Home Improvement Myths Busted: What Your Grandpa Got Wrong

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Foreign.

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Welcome to around the House with Eric G. Your trusted source for all things home improvement.

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Whether you're tackling a DIY project, hiring it out, or just trying to keep your home running smoothly, you're in the right place.

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With over 30 years of remodeling experience, certified kitchen designer Eric G. Takes you behind the scenes with expert advice, industry trends and the latest innovations for your home.

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Home it's everything you need to know without the fluff.

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Now here's your host, Eric G. Welcome.

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To the Round the House show, the next generation of home improvement.

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I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today.

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This hour is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grills.

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So impress your friends.

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Check them out@montymcrills.com today I wanted in the second hour of the show, I wanted to talk about my top 10 home improvement myths.

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And these are the things that people think are the old wives tales, as they say, or just those things that maybe somebody's grandpa said that doesn't work anymore.

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Maybe it worked 50 years ago, but it sure doesn't now.

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So let's dive headfirst into my top home improvement myths.

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Number one is a big one.

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You hear it on the show a lot, but I had to put it on here.

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Just because it's in the home center doesn't mean that it meets building code and you should use it.

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Things like vent hoods that recycle air, that push it back in your face, as we call them forehead dusters.

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To many things on the shelf might not meet building code in your area.

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So just because you can buy it doesn't mean it's the right way to do it.

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And that's the issue so many times these national retailers have no idea what's legal and not and it's on the shelf anyway.

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There are some new products out there that work well.

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There are some out there that if you put it in and had a house inspection right afterwards, they'd throw it away and tell you to do it over again.

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So things like those vent hoods or even shark bike fittings.

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Yeah, they might meet building code.

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It doesn't mean that you should be using them.

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I'm a big proponent of not using those.

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They're great temporary fittings.

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But if you want to fix it, do it right.

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Sweat the copper on, use the crimp or expanding connections with pex.

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Those are great for capping off a line when you're working on a remodel or something like that.

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But it's temporary.

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I've seen way too many things fail, especially the shark bite fittings on CPVC is where I see the most.

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They'll slide off right off the end and you've got a huge problem.

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I've seen hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage by these things failing that were installed correctly.

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So these are the things you need to be careful for.

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And I think that's why a lot of these companies have re engineered these.

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They've made some changes, they've done it.

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But be careful out there.

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Just because it's in the home center doesn't mean you should be using it.

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Or even better, that it meets building code.

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Now the next one here is if you post up a picture on social media.

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This will happen all the time.

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I could test it right now.

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If I jump into one of my favorite home improvement groups on social media.

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If I post up a picture of, let's say it's popcorn ceiling texture or 9 by 9 CT type tiles and there'll be somebody on there that says, don't worry about it.

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Yeah, it might be asbestos.

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I've dealt with asbestos for 30 years on job sites and I've been perfectly fine.

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Here's the problem, guys.

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These people that will tell you that are that 40 years in the contracting industry have been doing it wrong for decades.

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These are generally also the people that don't show up to the doctor for 15 or 20 years and they haven't seen a dentist in 20 years.

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So they haven't caught anything that they don't know about already.

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This is usually horrible advice.

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So you want to make sure that asbestos is dealt with correctly.

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Because it's not only you, it's the people that are working at the landfill or the transfer station.

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If you go in there and spray some water on that basement floor, pop up that tile and put it in a single garbage bag and throw it in your trash can and it goes to the recycling place or goes down there, guess what?

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You could be putting those workers at risk by feeding them asbestos.

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So it's not just only about you.

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You can do your Own thing.

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First off, it could be a serious issue in your state, city or wherever else.

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By doing it incorrectly, that could open you up to liability.

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I have seen homeowners do this incorrectly and contractors do this incorrectly and I have seen them get hit with hundred thousand dollar fines for this.

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So yeah, asbestos can be ignored, but you run a massive risk by doing it that way.

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So test it, understand what you're working with and deal with it correctly.

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If you want to do it as a DIY project, you better understand it like you're an asbestos contractor so you know what to do.

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Because here's the problem.

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Asbestos fibers are so small, if they're floating around the air, you can get multiple exposures to this.

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Being in that same house.

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So many times I tell people if they've had somebody come in and do this wrong, you really need to have a professional cleaner come in and get everything cleaned up in their HEPA filtration.

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Everything needs to be wiped down.

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Clean out the ducts, anything you can do to get this out of the air.

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Because this could be a long term issue down the road.

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Those things can stay in the air.

