Tim:  Okay, really quickly before I got off the air, I got a
really neat email from Barb, who delivers the paper every
morning. Barb, I sure hope you're still out there. She says
she's `wondering if the plaster on the walls is the real
stuff in my house with lath strips behind it. The walls are
falling apart and need to be replaced. My question: Can I
put regular drywall board on the walls? How do I determine
the thickness of the board? After I get the walls up, what
do I need to do to paint them or wallpaper them?'

Here's what you do, Barb. You would actually tear out where
the plaster's loose. You actually kind of square it up, and
after you take that loose plaster off (I wouldn't take it
all off), you're going to find out how thick the plaster is
in different areas. And you're going to find out pretty
quickly that it's different thicknesses. Okay?

You can get 1/4 inch drywall, 3/8 and even 1/2 inch. You're
probably going to end up using 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch drywall.
You're going to screw it to the wood studs of the lath board
and you're going to tape the seams with a dry setting type
joint compound. It comes in bags. You mix it with water.
It's called Durabond. It's made by USG and it's sold any
place where they sell USG products. I've seen it at the home
centers, and it works just like the stuff out of the
buckets. But here's the difference. Once you mix it with
water, in so many minutes it starts to get hard. And that's
the best thing to use to stick to old plaster. If you try to
use regular joint compound on old plaster, it doesn't stick
very well. That's why you've got to use the joint setting
type. Once it's done, then you've got to seal it with a
really good product for wallpaper, and that's at my website
askthebuilder.com. Go the wallpaper section.

Tim:  Let's go back to the phones. Once again if you just
happened to tune in, I'm Tim Carter. This is WGRR. It's the
Ask The Builder Show. Coming up in just 13 minutes we've got
Denny McKewen, but right now though it's time to ask the
builder. Paul, what's your question today? Hello, Paul.

Paul:   Yes, Tim. Thanks for taking my call.

Tim:  Oh, it's my pleasure.

Paul:  I have a couple of questions for you today. I have an
older home that was built in 1919.

Tim:  Okay.

Paul:  And my basement walls are rock.

Tim:  Okay.

Paul:  And I'm getting some seepage in my basement.

Tim:  Yes.

Paul:  I want to dig down outside and put in drain tile. Is
it best to go all the way to the bottom of the wall at the
footer to put in that tile?

Tim:  Well, yes it is, but I don't know that you have to do
that. Have you been to my website? Have you read my columns
about linear French drains?

Paul:  No, I haven't.

Tim:  You may want to do that, because I'll bet you that you
can stop 98%, maybe 99% with just this very simple system.
I've had hundreds of people do it. They have emailed me and
in almost every single case, it has solved all of their
problems. All a linear French drain is... you know how a
gutter works on a house?

Paul:  Yes, Uh-huh.

Tim:  Okay. A gutter collects the water before it hits the
ground, you know, like splashes off the roof? And then what
the gutter does is it collects it and redirects the water to
the downspouts that you just told me to talk about, and then
the downspout, if you extend it far enough away from the
house, it pipes the water away from your home.

Well, imagine if you took and put a gutter (I know this
sounds crazy) around your house in the soil. Now, the way
you do it, you don't put a metal gutter in. You actually dig
a trench that's 6 inches wide that's maybe 24 inches deep,
and you dig it all the way around the house and then you
extend the trench towards the lowest part of your lot. All
right?
Paul:  Okay.

Tim:  Now, in the bottom of a perforated drainpipe you fill
the entire trench all the way to the top with 1 inch rounded
gravel. Okay? Now, what happens is that water is moving
through the soil towards your house. What happens is it hits
that gravel and it goes, `My goodness, it's easy to go
through this gravel,' because it's hard to go through the
soil. It drops down through the gravel, it hits the pipe, it
finds this giant 4 inch diameter tunnel that's really easy
to go through, and the water just flows through that
perforated pipe and eventually exists out at the lowest part
of your lot. And actually, these linear French drains, they
almost act like a suction pump in the soil, because once
that water starts to flow into the pipe, it actually pulls
the water and the nearby soil into the pipe. It's amazing
how they work.

Paul:  Okay. Do you dig this up next to the basement or out
from it a little bit?

Tim:  No. I like to put it out about 6 feet away, because I
want the soil from the house to where this linear French
drain is to slope down towards it. Understand?

Paul:  Okay. Yes sir.

