WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:04.080 KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp the 2 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:10.199 house Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. You know, 3 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:14.039 this very program is also the house Whisperer podcast that 4 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:18.519 you can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand, hundreds of episodes, 5 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:23.879 all searchable by topic. It is your home improvement reference library. 6 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.519 And if you're thinking, hey, that's all great, Dean, but 7 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.559 what we really need is you and Tina in our 8 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:33.560 house standing at looking at that you know, whatever that is, 9 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:35.960 you know you can do that too. You can book 10 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 an in home design consult with me and t Just 11 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:43.759 go to house Whisperer dot design. And yes, we have 12 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:46.799 ways of doing it, even if you don't live within 13 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.799 driving distance of southern California. There's always a way. Just 14 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:56.399 did a consult a couple of weeks ago in Albuquerque, 15 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:00.399 New Mexico. There's a way. There's a way, where there's 16 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.159 a will, there's a way. All right, back to our 17 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:08.560 conversation about big, big changes that can be made to 18 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:13.040 a tracked home during a remodel that yield specific changes 19 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:17.879 that yield a disproportionate amount of good and jug and 20 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:22.840 sexy and great and awesome for a disproportionate to the 21 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.239 amount of energy and effort and money put into them. 22 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:28.239 I've got a whole list of them for you. You know, 23 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:31.000 it's based on the idea that we're addressing the intrinsic 24 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:35.879 weaknesses of tracked homes in the first place. So let's 25 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.920 move up. I've moved up to the top of the 26 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:42.079 list based on one of our callers in the last hour. 27 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:51.040 This idea of reducing and removing soffits sofits. Some of 28 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:55.120 you in other parts of the country know them as bulkheads. 29 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.359 But a sofit a bulkhead, it's a structure. It's a 30 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.799 non st ructural build out inside the interior of a 31 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:11.719 home that allows space for something a plumbing pipe to 32 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:14.960 run through, a drainline to run through, an air conditioning 33 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:19.919 duct to run through, that kind of thing. Soffits and 34 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.400 bulkheads same thing, just a different name. Up in Canada, 35 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:28.199 our neighbors to the north, they are referred to almost 36 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:32.960 exclusively as bulkheads, and down here most often we call 37 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.919 them soffits. But they're not just soffits. There are also 38 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:40.479 double walls running from the floor to the ceiling areas 39 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:44.240 of your home that have been intruded upon an interior 40 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.960 space for the sake of making room for something. Now, 41 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.599 I know you're sitting there thinking, well, Dean, that thing 42 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:54.000 is making room for a thing. I get it, I 43 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:56.360 get it. But I want you to understand this in 44 00:02:56.439 --> 00:03:00.560 terms of why it's there and its relations ship to 45 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.400 it being a tracked home. Okay. So a couple of 46 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.919 things that you got to know about a tract home. 47 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:13.639 They are built with the lowest possible cost of a 48 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:19.240 construction in mind. Okay. And so when we've got, for instance, 49 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:21.439 when we know we've got to get an air conditioning 50 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.840 duct from point A down the hallway to point B 51 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:28.199 out in the living room or something like that, the 52 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:32.360 lowest cheap but you know, the lowest cost way, the 53 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:36.800 cheapest way of getting a duct from point A to 54 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.919 point B is often just to drop the ceiling of 55 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:43.800 an entire area, like a hallway, drop the whole hallway 56 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.800 ceiling down below, you know, eight feet or so, you know. 57 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:52.599 And and as a result, it was really inexpensive for 58 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.759 the builders, for the developer to create this space for 59 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:01.400 an air conditioning contractor to come through and run a 60 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:06.759 traditional flex duct right in that space and boom, you're done. 61 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.240 They're done. There's the vent in the living room and 62 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.719 it's coming from you know, wherever the FAU is the 63 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:15.840 air handler in the house. But just because that's the 64 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:19.160 way they ran, it doesn't mean that's the only way 65 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:21.600 that duct could get from point A to point B. 66 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:26.480 What you have in your home is the least expensive 67 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:30.279 way for the builder for your duct to get from 68 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:34.519 point A to point B. That doesn't mean it has 69 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:38.680 to be that way. The builder left tons of room 70 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:41.920 for the HVAC contractor. I'm just using this as one 71 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:47.279 example for a vent contractor to run a traditional inexpensive vent. 72 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:51.000 They did not say to themselves, you know what, the 73 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.839 buyers of our homes deserve the highest ceilings possible and 74 00:04:54.920 --> 00:04:57.920 the most interior space possible. So we're going to go 75 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:02.600 to extra expense to run ducting up a wall in 76 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:06.199 between studs. That would be a metal duct specially made 77 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:10.079 to fit in a stud wall bay from top to bottom. 