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I've heard tests that have shown it can be a year later that stuff's still floating around the house.

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Then you've got multiple exposures.

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So make sure you be careful with asbestos and like lead paint, deal with it correctly, follow the rules, follow the law and the best practices and you'll be good.

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Now this next one is a big one and I'm gonna give this one a little more time so I can help you understand what's going on here.

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And it's all plumbers and electricians rip you off.

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Here's the thing, the trades can be expensive.

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But many of these people that you're calling to fix problems are local small business owners.

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If you live in a high tax state with lots of business taxes and expensive rules to follow, you are going to pay more.

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Add even more to this.

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If you have eliminated all the trades programs from your high school, if there's no auto shop, if there's no woodworking, if there's none of that stuff again, you've now created more of our shortage of skilled workers.

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And many people in the trades now that are journeyman type plumbers and electricians are well into the six figure average of income.

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So when you put in the expensive business costs on top of that, you can be paying hundreds of dollars an hour for that pro to work and to make money.

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So let's walk through how this breaks down here because it's an important one.

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So let's say you're looking at a plumber.

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And in my area here, I think their average is about $53 an hour is what they make and their paycheck's up.

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So if you're paying them by the hour, let's say it's $53.

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There's more, there's less.

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But let's go with that.

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You have the additional labor related expenses, payroll taxes, taxes, workers compensation benefits like their health insurance for 1K.

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These numbers like that typically add 20 to 30% to the base wage.

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So in assuming there's a 25% markup for these costs, now you've gone from 53 to let's say 66, $67 an hour.

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Now you've got overhead costs.

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You've got business expenses like vehicle insurance, vehicle maintenance, fuel, tools, office rent, utilities, marketing, administrative stuff, all that stuff.

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And with our high, if you have a high cost of overhead, like living expenses, that's even more so if you start to look at that and start dividing the total monthly overhead by billable hours, let's say that monthly overhead is $4,000 and the business has 500 billable hours per month.

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That adds about $8 per hour to that.

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So when we come back here, I want to talk more about this and we're going to continue this conversation because in many big cities, for instance here, you've got a higher urban cost here to this.

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So that could add $10 per hour for a small plumbing business.

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Now when we come back, we're going to finish this math so you can understand it because I really want everybody to understand why things are so expensive.

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We'll do that just as soon as around the House returns don't go anywhere.

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Around the House we'll be right.

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It's like giving your AC a helping hand.

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These tricks keep your home comfy and your wallet happy.

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And the kids these days will never understand what it's like to play an instrument, to be in a bed.

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What's up?

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This is Sticks it In Ya and Satchel from Steel Panther.

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And you are listening around the House.

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With Eric G. Yeah, we love Eric.

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G. And you should, too.

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Welcome back to the around the HOUSE show, the next generation of home improvement.

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I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today.

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This hour is brought to you by my friends at Monument Grills.

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Check them out.

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@monument grills.com we've been talking about my top 10 home improvement myths.

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If you have a comment on any of these, head over to aroundthehouse online.com.

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you can message me there in the contact Us page.

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Get ahold of me there and I'll get back to you.

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So we were talking earlier in the first segment here this hour.

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Just because it's in the home center doesn't mean it meets building code.

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We talked about asbestos and then we were talking about that myth that plumbers and electricians and these trades people rip you off.

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So we were going down here through the math, breaking it down so you can help understand where this stuff comes from.

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And for instance, in my area, the average from what I did my research on is about 53 bucks an hour for what a plumber is paid on their paycheck.

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What's their base pay?

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So we were going through the base labor cost, the overhead cost and all of those things right there.

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nd overhead, so we were up to: 6625

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Now we're up to about 76, 25 per hour.

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That's the break even cost.

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, now we're talking about the: 7625

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So now we're at 1 on 1.67 per hour.

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So we start looking at these numbers now.

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If you're going to go for emergency after hours work like it's a holiday, it's a weekend, you're now doing a 1.5 to 3 times the standard rate.

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So you can now be at 1:57-315 an hour.

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So that starts to add up.

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Now you've got additional things to think about.

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Trip and service call fees.

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Many plumbers charge a flat service call feed from 50 to 150 bucks an hour.

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That's going to cover travel.

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And initial diagnostics could even include the first hour of labor, those kind of things.

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Now you got material costs, so you've got pipes fittings or in the electrical world, you got all the pieces there and they mark those up 20 to 50%.

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So now we start seeing how these numbers come together.

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So the retail hourly late rate, let's say in my area, would be 105 per hour, which accounts for everything else.

