Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, the
Speaker 1: house Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Here
Speaker 1: for you, like we always are here to be a mentor,
Speaker 1: a design mentor for you, because design matters most an
Speaker 1: advocate as you wrestle with construction issues in your home,
Speaker 1: and it's your friend as you take on the noble
Speaker 1: work of turning your ordinary house into an extraordinary home.
Speaker 1: It's a real thing. It can be done. We see
Speaker 1: it done every day of our professional life. Ordinary houses
Speaker 1: can become extraordinary homes. Today, by the way, let me
Speaker 1: get this out quick. Today I want to talk to
Speaker 1: you about what's going on with your house. I have
Speaker 1: no agenda but to talk with you and see if
Speaker 1: I can help. It is an all calls weekend. We
Speaker 1: are just going to the phones. You're setting the agenda today.
Speaker 1: The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask Dean.
Speaker 1: Let's talk to David A. David, Welcome home.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Dean. I'm in Venice Beach. I live in
Speaker 2: an apartment, so I feel like I represent all the
Speaker 2: apartment renters who don't usually own a home. And the
Speaker 2: building I live in was built in nineteen twelve there's
Speaker 2: three stories and I'm on the top floor the three stories,
Speaker 2: and about seven or eight months ago the lanvelode replaced
Speaker 2: the water heater, and since then it wakes me up
Speaker 2: at night because of them. I guess people taking a
Speaker 2: shower because the pipes are banging for between five and
Speaker 2: twenty seconds sometimes during the week. And I was wondering
Speaker 2: how I can explain to my lavelord is I'm sorry
Speaker 2: to say, but lazy doesn't want to admit that it's
Speaker 2: just bothering and keeping me awake. So how does it
Speaker 2: make such a noise that I think it's pipe expanding?
Speaker 2: Do their rub against something? And what can I say?
Speaker 1: I don't know what you can say with a lazy
Speaker 1: landlord who doesn't want to do anything, but you can
Speaker 1: talk to him about the problem though, And so are
Speaker 1: we talking about. So there's two kinds of noise that
Speaker 1: people sometimes experience when it comes to their hot water
Speaker 1: systems or there's water in general. Number one is, uh,
Speaker 1: there is this there's a like a what a lot
Speaker 1: of people describe as a creeping or clicking sound like
Speaker 1: that happens when when hot water is being used. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then there's that banging sound literally like you know,
Speaker 1: this banging sound, which of the two are you experiencing.
Speaker 2: It's a mix between the two. It's the sound is
Speaker 2: like the banging, but the space between the bang is
Speaker 2: more space are like doom doom, dum dum dum dum
Speaker 2: dum tum or sometimes slower it slows down, all right.
Speaker 1: So what you get is, uh, is the the new
Speaker 1: it's weird. Plumbing systems are even really well designed systems, Uh.
Speaker 1: They are. Essentially it turns out sometimes like a giant,
Speaker 1: a giant instrument. You know, you got a lot of
Speaker 1: pipes and you got stuff flowing through it, and depending
Speaker 1: on the twists and the turns that it makes and
Speaker 1: so on, you get weird noises out of pipes. Sometimes.
Speaker 1: Most common is what we call water hammer, okay, and
Speaker 1: that's that thudding sound. And you could be in a
Speaker 1: building for you know, one hundred years and not have
Speaker 1: water hammer, and then all of a sudden, you know,
Speaker 1: somebody changes out the water heater, changes the pressure relationship
Speaker 1: of the building. Maybe the water heat. Maybe the new
Speaker 1: water heater is out putting hotter water than the previous one.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's putting it out at slightly a different pressure.
Speaker 1: Or flow level. There could all be all these little
Speaker 1: subtle changes and all of a sudden, now we're getting
Speaker 1: water hammer hammer. Fortunately, in most cases, it's a pretty
Speaker 1: simple fix. And that is and you could say, well,
Speaker 1: your landlord says, hey, you put in the new water heater,
Speaker 1: but now we're getting water hammer really bad in the house.
Speaker 1: Would you please have a water hammer a restor installed
Speaker 1: near the water heater. And what a water hammer arrestor is.
Speaker 1: It's literally it's an extension of the pipe. You know,
Speaker 1: it inserts. It could insert, for instance, in between the
Speaker 1: water heater hoses and the hot water line feed for
Speaker 1: the rest of the building. And it's literally got a
Speaker 1: little kind of a column sticking out from it. And
Speaker 1: inside that column is essentially a shock absorber for water.
