Episode 1742
My top 10 tips for Exterior Projects
Over the last five years how we tackle exterior projects has really changed. There is new technology and science that can save you a TON of work later and make that project last so much longer. From taking on a siding project to building a new deck there are a lot of new tips and tricks that can extend the lifetime of your project. We talk about that and so much more in this second hour of Around the House Show!
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Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.
Mentioned in this episode:
Baldwin Hardware
Transcript
[00:00:31] Eric Goranson: These are those little things. People get totally tripped up on that can really reduce the lifespan of the project that you're working on. Or even the worst. This is one of those things can really cost you some serious money. So sit back, hold on tight. We've got a one hour show here that is ready to rock and you'll be ready to tackle those spring projects.
[:[00:01:14] Eric Goranson: com. And, of course, if you want to track me down, you can give us a call here in the studio at 833 333 8333. 239 4144. That number again is 833 239 4144. And hey, before I forget, I do want to talk about my shows that are coming up on my Around the House Northwest this weekend. If you want to stream it out there, just look for KPTVFox12.
[:[00:01:54] Eric Goranson: I do a test on deck stains to see which one's going to work the best in my [00:02:00] climate. And it was shocking. It was pretty fun. And we're going to talk about a little of that today because we are going to talk about my top 10. Really tips for exterior projects. And I did a test and it's just pretty amazing.
[:[00:02:39] Eric Goranson: And a one by six, five quarter cedar and did sections of them. And then I went through and applied each one per the direction. Some were one coat, some were two coats, some were oil based, some were water based. And I was really amazed at how it turned out. So the first finish to fail that just basically disappeared.
[:[00:03:16] Eric Goranson: And I washed over the top of it and it pretty much wiped the water seal right off of it. That just didn't hold up. The waxiness came off and it pretty much looked like. Brand new wood when it was done. The best water based was the bear that went on there so well. I was so impressed at how that turned out.
[:[00:03:52] Eric Goranson: I like it. It was a one coat. And it held up really good. That didn't have any degradation of the finish at all. And then the bear did almost [00:04:00] equally. So I think the Prolux because it was oil based was sheeting water just a little bit better than the bear. But to tell you what, it was super solid, but that's really not what we're talking about today.
[:[00:04:29] Eric Goranson: Now this is a big deal and it's been, boy, if you jump on some of the deck forum groups out there, you'll have the proverbial old guy and I've been doing it for 30 years. So I almost fall into this, but you get the old guy going, I've been doing it for 30 years. It doesn't, I never had a problem. Here's the thing, joist tape works and what it does, it is a kind of a butyl based and they actually make liquid stuff you can paint on as well out there that does the same thing.
[:[00:05:21] Eric Goranson: That's the warranty period. Even longer on some of them out there. And here's the thing. Now you're putting that on a wood deck that probably, if you don't maintain it, you've got a 15 year lifespan. So instead of doing steel, which is what people are starting to do. And it's even aluminum out there. Now, people are doing the joist tape to get that extra life out of it.
[:[00:06:06] Eric Goranson: So take a look at that joystick. Even if you're using pressure treated, it's a great way to go to protect that framing. That way you can do it once and forget about it. And that makes a big difference when you're doing that kind of stuff. So take a look at the joystick. It's a great way to go. Number two here is when we're talking decks, make sure that if you're connecting it to the house, you're doing your flashing correctly.
[:[00:06:49] Eric Goranson: And so what I like to see is your typical window flashing going in around that to make sure that you get it sealed behind it. Then you're going to put that through and then you're going to do [00:07:00] metal flashing over the top of that to make sure that you've got that dialed in. And so that metal flashing is going to divert water.
[:[00:07:26] Eric Goranson: And that's a problem if you've got, uh, Let's say you've got an old eighties, nineties deck that you're rebuilding for the second or third time, and no one's changed it. This is where the big fails are is that we've really changed how we do this stuff over the years. Sometimes people, if you had a really good deck builder, they'd throw some, uh, 30 pound felt back there to help with that.
[:[00:08:05] Eric Goranson: Maybe that's something I'll do here of getting in that flash correctly. That could be a really good video. Maybe that's a pro tip coming up for my TV show, but this is a great one to make sure that you're doing it right. And if you can do that correctly, you're going to be dialed in and it's going to look really good.