78 00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:13.600 Or we're gonna run. We're gonna run this duck twice 79 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.639 as long as it needs to go by jumping up, 80 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.680 getting into the attic, going over there, running through joists 81 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:23.199 in between, and then down. Instead of making this big soffet. 82 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:27.680 Those are the considerations that absolutely one hundred percent were 83 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:33.360 not taken into consideration when your tracked home was built, 84 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:37.560 because it's just cheaper to do it the other way. Now, 85 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.279 what do you and I do. We move into a house, 86 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.759 and if we don't understand that that's the way it 87 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:46.639 was done, we just accept it as it is, and 88 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.120 we start making do. To your credit, all right, to 89 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.720 all of our credit, all of us who live in 90 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:56.680 tracked homes. What do we do. We're resilient human beings. 91 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:59.519 We move in. It's not perfect, but we make do. 92 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:03.519 And if you've been in your home ten years, twenty years, 93 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:07.120 thirty years plus, you've been making do for a long time. 94 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:09.959 And now it may shock you to realize that it 95 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.000 never had to be that way. But that's the kind 96 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:18.000 of thing I'm saying. Sofits are non structural entities in 97 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:21.519 your house, which means they can simply be removed. You 98 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:24.399 don't have to worry about calling a structural engineer. You 99 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.199 don't have to worry about, oh, the house is going 100 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:27.920 to fall down if we take that thing off the 101 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.879 side of you know, And I realize now as I'm 102 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:35.480 saying these things to you that there are probably a 103 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.000 few other items that I want to talk about regarding 104 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.680 sofits and these empty spaces. So what we're going to 105 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.519 do is we're up against a break. When we come back, 106 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:46.000 I'm going to finish these thoughts on So I'm stretching 107 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.399 this one a little longer because it's a biggie and 108 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:51.279 you deserve to hear the truth about the soffits and 109 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:55.360 the dead spaces in your home that you could reclaim 110 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.439 if you're planning a remodel, and should reclaim if you're 111 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:01.560 planning a remodel, because getting rid of them is super easy. 112 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:06.040 You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from 113 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:07.959 KFI AM six forty. 114 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:11.560 So glad you've joined us on the program today if 115 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.800 you're just dropping in, we're doing part two of a 116 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:19.600 two part series this weekend of special very very specific 117 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:24.000 remodeling items to include in your remodel if you're working 118 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.720 with a tracked home. These specific items are the things, 119 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.800 the kinds of things you can do during a remodel 120 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:35.480 of very little cost and time and energy and a 121 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:39.600 huge disproportionate payoff. And that's the kind of stuff we're 122 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.959 all looking for, right because you remodels cost money and 123 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.560 we want to stretch that dollar and get the biggest 124 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.199 possible design effect out of everything that we do. So 125 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.439 before the break I was talking about that. I mean, 126 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:53.759 this is a biggie. This is just a biggie. And 127 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:57.000 that is the elimination or the reduction at least of 128 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:02.399 soffits and empty dead spases around the interior of your 129 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:04.639 home to give you more ceiling height, to give you 130 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:07.879 more wall space, to give you more square footage in 131 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.759 a room. The most commonplaces that these soffits occur in 132 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:15.680 tracked homes, and I already explained why they're They're there 133 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:20.040 because they enable the builder to allow their mechanical people, 134 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:26.079 their mechanical subcontractors, plumbers, electricians, HVAC people, these chases, these 135 