Speaker 1: There's a big spring and a diaphragm. And as that
Speaker 1: water comes unevenly flowing through the pipes and that vibration
Speaker 1: starts to form, this thing will receive a lot of
Speaker 1: that vibration into itself and not send it knocking down
Speaker 1: through the pipes. Now, sometimes it takes more than one,
Speaker 1: and sometimes it's a great idea to install them in
Speaker 1: different locationtions. But a you know, a water hammer arrestor.
Speaker 1: I mean you can get a two pack of them
Speaker 1: for like twenty five dollars, so and they're an easy install, okay,
Speaker 1: And so that would be I think that would be
Speaker 1: my first line of approach to your landlord, who obviously
Speaker 1: doesn't want to do a whole lot that often. Just say, listen,
Speaker 1: it is a problem, and a lot of us hear it,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to be, you know, complaining about it.
Speaker 1: But honestly, ever since the new water here went in,
Speaker 1: we're hearing this thing. And so you know there's an
Speaker 1: I'm told there's an easy fix for it, you know,
Speaker 1: could you please step forward and deal with that? And
Speaker 1: if it's an easy, inexpensive fix, you know, maybe he'll
Speaker 1: move on it. Maybe he'll he'll shift and make it happen.
Speaker 1: But that's ultimately what that is, my friend. And do
Speaker 1: you happen to have our laundry facilities in each apartment?
Speaker 1: It's an old apartment build, so I'm guessing not. But
Speaker 1: do you have like a washer drug in your unit?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: No one does, okay, nobody does. Another place where you
Speaker 1: might be able to help yourself with this is you
Speaker 1: could install one of these, you know, twelve fifteen dollars.
Speaker 1: Water hammer devices like underneath your sink in the kitchen, Okay,
Speaker 1: because anywhere they are located anywhere along the lines, or
Speaker 1: underneath the sink in the bathroom, or get a couple
Speaker 1: of them, put one in each place anywhere on that
Speaker 1: system where these shock absorbers are. They will help mute
Speaker 1: the vibration. So ask your landlord first. But maybe you
Speaker 1: go out and pop a couple underneath your own sinks
Speaker 1: and see if that helps as well.
Speaker 2: Fantastic. I love that information. Thank you so much, David.
Speaker 1: You are so welcome.
Speaker 4: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
Speaker 4: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1: Your guide to turning your ordinary house into something truly extraordinary.
Speaker 1: I tell you what we're doing today. It's an all
Speaker 1: calls day.
Speaker 5: It is it.
Speaker 1: You set the agenda. Anything that is going on with
Speaker 1: your home, whether it be construction issues, DIY questions, design concerns,
Speaker 1: anything at all. The phone lines are open. I am
Speaker 1: here to help you sort it all out. We'll put
Speaker 1: our heads together and we'll get it sorted. I promised.
Speaker 1: Here is the number to reach me, and these lines
Speaker 1: are open now. The number to reach me eight three
Speaker 1: three two ask Dean eight three three to ask Dean,
Speaker 1: you see it just rolls off the tongue on that note,
Speaker 1: how about we go to it. We're going to take
Speaker 1: some calls. Anything you want to talk about, So let's
Speaker 1: get to it. Let's talk to Sal. Hey, Sal, welcome home.
Speaker 6: I'm in my fourth house in here in LA. I
Speaker 6: tend to buy houses in great neighborhoods, but need a
Speaker 6: lot of work.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I get you. I feel it.
Speaker 6: I feel it, and the and the one I'm in now,
Speaker 6: great house, a great neighborhood. Trying to deal with the
Speaker 6: front doors, original front doors, French doors with sidelights, and
Speaker 6: I get confusing quotes. Every contractor is different. I'm thinking
Speaker 6: I wanted to just replace the flabs, and they say
Speaker 6: they can't do it. I'm trying to look for types
Speaker 6: of manufacturers. It's it's hard. I can't It's not like
Speaker 6: a Chevy or Ford. You know, you can't compare. So
Speaker 6: I wanted to get some opinions whether or not to
Speaker 6: just try to change the slabs. You know, in the
Speaker 6: seventies home with you know the frame, you know, the
Speaker 6: door on the top. It's a little off and they're saying,
Speaker 6: it's not going to be level, we have to just
Speaker 6: do pre hung. But the whole front unit is built
Speaker 6: into the house, and I wanted to keep the integrity
Speaker 6: and just change the slabs and the sidelights. What do
Speaker 6: you what do you think or what's what do you
Speaker 6: think is my best option?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 1: So we got double doors at double doors and sidelights, yes, sir, okay,
Speaker 1: double doors and sidelights. And so you're not confused as
Speaker 1: to the style that you're going for, right, You're just
Speaker 1: going to go with the nineteen seventies. It's like a
Speaker 1: little bit modernist slab door or is it a different style?