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Now when you start getting into the higher cost of living and city stuff and the shortage out there, we can now get to the 120 to $150 an hour.

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Now some places, plumbers, they'll charge you like drain cleaning.

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Sometimes they'll have a flat rate option.

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So it could be an estimate where they go, hey, we're going to do this for this.

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That's a whole thing.

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So think about how these numbers are.

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These guys aren't ripping you off.

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How we've done our businesses, how we've done our taxes, how our cost of living is in our communities all add up to this.

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So think about the next time you're out voting for these kind of things, when you start to see the taxes, all those kind of things, this is going to affect your projects.

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When it comes to plumbing, when it comes to H Vac, when it comes to electricians, anything in the trades, all these little expenses add up to a higher cost for you.

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And because there's a shortage out there for plumbers, I'm seeing plumbers, electricians, H Vac techs, still to this day where Companies are offering 20 or $30,000 signing bonuses because they need them, that's coming out of that business's numbers as well.

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So it's going to be even more expensive.

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So until we decide to get more kids into trade programs, we're going to see this 120 to $150 an hour price.

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When you call up that tradesperson, pretty easy, could be a little less in your community, could be a lot more, but that's how that changes things.

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So something to consider now, the next one here online saves you money on purchases.

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It might, it could really save you money.

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But here's where the buyer beware starts out with.

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Online can save you money, but you might not be getting what you think you're getting.

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Great example.

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If you walk into a home center many times in the plumbing aisle, you'll see a name brand there and it'll be in this flashy, pretty box with high gloss on it with pictures and everything else.

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Now if you walk over to your local plumbing store retailer, that made in America type brand that you saw there when you walk in there could be in a brown box with even sometimes the same model number.

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But if you were to tear that one in the plumbing store apart and compare that faucet to maybe the one that's over at the home center, you're going to see the home center one sometimes have all these plastic parts and the one, and that one's made in China and the other one, same model number, but different retail place.

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That one could be all brass and heavy duty and be more expensive.

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Home centers are great at pushing the numbers down for products, especially with name brands.

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So the thing to consider with all of this is that yes, going into a home center or going online could get you the cheaper piece, but it could get you a lower quality product, even for name brand stuff.

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Now here's the bad thing.

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Now the government's been doing a decent job of trying to track this down.

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But I could walk in and this is how crazy it is.

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I could walk into my local plumbing retailer.

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Let's say it's Chown Hardware here in Portland, Oregon.

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They've been around for 144 years or so.

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I walk in there and I order a specialty faucet I get that shows up, I pick it up, I take it home.

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If I ship that over to many places over in China, I can get knockoffs made.

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I could get pallets of that stuff and it shows up for pennies on the dollar.

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And then I throw it up on ebay.

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I throw it up online and you've got something that's packaged the same.

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It looks very similar.

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But here's the issue.

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The problem that I see, and this is the big one, is that the knockoff ones out there, the replacement parts don't fit because they made their own thing of it.

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So it looks just like that Delta or Brizo piece looks the same, but the parts don't fit.

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So what that means is you're going to have an issue down the road.

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So what I say is when you're working on stuff out there, know the source of where you're getting stuff through.

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If you're getting it through the home center, awesome.

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But I prefer to buy through my local plumbing store because I get the higher quality piece.

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And you might pay a little bit more for it, but you're getting the real one, the one they designed, not the cut down, cheaper one.

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So it's the one that they stand behind for the plumbers.

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And it's worth that extra 20 or 30 bucks or whatever it is to get something good.

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So you've got something that's going to hold up year after year.

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So sometimes spending a little bit more money to get the right one will keep you from doing it twice.

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And nobody wants to do that.

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Nobody wants to do that job twice.

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So here's the thing.

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Next one on here, number five.

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Any contractor can handle any job.

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This one's a doozy.

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Not all contractors are created equal.

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A general handyman might be great for small fixes, but could completely butcher your kitchen model.

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Now you always want to hire the licensed pros with specific experience for your project type.

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And the scams, they're heavy duty out there.

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Unlicensed contractors, unlicensed subcontractors and vague contracts are all red flags.

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You should be avoiding.

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Get it all in writing now when we come back, I got so much more to talk about here with my top 10 home improvement myths just as soon as around the House returns.

Speaker B: 00:22:01

If this is the first time catching the around the house show, make sure and check us out at aroundthehouseonline.com head to the bottom of the page and follow us on all our social media channels.

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Around the house.

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We'll be right back.

