KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, the House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Hey, welcome to home, where every week we help you better understand that place where you live. I am Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer, here with you live like I am every weekend, Saturday mornings from six to eight Pacific time, Sunday mornings nine to noon Pacific time. I am so grateful that you are with us. Truly, truly, I understand
how important weekends are. My weekend is important too, and so to think that you've cut out some time to actually spend some time with me talking about your home, as important as it is, we don't take those things for granted. We appreciate that you are here with us. We're actually talking about something really practical, especially leading to the holidays. A decor issue today, and that is how to hang stuff on your walls, the kind of walls that you've got, the kind of hardware that you can use.
So it's a very light kind of decor and decorator day, but a very important one because a lot of people get it wrong. There's a lot of walls out there with holes and battle scars from improper hanging, and a lot of walls without those scars where things are just not hung right. Doesn't look good at all. So I'm trying to help you through it all today. We're going to return to that conversation in just a bit. But also, as we do every show, we're taking calls. The number
to reach me eight three to three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two. Ask Dean eight three three two ask Dean. Producer Richie's standing by. He's ready to tell you everything you need to know. He'll take your call, pop you into the queue, and then you and I we can put our heads together figure out what's going on with your home. I want to go back to the phones right now. Let's talk to Let's talk to Chris. Hey, Chris, welcome home.
Hello, I'm the model. Yes, can you hear me?
Okay, yeah, yeah, I got you, but great.
I'm modeling a small second four bathroom and a cast iron tub would just be too difficult to put in, and I am looking for a recommendation on a crylic or steel tub, and also looking at putting a heated floor in.
I thinking about putting a heated floor in as well, okay, cast iron is too difficult to put in because of access, because of its weight, all of the above correct. Okay. The only reason I say that is begin and I assume maybe this is something Chris, are you guys di ying this one? And that's why the cast iron is too much, because you know, if you've got somebody else doing it, you know, just them, I either think.
They can get it in there. It's a small bathroom. It has a two foot four door, and then it's a typical five foot across and there's also the poya in that same area, so that's maybe five foot deep or maybe five and a half feet deep, So there's very little room in there too. Muscle that in there and getting it up the stairway and then around note a hallway is difficult as well.
Yeah, it's difficult, no doubt, no doubt. All Right, So anyway, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be labor the point, but I'm gonna say, of all tubs as far as long term durability and usefulness for a holme, when we're just talking about a standard tub, not some fancy you know, jetted this that freestanding so on, we default to cast iron and difficult. Yes. Will it fit in there, yes it will. Can it fit in there, yes it will.
Will it get through a two foot four door, Absolutely it will because it can be held on its side because it's only about seventeen inches, so it's only seventeen inches wide going that way. Is it a hassle, yes, But once it's done, it will literally outlast the rest of the house. When the rest of your house has composted into the soil, what will remain cast iron tip liitting there in the empty field. So anyway, just to
say that, so it's not the only option. Though you had mentioned steel and or acrylic, which is sometimes also referred to as a resin tub. So if I'm defaulting to one of those two, I will clearly, unequivocally tell you go with the acrylic and resin tub and just treat it well as far as it's surface. Don't clean it with abrasive pads or anything like that so that you scratch and mar the surface, but don't go with
the steel tub. Dean is not a fan of steel tubs, and here is why a steel tub coated in porcelain enamel is in fact the intent of a steel tub is to simulate inexpensively a cast iron tub where the cast iron is coated in porcelain or enamel. And people ask me all the time, well, it's still the same surface, sting on the you know, on they look as good on the surface, right, Yes they do. Is it the same porcelain enamel? Yes it is. And so why don't
you like the steel tub? Because the reason a cast iron tub lasts as long as it is, and the reason it's as heavy as it is is that the cast iron is thick and it is immovable and inflexible, and so coating a tub like that in porcelain enamel not a problem because that tub will never flex or bend or move because porcelain enamel, as strong as it is, is not flexible. It's not a flexible material. It's like,
you know, the enamel on your teeth. It's super strong, but it doesn't bend, and when it is forced to bend, then it chips and cracks. And this is the absolute, without question, fate, destined fate of all steel tubs. The only problem is the steel surface is too large and too flexible. If you can push it in with your knee, if you can get any flex out of it whatsoever.