Tim:  You want to make sure that the soil around you house
in the first 10 feet out from the house slopes at least 6
inches, if not more. Denny McKewen's right here. He's our
gardening guy and I'm sure he's seen this too. Some of the
really poorly trained landscaping companies, they'll
actually take landscaping plans near houses and they
actually slope the grounds toward the house. They'll build
up mulch bed. They'll do all kinds of wrong things and
they've actually got water going the wrong way. So, you need
to have that ground sloping away from the house. And the
code is very specific about it. It says it wants 6 inches of
slope in the first 10 feet, and that's a minimum
requirement. In other words, if you can get it to slope a
foot, do it. All right?

Paul:  Okay.

Tim:  And it slopes right to where that linear French drain
is, and all I can tell you, they work and they work so well,
you just can't believe it.

Paul:  Okay. I might not need to dig all the way down.

Tim:  No, you do not need to dig all the way. I want you to
try this first. Go read that column and if you have any
questions, email me. Okay?

Paul:  Okay. Let me ask you one other quick question.

Tim:  Yes.

Paul:  Is there any product out that will actually seal the
old rock foundation, the rock wall for a basement like
concrete?
Tim:  Yes, you bet there is. In other words, if you had the
wherewithal, the money and you really wanted to do this; if
you actually brought in a backhoe and completely excavated
around the outside of your house, I mean completely did it,
all right? And went all the way down to the bottom rock, and
you took a pressure washer and you washed the stone on the
outside, got it completely so it looked like brand new when
they first built the house?

Paul:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And then you stuccoed it. I mean, you'd actually bring
in a stucco contractor and stucco the outside so that it's
pretty smooth and then wait two weeks and have the people
from Rubber Wall or Tuff `N Dry come in to actually spray a
compound on the foundation. It would be completely
waterproof. But my guess is that might cost you about
$50,000.

Paul:  Well, that's what I'm saying. That sounds expensive.

Tim:  Huge money. But if you won the lottery, I could
waterproof the outside of that foundation and I would
guarantee it. So, yes, it can be done.

Paul:  So, on your website you have some information on
there about the linear French pipe?

Tim:  Yes, linear French drain. Just go on the left-hand
side of my website. In a column you're going to see a word
called `drainage' and click that drainage word and, believe
me, it's there.

Paul:  Okay.

Tim:  If you can't find it, email me. Just say, `Hey Tim, I
talked to you on the radio today and I can't find that
column about French drains.'

Paul:  Okay.

Tim:  All right, Paul!

Paul:  Well, thank you very much, Tim. I appreciate the
information.

Tim:  Call me anytime.

Paul:  You have a great show!

Tim:  Well, thanks very much. Thanks a whole lot.

Tim:  Let's go to the phones once again. Billie, it's Tim
Carter. Thanks for calling Ask The Builder. How are you
today?

Billie:  Hi. How are you?

Tim:  Doing pretty good!

Billie:  Good! I had emailed you about my front stoop. I'm
in Pittsburgh.

Tim:  Yes.

Billie:  I read the article you told me to read about,
putting slate on it.

Tim:  Yes.

Billie:  And I didn't know whether that would be better, or
someone had also suggested just repairing the cracks and
painting it with like an oil paint with like a no-skid in
it, or something?

Tim:  No. You don't want to paint it, because any paint that
you put on that outdoor porch stoop is very likely going to
peel off for any number of reasons.

Billie:  Okay.

Tim:  In my opinion, you've got a couple of choices: cover
it with a slate, which is just drop-dead gorgeous. I hope
you could kind of tell that from that photograph that's in
that column?

Billie:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  Or, if you want to; if you want to go back with a
concrete look and even colorize it, you can do a thin
concrete overlay even as thin as a quarter of an inch. And
if you go back to the website again and look under the
concrete section, you'll see where I talk about concrete
overlays.

Billie:  Okay.

Tim:  Like I said, you can go as thin as a quarter of an
inch, which means you're just putting a coating of stucco
on, or if you even wanted to add 1/2 inch or 1 inch of new
concrete, you can do that as well. And if you follow all the
directions in that column, it'll look fantastic. Now, here's
the best part. Like you were just talking about painting it
a different color?

Billie:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  When you put down this new concrete overlay; have you
seen this stamped
concrete around your house anywhere or at some of these
restaurants?

Billie:  Yeah, where you can dye it how you want.