Speaker 6: The glass is like this frosted yellow with like a
Speaker 6: diamond pattern in it, and it's you know, it's on
Speaker 6: the top half of the door, and but on one
Speaker 6: side of the door the frame is off centered a
Speaker 6: little bit on the top jam to accommodate the alignment
Speaker 6: of the of the glass. So that's saying because of that,
Speaker 6: I can't just change I can't change the slabs because
Speaker 6: we're going to end up shaving it and it's going
Speaker 6: to be off again like the original door is. And
Speaker 6: I thought maybe I could just change the slabs and
Speaker 6: the jams and the winterizing, you know, the weather stripping
Speaker 6: and all that. But they don't want to, you know,
Speaker 6: put in the work. They just want to change the
Speaker 6: you know, do a pre hung system. But that's you know,
Speaker 6: we're getting into almost.
Speaker 1: Ten grand now, all right, my friend. So here's the thing.
Speaker 1: It can be done. Of course it can be done.
Speaker 1: And so the situation that you're in right now is,
Speaker 1: you know, and I grow weary. I'm not I don't
Speaker 1: grow weary answering this question. I grow weary of giving
Speaker 1: this answer because I wish I didn't have to. But
Speaker 1: you're just going to need to search longer for the
Speaker 1: right builder to do the job. Okay, because of course
Speaker 1: it can be done. Of course, we can change out
Speaker 1: the jam and you can buy you know, you don't
Speaker 1: have to go with a pre hung situation where it's
Speaker 1: all been just factory put together. Of course, it can
Speaker 1: be custom installed and in a lot of ways it
Speaker 1: might end up saving you money along the way. Plus
Speaker 1: you get exactly what you want. Now, if there's some
Speaker 1: weird jam condition that can be resolved too, Okay, everything
Speaker 1: can be fixed. Everything can be fixed. It is just
Speaker 1: a question these days of there are so many builders
Speaker 1: out there who and believe me, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: I feel for them too. Construction is no is you know,
Speaker 1: is no get rich quick scheme. It really isn't. And
Speaker 1: the guys who use it that they usually like, end
Speaker 1: up in jail. But it's just it's tough because people
Speaker 1: want what they want, and they want it for an
Speaker 1: unbelievably low price, and people have to really put the
Speaker 1: effort into it in order to get good at work.
Speaker 6: I'm not saying an unbelievable low price, but just the
Speaker 6: fact that, you know, everybody's quotation and manufactural representations are different,
Speaker 6: so it's very hard to choose.
Speaker 1: And yeah, that's why. And you're in a good situation
Speaker 1: to do that. Yeah, I can feel this. I can
Speaker 1: feel the vibe that you're in the right situation to
Speaker 1: do this. What you got to do is is you
Speaker 1: have to take control of the situation. In other words,
Speaker 1: your best bet, I think from what I'm hearing from you,
Speaker 1: your best bet is to choose your doors. Okay, now
Speaker 1: what does that mean. Well, once you know the style
Speaker 1: of the door that you want, right then you just
Speaker 1: shop out that style door and yeah, they're going to
Speaker 1: be varying price points for that style of door, but
Speaker 1: you make that selection. You make the selection of the
Speaker 1: door that you want to go in that unit at
Speaker 1: the price point that you are comfortable of paying. There
Speaker 1: are a good billion doors out there, I know, and
Speaker 1: it can seem very, very overwhelming. But first thing we
Speaker 1: do is we eliminate, you know, ninety eight percent of
Speaker 1: them because we've chosen the style, the specific style that
Speaker 1: you want, and within that category, you locally shop out
Speaker 1: what it is that you're looking for. Is it going
Speaker 1: to be a standard solid wood slab door and that's
Speaker 1: going to be at one price. Is it going to
Speaker 1: be a fiberglass resin door. Is it going to be
Speaker 1: a steel door? You know, all of these choices that
Speaker 1: we've got, you can narrow that down right, forget about
Speaker 1: the manufacturers, just looking at price point and the construction
Speaker 1: of the door. Then you pick out those doors. You're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: these are the two doors that I'm going to use,
Speaker 1: and these are the sidelights that I'd like to see.