Over an extended period of time, that flexion will in fact crack the enamel and you get these little pit or pock marks in it where whole chunks come out and so on. So, if I have a choice, and I'm not going with the cast iron, which I would still encourage you to have your builders, you know, pony up and get it done. Go with the resin, the resin and or acrylic tub. It's nice and thick, it's
all one element. Its downside is it's not quite as shiny and as bulletproof on the surface for cleaning, so you just have to treat it a little bit more tenderly. But you also get a lot of color choices out of the resin tubs, and if they're treated well, they
can last for decades as well. And they will not a good resin tub, not a thin little fiberglass walled tub, but a good resin and or acrylic tub will also stand the test of time because without the cracks and the pits, because it is thick enough and innately flexible enough to withstand that kind of weight and water and stepping in and out and so on. Does that make sense?
Yes, And I had noticed online a well known manufacturer we have been considering had really bad reviews out they're acrylic tub and it's a leave of fiberglass with the gail coat over it crylic and that they said it's cracked, got cracks in the corners, which who wants that in a tub that's been tiled in. Very difficult to decide on what kind of acrylic tub or what manufacturer would be best.
Yeah, well, this is the situation where you trust the reviews. Okay, trust the reviews, and if you see anything talking about cracking and or that anything in that nature, walk away. Because again, the key to a tub, the key to a tub, it's not the surface. It's not how pretty the gel code is, and this is where it varies. It's how thick the material is underneath it. That's the difference between a cast iron and a steel tub. Both are made out of metal, and one is great, the
other is not. And it's the difference between various fiberglass and acrylic tubs. You want to know that this is a thick, heavy tub because it's understructure is thick enough to not allow excessive flexion, because eventually, eventually, if there's too much flex, the coatings will crack. That's just the way it goes. That's why cast iron tubs stand the
test of time. Even one hundred plus year old cast iron tubs that have enamel damage on them, we will pull them out, take them, have them sand blasted, re enameled, pop back in, and they're good for another one hundred years. Again. That's why you know, I was kind of leaning in that direction anyway, Chris, thank you for your call. I hope that helps.
Uh.
It's the thickness of the substructure of the tub that is key. That's the thing for everybody to know. All right. When we were should we take another you know I do? I want to take another call when we come back, We're going to take at least one more call, and then we will return to the subject of hanging stuff on your walls.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp onto me from KFI.
A M six?
Is that from Sesame Street or The Muppet Show? Is it? I still sing the song and I still watch the episode, so but did it though? Yeah? It is? It's a Muppet because he's because he's kind of a wild guy and he's got he's got these three background singers who start kicking in with the and then he starts going off and they get really upset at him. Wow, that's just lodged into my brain from my Childhood's so good. That's so good. Oh my gosh, thank you, Jackie, thank you.
You're welcome. All right? Uh kfi Dean Sharp the house whisper, at your service. We're just having a good time here this morning. We're talking about hanging stuff on your walls, but I'm also taking calls. I want to go back to the phones. Uh take another call or so if I can, and then we will return to uh getting stuff hung on your walls properly.
Uh.
Let's talk to Jeff. Hey, Jeff, welcome home.
Good morning, Dane. How are you?
I am well, sir. How can I help you?
Well, here's what I got. I have a second home in southern Utah and it is about the homes at about fifty two hundred feet, so it gets a lot of sun radiation. I have an exterior metal door that's insulated and it has or I should say had like a manufactured skin on it that's a wood grain. The door is covered by a storm door that's a glass storm door, and that simulated wood grain is just peeled off.
And I don't know if it's from the heat or the UV light or what it is, but I need to replace the door, and I'm wondering if I should just take another crack at the same type of door because it's the next sterior door, or there's something else I should be considering. Probably not wood, because it gets, like I said, blasted by the sun and heat.
So any suggestions, Uh, okay, So all right, So we're up at higher elevation and uh, and it's a lot of UV exposure and it's getting heat and cold throughout the year at that elevation. And also behind a storm door, a glass storm door, so it's kind of in a little little humid uh, you know, encasement environment as well. Let me ask you this, Okay, the other door had this this you know, resin or fiberglass wood grain coating on it or veneer on it. Is this a critical door?
I mean, is this the front door? Is this is the is the What am I trying to say? Is the esthetic value of this door so high that we need to simulate wood on this door? Or can we just forego the wood and give it a good paint shot.
Well, that's the other issue is it's an exterior door, so the appearances and that critical. But part of it's peeled off and part of it's still on the door, and I try to even scrape off what's on there, and it's just it looks horrible because it's part grain and part flat and it just it just looks really bad.
