You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI. HEYM six forty.
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I Ami why dreaming an e d everywhere on the iHeart Radio app. Hey, welcome to Home for every week we help you better understand that place where you live. I'm Dean Sharp, the house whisper. There's Lucky the rooster going off in the background. Here with you live like I am. Every weekend Saturday morning six to eight Pacific time, Sunday mornings nine to noon Pacific time. Thanks for joining us on the program. Hey, Heather got pretty worked up
about that dirty dancing thing. I'm just saying, I really did just take my money.
Now I'm excited.
Did you did you have you had dreams of Patrick Swayze just lifting you up about my dash?
What gen xer gal hasn't I mean that movie was like I watched it over and over again and I thought, I'm going to go to a camp and meet a hot guy and he's going to teach me to.
Dance, you know, as like it happens in life, right. I mean, who hasn't, really, who hasn't had that dream? Who hasn't gone to camp meta hot guy and learned how to dance.
In a journey way.
What happened to you?
All right, Well, I'm happy for you. I'm really happy for you. Other We're going to get you tickets. We're gonna we're gonna get you out there.
Reporting live from Dirty Dancing on Broadway.
Breaking news, breaking news. Baby, not in the corner.
Not in the corner, She's on Broadway.
All right, y'all, thanks for joining us on the program today. I've just got some bits of interesting info to talk to you about. Plus we're taking calls. The number to reach me eight three three to ask Dean A three three the numeral to ask Dean anything you want to talk about regarding your home design, construction, DIY, whatever. We'll go back to the phone, maybe right after our next little news break, we'll go back to the phones. In
the meantime, let's see where was my note here? Come on, Dene. Oh no, that's my Dirty Dancing note. I don't need that one. Oh, this is really interesting. Producer Michelle actually sent this my way this week, from which I'm very grateful because sometimes as much as I like to keep my finger on the pulse of everything that's going on in the building industry, sometimes you know what, sometimes something
slips by. And this was a biggie if you want an if you are interested in home construction and building materials and the impact that it has just generally speaking, on the planet, on the environment and so on. And believe me, home building has a massive carbon impact on things. It's something that we're always trying to refine and change. But I have never been one to embrace the scarcity model of saving the environment. In other words, the idea that like, okay, you know what we should all do.
I mean, as a last resort, sure, but you know, we all just need to kind of strip down, wear grass skirts, live in huts made out of hay, and forego modern civilization altogether. I think there are more creative ways to approach that. And here is a company that you might be interested in that has done just that. Planted P L A and T plant with a D no E, but it's pronounced planted. Okay, just plant with
a D on the end. What is significant about what they have done They have developed a building material that replaces plywood and OSB oriented strandboard, both of which are made out of wood by products or you know, chipboard from woodmills, making other things or as you know, plywood. Plywood's been around forever. In a day, they have a material that competes with and I believe on every level, beats plywood and oriented strandboard, Tina, You're we're gonna be
seeing this very soon. In fact, a major builder here in the US has just ordered two hundred and fifty thousand sheets of it for their own situation, for their own projects. It is made out of grass. Grass, Okay, Now, this is grass that can grow forty feet in a year. This is grass that is As a result, this material is stronger, more weather resistant than both OSB and plywood. This is a material most importantly you think, yeah, yeah, well we've heard about that, you know, because bamboo, giant
bamboo is technically the world's largest grass the rules. Bamboo has been used for that kind of stuff constantly. But here's the problem. If you live in the US, right, bamboo is grown in China. We don't grow bamboo here, I mean, you know, not other than just like in your little garden right or in your backyard. I'm talking about giant bamboo. We don't have the climate zone for giant bamboo. But this is not bamboo. This is a
kind of perennial grass. They are growing it on farms in North Carolina, and this company is in North Carolina. It is US grown, US based material. Fifteen thousand acres of grass replaces one hundred and forty thousand acres of forest in terms of its productivity. This is grass that's going to grow and it's going to die anyway, and then it regrows. You cut it and it regrows at
multiple crops throughout the course of a single year. This is a major, major, major move forward toward things like carbon recapture and climate change and building materials and building more sustainably and just better, just better. Okay, So the company is on its way. It was actually founded, I believe by a couple of SpaceX engineers who just wanted to do something more valuable for things that are happening on the ground right here. They're based in Oxford, North Carolina.
