic. But this is what it takes, and this is what I've the only time I've got left for you now is to tell you what it's going to take. There are there's a process out there in which the very first thing we want to do is we want to apply a surface sealer and primer to the slab. Okay, a surface
seiler in primer. Now, this is not just any old like oh, a concrete seiler like you know, like you would find in the aisle the concrete out Now we're talking about a professional hardwood prep sealer that actually is designed to form a moisture barrier on the surface of
the concrete. It grabs onto the surface of the concrete for we put it on nice and thick and it forms a moisture barrier, but also it's a primer, meaning that it is a special substance that is ready for hardwood adhesive to grab onto it, because any other kind of stuff out there could actually make the hardwood adhesive, you know, do a worse job. So step one is going to be used like Bostic. Bostic makes are hard famous hardwood glue manufacturer. They make a product called roll Coat,
roll dash Coat, Cote. That's the kind of thing that I'm talking about. It's not the only brand out there, but it's the kind of thing I'm talking about. We roll this out onto the floor, the whole floor, and then we let it cure completely. And then I want you to do that plastic test again and we're going to see that the moisture content drops significantly, Okay, and if necessary, we'll put two coats on, okay, of this vapor barrier and moisture seal, and we'll retest it again.
But I guarantee you you're gonna get to the point unless there's just water literally bubbling up through which it doesn't sound like there is, you're going to get to the point where we have got that moisture locked into the slab not coming up and through, and then we're gonna feel safe to lay down that sensitive hardwood floor, but only with an adhesive that is in fact also its own vapor barrier. And there are a lot of
hardwood floor adhesives out there that aren't vapor barriers. The more expensive ones are great adhesives and also waterproof at the same time. So by the time we get done with this, we're gonna have three layers of vapor barrier underneath your hardwood floor, and we're not gonna find cupping a buckleg anymore.
Oh okay, okay, that is a process.
It is a process, but that's what has to happen.
Well, yeah, no, I have to do. I have to do whatever it takes to make sure it's not going to happen again. It's ridiculous to have the floor torn up and put back down in the same situation.
Exactly.
Yeah, I'm going.
I'm thank you so much.
Use the plastic test first to get a better reading. Then get your hands on talk to a contractor or flooring contractor get your hands on some roll coat or an equivalent process, get a couple of good layers down, retest, and then only use a vapor barrier, waterproof flooring adhesive when the time finally comes for your floor. All right, my friend, I just wanted to take the extra time to make sure you were in good shape, because that's how we treat people around here.
All right, you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Your Home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisper.
We are talking about the consumer Electronics show that just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago. Normally we'd get to it right after it finishes up, but we've had a few things on our mind here in southern California, like wildfire disasters happening. So now that a little bit more calm in the air, of course, we will continue to cover all things related to these fires. The fact of the matter is it's time for us to catch up with some of these other items for the rest
of us. So the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, huge, huge, huge thing that happens every year. This was a banner year some years. Admittedly, I think we're just kind of cruising off the momentum of other changes, but this is kind of a sea change show, or at least we're starting to see it because of AI, which we've already talked about some things. I told you that when we got back to this, we're going to talk about a TV.
Now.
Yeah, there is like eight gabillion televisions on every year at CEES, and I think in general, I don't know, for me at least, and believe me, I'm all about the tech, okay, but for me at least, it's we get to a point where things are so good that the micro infinitesimal changes or seemingly so or even big leaps,
they just don't seem that big anymore. I mean, we saw six K, eight K TVs on display, and the fact of the matter is we're really kind of approaching the point where we're at retina level, meaning it doesn't matter, like a twenty K television isn't going to look any different to you and me than like a five K television because our eyes just can't see all the rest of that detail. It's just too small. In other words, we've got it to the point where, yeah, yeah, I
don't see any pixels. I got my nose pressed up against the screen and see any pixels. So you know, and I'm not drawing a technical line. I'm sure you Techi's out there are like, well, Dean, actually it's gonna have to get to this low Okay, but you understand the spirit of what I'm saying. For most of us who are looking for a high definition experience on in television, we're there and we've been there for an awful long time now. So those little changes not so you know,
captivating for me, interesting but not captivating. But there is a TV that was at the show that that I do find very very interesting for other reasons. It's made by Displace.
Okay.
Now you're like, that's not a major manufacturer. That is correct, and and I'm not telling you to run out and get it. Displace is a is not one of the big television electronic manufacturers. They're one of the young newcomers to the game. But they're doing some smart stuff and their emphasis when it comes to a TV, the one that we just saw, the Displaced TV a totally wireless television. Okay,
now wireless meaning no cables attached to it. It's communicating via Bluetooth and Wi Fi for speaker systems when necessary. It has its own speakers that can attach to it. Speaker accessories like a soundbar accessory. It comes in two sizes, A twenty seven and a fifty five. Now you're like, well, twenty seven is very very small by today's stand that's like large monitor size, but very very small. TV fifty
five is respectable. So what's the point about this. This is a television that is literally designed to just be laying around the house, not attached to any particular wall, not permanently mounted anywhere. This is a television screen that is designed for you just grab and set up wherever
you are because it's wireless and it can do that. Okay, so now what features does it have that allows it to do it other than its internal battery system, other than active vacuum suction cups four suction cups on the back of this television that aren't that aren't just like, oh, you know, lick them and stick them to the wall and hope that your very expensive television doesn't fall.
No, no, no, no.
