Episode 1615
How social media can send your DIY project sideways. My top 10
Social media and the internet can be an amazing tool researching a DIY project. However when it comes to social media groups it can be one of the hardest places to navigate with dangerous information that is not helpful in your goal of starting and completing that next project. We dive into this subject today to make sure we have all the right information and what are some of the most dangerous comments on social media today when it comes to your home.
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Transcript
[00:00:31] Eric Goranson: The overbids it well, guess. You're going to, they're going to be, you're going to be paying extra for that. But the underbid, there's a high chance that they're going to get into a project, realize that they're upside down on that project. And so the next thing that happens is, is they bail on you or they take shortcuts to try to make up for it.
[:[00:01:18] Eric Goranson: com. It doesn't matter if you're listening on the radio and the talk media network, or if you're catching the podcast, which can be heard on any podcast player. Well, today I wanted to talk about something that I've seen, uh, you know, we've talked about it in a year or so ago, but, uh, one, one thing I wanted to talk about today that was really important is how bad information on social media groups and influencers causes construction mistakes.
[:[00:02:07] Eric Goranson: And, and here's one of the things that I really see out there that gets tough. So many people out there want to tackle those projects themselves as homeowners. And they go on to the social media groups asking for help. Okay, where do I start? How do I do this? And it's all under good intentions. They're trying to figure it out.
[:[00:02:50] Eric Goranson: Because so many people now turn to the internet to get information and sometimes it's just plain wrong. And so I wanted to talk about that today to see if we can help you [00:03:00] get on the right track. So let's just start out here with number 10, which is probably my most favorite slash unfavorite comment that I see out there.
[:[00:03:36] Eric Goranson: This is like the poster child of somebody taught me this bad habit 30 years ago. I've done it that way, and no one's ever busted me for it failing. Even though, quite frankly, I might have done it wrong the entire time, and there's not a contractor out there that will tell you. I mean, here's the thing.[00:04:00]
[:[00:04:33] Eric Goranson: And everybody thought that was fine, but then 7 years later, it starts leaking. It starts coming apart. People haven't maintained it. And then the drywall, which just has a water resistant coating on the top of it, the stuff on the inside the same. Yeah. But all of a sudden things start failing, but the experience from these people are not that someone actually called them up with a warranty and said, you had to come back and fix it.
[:[00:05:22] Eric Goranson: So they never got any callbacks because people went, ooh, I'm not calling you back. I get that, but these are where the bad information comes from. And this is just my number 10 and it gets better from here. So be really careful. Um, you know, there's a lot of great contractors out there that have learned continuing education as they get along that, uh, you know, they've stayed up with technologies and are now really on top of what they're doing.
[:[00:06:08] Eric Goranson: But again, I mean, I just literally had this 1 on a discussion today where, uh, in 1 of the, uh, 1 of the remodeling groups. A homeowner went on and said, Hey, how do I do, you know, should I do red guard? Should I do waterproofing over the top of my concrete board before I put my tile up in my shower? And one guy came up and he went for the two for today because he actually hit the, well, I've been doing it forever.
[:[00:06:55] Eric Goranson: And, and again, I think this is one of those things. Where, [00:07:00] you know, he had the best intentions, but again, was steering this customer. Um, if he was, since he was a contractor, it would've been his customer or a homeowner that was just trying to ask, ask a question that didn't know any better. And so that's really where these mistakes happen.
[:[00:07:39] Eric Goranson: Go back and watch their training videos. They all have them. You can figure it out in that way. You can find out the information from the companies that they do, because all these companies that make these systems have some kind of a video training system for their consumers, contractors, remodelers, tile setters.
[:[00:08:21] Eric Goranson: They could be one of those people. So be very careful when you measure that up. Now, the next one here is an important one that I see. Probably one of the biggest offenders and this is number eight here. How to deal with asbestos or lead abatement Around your house. So maybe you have Asbestos in your house.
[:[00:09:00] Eric Goranson: Now you'll have the people on there saying that asbestos is a conspiracy theory that no one's ever gotten hurt from asbestos, which we clearly know is, is not the case. And they say, oh, it's no big deal. Put a desk mask on and chip it up, take it out, you know, and, and, uh, run a HEPA air filter for a little bit down there, which of course is really horrible advice.