Tim:  Yeah, exactly. They have these dry pigments. They're
called dry shake and it just looks like flour. It's this bag
of colored pigments. And once the concrete's wet, you kind
of shake it into it. You know what I mean?

Billie:  Yes.

Tim:  You like shake these pigments in and you trowel it in.
And that color penetrates down into that coating about 1/8
to 3/16s of an inch, and you'll actually have a permanently
colored concrete surface. So, you can do that! So, you've
got a lot of options.

Billie:  Which do you think would hold up better and longer?

Tim:  I would have no trouble with the slate. The slate will
last longer than you will on this earth ((laughing) if you
put it down the way I told you to. I'm serious. If you put
that slate down the right way, it'll last 50 to 100 years.
And personally, I think the slate has so much more
character.

Billie:  Yeah. When I was at the store, I looked and they
just had so many beautiful colors in it and it was really
nice.

Tim:  Right!

Billie:  So, I just wanted to make sure that that was the
best option.

Tim:  Well, I mean, think about it. Slate's rough. I mean,
it's rough!

Billie:  Right.

Tim:  So the only thing you have to worry about is making
sure that you put the thin set down right so it doesn't
become detached.

Billie:  Right. I mean, something needs to be done.

Tim:  I tell you what, Billie, I wish I could come back up
there in Pittsburgh. I'd help you put it down. We'd have it
down in about a day or so.

Billie:  Oh, wow! Okay. Well, that's half of my battle. I'm
not sure if you saw the pictures, but then I had them take
that awful awning off of the house. And I didn't know, Is
there something out there, a company that makes like pre-
made gables, or is there another option I can use, like a
cloth? You know, those cloths.

Tim:  Yeah, just a regular cloth awning. There's nobody that
makes a pre-made gable because it would be too heavy. I mean
it just wouldn't work. You'd have to frame that yourself.
So, yeah, different cloth awnings. I mean, I wouldn't
hesitate to do that. That's just a commercial product. Just
look in the yellow pages and you'll find those.

Billie:  Okay. It might be a good way of getting a gable if
I hire a contractor for me.

Tim:  Yeah, it's not as hard as you might think, but I'd
probably hire a remodeling contractor. They could probably
put one up in a couple of days.

Billie:  Right. Okay.

Tim:  All right!

Billie:  I'm sorry. Could I ask you one more question?

Tim:  Yeah, very quickly.

Billie:  Okay. The fiberglass rails and columns that resell,
are those reliable to use?

Tim:  Yes, absolutely if you go fiberglass.

Billie:  Okay.

Tim:  And even the aluminum ones are good. There's the same
old thing. Let price be your barometer. In other words, look
at all the different options, and the ones that tend to be
the most expensive probably have the best ingredients and
best materials in them.

 Billie:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  But pay attention. Here's the most important thing.
Once you've decided on which one you want?

Billie:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  You ask that company, `I'd like to have three
addresses where you've installed these things.' And actually
drive up and go knock on their door and see how they really
look up close and personal, because what they look like in a
showroom and what they look like at houses are sometimes
entirely different.

Billie:  (laugh) Okay! Thanks for your help. Thank you.

Tim:  All right, Billie! Contact me anytime. Thanks for
calling.

 

Tim:  Hello, Don. I'm sorry. I was just glancing at
Annetta's writing and it's definitely and `n.' It's great to
have you on the show, Don.

Don:  Hi, Tim. Okay. I've got a chimney cap. I've got a
small crack across it and I siliconed that. Is there
anything else to seal that better?

Tim:  Yeah. There's a really neat company in Richmond,
Indiana. They make a fantastic product. It's the same
company that makes that great deck sealer I talk about, you
know?

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  They make that epoxy defy deck sealer.

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  They've got kind of a side business that they've been
running for probably ten years, maybe longer, that they sold
these very special products to chimney sweeps. And chimney
sweeps would contact this company and tell them about all
these problems they're having with chimney caps and chimney
crowns.

Don:  Yeah.

Tim:  So, they developed this product called Chimney Saver.
You might want to write that down, Chimney Saver.

Don:  Okay.

Tim:  I don't know how to describe this. It's a brush-on
product that looks grayish-brown so it really matches the
color of the chimney cap, okay?

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And it's even kind of sandy, so it looks like mortar.

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  But it is some type of fantastic plaster with rubber
in it. It's almost like covering the top of your chimney cap
with a balloon.