They're expanding. The more location, you're going to hear more and more and more about this material. I guarantee you some of the best building materials like modern mill using upcycled rice holes coming out of the South. And so here we are Oxford, North Carolina. Planted is the name of the companies. You go check it out plant d okay dot com and see this incredible material and what
they plan to do with it. We are going to see newer and better things coming from fibrous plants like grass that can be grown very very fast and very very sustainably. We're gonna see more and more of it as we go. All right, We're i's going to see some more calls when we come back. You are home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper Cam by Dean Sharp, the House Whisper at your service. Thanks for joining us
on the program today. We're just doing a little Saturday morning free for all, like we tend to do these days on Saturday mornings. I've got some interesting news and views for you regarding your home, home design, home remodeling, home construction, the industry, all of that kind of stuff. Today, some updates for you. But also, of course we're taking calls and it's time to go back to the bones right now, So let's do it. I want to talk to Sue. Hey, Sue, welcome home.
Hey Deane, thanks for taking my call so much. I'm in my childhood home. I'm back in it and ever since I was a kid. I remember my dad's fighting with the bathroom wall next to the shower. It would crumble and do all these things. Well, it's doing it now, and I just got done digging all the wet plaster out and fix it. You preparing it, and then I sealed it three times with kills, and then I put two coats of paint over it. But I'm afraid it's going to do it because it's just the nature of
the beast. Can I put a sheet of Plexi glass over it? And it's not that large, it's only seven inches wide by about a yard tall. The area.
Well, yeah, I mean, I think my first question is why is it getting wet? How is it getting what specifical.
Shower curtain right next to the shower. We just have a shower curtain there, So I think the moisture just from the bathroom, just from the yeah, the shower because we close the door a.
Shower, So.
Okay, so you think it's just moisture, it's not actual water from the shower getting past the shower. I mean, is the shower curtain right on the tile edge line or is it in set a couple.
Of inches it's right on the tile line.
That's the problem right there. Oh, that's the problem. The shower curtain should never be so whether it's a shower, I mean, you could you can do this, You could afford to do that if you have a shower door where the glass is just literally sealed and making a barrier right there, okay, because the water is going to
get beyond it. But if you're using a shower curtain in a in a shower situation, like a top shower scenario like that, the tile should extend, you know, a good couple of inches two three inches beyond the edge of you know, the line of the shower curtain where the shower curtain touches the wall. Because this kind of stuff happens all the time. It's a it's actually a mistake that a lot of people make. I'm not saying you made it, you know, because you know who whoever
did the tile work. But when you've got a tile in tub, for everybody who's listening, by the way, especially if you're in the middle of a remodel and you're thinking, okay, how are we going to do this tub? Don't bring the tile work down just right down onto the top of the tub wall and stop it there. The tile should go beyond the tub all the way down to the floor by a couple of inches, and then the tub should be in set from it. And that is what ends up protecting your dry wall from getting soaking
wet during a shower. So here's the thing. I would give you two options. Well, you know, obviously you have three options. You could retile the shower. Uh. That's not what we wanted to do, Dean, Uh, I get it. But in the future, sure you decide to change up the tile, just no stretch that stuff further. The second option, which would be far more potentially attractive than you know, putting a piece of plexiglass on the dry wall there, which,
by the way, I don't. I mean it would probably it probably work, okay, but I'm also concerned about any kind of moisture getting but behind the plexiglass. So your shower curtain, the rod, is it screwed in to the to the tile or is it a pressurized shower rod.
It's a pressurized rod.
Let's take that shower rod and move it in two or three inches. Okay, move it in two or three inches, and you know what, I almost guarantee that your moisture problems will magically disappear.
Okay, that sounds like the easiest And there you go. All right, say thank you so much.
You are so welcome. Yeah, everybody, you know, water splashes and water carries, I mean it runs. Water has an incredibly high surface tension. That's the science behind it. So when it comes to that, anytime you got to splash zone, you got to overtile, you gotta tile beyond. You got to run the waterproof materials well beyond the line that you think you want them to stop. So and I'm not talking about a foot or so. We're just talking about, you know, two three inches past the line of the
shower curtain and you'll be all set. Great question soon, glad I could help. All right, when we come back, should we take another call or two? Sure? All right, more calls when we return Your Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty. Okay, fine, being Sharp the house whisper at your service. Here we are on a beautiful southern California autumn Saturday morning. I know
you're up, you're listening. You're with us. I appreciate it greatly. I know how valuable your weekend time is, so when you spend time with us here, we try and make the information, the answers, the content entertaining and useful to you on every level. By the way, a little update on our new project, the murder slash Renovation Home. Yeah,
I'm not doing so well, Tina. It's just kind of I came up with renovate or Decapitate and where a show where aspiring new designers compete to discover if their designs live on to compete next week or if it is truly their last. That's it gives a new definition to eliminate nation round. I'm saying, she has no interest in this whatsoever. She's like, move on, move on, buddy. Yeah, yeah, I think it's it's gone far afield. What I'm fascinated by it. Listen, if you had to live with somebody
who was completely I do. No, you don't myself. No, that doesn't count. If you had to live with somebody who's completely enamored with true crime, true crime, true crime. I walk in Tina's listening to she's doing a puzzle and listening to a podcast. This is her favorite, by the way, way of relaxing. She's in the garden room, which we built specifically so she could do puzzles. She's in the garden. I walk in. She's sitting there doing
a puzzle, relaxing. Great, fantastic, she's great at it. Listening to murder, right, are you not tell me that's not true? That's a fact. That is that's absolutely a fact. All right, let's go back to the phones, shall we. Sounds like a good idea. Let's talk to Ray. Hey, Ray, welcome home.