Speaker 1: And then then you start showing contractors, listen, here are
Speaker 1: the doors, these are the sidelights. There's the opening. I
Speaker 1: want you to make it work. And some guys are
Speaker 1: gonna walk away saying, ah, I know, don't do that.
Speaker 1: Other guys are going to give you that BS statement
Speaker 1: that I hear all the time, it can't be done.
Speaker 1: It just means that they don't want to do it
Speaker 1: and they're not used to doing it at their convenience
Speaker 1: level for a profit. And that's fine too, you can
Speaker 1: let them walk. I just hate the fact that they
Speaker 1: say it can't be done. I'd rather a contractor just
Speaker 1: tell you that goes beyond what we normally do, and
Speaker 1: I don't want to do it. But to tell people
Speaker 1: a thing can't be done, that's not the world that
Speaker 1: I live in as a builder or a designer. So
Speaker 1: get you take control of your materials and you say
Speaker 1: these are the doors I want to use, here's the
Speaker 1: configuration that I want. Give me a price accordingly, and
Speaker 1: if you look long enough and you take your time,
Speaker 1: sal you're gonna find guys who are going to give
Speaker 1: you prices, and you'll see that those prices will start
Speaker 1: to align themselves and you'll be able to choose the
Speaker 1: person to do the work for you and get it
Speaker 1: done the right way.
Speaker 4: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on Demand from
Speaker 4: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1: We are doing an all calls weekend, nothing but your
Speaker 1: calls today, and I want to get back to the
Speaker 1: phone so we can get as many calls in as possible.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk to Julie. Hey, Julie, welcome home.
Speaker 6: Hi Dean.
Speaker 5: We're looking at getting new windows and I love the
Speaker 5: black frame windows, but they're obviously a lot more expensive.
Speaker 5: So I was wondering, what are your thoughts on if
Speaker 5: we just if someone just adjusted black frame windows in
Speaker 5: the back of the house and kept the traditional white
Speaker 5: frame ones.
Speaker 6: In the front.
Speaker 1: I have no general problems with that whatsoever. In fact,
Speaker 1: if you hear me talk on the show quite often,
Speaker 1: i'll talk about the tech. One of the techniques for
Speaker 1: upgrading a house with out touching its traditional curb appeal
Speaker 1: is to treat the facade of the house differently than
Speaker 1: the backside of the house, because from the the facade
Speaker 1: of the house is something that is viewed from outside
Speaker 1: the house, standing on the curb in the street looking
Speaker 1: at the house. Then you move into the house, you
Speaker 1: walk in, and once you're past the face of the house,
Speaker 1: now we're inside the house looking out through windows into
Speaker 1: the backyard. It's a completely different experience. And so the
Speaker 1: idea of using black frame windows for the backside of
Speaker 1: the house because you love them and because they work
Speaker 1: with the configuration that you're looking for, in my thinking,
Speaker 1: in most cases most cases. Don't quote me on this universally,
Speaker 1: but in most cases, yeah, your freedom to mix it up.
Speaker 1: I would even say, depending on decor. There are times
Speaker 1: when you know there are well, actually you know, I'll
Speaker 1: tell you this. We just finished designing from the ground
Speaker 1: up a new house in Studio City. Some of those
Speaker 1: windows are white traditional framed windows, some of them are
Speaker 1: dark bronze and black traditional windows. Just depending on room
Speaker 1: for room and the effect that we're looking for, and
Speaker 1: on some of the elevations of the house, you can
Speaker 1: see both at the same time. It all depends on
Speaker 1: whether it works with that theme. But as a general rule,
Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of the Mullet approach, right, all
Speaker 1: business up front and party in the back. So keep
Speaker 1: your white frame windows facing the street and do back
Speaker 1: black towards the back of the house and have a blast.
Speaker 1: I think you're completely free to do that in most cases.
Speaker 1: Thanks Julie for the call. Yes, yes, it's my mullet theory.
Speaker 1: My mullet theory applies to lots of things all the time.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk to Paul. Hey, Paul, welcome home.
Speaker 2: Hey, good morning, Dean, thanks for giving my call props.
Speaker 6: I'm building a fire.