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And I mean it works. In other words, it bridges
cracks. I'll tell you a lot of what it's like in a way. Have
you ever used that gutter sealer stuff from ALCOA where you
have to seam two gutters together, or the corners, and it
squeezes out of a tube, and once it dries, it's real kind of
rubbery?

Don:  Yeah.

Tim:  That's what this stuff is like when it dries. So,
it'll expand and contract and you just brush it on the
entire chimney cap.

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And you've got a leak-proof roof on your chimney for
maybe 15 to 20 years.

Don:  Oh, really!

Tim:  Yeah. It's neat stuff.

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  So, let me give you their toll-free number to call on
Monday.

Don:  Okay.

Tim:  800-860-6327 and you're asking for a product called
Chimney Saver.

Don:  Chimney Saver.

Tim:  And describe it to them. Just say, `Tim said it's this
brush-on product you brush onto the chimney crown.'

Don:  Yeah. Is there a good company to buy, like, the hatch,
the chimney caps that go on top? You know, the flues?

Tim:  Yeah. They'll also tell you about that. In fact,
they've got a list at this company of the top chimney sweeps
in every city.

Don:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  So, while you've got them on the phone, ask them who
they sell to here in the greater Cincinnati market.

Don:  Oh, I see.

Tim:  Ask them who are the top two or three chimney sweeps.
And those chimney sweeps will have all those types of
products you need.

Don:  You can just buy that from them?

Tim:  Yeah, I would.

Don:  Uh-huh. Okay!

Tim:  All right!

Don:  Thank you, Tim!

Tim:  Well thanks so much! Thanks Don!

Tim: Travis and I were just talking off the air, and Annetta, the three of us. We can't talk to Carey because she's behind two layers of glass in the newsroom, but anyway, she might be hearing it. So, we were talking a
little bit about The Mansion and all at once Travis asked
me, `Gosh, has it opened up any other opportunities for you,
and what about TV?' bla, bla, bla. And I was just telling
him that, at this point it really kind of hasn't, but I'm
not worried about it.

The problem with television is that it requires an enormous
amount of time. You'd be shocked at how much time it takes.
Well, I'll give you an example. If you've watched the
mansion episodes now and you see how much I'm on screen,
maybe three minutes out of the 47 show us judges. Each time
I was there, it was a minimum of five hours. So, it takes so
much time to film stuff, you'd be shocked. Even the things
that I do each week for Channel 5 here on WLWT, those 90-
second vignettes. On average it takes about 40 minutes to
get 90 seconds, so enormous time commitment. The only way
that I would do it is that financially, they'd really,
really, really, really have to make it worth your while.
Plus, you know, kick in a perpetual residuals, because to
sit there and trade money for time or time for money, that's
not the way to go.

Okay. Let's go back to the phones. Boy, we've got them
stacked up. Joe, it's Tim Carter. Thanks for calling WGRR.
It's great to have you on the air.

Joe:  Hi. Good to be here. Thanks for taking my call.

Tim:  Not a problem. How can I help you, Joe?

Joe:  I am helping a friend with a wonderful old house in
Savannah.

Tim: Okay.

Joe: We have to hang some fairly heavy mirrors in plaster
walls, and I've not dealt with plaster walls. My hardware store locally sold me the same type of fasteners that you use in sheetrock and it doesn't work the same, and I'm
afraid to proceed because I don't want to crack up all the
walls. They seem much harder.

Tim:  Well first of all, what I want to know is do you know
what is behind the plaster? Was the plaster put over solid
masonry, like a brick wall, which is common in many, many
old homes? OR is it an interior? Even interior walls can be
solid masonry. But is it a frame wall where they had some
old 2x4s that they might have covered with wood lath? Do
you know what that wall's made of on the other side of the
plaster?

Joe:  No, I don't think it's masonry, though.

Tim:  Is it an outside wall or is it an inside wall?

Joe:  It's an inside wall.

Tim:  Inside wall. How thick is the wall? Do you have an
idea? Meaning, you know how right now in a new home, we'd
have like a 2x4 wall, which is basically about 4 1/2
inches thick? Because you've got the 2x4 covered with 1/2
inch drywall on each side? Can you tell, because of an
adjacent doorway that's going through this wall, how thick
it might be?

Joe:  I haven't really looked at that. The house was built
in the 30s.

Tim:  Okay. Well anyway, here's...

Joe:  But I can experiment inside a closet.

Tim:  Sure! Sure you can. What's the outside of the house
made from?

Joe:  Brick.