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:28.399 easy ways of getting from point A to point B 136 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.480 in a house. They're not the only way it could 137 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.039 have been done. It's just for the builder. For the developer, 138 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:38.159 it was the least expensive way to get it done. Okay, 139 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:42.639 now some of you, I know I'm interrupting my own 140 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.799 thought here, but some of you are thinking, well, Dean, 141 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.600 if the builder did it the least expensive way, why 142 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:55.240 are you having me do it a more expensive way. Well, 143 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.279 two reasons. One because you could gain so much by 144 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:06.639 removing these artificially inflated, bloated areas that are intruding on 145 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.480 the interior of your house. Number one, no question about that. 146 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:14.000 Number Two, the cost differential between doing it the way 147 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:17.000 it was done in your house and the way it 148 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:21.799 should be done for you is going to be shockingly, 149 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:26.440 shockingly minimal. You're like, well, if that's true, then why 150 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:30.759 didn't the builder do it well? Because, unlike you, the 151 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.399 builder wasn't just working on your house that cost differential 152 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.440 that they made the decision about. They took that cost 153 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:42.960 differential and multiplied it over the fifteen hundred or three 154 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:47.799 thousand homes in your development. That's where it makes a 155 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:51.360 significant impact on the bottom line. It was never going 156 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:55.840 to be that much more for your home, okay, And 157 00:09:55.879 --> 00:09:59.600 that's why it's worth doing it this time around, because 158 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.759 you're only doing it once. Right. Here's a classic example. 159 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:05.799 You're gutting a kitchen. You've decided I need new kitchen cabinets, 160 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.720 I'm done with this old kitchen, and you've got a 161 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:12.000 soffit in your kitchen, a soft coming down from and 162 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.960 let's just say for the sake of argument that because 163 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.519 this is going to fit most people for the sake 164 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:19.720 of argument, you've got eight foot ceilings in your house. 165 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.600 In other words, you're the majority of tracked homes, older 166 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.519 built tracked homes, not the new style homes that where 167 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:28.600 we now do standard nine foot ceilings, but older style 168 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.759 where it was eight foot ceilings. An eight foot ceiling. 169 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:34.720 So many clients who we do consults for are are 170 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:39.919 shocked to realize that they're upper cabinets in their kitchen 171 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.039 because they're looking for more space. They're like, how can 172 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.120 I expand the kitchen to get a little bit more 173 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.960 storage space? And I just say, well, we don't necessarily 174 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.159 even have to expand the kitchen in square footage. We 175 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:51.360 could just get rid of the soft and run new 176 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.919 upper cabinets to the ceiling. And they're like, well, if 177 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:55.639 you get rid of the soffits, then the cabinets are 178 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.639 just going to sit there with open space over them. 179 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.360 And I say no, because if you do, you have 180 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.759 an eight foot ceiling kitchen with a soft it built down, 181 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.320 your upper cabinets are thirty six inches tall. Yeah, you 182 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:09.480 can go measure it right now. I'm not a psychic. 183 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:11.639 I just know that that's the case. If you've got 184 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:14.360 a soft and an eight foot ceiling, you have thirty 185 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:19.600 six inch tall upper cabinets. A standard full size upper 186 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:24.720 cabinet is forty two inches tall, Okay forty two, not 187 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.960 thirty six. And as a result, if you remove the soffit, 188 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.279 a forty two inch tall cabinet goes all the way 189 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.759 to the ceiling and increases the amount of storage in 190 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:41.559 that kitchen automatically just by removing the soffit. And you think, well, 191 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:43.840 they put that soffit there for a reason, because I 192 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:47.200 know there's an HVAC duct in it. You know what, 193 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.919 I would be willing to put bet serious money, serious 194 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:54.360 money with you that that AC duct just drops in 195 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.320 in one tiny location and the chances of us finding 196 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:00.559 a way to get it in the ceiling itself and 197 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:04.000 not in the soffit are amazingly high. In fact, I 198 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:07.440 will tell you, in decades of doing this, we've never 199 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:10.399 not been able to get the AC duct out of 200 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.080 the soffit. And the rest of the sofft is there 201 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:17.240 so that the builder didn't have to pay for forty 202 