[:[00:08:39] Eric Goranson: So you don't get 10, 15 people up there having your backyard party and having it fall off the house, or at least start racking up there. So that house does a lot to solid place that deck. So if you're going to make a freestanding one, make sure you've designed that correctly and you don't mess that up.
[:[00:09:10] Eric Goranson: And then of course you got to be dealing with the railings and everything else. So maybe having somebody draw that up and make sure you're good. And in most areas, once you get up that high, anyway, you got to pull a permit. So take the time, do it right. And it's going to save you some serious money and that's going to be a smart one there for you.
[:[00:10:09] Eric Goranson: What's up? This is Dixie Dania and Satchel from Steel Panther. And you are listening to Around the House with Eric G. Yeah, we love Eric G and you should too. Back
[:[00:10:48] Eric Goranson: And so you get that durability out of it. And usually that's what saves you money the most. And that's the cool thing with that. So we've been talking about these exterior projects, what you can do to make them turn out a little bit better. Now here's [00:11:00] one thing before you get out and start painting your house this year and do those exterior painting projects.
[:[00:11:19] Eric Goranson: If you've got pieces of vinyl that are painted like trim, if you have wood, different materials, they all move at different rates. And so you want to make sure. That you've got something that's going to hold up. And when you're going around, re caulking before you paint is part of the prep. And that is the biggest part of doing it is that you want to get in there, remove all the old caulking, take the time and then go around and do.
[:[00:12:03] Eric Goranson: What I love about this. Is it really moves more than any other caulking out there. And so that means you have a less chance of splitting, but here's one thing. That's interesting that you need to know about caulking. If you have a little tiny, just you, like you did the trim, it's gorgeous. You've got just a little tiny bit of room in there.
[:[00:12:44] Eric Goranson: Because what happens is when you have that little 32nd inch gap in there, you're probably going to push it out when it expands and there's not enough material to stretch back in. So having a little bit more materials, actually a good thing in there, and it'll give you more durability in the long run, [00:13:00] but using a good caulking like that is really key to having that project hold up.
[:[00:13:21] Eric Goranson: And in the cold, it's still cold. So I am in the shade and a lot of it. So it's one of those things that I get the most movement out of it. And it's been perfect for me. So use a great caulking when you're tackling a project like this, you'll be much better off. All right, now here's a big one. And this is one we're going to talk about for a few minutes here.
[:[00:13:56] Eric Goranson: It might cover up over a different color, a little bit better, [00:14:00] but painting primer in one is a myth. It's a beautiful marketing ploy. Hey, this is better than everybody else. Cause that's painting primer in one, but you still need to prime. And the problem is that over the years it used to be, we just had one primer and that's what you put out there, but now there's probably a half a dozen common ones out there, and that's a really big deal of using the right one.
[:[00:14:46] Eric Goranson: So that's what keeps you doing that. But I wouldn't use that on the outside of a house. That's where you want to use an all purpose primer up there. That's really going to work well. And if you've got adhesion issues, you want to make sure that you've got an adhesion primer or it says [00:15:00] adhesion primer on there.
[:[00:15:19] Eric Goranson: And so that's another way to go. Now there's primers that are pH balanced. If you've got a block wall or a concrete wall you're trying to paint, that's designed for the pH of concrete or concrete block. You've got that as well. And just as you've got that, you've got cabinetry and trim primers. You've got mold resistant primers, mold stopping primers.
[:[00:16:06] Eric Goranson: If you're going top down, giving the house a good scrub before you paint it and you notice paint coming off. Maybe that's the time you go, okay, I better put a coat of primer on this. Now, another trick too, is if you're worried about it, you're like, man, I got a dark color. I don't want to put white primer on it.
[:[00:16:36] Eric Goranson: And that way you notice just have primer up there if you miss a spot, but if you can really get it close. Then you have that contrast for painting and make life a little bit easier, but make sure that's going to get good adhesion on there. So if the paint's perfect and you're just putting another color over the top of it, maybe that's not needed.
[:[00:17:07] Eric Goranson: It's going to soak in. It's not going to look like anything else. So that primer really helps you get the correct sheen over everything and make it look good. So primer is your friend. Use it. And usually it's cheaper than the paint. So save yourself some money, put it up there and then you'll be good to go.