Speaker 7: Pit in the backyard and I'd like to run the
Speaker 7: gas line before I have a concrete pad port over it.
Speaker 7: So my question is what diameter pipe do I need
Speaker 7: to use?
Speaker 1: That's a good question. It really all depends on how
Speaker 1: big the fire pit is. It's just kind of a
Speaker 1: standard little twenty four thirty six diameter fire pit. Then
Speaker 1: you could get away with a half inch line, but
Speaker 1: since it's all new, I prefer to run a three
Speaker 1: quarter inch line. I've got a three quarter inch line
Speaker 1: running to my fire pit. Of course, my fire pit,
Speaker 1: the rock itself is about eight and a half feet long,
Speaker 1: and the actual burners are two four foot a pair
Speaker 1: of two four foot linear burners. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: of fire there along line of fire. But as a
Speaker 1: general rule, you know, I like fire pits to be warm.
Speaker 1: I like fire at my fire pit because the whole
Speaker 1: point of a fire pit is not just to sit
Speaker 1: next to one when it's eighty degrees outside in the
Speaker 1: middle of summer. But to be able to enjoy it
Speaker 1: when it's cold outside, and when it's cold outside, you
Speaker 1: need more than just a little trickle of flame coming out.
Speaker 1: So I would say run the three quarter inch line.
Speaker 1: But and here's the important qualifier to that. You run
Speaker 1: a three quarter inch line, you're not gonna want to
Speaker 1: run it most of the time at full bore. And
Speaker 1: so the key, the gas key that you're turning your
Speaker 1: firepit on and off with, you shouldn't use that to
Speaker 1: choke down the gas because if you do, it's so
Speaker 1: close to where the gas comes out of the actual
Speaker 1: burner that you're going to get a hiss or a
Speaker 1: whistling sound because of gas cavitation in the line. So
Speaker 1: pick you know, wherever the gas line is coming out
Speaker 1: of the house away from the house, or you know,
Speaker 1: take twenty thirty feet away from the fire pit, run
Speaker 1: a three quarter inch line, and then put a linear
Speaker 1: valve right there that you can control the flow of
Speaker 1: the line, and then use your key at the fire
Speaker 1: pit to just full on, full off. If you put
Speaker 1: a valve, a flow control valve a twenty feet plus away,
Speaker 1: then the cavitation by the time it reaches the fire
Speaker 1: pit has settled down, and you can set it to
Speaker 1: any intensity you want, from the very faintest of flame
Speaker 1: all the way to the bonfire and you'll get no
Speaker 1: change in sound whatsoever. So my suggestion, yeah, I run
Speaker 1: the three quarter inch line and give yourself some options. Paul,
Speaker 1: thanks for your call, buddy, tell you what. Let's talk
Speaker 1: to Pat Hey, Pat, welcome home.
Speaker 8: My house is built in nineteen twenty two and it
Speaker 8: had the original oak Force, so twenty years ago and
Speaker 8: we had the house three model. We pulled up the
Speaker 8: carpet and they were like no, so the charras them
Speaker 8: and they're just beautiful. So now it's been a while,
Speaker 8: so I took TSP. I thought it's time to clean them.
Speaker 8: Took TSP in it took off the old Sharraq. But
Speaker 8: now and I go to the hon depot, it seems
Speaker 8: like the new Hira water based and there's nothing to them.
Speaker 8: What can I use that's really strong to schillac my
Speaker 8: falls because I want to preserve them as long as possible,
Speaker 8: and the how it takes a beating a lot of traffic.
Speaker 8: So what do you recommend to use for Schillac for
Speaker 8: covering coating.
Speaker 1: Okay, I got you no more shillac on your floor,
Speaker 1: and that's fine. Believe me, it's totally fine. What you
Speaker 1: want now, don't be afraid of what you find at
Speaker 1: the store. But here, I want you to go to
Speaker 1: a good flooring store and I want you to get
Speaker 1: a high quality flooring grade polyurethane. Poly Polyurethane is essentially
Speaker 1: a plastic coating. Doesn't matter that it's water based, doesn't
Speaker 1: you know that's not that's a non issue. And we're
Speaker 1: going to put at least three to four coats down now.
Speaker 1: If you don't, if you want to show the floor
Speaker 1: is super shiny, then you go with a normal polyurethane.