Speaker C: 00:24:01

Welcome back to the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement.

Speaker C: 00:24:04

I'm Eric Chi.

Speaker C: 00:24:05

Thanks for joining me today.

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This hour is brought to you by my friends at Monument Grills.

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Speaker C: 00:25:13

We've been talking about here all of and this is what's fun.

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We've been talking about all the home improvement myths.

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My top 10 that we see out there, we're talking about.

Speaker C: 00:25:24

Just because it's at the home center doesn't mean it's a, mean it's building code.

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Asbestos can be ignored.

Speaker C: 00:25:29

Wrong.

Speaker C: 00:25:30

We talked about how plumbers and electricians are not a ripoff.

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How they've actually got the price and how that step by step is calculated so you can get an idea of what is driving those costs.

Speaker C: 00:25:43

And many times some of the stuff you voted in your city, county, state, whatever that has made that more expensive or even more important, the lack of trades programs in your schools, those are all things that help drive that rate that you see when you have to call that plumber over to fix that broken pipe.

Speaker C: 00:26:00

Now we're talking about online.

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Saves you money on purchases sometimes.

Speaker C: 00:26:04

Sometimes it can cost you money.

Speaker C: 00:26:06

And any contractor can handle any job.

Speaker C: 00:26:09

That's the big one right there we were just talking about and making sure that you hire the right person.

Speaker C: 00:26:14

There are a lot of great subcontractors, a lot of great contractors out there.

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But finding the good or honest one is big.

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And I stay off the social media sites like the Nextdoors and that kind of stuff, that can be a huge issue.

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It's just like finding duck cleaning on Facebook.

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I tell you what, those will just be all over the page.

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And what's funny is when I travel around, I can see the same people posting up as scams with the same pictures.

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It's funny if you look there.

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Here's a little tip.

Speaker C: 00:26:41

When you're searching for that.

Speaker C: 00:26:42

If somebody comes up, look at the pictures so many times.

Speaker C: 00:26:45

If I'm in the Pacific Northwest, I'm seeing houses with palm trees that look like they're in the, well, south Florida coast.

Speaker C: 00:26:53

Nothing like what you see here.

Speaker C: 00:26:54

So take a look at those pictures.

Speaker C: 00:26:56

Sometimes those will tell you before you even talk to anybody what kind of a hot mess you might be dealing with.

Speaker C: 00:27:02

The next one here is social media and I have all the answers for your home improvement projects.

Speaker C: 00:27:10

Now here's the thing, we're going to get really honest with here and we're getting the nitty gritty on this.

Speaker C: 00:27:16

There are some home improvement social media people out there.

Speaker C: 00:27:20

One of them is based in Canada.

Speaker C: 00:27:22

These guys put up wrong information and they make money off of your clicks and views.

Speaker C: 00:27:30

Now you can find these because here's what you do.

Speaker C: 00:27:34

Read through the page, read through the post.

Speaker C: 00:27:38

You will see 70, 80, 90% of people going, what are you talking about?

Speaker C: 00:27:46

You were so not there.

Speaker C: 00:27:47

You're so not right.

Speaker C: 00:27:49

That feeds the algorithm and they're making money off giving you bad information.

Speaker C: 00:27:55

So what happens is you're watching somebody do a horrible job at waterproofing a basement, but then you don't know any better and you go, wow, this guy's got all these people following.

Speaker C: 00:28:06

I bet it's a good source and you do it that way and it's wrong.

Speaker C: 00:28:10

AI can be right.

Speaker C: 00:28:13

It also can make stuff up and be completely wrong.

Speaker C: 00:28:17

So that's the problem when you jump on YouTube and you jump on some of these pages out there, that information can be bad.

Speaker C: 00:28:24

And here's the bad part.

Speaker C: 00:28:25

With AI, it gets sources across the web if it's grabbing source as truth, because it's a, to them, a verified source.

Speaker C: 00:28:35

And it's one of these click bait YouTubers or Instagrammers, they take that as, wow.

Speaker C: 00:28:42

This person said, here's the right answer.

Speaker C: 00:28:45

So you've got all of these social media people that are trying to get clicks, they're trying to make money, they're trying to get views and you have AI grabbing that as a trusted source and then you get the information.

Speaker C: 00:28:58

So we're gonna do some more stories on this.

Speaker C: 00:29:00

I think maybe one time we'll start asking questions and see how good AI gives the answers to that.

Speaker C: 00:29:06

Could be a fun one.

Speaker C: 00:29:06

Maybe we'll do that in an upcoming episode.