So I understand, yeah, I understand that. I understand that that that that door is probably toast at this point, and I wouldn't even I wouldn't trust it if it has delaminated on you. So I agree, let's change out
the door. But as far as recommending a replacement, if it's not like a critical esthetic door in which you're saying to me, absolutely I need wood grain looking door finish here, Dean, then I'm just going to tell you, let's just get a really good, exterior grade, well insulated metal door that is not trying to be anything else, that that only has a a metal ing casement on the surface, so that you can get it in the color that you want, or you get it pre primed
and paint it the color that you want, and you just take care of it like any regular painted door. That kind of thing doesn't have a veneer that's going to peel off. It's not going to be subject to humidity because there are no adhesives involved. There's just a really good metal paint job, maybe even a you know, a shop grade powder coating on it that will stand the test of time. That's probably what I would recommend
to you. So if you're going to change out the door, don't worry about, you know, trying to match an aesthetic if the esthetic I mean to me, I'm a designer. All exterior doors are important on some level, but they're
not all important in the same way. So if this is not the grand entry door to the house, which it doesn't sound like it is, then let's just pick an attractive color and let it be the utilitarian door that it needs to be without trying to add this aesthetic surface to it that might be problematic yet again.
Okay, so if I was to paint the door, you know, replace it like you said, which is a great recommendation, Should I use some sort of a metal type.
Of paint absolutely to apply on the door? Okay, yep, yeah, absolutely, You're gonna use a metal a metal based a paint that is for metal surfaces, you know, and something as simple as rustolium, and they make fantastic paints. They've they've built an entire company reputation on on treating metal surfaces in all sorts of kinds of uh of sexy colors and finishes, and so something as simple as that properly masked and properly applied, and you may be able to shop.
When you're shopping for these doors, A lot of manufacturers are going to ask you right up front, hey, especially the better manufacturers, They're going to ask you, Hey, what color would you like the door. Some of them will give you a selection. This door comes in six colors. Other manufacturers will say, do you have a color, give
us your color. We'll send this door out, you know, factory coded, powder coated, just like a car coming out of the shop with a you know what what, very well may be a lifetime surface paint job on that door. So I just think that's your your your probably your best bet, Jeff Great.
I really appreciate the advice. Love your show, Dean, and I hope you're doing well.
Take care. We are, thank you, buddy, really appreciate your call and Thanks for listening. Keep on listening. All right, y'all when we return back to hanging stuff inside your house.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty.
We just got off taking a few calls. We may be returning to the phone, So if you're on the line, hang tight, Hang tight. That's my goal. That's my goal. We'll be coming back to the phones in just a bit. But right now it's time to return to our conversation about hanging stuff on your walls in your home. Let's see where am i at here in minotes? Oh yeah, we're up to the actual type of hanger. We've talked
about wall conditions. Knowing your wall condition critical, the weight of the object that you're going to hang, and the anchor points that you have available in order to hang that object. Now let's talk about hangers. Now, we got to get down and dirty, and this is the stuff that's going to go on or in or through the wall. So the classic, we got to start with the classic, the angled nail, right, a finished nail, meaning it a small, small diameter nail, as small as possible given the weight
and size of the object in question. To be hung an angled nail at a straight into the wall, but at a slight upward angle, tapped carefully into the wall, and boom, you hang the thing on it and there you go. All right. It's a classic. Better than the angled nail, though, is the angled nail with hook combo, the kind of thing that comes in a picture hanging kit or picture hanging hardware. We've talked about that already.
Usually their brass or aluminum looking, and they have a little fold over at the top, one piece of metal that makes the hook. It's folded up at the bottom, and then in that fold over metal at the top there are two holes, which sets the optimal angle for the nail. You shoot through both of those holes and tap it in. The advantages that you're tapping on top of this hangar and not on the wall, so you probably probably not going to hit the wall with your hammer.
And you know, those work just fine for smaller items. Why complicate things if that works well for you? Better yet, though, if you're going to use the angled nail and hook combo, is a hook with an earthquake tab on it. Okay, the exact same thing that I just described you Everything is the same except with the addition of a tiny little flexible piece of spring metal that has been placed on top of the hook, so that you have to actually clip in the picture of the painting or the wire,
whatever it is that it's hooking onto. The advantage there being that if the especially here in southern California, if the wall begins to bounce or shake and it can't actually it doesn't have the freedom to shake itself off the hook, that tiny little tab of metal can make all the difference in preserving something on the wall. And if you live in socaw now across the country, you've got to consider other things. Wind that kind of stuff, you know, rush through the house if you've got the
windows open, and so on. But generally speaking, if you can include that safety tab, it's never a bad idea in order to kind of lock things in place. If you don't have that option, you can use the trick that I mentioned earlier, which is a tiny bit of adhesive backed velcrow which you can get at the hardware store.