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:20.639 two inch cabinets, so that they could pay for thirty 203 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:25.600 six inch cabinets. That's why it's there. Period. You take 204 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:29.879 it out and you reclaim that space. So again, the 205 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:34.720 most commonplaces these soffits are found entryway ceilings. Have you 206 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.799 ever noticed that about your house, that when you walk 207 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.759 into the entry when people walk in, literally walk in 208 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.799 the front door, that for some reason, the ceiling there 209 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.919 is lower than everywhere else. I'll tell you where it's 210 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:49.720 most common, because you've got a long haulway off to 211 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.840 the left or the right, and then the family room 212 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.000 or the living room is on the other side of 213 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:58.799 the entryway right. So again, that ceiling was dropped so 214 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.320 that a duct could get down the hallway from the 215 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:04.440 fau and into the living room. It's not the only 216 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:06.559 way it could have happened. Now, if you live in 217 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:09.360 a two story house, like, it's a little trickier because 218 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.840 we don't have the attic to run into. But I 219 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:15.279 see these most of the time in single story homes, 220 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:20.759 meaning there's an attic overhead, meaning we can run that 221 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:22.879 ducked up into the attic and over to the living 222 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:27.639 room without having to drop the entryway ceiling. Just saying 223 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.759 it's not always the case. This is not a hard 224 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:36.600 and fast universal law, but it is super super common, 225 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.159 so common. That's why I'm putting it on this list 226 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.639 such an important item. So entry ceilings, hallways for the 227 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.960 same reason kitchen ceilings. We've already talked about that. And 228 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.759 if you live in nineteen eighties and newer homes, you 229 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:54.399 may have entire walls running down your hallway or in 230 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.519 areas of your house that have been doubled up. In 231 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:02.279 that sense that where I say folksphistication, because the vibe 232 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.120 is that, oh, look at how big and thick this 233 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:06.759 wall is. You see the end of this wall. This 234 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.639 is like a twelve inch thick wall. No, it's not. 235 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.919 It's not a twelve inch thick wall. There's one real 236 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:15.759 wall in there, two by four or two by six wall, 237 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:20.600 and then there's another false filler wall in there, and 238 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.279 the dry wall is bridging between the two to make 239 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:25.799 it look like it's twelve inches. Believe me, if you 240 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:28.759 had a real twelve inch thick wall, it is holding 241 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:32.759 up some massive weight up above it. Massive, not just 242 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:38.360 the second floor. Okay, So there are all of these 243 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:43.919 opportunities in a home. Now understand they're hidden, they're behind drywall. 244 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:48.360 So you're saying, hey, how can I know I don't 245 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.159 have plans? I may have suspicions, but I don't have 246 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:53.679 a set of plans for my house, so how can 247 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.759 I know without just tearing it all up? Well, tearing 248 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.759 it all up, that's nobody wants you to do that. 249 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:01.440 I want you to do that, but I do want 250 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:07.399 you to understand this. Drywall patches are inexpensive, okay, especially 251 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.200 if you're planning a remodel ahead of you, So a 252 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.360 little bit of forensic like most of the time, all 253 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.120 we need to do is open up in a questionable area, 254 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:19.840 maybe a twelve x twelve square of drywall. We cut 255 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:22.360 it out, we can stick our head in there, we 256 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.879 can see what's going on, we can get the lay 257 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:29.559 of the land. And sometimes we're like nope, now we're stuck, 258 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:32.440 and we put the drywall back on and we patch 259 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.759 it and we walk away. Okay, that's a few dollars 260 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.039 to learn something invaluable about your home. And if you 261 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:46.679 don't even want to go that far, then here's a tool, literally, 262 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:50.759 a physical tool that you should acquire as a homeowner 263 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:57.360 planning on investigating their house pre remodel. Get yourself an 264 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:02.559 inspection camera. An inspection camera is a camera that is 265 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:07.080 mounted on a very thin, flexible neck, maybe twelve sixteen 266 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:11.159 feet long, comes in a coil, a high def camera 267 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.120 with an LED light, and then back at the end 268 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:20.360 of that sixteen foot stretch of LED coil tubing or 269 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:25.399 