This is kind of the active suction tech. You know, you've seen glass professionals use those little suction cup things where they actually have to press the buttons in in order to keep and maintain the vacuum. Well, this is a television that has those kind of suction cups, and it actively continues to put a vacuum under those cups. It sticks to flat surfaces incredibly securely and really really well and safely. Okay, So that means, oh, you want
to bring this TV into the den for now? Yeah, just bring it on in and just pop it on the wall, watch TV in here. Oh I'm to do it in the bedroom, a bedroom that doesn't have a TV.
Bring it in, pop it on the wall, pop it on a window pane, on a sliding glass door, or and here's what got my attention, just the applications for Hey, you want to watch TV out side under the patio cover, we can just bring this TV out and put it there instead of all of the hubbub about bringing wiring and cabling outside, setting up a television screen that's going to be exposed to moisture and weather, you know, twenty four to seven building cases around it to protect it,
all of those kinds of things. And I'm not saying that those aren't appropriate. Things that can still happen in certain situations where you know, that's just how we normally do things. But this is a TV that challenges that that kind of thinking, because it's so dang easy just to go to the hall closet, pull the screen out and bring it outside with you when you're planning on watching a show or something or you know, the game
outside there it is. Carry it outside for when you need it, stick it to whatever for however long you need it, and bring it back inside. That's that's a useful device. This thing also has a built in stand. It comes out the bottom, so if you don't if you're not going to attach it to something, you activate the stand and these two little legs come out from each side down below and then spread out and boom.
The TV is standing on its own built in and if you want a bigger experience, I already said it has soundbar assessories that can be attached. But you can join this TV with three other screens together and then they all unite for a large composite screen.
That's kind of cool. So anyway, here's one of those things. Now, am I saying that this is the one?
No?
But what I keep my eye out for at shows like this are where we've turned a corner and somebody is thinking about something that is common in a very very different way.
And so the idea that.
Television technology, battery technology has got to the point where we could have Wi Fi and Bluetooth based screens that are lightweight, that don't have to be a permanent mount in the house, that you can just kind of take it wherever you want to go, use it wherever you want to use it, and then store it away safely somewhere when you're not using it. That's kind of game changing thinking. So kudos for the Displaced TV. You should
check it out all right. More when we return your Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Welcome home.
We are having a conversation today about the Consumer Electronics show that just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas and the things that we've discovered there that are home related, things that may affect the way we function with our homes. Tech in our homes, smart home technology, and like I said at the top of the show, a lot of AI this year, a lot of AI kind of seeping its way into familiar devices and unfamiliar ones as well. Let me get back to
my list, all right, I got it. I have to share this one with you. And you're gonna ask Dean, what does this have to do with my home? It just doesn't really. I mean, I mean, you do this in your home, but other than that, it doesn't. I just I could not stop thinking about it, and so I had to share with you because it's interesting. And that is Kieran. Kieran the Japanese beer company. Yeah, that Kieran. They make a lot of stuff, but beer for sure.
They introduce at CES twenty twenty five. I don't know what exactly the official name of it is a I'm
just calling it the salt spoon, okay. It is an electronic spoon that you use to eat food with and it has these little sensors on the surface of the spoon and when you put it in your mouth, here is the claim from Kiiran, When you put it in your mouth, it electronically stimulates the proper parts of your tongue in order to give your brain the impression that what it is that you're eating is saltier than it is, or it has more of a umami taste than what
it does. And yeah, right, that's a little okay. So the issue driving this is excessive salt intake concerns among Japanese people and the general public dissatisfaction with the alternative, which is the taste of low sodium food. And if you know anything about salt, you know that salt is not just a regular spice like you know other things that you know, you you know, sprinkle onto your food, but salt actually has the ability to molecularly kind of boost the flavor of food. And that's why salt is
in everything because it's a flavor booster. It's not salty until there's too much salt, and then you taste the salt, but at some point salt, when it's below it's too salty level, is just amplifying food flavor. That's why it's so important to cooking. So this the alternative of not using salt is you know, less tasty food because it's you know, instead of it being cranked up to you know, ten, the flavor of the food is down at three.
Right.
So the idea is that this spoon, if you use this spoon to eat I guess foods that you eat with a spoon, you can have less or no salt in those foods and your brain still feels like you are tasting an adequate salt level because it's doing this electronically to your tongue.
There you go. I just had to bring that up to you. Is this gonna sell a million? I don't know.
It's interesting though, wouldn't it be interesting that the day comes when just our utensils basically we just programmed them to make, you know, just plain old mush taste like anything we want.
Right there you go.
And then maybe there's a calorie intake potential, transformative potential about this as well. But right now, Karen has introduced the salt spoon so that you don't have to put as much salt on your food. There you go, all right, now on to stuff for your home. I just had to say that a lot of manufacturers introducing better presence
sensors in rooms now. Motion detectors have been a part now of a lot of light switches in rooms for quite a while because they're energy safers right as they as long as they detect motion in the room, they keep the light on, and when there's no more motion in the room, the light goes off. The problem is if you're planning on coming in the room and sitting you know, sitting down and relaxing and reading a book.
Most traditional motion sensors are just going to think, oh, you're not here anymore, and so they turn the light off. Presence sensors are different, not motion presence sensors a whole different level of detection and AI intelligence discerning the combination of the two means that now, really somebody really is kind of watching the room and knows you're in it, even if you're completely motionless and still, and only turns off the light once you leave. It's just a higher
level of accurate. See when it comes to that. All right, when we come back, let's talk about robots, Elmer's favorite subject. We're going to talk about robots. Right after Eileen Gonzalez gives us the news. You are listening to Dean Sharp The House Whisper on KFI. This has been Home with
Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.