Thank you so much for taking my call. My neighbor has a small water fountain, pond, cascading feature in her backyard and her husband has succumbed to Parkinson's and so she has no idea how to maintain this and it's getting pretty green. Is there a toxic concern for the critters that are drinking out of it? First question? Second question is how do I keep it from getting green? But how do I treat this thing and take care of it for her?
Okay, So describe the water feature to me, because there are different kinds. Does she have fish in it? Is? Is it like a coy pond?
No fish, no fish, no coy pond is quite small. It's it's the best way I can describe it as a short cascade about three feet cascating down to a basin that is probably two feet in diameter and full of semi precious stones. There's agates and quartzes and jaspers and petrified wood. I think it's just beautiful when the water is running over these colored rocks.
Okay, all right, great, that's fair. That's fair, all right. So if we don't have any living creatures in there, then our best bet is to well, I'll give you a number of different approaches. Our best bet, essentially, though, is to treat it like a pool. Okay, treat it like pool water, and that is to add not a lot, but find the right balance of chlorine to add to the water to keep it clean and fresh and pure
and whatever. Now, if you're concerned that there are woodland creatures that are using this as a water source for themselves, then you could take another approach, which is you can go online and look for or enzymes, water balancing enzymes. That's another way to do it. That's actually my preferred way to do it. In fact, we had for a number of years we had a hot tub that we used zero chlorine in. We only used enzymes to keep
it under control. Enzymes break down organic material to a point where it makes them non bioavailable to algaes and the kind of stuff that grows and develops and becomes a problem in water. It's the way that nature kind of handles like It's why most of the time streams and lakes are clear water, with the exception of the occasional algae bloom that happens seasonally. So enzymes are a
good way to do it. And the nice thing about it is you only add a little bit and they last quite a while before you have to redo it. If you have to shock a water like that, a system of water, in other words, you don't want to just drain it and then restart it. If you have to shock it and you don't want to go the chlorine route, then a lot of people are surprised to find out that hydrogen peroxide is a fantastic way to shock the water and to help it move towards a
sterile state. I'll just pour in a good amount of hydrogen peroxide. It will flash off and not end up becoming a problem for anybody who drinks it. Down the road. But I think at the end of the day, maintenance and regular servicing is going to be the key for this thing. And if there is a let me emphasize this my biggest concern, especially you know, we're kind of sliding out of this time of year, but it's still relevant.
If there is a pond, even a small one of a basin of two feet or so, make sure that that feature runs for a while every day, maybe multiple times during the day, for short periods of time, because my biggest concern would be mosquitos, mosquito larvae growing in still water, and so just disrupting that lower basin with a movement surface movement every few hours or so, that's enough to keep mosquitoes from successfully laying their eggs in there,
and then you don't have, you know, a mosquito habitat for the rest of the neighborhood.
It does appear to be running twenty four to seven.
Okay, that's good. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. As far as the mosquitoes, I.
Do believe there is a timer on there to control that, to control that, but I haven't taken the thing apart, and I can't pressure wash it to give it an initial cleaning. Is that advisable?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, And whenever you go in with something like that, just you know, just to go in and try and clear out, you know, as much as you can on day one so that it minimizes your you know, your water treatment from therefore, that way, you can just make small moves, small non toxic moves, and stay up on it. And if it's running twenty four
to seven, by the way, that's not necessary. You know, a water feature, by definition, is there for us to enjoy sound the look, you know, not many of us are enjoying water features at one in the morning until four or five or six in the morning. And so if there is a timer, do her a favor and set that timer so that it shuts itself off at night so we don't have to worry about it. And the still water overnight is not going to cause any mosquito issues because as soon as it starts running again,
their toast. Okay, all right, thank you, Ray, thanks for the question, my friend, good luck with that. And hey, what a good neighbor I hear, I thought as he was starting to say, I've got a neighbor next door they've got a water feature, it's not being maintained. What you know that most of the time I get those kind of questions, like what do I do with my
crappy neighbor who is disrespecting the neighborhood. And here Ray is just stepping up and he's like, what do I do to help my neighbor next door because she has fallen on some difficult circumstances that my friend makes you you have one caller of the day. I appreciate you. I appreciate that spirit, especially in this day and age. Good Lord. All right, when we come back, we'll try and fit in another call or so before we are done. Go nowhere your home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Hey have I Dean Sharp, the house whisper at your service. Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program today. Here we are at the end of another two hour program. Don't forget tomorrow's show, the Big Show. From nine to noon tomorrow, we're going to be talking about the monitored home revolution. Every you know, I've talked about smart homes before. This is a very very specific angle on that, and
that is a home monitoring. You know, Tina and I were just on vacation and we were just back in Vermont, had a fantastic time. One of the interesting things was, more than ever, we were getting alerts like, hey, there's a cat in the driveway and somebody's at your front door. And that's because we have to a certain degree a monitored home. It was like having a relatively large amount of control over our home when we are not there. Now that's convenient. It's also you could argue a safety
and security benefit. But there are also levels of monitored home conversation that I really want to dig into tomorrow, some having to do with something that a lot of us are facing, which is aging parents, aging in place in a home, the cost of being able to watch and care for a loved one without in home nursing care or putting them in a nursing home. Some of the new monitoring technology can make a big difference when it comes to so you're not going to want to
miss tomorrow's show. Everything from security to aging in place, it is the monitored home that is tomorrow's show. All right, let's wrap this one up with maybe one more call if we can. I want to talk to Leslie. Leslie, Welcome home.