Tim:  Brick. Okay. And you think it was built in the 1930s.

Joe:  Right.

Tim:  Okay. I would venture to say that if this is an inside
wall, what they probably did is that it has what we call
plaster lath on it.

Joe:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  Here's how they used to build old plaster homes. They
would take what we call wood lath, and they would have a
carpenter come in and they would nail up those tens of
thousands of strips of wood, putting a space between them.
And then the plasterers would come in and put on their first
coat of plaster, and it would ooze through those cracks in
the wood. You know, the spaces between each piece. Well, it
was really, really labor intensive to put all that wood up.
So, back in the 20s and 30s, the plaster companies came up
with, actually this was the first drywall. It was pieces of
drywall that were 3/8 inch thick. They came in sheets 16
inches wide by 4 feet long. Sometimes they were 32 inches
long. And they discovered that they could nail this stuff up
much faster and cover an entire room in maybe 1/20th of the
time it would take a guy to nail up wood lath. Okay?

Joe:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  So! And then they would just put their plaster right
on top of that. And it's very solid. In other words, houses
that have this plaster lath board up and then the coating of
scratch plaster and the white coat, boy, it's hard. I mean,
you tap on that wall and you think, `Gosh, this is really,
really solid!'

Joe:  It is hard.

Tim:  Yeah, exactly. And you can test this if you want.
Here's one thing you can do. You already know where you're
going to put this big mirror up, right?

Joe:  Right.

Tim:  Okay. You can actually take just a masonry bit. Put a
drill and put maybe a 3/8 inch bit that, you know, it has
that masonry carbide tip on it?

Joe:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And I know this sounds nuts, but right where the
center of the mirror's going to be, and this mirror's going
to be what, like 3 feet wide by 4 feet high or even bigger?

Joe:  Tape was bigger.

Tim:  Okay. So what if you drill a 3/8 inch hole in the
wall, right? Because we can patch that, right?

Joe:  Right.

Tim:  Okay. Drill a hole into the wall. I know it sounds
nuts. You're going to think, `Why am I drilling this hole in
the wall?' All I want you to do is I want you to figure out
what's behind the plaster.

Joe:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  Okay. Once you bite through that coarse plaster, if
you do have plaster left, you're going to go right through
it. Well, once the drill bit penetrates, be careful. Don't
push it really hard because I don't want you to hit a water
line or a drain line or an electric wire. Okay?

Joe:  Right.

Tim:   But at least now you're going to know what the wall's
made of, and if it's hollow space, because it's a wood frame
wall, now you've got some options. Here's what I would do. I
would use a French cleat to hang this heavy mirror. I've got
an article on my website kind of describing this. If you go
back to askthebuilder.com, I think this might be under the
category of accessories or specialty accessories and
miscellaneous, or it could be under projects on the left-
hand side. But you can use the search engine and type in
decorative shelf (in the search engine) and learn how I hung
this little decorative shelf using a French cleat. Let's say
that this wall is a wood frame wall. You're going to
determine using a stud finder, or the old traditional way of
just hammering a nail through the wall, you're going to find
out where the studs are in this wall...

Joe:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And you're going to attach the 1/2 of a French cleat
to those studs, using some 2 or 3 inch long screws, and then
you're going to attach the other half of the French cleat to
the mirror, and you're going to mate those two pieces
together and that mirror's not going to go anywhere. I would
be really, really cautious about hanging a heavy mirror
using any type of a hook that's just driven only into the
plaster. See what I mean?

Joe:  Right.

Tim:  And the odds of you finding a stud that's on the
centerline of the mirror is like one in a thousand. See,
that's the problem.

Joe:  Right.

Tim:   Because you know where you want the mirror to go and
you know exactly where the centerline of that is, if you use
the wire that's sometimes behind the mirror?

Joe:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  Well, that means that you've got to have a stud right
there at the center. Well, that's not going to happen. So,
that's why you use a French cleat. All right?

Joe:  Okay.

Tim:  So, go to my website, find that column about
decorative shelf. If you don't understand it, send me
another email, okay?

Joe:  All right. For the fairly light pictures, you could
probably do something right in plaster.

Tim:  Right. I would say anything that weighs less than 30
pounds in plaster, even if it's a hollow wall plaster, you
can use a traditional anchor and put a little hook on it and
it's going to hold. You'd be shocked how strong plaster is,
but that mirror could easily weigh, what, 80, 90 or 100
pounds?