flex tubing is an actual camera, five inch screen, full color, 270 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:29.679 and you drill a half inch hole into a piece 271 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:34.759 of drywall and feed this camera in behind walls, around sinks, 272 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:40.159 I mean, down plumbing pipes, down sewer pipes. An inspection 273 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:43.600 camera can do many of the things that I was 274 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:46.320 just talking about with just a half inch hole in 275 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.600 a piece of drywall and give you a look inside 276 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:52.600 the bones of your home. And you're like, all right, Dean, 277 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.519 but okay, the expense. Let me tell you. I'm just 278 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:57.879 going to tell you right now, and this is not 279 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:01.480 an advocation for this particular model or brand, but I'm 280 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:05.680 just gonna say I own a test long inspection camera. Okay, 281 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:11.599 dual lens boroscope camera with light, five inch full color screen, 282 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:18.519 sixteen foot snake scope, fully waterproof. It's rated for plumbing 283 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:25.119 pipes and indoor wall spaces. On Amazon today one hundred 284 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:30.079 and fifty nine dollars, Yes, one hundred and fifty nine dollars, 285 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:34.839 and you've got a full scale professional inspection camera that you, 286 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:37.839 as a homeowner, can use to look anywhere you want 287 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:42.720 in your home. These things are possible, and because they 288 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:47.599 yield such big results, they're so doable. So doable. All right, 289 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.640 I got more for you. You hang tight. 290 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:54.160 You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from 291 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:59.920 KFI AM six forty. 292 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:01.799 Live streaming in HD everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Your 293 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:04.880 Home with Dean Sharp the house Whisper. So glad you're 294 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:08.119 with me on the program today, we're talking about big 295 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.240 changes that can be made in a tract home if 296 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.839 we know what we're doing. We're addressing the inherent weaknesses 297 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.480 of a tract home, big changes that can be made 298 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:25.400 that create disproportionately awesome results for a far far lower 299 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:30.400 time and money expenditure than you would think. And we're 300 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:32.599 going through that list this morning, the kinds of things 301 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.839 that every homeowner who's thinking about a remodel wants to 302 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:40.559 hear and wants to know about. I've got to from 303 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:42.640 from now until the end of the show. For the 304 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:45.319 next couple of segments, I'm going to share with you 305 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:51.400 these changes off my list in pairs, one super relatively 306 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:56.039 simple and one that's a little bit more engaged and involved. 307 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.119 It might. You know, here's here's a good pair to 308 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:05.519 start off this pairing with number one. Move the entry chandelier. 309 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:10.240 What what are you talking about, Tean? This is just 310 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:13.200 something that you know. Honestly, if you had asked me 311 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:18.319 fifteen years ago, before I had done literally hundreds, maybe 312 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.359 probably thousands of consults at this point, I wouldn't have 313 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:27.000 told you that I was aware of how common this is. 314 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:31.400 But it's common. In fact, I find it almost in 315 00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:35.839 every home. If you have an entry that has a 316 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:38.400 vaulted ceiling or a higher ceiling, I come in the 317 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:43.880 front door, there's likely a chandelier hanging in your entryway. 318 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:49.400 It needs to move. I'm guessing in two different ways, 319 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.799 and if yours doesn't, then good on you. You're good to go. Okay, 320 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:58.240 But most entry ways, most houses tracked houses. The lighting 321 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.880 was not designed by a lighting consultant or a lighting designer. 322 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:08.200 The lighting was designed by contractor by the electrician. Electricians 323 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:13.000 love simple grids, and electricians, you know, they have a 324 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:16.279 certain logic to where they put a thing. Quite often 325 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:19.359 that logic does not hold up in the design world. 