[:[00:09:41] Eric Goranson: What's
[:[00:10:21] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round the house show. Now, if you're just joining us for the first time, we really appreciate you tuning into around the house. This is the original around the house show, whether you're on the radio, you're catching the podcast or whatever. Thanks for tuning in today. We've been talking about in this segment here, how bad information on social media groups can cause construction mistakes, especially with homeowners.
[:[00:11:02] Eric Goranson: So here's what I would do. Now I would find out in your area who is the You know, who is your legal authority that deals with this stuff? Is it your department of environmental quality that you have? Is it, um, the federal government, state government, local government? Who are the people that, that, um, deal with those laws in your area?
[:[00:11:49] Eric Goranson: And test the areas that could be asbestos that you're going to be working on and for a few hundred bucks, you've got test results and you know what you're dealing with. Now, like I was talking about earlier, if they're 9 by 9 tiles [00:12:00] with a black tarmastic underneath it, you most likely have. Now they made tiles in other sizes, but when they're nine by nines, it was a style.
[:[00:12:30] Eric Goranson: And then what you can do is follow up and find out what your local laws are to deal with it. Some places a homeowner can do the abatement, which I don't recommend. Some places they have a very specific way of getting rid of it. And so really you want to figure out in your area, what is the legal action you have to take many times.
[:[00:13:20] Eric Goranson: But really you need to deal with this, you know in your own way that is legal with your area here in my state I have seen 30 50 even a hundred thousand dollar potentially fines that were levied against homeowners or building owners that um Did not follow the laws So this can be very expensive And even worse when you have to go in and pay somebody to come in and clean up because what happens with asbestos fibers Just so you fully understand You could put a dust mask on go down there bust it up haul it off But those fibers are so small and light.
[:[00:14:11] Eric Goranson: And it can settle and you can have multiple exposures within your house from it. So it's something you want to be very careful with. So be super careful with, uh, lead paint and asbestos and make sure you're following your local laws, codes, all that stuff. And that you're at least following the federal basis of what you should be doing and find out what those tips and tricks are there.
[:[00:14:49] Eric Goranson: That can be a big 1. now we've talked about this 1 here. This is, um, see, so let's go back and actually recap real quick. So, 10 was the, I've been a contractor for 30 years and this is my favorite way [00:15:00] of doing it. Number 9 was, um, skipping waterproofing in a tub or tub shower when you're doing tile. Um, number 8 is the illegal asbestos or lead abatement.
[:[00:15:36] Eric Goranson: Um, and I don't know if this is the case now, but a year ago it was, is that, uh, I was talking to an interview with, uh, our local construction contractors board, and they said that, um, many of the social media groups would not let them patrol in the social media group, because for instance, if you're in, let's say next door.
[:[00:16:19] Eric Goranson: So if you are one of the enforcement officers, you can log into where your home is, but you can't check anywhere else around. So you're just basically checking out your neighborhood and you're stuck there. And so what happens is there's a lot of contractors that were forced out of, out of business because of poor work, or they just ran out of money because they weren't quoting things correctly.
[:[00:17:00] Eric Goranson: And, you know, I've talked about a bunch of times. So, um, just bear with me as I quickly mentioned that, uh, hiring an unlicensed contractor can put a lot of liability on you when it's the people they're working. So if you have a. Unlicensed contractor out there and he has 2 or 3 people he hired out there.
[:[00:17:38] Eric Goranson: ai 1099 employees, so this can be its own problem when you're hiring people that are not licensed, bonded, insured because now you're an employer. And so with anybody getting hurt with anybody causing damage to your home, uh, maybe your neighbor's home or somebody else getting hurt like they, they didn't, um.
[:[00:18:19] Eric Goranson: So be very careful with this. Now, the next one here is really important. And this is, uh, uh, number five. And we're going to talk about this when we come back, because this is, uh, one of the biggest ones that I see some of the most damage occur to a home from this one right here. We'll talk about that just as soon as Around the House returns.
[:[00:19:00] Eric Goranson: this is Ron Keel, the Metal Cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel Band and Steeler. We are rocking Around the House with Eric G. Raise your... Welcome back to the Around the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks to my buddy Ron Keel there from the Ron Keel Band and Steeler for...