Stick one side of it to the bottom of the picture, and then peel off the adhesive and get ready to stick it onto the wall, and then you know, hang it as you would on the nail or the hook, and then press the bottom with that velcrow against the wall. Keep it away from the edge so you don't see it. We don't want to see that fuzzy little thing, but just a little bit in from the edge so we don't see it. Push that onto the wall and it
holds the bottom. Now, I mentioned it earlier as a technique for keeping something level so that even banging on the wall or somebody slamming a door doesn't throw it out of level. That's one of the uses of these little velcrow tabs. But the other use is just the fact that you've got the other end of the item anchored, even with something as simple as a tiny little bit of velcrow. If the wall starts bouncing, it doesn't have the freedom to bounce up high enough to get off
the nail. So it's also an earthquake support as well, if that makes sense. Okay, so we move away from the angled nail and we go on to one of my classics, which is, instead of the angled nail, if all else fails, a coarse threaded dry wall screw. Now it sounds uncouth like. It's not a fancy it's not an official picture hanger whatsoever. But you know what, when you have to make do, you have to make do.
And if you were to give me the choice of, hey, I've got this finished nail, dean, or I've got a coarse thread drywall screw, I'm picking the drywall screw every day of the week. Why because the coarse threads bite into the drywall nicely. Okay. Number two, it's just as strong, if not stronger, than a nail. Number three, it's got a nice little head on it to hold the wire and or the bracket on better than just the tiny head of a finished nail, which doesn't have much to
retain it on as you're pulling it off. So there you go. You can always settle for a coarse thread drywall screw. And no, even though it looks significantly thicker than a finished nail, it's surprising what a small hole it leaves in drywall along the way. Now, when it comes to drywall, let me be very clear. This next thing is something that way too many people buy, way too many hardware stores recommend, and I don't want you
to use it. The expansion anchor. Okay. An expansion anchor is one of those little multicolored, come in different colors, and sleeve, a little plastic sleeve that you're supposed to stick into the wall, a little drywall. You just stick it in. Some of them even come with their own little barbed points and they're like, it's so easy, just stick it into the wall. And then you're supposed to be able to screw a screw into it. Now, let me just describe what has happened to so many of you.
You're going to be nodding and saying yes. And if you haven't had this happen to you, then listen up as you start to screw that screw and all of a sudden, the whole anchor just starts spinning in the drywall. Okay, that's because it's a terrible idea. It's just a terrible, terrible idea. If you've got a drywall situation, understand this drywall is made from gypsum. Gypsum is a famous on planet Earth because it is literally the lightest, softest mineral
that we have on this planets. It's perfect for putting together sheets of drywall. But as far as its strength ability to resist, okay, the turning of an anchor that's been placed into it. No, no, no, no, no, it's like it's like sticking this anchor. You might as well stick this anchor into a bowl of baby powder and expect that the baby powder is somehow going to grab onto this anchor and keep it from spinning. It's not. Okay, it's not. And I don't care if it's got little
tabs on it or whatever the case may be. No, don't waste your time with an expansion anchor that is supposed to provide its tension, because the whole idea is you push it in and as you put the screw in, the screw separates these two little feet that it has, or these tabs, and they press against the material to the sides and secure it in place. Yeah, doesn't happen. The drywall is too soft. Now, if you have a plaster wall, as we discussed previously, plaster is cement. That's concrete.
That's hard. And if you've drilled just the right size hole in that plaster wall with the right bit a little masonry bit, a nice clean hole, and it's just the perfect size to slide in an expansion anchor.
Or.
If you have a concrete wall, it's all the same. It's a cementious material. If you got that, it'll work fine because the cement, the concrete, the cementiousness of the plaster will resist the anchor, and the chances are it's not going to spin at all and it's going to expand tightly and work great. But not drywall. Plaster, not drywall, all right, So what do we use for drywall? Instead? We got to get through the wall and put some pressure on the back side of the wall with our anchors.
And they're a complicated and super simp ways to do it, and I will describe them both to you.