Speaker C: 00:29:09

But be very careful.

Speaker C: 00:29:11

Social media can be helpful, but it can also lead you down a very expensive and wrong path.

Speaker C: 00:29:19

So be careful.

Speaker C: 00:29:20

The next one here, number seven.

Speaker C: 00:29:23

This is a big one.

Speaker C: 00:29:25

Big box stores save you money, usually with home improvement projects.

Speaker C: 00:29:30

Maybe you get, you see the H Vac person when you walk into your Home Depot or Lowe's store.

Speaker C: 00:29:35

They're at the end cap.

Speaker C: 00:29:36

Maybe it's a carpeting installer, maybe it's the gutter people, maybe you're in Costco and You see this here's the issue you have.

Speaker C: 00:29:44

Anytime you put a middle person in a middleman in the middle of this, things are usually more expensive because that retailer is going to take what the contractor's charging and mark it up 30, 40, 50% to cover their losses.

Speaker C: 00:29:59

Now when it comes down to the big box home improvement retailers, they're gonna mark that up.

Speaker C: 00:30:04

But the problem is there's not a discount of 30 or 40% that you're getting from that person.

Speaker C: 00:30:11

So really the only place that really making sense at the big box stores of buying direct with them is that if you're gonna put it on one of their cards and get the financing, other than that, you're probably gonna get a better price from somebody else.

Speaker C: 00:30:24

So be careful with those big box stores with that extra markup and that extra middleman, you could have a project that takes longer because now you've got a salesperson working with them.

Speaker C: 00:30:36

Many times those big box stores are either a national company or if they're local, they're new contractor.

Speaker C: 00:30:41

Because if they don't already have that book of business, it's an easy way to keep busy and to keep their people paid.

Speaker C: 00:30:46

Now usually when those guys get good, they leave because they can make more money on their own and don't have the big box store headaches that go with it.

Speaker C: 00:30:55

So take some time and compare those numbers.

Speaker C: 00:30:58

You might be surprised at how much you can save dealing with your local person.

Speaker C: 00:31:03

Whether it's a plumber, a roofer, an H vac, whatever.

Speaker C: 00:31:08

Take a look at that.

Speaker C: 00:31:10

You'll probably save some money there.

Speaker C: 00:31:11

It's amazing.

Speaker C: 00:31:12

We assume that those numbers are saving you money.

Speaker C: 00:31:16

Great example.

Speaker C: 00:31:17

I was in Costco yesterday, walking through, doing some stuff, grabbing some stuff and I looked at these totes.

Speaker C: 00:31:22

People are loading them up because they think they're a better deal.

Speaker C: 00:31:25

I can get them 2 bucks cheaper off Home Depot than what they are.

Speaker C: 00:31:28

Same brand totes, $2 less money, but people are buying them at Costco.

Speaker C: 00:31:34

That was going to be a great savings if they hadn't been to Home Depot and saw the price that it's their regular everyday price.

Speaker C: 00:31:40

Guess what?

Speaker C: 00:31:41

They're moving a lot of totes out of that big box store.

Speaker C: 00:31:43

But Costco there was not the savings you thought you were paying.15% more cost at that place.

Speaker C: 00:31:50

So be careful, do your research, compare those prices.

Speaker C: 00:31:55

But many times that big box store is not going to save you money.

Speaker C: 00:31:58

Now here's another little side note too on this.

Speaker C: 00:32:00

A lot of people, it's a myth as well, with the big box stores, oh, the lumber in the home centers is not as good is what in the local lumber yards.

Speaker C: 00:32:10

Now it's not because of the bad lumber grade.

Speaker C: 00:32:13

Many times maybe that same lumber is showing up at the lumber yard.

Speaker C: 00:32:17

But here's the problem.

Speaker C: 00:32:19

Anytime that you take wet lumber and you put it inside of a building that is air conditioned, that's going to dry out and you have people high grading every stick through there.

Speaker C: 00:32:30

By the time you show up and you look at that half looked at lumber bunk that no one has gone through and culled out, yeah, it looks horrible.

Speaker C: 00:32:38

You got a lot of junk in there.

Speaker C: 00:32:40

The lumberyard tends to throw what's on the pile on the truck and out it goes.

Speaker C: 00:32:45

So nobody's picking through it.

Speaker C: 00:32:47

Many times it's outside so it's a little more acclimated to what's going on.

Speaker C: 00:32:51

So there's the problem.