326 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.000 And so here is my thing Let's say you've got 327 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.160 a vaulted ceiling in your tracked home, and when you 328 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:29.960 walk in, you have an entry landing area. That's your 329 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:32.359 landing Maybe the stairs are out in front of you, 330 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.599 or maybe this is just here's the entry hall or 331 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.240 the landing area, okay. And so you look on a 332 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:40.599 set of plans and you think, well, my landing area 333 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:44.599 is you know, about six maybe eight feet long there, 334 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:46.680 and then it transitions into the rest of the room. 335 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:48.880 So where would you hang the chandelier. You would hang 336 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:51.880 the chandelier right in the center of that. So what 337 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:54.000 I'm saying is this, if you walk in. If I 338 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:57.160 walk in your front door, okay, and I have to 339 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.440 walk in by the way far enough for the door 340 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:03.039 to close behind me, that's when I'm actually in your entryway, 341 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:05.359 not when I'm standing in the threshold of your door, 342 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.519 but when you invite me in and I walk past 343 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:11.519 the swing of the door, okay, so that the door 344 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:14.599 can be closed behind me. Now I am standing in 345 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:18.240 your entryway. If I am at that point about three 346 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:21.440 and a half or four feet into your entryway and 347 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:26.240 the chandelier is directly over my head, it is in 348 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:30.599 the wrong place because you've got a vaulted ceiling, and 349 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:33.759 you want that chandelier to be a part of the 350 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:37.519 showiness of that vaulted ceiling and light the path. Right, 351 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:41.799 no human being is going to at that point look 352 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:45.200 straight up, cock their head backwards and look straight up 353 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:49.640 vertically in an uncomfortable position and say, oh, what a 354 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:53.599 lovely chandelier you have up there. Nope, it's above my head. 355 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:56.400 It's over I didn't even see it coming in. It 356 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.920 was a waste of a design element. So when you 357 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:04.480 were standing in the proper position, having entered your front door, 358 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:08.279 clear of the door, I should be able to look 359 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:12.559 up just with my eyes, without even calking my neck up, 360 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:18.279 and catch the view of this beautiful, shiny, you know, 361 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:22.880 blingy chandelier. That's when it's in the right position. So 362 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:26.720 most entry chandeliers need to move further away from the 363 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:30.519 front door in order to have their effect. Also, most 364 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:34.880 entry chandeliers have to move up up into shorten the chain. 365 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:38.160 I'm six foot three. It just so happens that when 366 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.960 I am barefoot and I reach up, I can touch 367 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:44.839 with my fingertips an eight foot ceiling. So my reach 368 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:48.559 is eight feet For a tall person like me, walking 369 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.920 in your home. I should not be able to reach 370 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:54.079 up and touch the bottom of your chandelier, because that's 371 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.720 essentially defeating the whole purpose of having a vaulted ceiling 372 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.599 in the first place. The chandelier needs to be up higher, 373 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:02.599 out of at least two feet out of my reach 374 00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:05.279 so that I feel like, yeah, that's wait, that's up there. 375 00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:09.640 So yeah, most chandeliers should be hanging a minimum of 376 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:13.839 ten feet off the floor of the entryway, and some 377 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:17.480 much higher than that. So there you go, and moving 378 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:20.680 a chandelier, it's moving one electrical box a few feet 379 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:24.079 and changing over the electricity there and patching the old hole. 380 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:28.319 Not a big deal, but a really really efficient and 381 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:33.680 effective design tool for a remodel. Now that's that. The 382 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.920 other pair is something you're going to scratch your head 383 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:38.960 and say, all right, now you've lost it, But I 384 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:41.519 think most of you will agree. I know this is 385 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:46.640 a big move. I know this seems crazy. But for 386 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:50.359 a lot of homes out there, the living room and 387 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:53.680 or the family room you've been making do with, and 388 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.319 if you really think about why you're making do in 389 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:58.640 that room and why it just never works for you, 390 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:04.799 the hard truth is the fireplace is just screwing everything up. Now. 391 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.880 I love fireplaces. I probably use I think I use 392 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:12.400 my fireplace more than anybody else. I know. I love fireplaces. 393 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:14.759 I'm not saying get rid of the fireplace. But in 394 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:19.640 today's day and age, we can take a masonry fireplace 395 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:24.200 and remove it, okay, and improve the room. Just by 396 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:27.480 removing the fireplace means that we could put the furniture 397 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:29.480 on that wall, we can orient the room in a 398 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:33.440 completely different direction, all those kinds of things. That's called 399 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.240 design by demolition, that's what I call it. And it's 400 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:39.759 the least expensive kind of renovation to make because to 401 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:42.039