Speaker 1: If you want them to have that very old world
Speaker 1: a little bit, Matt just satiny finish, which I love
Speaker 1: so much because I think it shows off an old
Speaker 1: world flow so well, then you're gonna want a satin finish,
Speaker 1: just a satin finish on the polyurethane, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: want it. Like I said, put down to three four
Speaker 1: coats even more in high traffic areas if you want
Speaker 1: not a problem, but polyurythane flooring grade, and you'll be
Speaker 1: able to do that to your floors, and it'll be
Speaker 1: years before you have to redo it.
Speaker 4: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
Speaker 4: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1: Let's talk to Dave. Hey, Dave, welcome home.
Speaker 3: My family lives in a thirty five hundred square foot,
Speaker 3: two story single family house in Orange County, a bill
Speaker 3: Lyon home, and we a year ten years ago, I
Speaker 3: spent about fifty thousand upgrading the back put, installing a
Speaker 3: hard roof, tile floor, granite countertops, in an outdoor kitchen
Speaker 3: with three different barbecues and sinks, and our kitchen needs
Speaker 3: a similar upgrade. We have hardwood cabinets that we like.
Speaker 3: They're oak. We love wood.
Speaker 9: We have it's a nineteen sixty nine home, if I
Speaker 9: didn't mention that, and it's got tile countertops, and we
Speaker 9: put in a new tile in the floor when we
Speaker 9: redid the patio, but the floor is chipping through. Tile
Speaker 9: was substandard. We need new flooring. We want to replace
Speaker 9: our countertops. We want to keep the oak cabinetry, and
Speaker 9: we like wood so much that we'd like to go
Speaker 9: hardwood countertops. So we'd like your recommendation there.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, I got you. Well, good on you
Speaker 1: and for being bold and wanting to do some cool stuff.
Speaker 1: So here is the thing for just as a general recommendation.
Speaker 1: And I'll get back to this in a second. I
Speaker 1: have no issues whatsoever with hardwood countertops, none, zero issues.
Speaker 1: I know people all over southern California are like, oh, oh,
Speaker 1: we would never do that. That's fine, then don't do it.
Speaker 1: But I'm just telling you, as somebody who's been building
Speaker 1: homes and designing homes for you know, almost forty years now,
Speaker 1: hardwood is a brilliant countertop. People are like, well, that
Speaker 1: will never last up to you know, spillage and moisture.
Speaker 1: And it's like, well, if you've ever been on a
Speaker 1: boat that has a galley in it, I guarantee you
Speaker 1: this one thing. The countertop on that galley is hardwood.
Speaker 1: If you've ever gone into a pub and sat at
Speaker 1: a bar, the bar is hardwood. So yeah, the idea
Speaker 1: that wood doesn't hold up to abuse and or moisture
Speaker 1: is a myth. Now you got to do it right, okay,
Speaker 1: So but there you go. There's my feeling about hardwood countertops,
Speaker 1: even so much so that Tina and I half of
Speaker 1: the counters half of them in our kitchen the Specifically,
Speaker 1: the counter that the sink is in is a two
Speaker 1: inch thick walnut, black walnut, and it just oiled, not
Speaker 1: finished with polyurethane or anything, just oiled with mineral oil.
Speaker 1: And it's years old now, and it years and years
Speaker 1: old now and it looks like brand new and all
Speaker 1: we have to do is just reoil it and gaboom.
Speaker 1: So anyway, now the trick for you, Dave is going
Speaker 1: to be this. You've got you're thinking about putting hardwood
Speaker 1: floors in the kitchen. You've got oak cabinets, and you're
Speaker 1: thinking about wood. Now that as a wood lover, you
Speaker 1: know that that's a lot of wood.
Speaker 6: And so the key is this.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell you not to do all
Speaker 1: of that wood, but I am going to be very
Speaker 1: very specific. You need to wisely create contrast between the floor,
Speaker 1: the cabinets and the countertops. So whatever color the oak
Speaker 1: is of the cabinets, that's a lock, right because they're
Speaker 1: all finished out. Whatever color that is, you want some
Speaker 1: contrast in lightness or darkness and in intensity of color
Speaker 1: for the countertops. Number one and number two for the floor.