Speaker C: 00:32:53

Many times it's the hand picking and the lumber drying out prematurely, especially in the summertime in an air conditioned space inside a big box retailer.

Speaker C: 00:33:03

So it could be a good grade of lumber, but it's just been picked through.

Speaker C: 00:33:07

If you go to bunk to bunk and open them up, many times it's the same lumber grade.

Speaker C: 00:33:13

It just hasn't been picked through like your local big box store.

Speaker C: 00:33:17

Now when we come back, we're going to wrap up my myths here for Home Improvement.

Speaker C: 00:33:21

The stuff that you might think is right, the stuff you might think is wrong.

Speaker C: 00:33:24

Just as soon as around the House returns.

Speaker C: 00:33:26

Don't go anywhere.

Speaker B: 00:33:26

To find out more about the show, head to aroundthehouse online.com Eric G. Will be right back.

Speaker C: 00:35:29

Welcome back to the around the House show.

Speaker C: 00:35:31

The next generation of home improvement.

Speaker C: 00:35:33

I'm Eric Chi.

Speaker C: 00:35:33

If you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundthe house online.com and if you want to get the show early, get it a couple days early.

Speaker C: 00:35:41

You can do that.

Speaker C: 00:35:42

Just join the around the House insider program.

Speaker C: 00:35:44

It's four bucks a month.

Speaker C: 00:35:45

I'll even send you some free stickers here.

Speaker C: 00:35:48

But here's the thing, you can catch the show early and catch the extended content with these.

Speaker C: 00:35:53

Sometimes these shows get cut down because they don't fit for the radio show or podcast and you can catch it all over on the podcast.

Speaker C: 00:36:00

We've been talking about my top 10 home improvement myths that you see out there and we've been going through these in this last segment here.

Speaker C: 00:36:07

We're going to talk about this one even though we talked about in the last hour of the show.

Speaker C: 00:36:11

But in Case you're only catching this one, we're going to double up on it.

Speaker C: 00:36:14

Just in case.

Speaker C: 00:36:15

Custom cabinetry is better than a big box store.

Speaker C: 00:36:19

That's one of the biggest home improvement myths out there.

Speaker C: 00:36:23

If you're on the ask a cabinet maker page, which is on Facebook, I'm one of the group experts over there with my friend Corbin Clay.

Speaker C: 00:36:30

All the problems we see with cabinetry over there is from custom shops.

Speaker C: 00:36:34

We don't see the big box name brands in there, and that's just because of the size of those big companies.

Speaker C: 00:36:39

They've got it dialed in, it's consistent.

Speaker C: 00:36:42

They've spent the money on the gear and they've spent the million dollars on the finished system and all that stuff.

Speaker C: 00:36:48

So really be very careful.

Speaker C: 00:36:51

Extra research on custom cabinetry because as we know, the word custom says nothing about the quality.

Speaker C: 00:36:59

If you want custom cabinetry that's made local, awesome.

Speaker C: 00:37:02

There's probably somebody that is absolutely amazing in your area.

Speaker C: 00:37:07

You just need to go find them.

Speaker C: 00:37:09

And it's going to be weeding through a bunch of custom cabinet shops to find it.

Speaker C: 00:37:13

Now, I don't want to find the one that's doing the big entry level builders out there that are kicking out cheap cabinetry.

Speaker C: 00:37:19

I want to find somebody that's going to put something that's going to fit your house correctly.

Speaker C: 00:37:23

So find out who does the medium and remodels in your area who uses custom like that.

Speaker C: 00:37:28

And then do all the research that we talked about last hour and you should be good to go.

Speaker C: 00:37:33

Now, the next one here, and this is one of my favorite and most controversial ones here on the list.

Speaker C: 00:37:40

That's why it's on number nine.

Speaker C: 00:37:42

They sure don't make things like they used to.

Speaker C: 00:37:44

Now here's the thing.

Speaker C: 00:37:46

I love old houses.

Speaker C: 00:37:48

I love them Craftsman, that green and green arts and crafts, the Victorian, the mid century modern.

Speaker C: 00:37:56

Absolutely love it.

Speaker C: 00:37:58

Those classic colonials on the east coast.

Speaker C: 00:38:01

Beautiful.

Speaker C: 00:38:02

But here's the problem.

Speaker C: 00:38:03

Those houses had beautiful finishes on the inside, but many of those homes had Achilles heels to them.

Speaker C: 00:38:10

he Midwest and that beautiful: 1920

Speaker C: 00:38:17

Blew it off the foundation and set it right out in the middle of the road.