Joe:  Right. This one's heavy.

Tim:  Yeah.

Joe:  But I'm just going to have to drill instead of tapping
something because it's so hard.

Tim:  That's right. And like I said, I really want you to
use a French cleat on this, because I'm telling you, you
don't want...

Joe:  Oh, I will. I will on the mirror.

Tim:  Yeah. But a regular, smaller picture or whatever, no
problem. You'll be able to go right through the plaster with
a nail.

Joe:  It's got to be a masonry bit instead of a regular bit.

Tim:  What will happen is if you use a regular wood bit to
drill into that plaster, you're going to ruin the bit;
you're going to dull it up, because you're got to remember,
plaster is actually, it's just concrete. It's got a
compressive strength, if it's made right, of about 3,000
psi. So, when you start drilling into that brown coat,
you're just drilling into cement and lime and sand. I mean,
you'll just really dull up a wood bit. I just wouldn't
recommend it.

Joe:  Okay. Well, thanks so much for your help.

Tim:  Well, thanks for calling me!

Joe:  Okay. Bye.

Tim:  We're going to go to the phones now and we're going to talk to James. Good morning, James. It's Tim Carter. It's a pleasure to have you on WGRR, Oldies 103.5. Hi, James.

James:  Hi Tim. How are you doing?

Tim:  I'm doing great this morning, I tell you right now! I couldn't be better.

James:  I'd like to thank you for corresponding with me since Thursday via email about my issue with the Tyvec?

Tim:  Um! Oh, yeah! I remember that one. Man! Those are some bad photos, buddy.

James:  Bad photos or...?

Tim:  No, the photos are great. The Tyvec installation looks like it was done by some kind of creatures from another planet. I mean, it's just the worst installation I've ever seen in my life.

James:  Okay. That's what I was kind of looking for, was a second opinion and everything, because I'm a programmer by trade.

Tim:  Okay.

James:  I'm not really a builder.

Tim:  And you're not supposed to be, just so you know. In other words, we need people like you. I'm not a programmer. See what I mean? So that's why the good Lord has given us all talents, and Annetta, my producer, is the first one to recognize that. She knows that everybody's got to have a different talent, you know?

So anyway, here's the deal. Have they completely covered all of that Tyvec with the vinyl siding? Is it all done?

James:  Unfortunately, yes.

Tim:  Okay. And when are you supposed to close on this house again?

James:  Definitely on this coming Wednesday.

Tim:  This coming Wednesday. All right. What did your contract say with respect to anything about building code violations? In other words, is there any type of language that you've been able to look at in your contract that states that the builder must build the house according to all the codes and bla, bla, bla; things like that?

James:  Basically just that one statement I sent you that said that somebody signed it really quick.

Tim:  The deal is, especially if there's language in your contract that states that all things need to be installed according to manufacturers instruction; if you've got language like that in your  contract, you've got some really solid proof that it's not done. In other words, you haven't put the stuff on the way that the people who make Tyvec say to put it on.

James:  Okay. Here's a statement, Tim: "All work will be performed in a workman-like fashion consistent with all applicable building codes."

Tim:  Okay. All right. Good. I think that you've got a strong case with your paragraphs, and here's the best part. Because you know where the defects are, you can actually unzip some of that vinyl siding. And it's really easy to kind of take it apart (I know this sounds crazy), and you can prove to somebody within a matter of minutes that the Tyvec has not been installed correctly. What bothers me in your particular instance is that, if they have done the Tyvec that way; in other words, if the subcontractors put that on, what other problems are happening in the house?

James:  Correct.

Tim:  It's a rhetorical question, and something inside of me is screaming that you have multiple defects going on at that place. So, here's what I might do if I were you, and you've got just enough time to do this. I would open up your yellow pages this morning. I would look under home inspectors. You know, you've got to have a category of people who do home inspections.

James:  Correct.

Tim:  Okay. You want to find one. Look for ads that might say that they're ASHI certified. Have you got a pencil and paper?

James:  Correct.

Tim:  Okay. Write down this acronym: ASHI. And that stands for American Society of Home Inspectors. That particular society, or association, has some of the most stringent membership and continuing education requirements. In other words, the people who have ASHI after their name are usually pretty good. If it would cost you $400 or $500, it's going to be the best money you will ever spend in your life. Schedule an inspection for that guy to come out on Monday or Tuesday. See what I mean?

James:  Correct.

Tim:  Okay.