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Hey, thanks for joining us on the program. Here we are approaching the top of our second hour on the show. We're talking about something very very basic, very important though, and useful for everybody to learn, including Tony, who has apparently been hanging very valuable things off of very sketchy wallhangers for some time. I've made all these mistakes. I'm learning now taking notes. We're talking about hanging stuff on your walls, and we will continue to fill you in
on what's necessary there. And so thanks for joining us on the program, and I think, if at all possible, we're going to get back to the phones as well. I'm going to try my best. So I'm in the middle of talking about the types of hangers that we use. We've talked about the angled nail, the angled nail with hooke combo. Better yet, a hook with an earthquake tab on it, the coarse threaded drywall screw. If you're in
a pinch, nothing works better than that. Expansion anchors great for concrete type walls and plaster walls, but not at all a good idea for drywall. It's too soft. Too soft, Okay, So what do we use for drywall? Well, what we want is specifically a kind of anchor that is a hollow wall anchor, i e. The kind of anchor that goes through the drywall and takes advantage of the back side,
the back surface of the drywall, in order to secure itself. Now, there are some various types that used to be back in the day, the butterfly bolt was pretty much your only choice for a true hollow wall anchor. A butterfly bolt is a bolt and instead of a regular or
nut on it, it has and you've seen these. It has these spring loaded let's call them wings that you can fold back and then shove through the wall, and then as soon as they're on the other side of the wall, the wings expand and then you can pull them against the backside of the drywall and tighten the bolt down to it. Okay, that can be quite an extensive little thing. And also the thing with a butterfly
bolt is that you got to know. And now it's a great hangar, it's a great, great, great hollow wall hanger, but you got to know this about a butterfly bolt, and that is the problem with it. Is you've got to make sure that's where you're going in the wall, because there's no move in it. After the fact, there's no getting to those wings. You can't reconstrict them again and pull it back out. And also, the size of
the wings when they're folded up, it's pretty sizable. It's considerably larger than the actual shaft of the bolt itself. So you're gonna make you know, relative to the size of butterfly bolt you're using, you're gonna make a significant little hole in the wall. Okay, Uh, so you gotta know you got it. You're doing some damage to that wall in order to get that in there. But if that's where it's supposed to be, then you're good to go. Okay.
There are other hollow wall anchors though these days, that are easier to use than your classic butterfly bolt and uh, and some of which leave much smaller holes. Number one, let's just stick with the the whole spreading wing thing. Okay, Uh, you'll see these these are so so much better than the expansion sleeves that I was just talking about for dry wall. They come in metal and plastic versions, and
that is Uh. It's actually a a tiny little threaded machine bolt common combined with a sleeve with a very very sharp point on the end. And it's actually a two piece sleeve so that when you shove it in the wall, the sleeve gets beyond the backside of the
dry wall. And then as you start to snug up the screw or I should say the bolt because it's technically a bolt, it actually turns that part of the shaft size sideways like the wings of the butterfly bowl and pulls it against the back side of the wall. Those things work, I would say ninety percent of the time. They're almost the exact opposite of the expansion sleeve, which only works ten percent of the time and doesn't do a great job of holding. Even when they do work,
these hallow wall anchors they work ninety percent plus. There's also a plastic version where you shove the whole thing in pull a little tab in the center. As you pull it, you hear a ratcheting sound. The tab breaks off, and what you've just done is pulled these expandable wings against the back and then you put a little bolt or screw inside that. Those work ninety plus percent of
the time as well. But if we want to avoid the large hole, and we have a simple hanging project, and by simple I just mean we need a hook, a hook that can handle all sorts of different sizes and weights and comes in different sizes, then you know what, you got to check out the monkey hook. I am Conway and I were laughing how much of a fan I am of monkey hooks. I'm just as a designer. I'm a fan of anybody who comes up with a
brilliantly simple, innovative idea. And if you haven't seen a monkey hook, then it's been named that way because it sort of looks like the monkeys in shape from you remember that game barrel of monkeys, you know, when you hook them all together. A monkey hook is just one single piece of spring steel wire, Okay, so it makes a very very small hole. It's also on the end of it, the part that shoved into the wall been sliced at an angle, kind of like the angle on
a syringe. So it pokes in through drywall super super easy. And then all you do is you keep pushing it in and threading it through. And it's this spring steel wire that's bent in such a way that when you finally orient the hook on the front side of the wall, the arc of the wire is now back behind the wall, pushing up against the backside of the drywall. It is a brilliant, brilliant, tiny little wire fixture piece of hardware.
And you know what, if it's a simple, simple hanging job where we're just looking for a hook, you're not going to find anything better that does less damage to a drywall wall than a monkey hook. You know what you need to go, You just need to go right now. Coming up on a break, you need to go right now, and just to open up your phone or your laptop or whatever. And just to put in monkey hook and you'll see what I'm talking about. If you've never seen one,
you got to check it out. I want you informed by the time we come back so that we can continue this conversation. How's that sound all right? Your home 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.