Speaker C: 00:38:20

And it looks like it didn't even get hurt, except it got lifted and placed over there.

Speaker C: 00:38:25

That's because in the: 1920

Speaker C: 00:38:29

They weren't tied down to the foundation.

Speaker C: 00:38:31

So there was no earthquake retrofitting where you put the Brackets in, they didn't have bolts coming up through the foundation.

Speaker C: 00:38:38

And older homes had balloon framing, which means the studs went all the way up through the second floor, which creates that.

Speaker C: 00:38:46

If you have a fire in a stud bay down below, that gives no fire blocking.

Speaker C: 00:38:51

So that goes all the way up to the roof and you lose a house.

Speaker C: 00:38:54

So yes, we lost a lot of old world craftsmanship, but you didn't have engineering tables and sheer tables and things like that.

Speaker C: 00:39:02

For in new buildings where an engineer stamped it many times that custom house was built by a guy looking at plans by an architect or building designer that knew what they were doing and they framed it and built it beautifully.

Speaker C: 00:39:17

So many times I get into a house and go, wow, I can tell they didn't have a level on this job site, they just built it, they eyeballed it.

Speaker C: 00:39:24

Now if you have a builder that cares, they can build a much stronger, better built home.

Speaker C: 00:39:32

Now the good thing with the old homes is, if you remember we talked about it earlier, is that these things were designed to breathe.

Speaker C: 00:39:38

So you didn't have the mold issues and the things we have with modern energy efficient houses.

Speaker C: 00:39:42

So you have to take into all the building science and stuff that goes with it.

Speaker C: 00:39:46

So yes, energy efficiency has caused many of our new issues in homes today.

Speaker C: 00:39:50

But still strength by strength, many times these new houses are stronger than the old ones and are going to be more resilient to earthquakes, high wind and things like that.

Speaker C: 00:40:04

So this is going to be always an issue.

Speaker C: 00:40:08

But with houses, yeah, the new ones are better built as long as you followed and used all the recent technology.

Speaker C: 00:40:17

Now when it comes to thing buying things at a home center, for instance, yeah, finishes are better.

Speaker C: 00:40:22

You used to have chrome, brass and they put a lacquer coat over the top.

Speaker C: 00:40:27

Now you got these PVA finishes.

Speaker C: 00:40:29

Cabinetry finishes are so much better than they used to be.

Speaker C: 00:40:31

Those old lacquer finishes that some custom shops still use today are well outshined.

Speaker C: 00:40:36

Because think about it,: 1950

Speaker C: 00:40:51

You don't see anybody doing that anymore.

Speaker C: 00:40:54

You might see some hot rod person working on it.

Speaker C: 00:40:57

But now that they've gone to these better finishes, you don't have to wax them.

Speaker C: 00:41:00

You don't have the lacquer finish breaking down where you had to wax it and buff it all the time.

Speaker C: 00:41:05

So now people are running through that instant car wash, getting the car clean, they're good to go.

Speaker C: 00:41:09

And that 10 year old car looks just like it did when it came off the finish line.

Speaker C: 00:41:13

That's the way cabinetry finishes are today.

Speaker C: 00:41:15

Those old lacquer finishes.

Speaker C: 00:41:17

Yeah, they peel, they turn yellow, they come apart.

Speaker C: 00:41:19

If they're on maple by the sink, they flake off, they look horrible.

Speaker C: 00:41:23

A lot of technology has gone into new stuff today on the finishes and it just outperforms a lot of that old stuff.

Speaker C: 00:41:30

It's just like number 10 here, which is a good one.

Speaker C: 00:41:33

Old toilets work better than new ones.

Speaker C: 00:41:36

Wrong.

Speaker C: 00:41:37

It was great in the: 1990

Speaker C: 00:41:39

You're right.

Speaker C: 00:41:39

The old three or three and a half gallon toilets work better than the 1.6 gallon.

Speaker C: 00:41:44

But technology's come a long way.

Speaker C: 00:41:46

ush that will outperform your: 1970

Speaker C: 00:41:57

They have coatings on the toilets.

Speaker C: 00:42:00

They have everything.

Speaker C: 00:42:01

So it's almost self cleaning.

Speaker C: 00:42:03

And yes, they have engineered with science a self cleaning toilet that uses a gallon of water and you don't have to double flush it.

Speaker C: 00:42:13

Now here's the thing.

Speaker C: 00:42:14

If you're putting that toilet in a basement of an old home with old plumbing that's sketchy, you might want a 1.6 gallon flush to do that because a little water can help alleviate those plumbing issues in a house.