Speaker 1: If we go oak on oak on it, actually the
Speaker 1: material itself is irrelevant. I would not use oak for
Speaker 1: the countertops just because oak doesn't do as well with
Speaker 1: these things. But the floor, the cabinetry and the counter,
Speaker 1: if you went with the same kind of style and
Speaker 1: the same general tone, you're going to end up with
Speaker 1: a wood cave. And you don't want a wood cave
Speaker 1: in your kitchen where your kitchen used to be. Okay,
Speaker 1: So in order for it to really pop, for it
Speaker 1: to really shine, for it to really show itself off,
Speaker 1: you just want color contrasts. So if the cabinets are
Speaker 1: staying dark, then you want to go lighter with the
Speaker 1: counter or vice versa. Our cabinets in our kitchen are white.
Speaker 1: They're just there. They're beautiful wood cabinets, but they are white.
Speaker 1: And so the dark wallnut's sitting on top of those cabinets,
Speaker 1: and then we have a brick style tile floor underneath them.
Speaker 1: They all just show off and compliment each other, you know,
Speaker 1: super well. Uh, but we have done wood on wood
Speaker 1: on wood before. But the key is contrast, heavy contrast
Speaker 1: so that you don't get that cav bleed out effect.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 1: And so there you go, and uh, my recommendation as
Speaker 1: far as the wood there are several species of hardwoods
Speaker 1: that work really, really well. You should just get yourself
Speaker 1: down to a hardwood specialty shop or lumberyard that specializes
Speaker 1: in hardwoods and uh and check out what they've got
Speaker 1: and the you know, see how you guys feel about it,
Speaker 1: because it's one of the one of the fun things
Speaker 1: about picking out hardwoods for situations like this. Every piece
Speaker 1: is different, you know, it's not just standard lumber. And
Speaker 1: a lot of people are wondering, like, Okay, where do
Speaker 1: I find such things, because you know, I didn't see
Speaker 1: anything at the home depot or lows or at the
Speaker 1: lumber yard down the street. Now, first of all, your
Speaker 1: lumber yard down the street may have some, but there
Speaker 1: are shops all over southern California that specialize in these
Speaker 1: kinds of woods. Two things you need to do. One,
Speaker 1: when you're talking about wood that you're going to use
Speaker 1: for finished products like countertops or furniture, it doesn't come
Speaker 1: in it's not sold in inches by inches. It's actually
Speaker 1: sold in quarter inches thicknesses. So if you're looking for
Speaker 1: a two inch countertop slab, you're going to be looking
Speaker 1: for an eight quarter an eight over four, okay, because
Speaker 1: that's how they're rated that way. So if you're looking
Speaker 1: for an inch and a half, it's a six over four,
Speaker 1: and one inch is a four over four. That's just lingo.
Speaker 1: If you walk in, speak in the lingo, they're going
Speaker 1: to dig you. Where do you find it? All over
Speaker 1: the place. If you're up here in eastern Ventura County
Speaker 1: or the West Valley, then you know, get out here
Speaker 1: to Agora and go to Canao Hardwoods. If you're in
Speaker 1: La Bonhoff Lumber, of course, classic my buddy's over at
Speaker 1: Angel City Lumber. Please go to Angel City and check
Speaker 1: out what they've got. If down in Anaheim, you've got
Speaker 1: a lot of choices, among which are California Exotic hardwoods,
Speaker 1: and there are others. There are many, many others, but
Speaker 1: there just gives you a sample of North Valley, Northwest Valley,
Speaker 1: LA and Orange County. These kinds of places are all
Speaker 1: over the place. The last thing I'm going to tell
Speaker 1: you is when we do a countertop, my preference is
Speaker 1: not to super seal the wood in terms of like
Speaker 1: putting multiple layers of polyurythane and making it like a
Speaker 1: bar top shiny like I said our would when in
Speaker 1: raw the black walnut and we just keep it nicely oiled,
Speaker 1: water beads right on the surface. What if it gets scratched, Dean, Well,
Speaker 1: it's two inch thick hardwood. If you end up with
Speaker 1: a scratch or a gouge that you're just like, uh
Speaker 1: oh uh. You know what, especially if it's only been oiled,
Speaker 1: you just get out the sand paper or a little sander,
Speaker 1: a little palm sander, and just gently, very very gently
Speaker 1: massage the area until the gouge goes away, reoil it
Speaker 1: and you're back in the game again. That has not
Speaker 1: happened to our countertop, but you know it could. So
Speaker 1: there you go, my friend Dave, Thank you for the question,
Speaker 1: and good luck on the kitchen. You're listening to Dean
Speaker 1: Sharp the House Whisper on KFI AM six forty live
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Speaker 1: Dean Sharp, the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast
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