[:[00:19:32] Eric Goranson: No, we have 178 videos now over on my, uh, my, uh, around the house playlists. You can find that two places. One, you can go over to YouTube and type in Fox 12, Oregon. And around the house and my playlist will be there. We have all our new projects, including some fun ones where we talked about how to do a hot tub on a budget.
[:[00:20:11] Eric Goranson: Well, we've been talking about all these different things here. Now, by the way, in those 178 videos are all different ones. And so, uh, there's a lot of great information there on projects and some tips around your house, including on ways to save some serious money. So, uh, just like that hot tub, we've been talking about my list here.
[:[00:21:01] Eric Goranson: So here's what happens. Many times people go, Oh, it's not load bearing, but then there's a picture up in the attic where I can see, you know, a post coming down, landing on that, or there is some load or some sheer or other things within that. So you have to be really careful. So the right answer is. You want to bring in a structural engineer to take a look at it.
[:[00:21:49] Eric Goranson: And then the, the. Structural engineer goes up there and goes, yeah, but this is why this could be load bearing. And there is some load on top of it. And they do the calculation and find out there's 500 to a [00:22:00] thousand pounds of load on that, which could be a lot. Now it's different if you've got wind and snow and things like that, but that can be there as well.
[:[00:22:29] Eric Goranson: The contractor moves it out, uh, to a wall that was load bearing and goes down there, but then the footing below is not designed for that. And so you've got maybe an old steel post that was rotting at the bottom and now it compresses and then that floor settles in. So what you really want to do is make sure that you've got the right.
[:[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: Slab down there, huge piece of slab to, uh, set the post on to make sure that, uh, it was supported correctly in the floor. So you can have, depending on your climate, depending on what's going on, you can have some huge issues. With making sure that, um, that you've got low distributed correctly. And so, um, if you think about a building code before, where maybe you had a post that went, uh, you know, upstairs, went down into that, went downstairs and now it's on maybe a 4 by 4 and a little pure block.
[:[00:24:10] Eric Goranson: So the floor joists aren't carried correctly. They're 2x6s or 2x4s, or they need to be 2x8s or 2x10s, that kind of thing. And so what happens is, is you have a lot of catch up to do on that. And many times you're in a position where you can't do what you need to do to meet code. And that could be a much bigger problem.
[:[00:24:46] Eric Goranson: She'll be good to go. And generally you should not be using bleach to kill mold because many surfaces It's going to make the mold so you don't see it. So it'll take the black off the mold, let's say, and I'm talking color, not the [00:25:00] specific black mold, but it will take the color off it, make it clear or opaque.
[:[00:25:23] Eric Goranson: If you want to use something more natural, go hydrogen peroxide or M or one of the many mold cleaners out there like concrobium. There's a lot of different ones out there that can work for you, but just be very careful following social media advice on how to clean up. Around mold and in dealing with that.
[:[00:26:02] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's a water leak, whatever those are. You need to solve that problem because it's going to keep coming back. So this is an important one. So deal with the reason, but if you've got high humidity in the house, for instance, then you have mold probably another spot. So I would go through and take a mold test before you touch anything.
[:[00:26:42] Eric Goranson: So these are things you want to make sure that you've got in those air tests, you know, uh, you know, my friend, Caroline, uh, Blazowski, former host of the show here, uh, you know, uh, America's healthy home expert. She has her own tests over there and, uh, you can Google her up and order those there. But anyway, those [00:27:00] tests are really what you want to be doing.
[:[00:27:17] Eric Goranson: And then if you need a dehumidifier, if you need to fix the water leak, if you need to do better maintenance around your house, you can then address it and know that you've gotten it taken care of. So that's a big one right there that I really want to make sure. That you've got it dialed in, because that's a serious health issue that you needed to make sure that the place that you're spending a majority of your day is healthy for you and your family.