Speaker C: 00:42:28

But as far as toilet performance and needing a plunger or having a partial flush, yes, one gallon will work very well if you get the right one.

Speaker C: 00:42:42

So that's the key right there guys, making sure that you've got the right toilet.

Speaker C: 00:42:47

And here's the thing, if you go in and buy the home center brand, their knockoff Glacier Bay or whatever brand that you see out there, yeah, it's not going to work as good as the other ones.

Speaker C: 00:42:55

Sure, the name brand ones, the people that have spent the money on the engineering like Toto, that's my favorite brand out there.

Speaker C: 00:43:03

They don't pay me to say that, but I have used their toilets for over a decade in most of my customers homes and they work great.

Speaker C: 00:43:12

They make more toilets than American Standard and Kohler combined.

Speaker C: 00:43:15

Usually you just can't see them in the home center.

Speaker C: 00:43:18

And that's one thing here that we have to think about when we're thinking about the home centers.

Speaker C: 00:43:22

And I'm not here just to bash on them, but the home centers are the bottom third to maybe bottom half of the home improvement market out there.

Speaker C: 00:43:33

That's why you don't see a lot of high end custom projects going to the home centers because they are done.

Speaker C: 00:43:40

They have just focused on that lower third to maybe lower half of the home improvement market.

Speaker C: 00:43:48

So if you're looking for that nicer home, you might not be wanting to shop at the home centers for your faucets, your toilets.

Speaker C: 00:43:55

If you've got that higher end home, you should be over at your plumbing retailer where the plumbers go to deal with that.

Speaker C: 00:44:03

So that's the key right there.

Speaker C: 00:44:05

So let's review our list we were just talking about.

Speaker C: 00:44:07

Old toilets work better than new ones.

Speaker C: 00:44:09

Yeah, that's a myth.

Speaker C: 00:44:11

They don't make things like they used to.

Speaker C: 00:44:12

Yeah, lots of finishes and even homes are better built today because of engineering and things like that.

Speaker C: 00:44:19

Custom cabinetry is better than a big box store.

Speaker C: 00:44:22

Yeah, that's a myth.

Speaker C: 00:44:23

Many times there's exceptions.

Speaker C: 00:44:25

There's a lot of great custom shops out there.

Speaker C: 00:44:26

Number seven.

Speaker C: 00:44:27

Big box stores save you money.

Speaker C: 00:44:29

Sometimes they have lost leaders.

Speaker C: 00:44:31

Sometimes you can buy better off even Amazon than you can there.

Speaker C: 00:44:34

Especially when it comes to wire and things like that.

Speaker C: 00:44:36

Big box stores used to be that loss leader with that now because of theft and things like that, they're not.

Speaker C: 00:44:42

You can find better prices on some of those things.

Speaker C: 00:44:45

Social media and AI have all the answers.

Speaker C: 00:44:47

Yeah, sometimes it can be right, sometimes they can be very wrong depending on the source that they're basing off of.

Speaker C: 00:44:52

Any contractor can handle any job.

Speaker C: 00:44:55

No, you want the specialty ones to figure it out.

Speaker C: 00:44:58

And we dove into a common myth that all plumbers and electricians are rip off.

Speaker C: 00:45:03

And we explained where these costs come from and how we can affect that with the decisions we make in the future.

Speaker C: 00:45:09

And then before that asbestos can be ignored.

Speaker C: 00:45:11

No, that's a health hazard you need to be careful with.

Speaker C: 00:45:14

And number one, just because if it's a home center doesn't mean it meet doesn't mean that it meets building code.

Speaker C: 00:45:19

These are all issues that home center will sell you stuff because that's a good buy for them and it's a good buy for you.

Speaker C: 00:45:27

But it might not meet building code.

Speaker C: 00:45:29

You got a comment on any of this, Head over to aroundthehouse online.com send me a message there.

Speaker C: 00:45:34

And if you have a subject that we haven't covered recently you'd like to hear from, I'm always taking suggestions.

Speaker C: 00:45:39

I'm Eric G. Thanks for tuning in around the house.

Speaker C: 00:45:42

We'll see you soon.

Speaker B: 00:45:43

Make sure and follow us on YouTube and social media.

Speaker B: 00:45:47

Thanks for listening to the around the house show.

Speaker B: 00:45:50

We will see you next time.

Speaker A: 00:45:53

Love is a love song let's be lovers we're all over the radio Take my way to go all over the radio with you.