James:  Funny you'd say that because I have an inspection this morning at 9 a.m. and everything.

Tim:  Okay, but who's the inspector? I mean, is it ASHI certified?

James:  Correct. He is.

Tim:  Okay. All right. Then you're on the right track, dude, and then you make this entire list up. Here's the option. This is really, really important and you've got to do this on Monday. Once you have the inspection report in hand; I'm sure you're going to have all kinds of defects; you're going to call the bank or whoever you got your loan with?

James:  Yes.

Tim:  And say, "We came up with all these defects. I'll go ahead and close on Wednesday if you want, but I want all of this money" - you know, like whatever it adds up to. In other words, let's just say you go through the list of defects and you find out it costs $60,000 to correct the defects. Got it?

James:  Yes.

Tim:  I'm just pulling that number out of the air. You say, "I want $60,000 held in escrow that only I can release after all these defects are corrected." And if your building and loan can't do that or they refuse to do it, then somehow call an attorney and walk from the deal. Understand?

James:  Correct.

Tim:  You do not want to pay all that money to the builder with him promising to you he's going to fix it.

James:  Right. Because once he has the money in his hand, he's going to probably ignore me.

Tim:  It's not probably. He will ignore you. In other words, the person has no scruples. We already know that. A good builder would not have allowed that to happen. Okay? Or worse yet, if the problem happened, he would have stopped the vinyl siding installations and said, `Stop it. This is a mistake. We're going to fix it right now.' See what I mean? James:  Yes, and I know the foreman was aware of the job and everything.

Tim:  Exactly. So you know what to do, man. Well, I've got to go to a break, Jim. All right? So, you report back to me and tell me what you found in the inspection. Okay?

James:  Okay. Do you have time for a real question to that? Tim:  I have to run to a break. I can put you on hold if you want, and maybe we can come back after the break. Okay?

James:  Okay. Thank you.

Tim:  We've got to put you on hold. Okay. You're listening to WGRR. I'm Tim Carter. It's the Ask The Builder Show. I'm going to take a quick break. Annetta, Travis, and Carey and I are going to be right back.

 

 

 

 

Tim: Good morning! Welcome to the Ask The Builder Show here on WGRR. It's great to be here. It's great to have you with me as well. We've got a full team today.

Annetta: Yep.

Tim: (laugh) We've got Annetta.

Annetta: Good morning.

Tim: We've got Travis.

Annetta: Uh-huh.

Tim: We've got Carey.

Annetta: Yeah.

Tim: And we've got me.

Annetta: Yep!

Tim: So that's like four, four people.

Annetta: Me, my four and no more.

Tim: (laughing) Tell us about Cebella. Was she bad again this week?

Annetta: She was, but it caused her to get hurt.

Tim: Oh!

Annetta: Yeah. Cebella's our dog, in case you don't know by now.

Tim: Is she all right?

Annetta: She's okay. She's getting there.

Tim: Okay now.

Annetta: She's okay now. Yeah, she got out from us and got a little hurt. She came back and I don't think she's going to run.

Tim: She's not going to run free anymore, huh?

Annetta: It's going to be a while.

Tim: Yeah.

Annetta: She's kind of scared to even go out to use it (laugh).

Tim: Yeah. I had a problem with my crazy Cinder dog.

Annetta: Uh-huh.

Tim: He's going to be two years old in January, so he's still a puppy.

Annetta: Right, right.

Tim: He's still got some of that puppy in him.

Annetta: Oh, yeah.

Tim: He's gotten a lot better.

Annetta: Uh-huh.

Tim: I told you before how he used to (laugh)... A year ago when we first got him, he was like 6 or 8 months old, he would carry (laugh) entire garbage cans outside the house, you know. He would throw garbage cans up into the air (laughing), and anything that was not bolted down in the garage was outside.

Annetta: He would carry it. Okay.

Tim: Because it was his (laugh). I mean he felt like, `Well, you know, this tool's mine. This bag's mine.' So anyway, he's kind of gotten over that, but he still wants to get out.

Annetta: Uh-huh.

Tim: And, of course, we've got one of the invisible fence things on.

Annetta: Oh, Uh-huh.

Tim: And I'm telling you what, those things work so long as the little battery (laughing) inside that collar thing works. Well, we we re having some trouble recently where it's just like he was kind of getting out. And I put a new battery in; the battery's fine.

Annetta: Uh-huh.