[:[00:28:12] Eric Goranson: Trying to find out good information and the conspiracy theorists jump out and it gets pretty wacky too. Now, when we come back, we're going to talk about that one, because that's an important one that we should all be paying attention to. We'll do that just as soon as around the house.[00:29:00]
[:[00:29:24] Eric Goranson: And we've been talking about my top 10 lists. Let me go backwards here. Number 10. Is my favorite line in home improvement social media Which is I've been a contractor or a builder or a modeler or tile setter or whatever for 30 years And this is I've always done it and I've never had any callbacks my favorite comment all around that was number 10 number 9 Skipping waterproofing in a shower or tub shower and that debate number 8 Not dealing with asbestos or lead abatement or taking it seriously Number seven, non licensed contractors posting on Facebook marketplace or next [00:30:00] door.
[:[00:30:27] Eric Goranson: This is number, uh, this is our number four, actually number, yeah, number four. Sorry. And with bad advice on radon, radon is one of those things that I tell you what, because it's odorless, it's silent, it is a silent killer out there. And there is no debate that radon can cause lung cancer and cause some major issues, but there is a huge conspiracy theory saying it's something from the government or whatever.
[:[00:31:16] Eric Goranson: Where radon is coming up now in my state, for instance, here's what happens. This is something that's big here Uh, I have to have two things when I sell a house So in the state of Oregon where I live when we sell a house There are two inspections that are required One of them is a sewer scope to make sure the sewer line is working correctly And the next one is a radon test So every single house has to have a radon test when you sell it And so you can go through.
[:[00:32:05] Eric Goranson: And you just have to rely on that. Now, what I've seen is, you know, you could have radon one day and if there's any kind of a seismic activity or something like that, I would strongly recommend if radon is prevalent in your area that after seismic activity, like a small, you know, probably two, three earthquake on up.
[:[00:32:45] Eric Goranson: And, uh, there have been a lot of stories here in my area because we have some homes that have really, really bad rate on here. And so what can happen is, is that you got to be really careful that, and so that can, that can create a ton of issues. When it [00:33:00] comes to, to your health. And so just be very careful of that guys.
[:[00:33:30] Eric Goranson: So what happens is, is that silica that's in the dust gets into your lungs and can cause lung cancer. And so you have to be very careful of that silicosis basically. And where I have a problem with is when you have a countertop company that shows up and they're out in your front yard and they're sawing.
[:[00:34:08] Eric Goranson: So, every time I drive by someone's house in the neighborhood that's having countertops down and somebody's out there making a huge cloud of dust, whether or not they're cutting concrete, whether or not they're cutting. A stone countertop that generally is against the law and against, um, you know, common health OSHA practices.
[:[00:34:47] Eric Goranson: Guess what? That can be a huge problem. And, uh, I have seen that happen many times where maybe someone's having their, their, uh, chimney repointed and somebody up there with a grinder and they're grinding out all the [00:35:00] things between the brick where the, where the mortar is to repoint that. Well, if they're not keeping that under control, um, I have seen OSHA show up at many places.
[:[00:35:41] Eric Goranson: So there is a warning sign there. If those guys are outside making big cuts outside for sink cutouts outside and they're doing it dry and you've got dust all over your cars and your lawn, you probably hired the wrong company. So be really careful with that. Now, and here's another one here that, um, I see this in the DIY [00:36:00] groups a lot.
[:[00:36:26] Eric Goranson: I'd be very careful. You will also have about 25 people in that group sit there and say, wow, that's high rate. We're Aubrey. No, it's really not what I'm looking at. Numbers from a contractor out there these days, you know, you can spend thousands and thousands of dollars to have the inside of the paint.
[:[00:37:03] Eric Goranson: What's going on? I want to know the level of details with that because I tell you what, most people on these groups that are commenting, except for the contractors that are in the group or the homeowners that have just been a. Through a residential remodel, the information you're going to get is their perception, which is usually fairly bad.
[:[00:37:54] Eric Goranson: Well, guess what? You're going to, they're going to be, you're gonna be paying extra for that, but the underbid, there's a high [00:38:00] chance that they're going to get into a project, realize that they're upside down on that project. And so the next thing that happens is, is they bail on you. Or they take shortcuts to try to make up for it.
[:[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: There's a guy out of Canada. That has a DIY channel up there that I am fully convinced that, uh, the horrible advice that is generally unsafe or not smart for anybody is only bad because that gains clicks and 90 percent of his comments are people calling him out, given bad advice. So be really careful guys.
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