Well, I live in a city that requires built in sprinklers in all homes built since the eighties. I live in a tract house. It was built in nineteen ninety three and it's about three thousand square feet, two story tile roof. I've never had the sprinkler's service. In the early years, I did have one small drip from one of the sprinkler heads, and we have that replaced or fixed. I don't remember, and I don't have any drips or leaks right now. But I'm afraid of these sprinklers. I'm
afraid they're going to burst or blow. And my question is can they be legally disconnected? And can I just tell my home insurance company that I don't have sprinklers? Must they be working and active? And do they need maintenance?
Do I need to excuse me?
Have someone come out and look and monitor them because they are so old? Or what do I do if anything? Or are they safe? Can I just ignore them?
Okay? I got you all right? So most in most cases, by the way, it's some kind of PVC system that is running your fire sprinkler lines. It's a very stable, very safe system. Okay, it's been it's got standing water in it. That's great. The sprinkler heads themselves. When you find one that's dripping or leaking, that's just because that little glass vial may have shifted, or maybe there's a tiny bit of dripping. They're very, very easy to maintain.
They're very safe systems, and I would not advise you disconnecting it. I don't want you to worry about it. It's there to help protect you know that the incidents of death and major property damage in a home fire with fire sprinklers installed is like less than one percent. I mean, it is amazingly efficient. They don't go they don't all go on it once. They are a heat centric. Each one of those heads has that little vial that
bursts open only when the time is right. They don't go off because you burnt the toast or you filled the house with smoke. It has to do with the heat of an actual fire activating each individual head. So they are safe systems. Now, you didn't install the system, you bought a home in which it was already installed.
The reason I'm suggesting you don't, you know, disconnected, is because if you live in a city that requires it, then your homeowner's insurance very very more than likely requires it, and you'd be taking a hit in your in your even if they allowed it, you'd be taking a hit in your in your premium because you're basically saying, hey, homeowners are insurance, I want to make my home less safe than it is right now, and they're they're going to respond by saying, well, okay, and pay us more
money because you know, we don't want your home to be less safe. My last bit of advice to you is simply this. The world is full of really good fire sprinkler contractors. I've never met a shady fire sprinkler contractor. I'm not saying they're out They're not out there, but I really doubt it because they're so highly intensely specialized and regulated by you know, fire marshals and so on.
So my suggestion would be call around to your local fire sprinkler contractor and simply pay somebody to come out and evaluate the system. Maybe they'll come and do it for free, but to have them come out and say, listen, you know, here's my system is built in the nineties. Tell me if it's safe, tell me if I need it to do anything, tell me if it needs any maintenance or give me the assurance that I'm in good And that's how you're going to get that question answered.
That's exactly what I would do if I was in your shoes, Leslie, I would simply call out an expert, have them give me a consult and tell me you know yay nay, give me a rating on my system, and alleviate my fears or confirm them. Either way, you just want an answer to the question. I can't answer it here. I can only direct you to the proper procedure,
and that's what you would do. You would just call an independent fire and sprinkler come and if anywhere on the system there's a tag or a label or an indicator of the company that installed it, if they're still around, give them a call and have them come out and look at their own work again. Either way, get it inspected and you'll sleep better at night. But don't disconnect. They last a long, long, long time, and very very rarely does anybody have any problems with their fire sprinklers.
All right, everybody, Well, that's it for today. Handle on the law is coming up next. We will be back here tomorrow morning from nine to noon talking about the monitoring revolution in your home. You're not going to want to miss it until then, Get out there in this beautiful day and get busy building yourself a beautiful light. We'll see tomorrow. 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