Tim: Well, lo and behold, I take it down to the invisible fence place and I talk to Carey McMannis. Remember, he was on.

Annetta: Yeah, right. I remember him.

Tim: This just goes to show you the problem with modern electronics. That little receiver in the collar...

Annetta: That's on his neck. Yeah.

Tim: ... that's on the dog's neck, that particular one had a very small short circuit in it.

Annetta: Oh-h-h!

Tim: And it was causing the battery to drain down much faster than it should. So, no wonder `ole Cinder boy was getting out!

Annetta: Was getting out! The battery wasn't working. He knew!

Tim: Yeah, because he figured he's walking up close to the wire and...

Annetta: He's not getting zapped as hard (laughing).

Tim: No, no, no! Don't say zapped. The actual term is called `correction' (laugh).

Annetta: Ah-h-h, yeah (laughing).

Tim: And let me tell ya. I had that thing in my hand one day (laughing) and forgot, walked up to that wire.

Annetta: Did you feel it (laughing)?

Tim: Oh, my goodness! Oh!

Annetta: Was your hair standing up (laughing)?

Tim: Oh! It hurts to even think about it! So anyway, so those things really work.

Annetta: Well, she still is just a puppy, so. I mean, she's not even a year old yet.

Tim: I'm sure there are tons of people who are listening who know much more about dogs than you and I.

Annetta: Yeah.

Tim: But I just know that you gotta get past that puppy thing.

Annetta: Yeah, that's what I'm figuring. You know, once we get past the puppy stage... I'm trying to tell my husband, `Just give her one year, just one year.'

Tim: Yeah.

Annetta: Just one year, you know?

Tim: Well, you should be all right, so just be patient. Be patient.

Annetta: Okay. Okay.

Tim: Now, if you want to talk to me about, not so much dogs, because I mean, I like Cinder and I was the last one in my family that wanted the dog, because I know how much work they are, but Cinder and I are good buddies now and we play a lot, but...

Annetta: Same here.

Tim: ... but if you want to talk about home improvement, maybe you've got a question. Of course, now we're into the heating season and you could have furnace questions, air filter questions. I can think of tons of questions you could have. You could have a question about, like today, the weather's kind of up there. It might get to the 50s like it was yesterday, 55; it was a gorgeous day. Is that a good time to paint outside? Because you procrastinated and it's like `Well gosh, I've got to get some stuff done.' Well, is this really the right time? So, whatever your question might be, call me at 749-1035 (repeat).

I want to tell you something new at the website, and this may interest you. I have started a new program at askthebuilder.com where at least five times a week, I'm adding a new column. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm doing it. You've got a couple of choices. You can stop back to the website and just try to find it yourself. It'll be right on the home page.

I've talked about this in the past. I don't push it much, but I'm going to just talk about it a little bit because this is really important. In years past I could easily sign you up to my quick newsletter and send you an announcement via email. Because of all the spam and all these other things, email is just not the best tool anymore to get a message from one person to another. There is technology that's been out on the Internet for years and it's called push technology. It kind of had a bad rap about five or six years ago for a good reason, but they got all those bugs out and now it's called RSS. It's stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it really works a lot like the way you get your newspaper delivered. In fact, we're going to be talking about Barb in a little bit here, who's delivering the paper right now, a question of hers I'm going to answer on the air.

RSS works just like the Enquirer or the Post coming to your house. Now how's that? Well, here's the trouble with email in a way. Email is delivered into your mailbox, but for you to get your email, you have to go to the email box to get it. It requires a trip. It requires you pressing a couple of buttons, doing this, doing that. RSS is different. In other words, imagine if the Enquirer said, `You know what? If you subscribe to our paper, but each day you have to come down to the Enquirer to get it,' well, people wouldn't do that. They wouldn't drive all the way down there, so they wouldn't get the paper! Well, RSS is simple. It simply is technology where there is intelligence in these other computers, and every time I add a new column at my website, this other computer (like a speed burner) knows it. It comes back, it catalogues that new item, and when you turn your computer on and just open up this software (I mean, you can have it automatically open up), it automatically tells you, `Oh, look! Tim published something new yesterday,' or `The New York Times published something new.' There are thousands of websites that have RSS feeds.

So, it's really cool technology. Don't mean to overwhelm you this early in the morning about it. But I'm telling you, you should start to look into RSS and sites that have RSS feeds (and I have one), and you'll automatically be notified every time anything is new on that website. So it's pretty cool stuff.