[:[00:17:40] Eric Goranson: And here's why, if you're like, I'm going to build my deck and later I'm going to put an outdoor kitchen on it. And I'm going to have a built in barbecue and I'm going to have an outdoor fridge and a television before you do the deck, run the utilities out there, run your electrical, run your natural gas, run everything that you need out there.
[:[00:18:14] Eric Goranson: Because what happens is we get all in a hurry. I'm going to put the fence up, but maybe you didn't plan ahead to get equipment back there to dig the pool or anything else. Now you're tearing stuff down again. We're having to move stuff and that's when it gets expensive. So. Coming up with a great plan.
[:[00:19:00] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is Ron Kiel, the metal cowboy from Kiel, the Ron Kiel band and Steeler, we are rocking around the house with Eric G.
[:[00:19:48] Eric Goranson: And if you're looking for some how to stuff we've done, some of our most recent stuff, I actually, these guys were amazing. Grand Canyon gas logs. I did the fireplace upgrade here in my house to some brand [00:20:00] new gas logs, and these are absolutely trick. And you could do these inside. You can do these outside.
[:[00:20:23] Eric Goranson: So they look very real. And second of all, the flames come out of the logs themselves. So it looks like a wood burning fireplace and that's a great, uh, Upgrade to your own system right there and works really slick hour and a half. You got that thing knocked out And you've got a brand new looking fireplace.
[:[00:21:03] Eric Goranson: This is a vacuum cleaner, mop, scrubber, floor dryer. It does all those things all in your automatic stuff. So take a look. Our biggest one we did here, which was last week, that thing's been taken off on the views. I show you step by step how to DIY stump removal. And that's a lot of fun. So take a look at that.
[:[00:21:38] Eric Goranson: We were talking about using Joyce tape to seal the top of your framing, making sure you flashed that deck when you're doing it and making sure you're doing the windows and doors correctly. Flashing is your friend. When you're doing this stuff. So make sure that you've got that. And then before you paint, use a great caulking.
[:[00:22:10] Eric Goranson: And when you're working on a backyard project, this might be the time to sit down with a outdoor designer and draw out your entire plan so you can start knocking it out. And plan for it. You want to run all those utilities first, like this was a big project and then start adding the stuff on top of it.
[:[00:22:45] Eric Goranson: So come up with a good game plan. And chase it from there. So you don't have to do projects twice because that's where things get expensive. Now, the next one is planning ahead for extreme weather, and this is not some global [00:23:00] warming discussion we're getting into here. I'm not going to start that debate on a whole improvement show.
[:[00:23:30] Eric Goranson: Build it like you got a hurricane coming. Build it so you don't have to worry about it later. Do the things that'll make it survive that. Spend the time. If you're in the Northeast, build it for snow load. In the Central, wherever you're at, Build it for the weather you get and the worst stuff. So that way it's going to hold up and that's really the key building this.
[:[00:24:08] Eric Goranson: If you're putting in a new fence right now, new wood fence, take a look at post protector. These slide over the bottom of the posts when they go in. This is not on my top 10, but it's a cool product. So it slides over, seals it up. And when you put it in the ground. It keeps it from rotting, which is really cool.
[:[00:24:39] Eric Goranson: Like they do to the, and you wonder, you're like, wow, how did that telephone pole last there for 40 years? One, it's got the creosote over the top at many times, but two, they actually go around and treat those posts. Every number of years, drill in. And they actually add a treatment to the inside of it. So it breaks down.
[:[00:25:11] Eric Goranson: What are you going to do? So that's another big one right there. Next up here is ladder safety and having the right equipment. When I am always like sometimes the worst on the ladder. Yeah. I have more than once stepped on the step that says, do not step here or above this. Yeah. Dual D is charged. But really getting some stuff to really get you there.
[:[00:25:54] Eric Goranson: When it comes to doing a project and being on a, just a good standard footing, [00:26:00] right? Extension ladders are not fun, especially when you're trying to hold on. You're trying to balance. You've got one arm. If you could have a couple sections of scaffolding and get it done where you are working around, it's so much faster and you can really get the thing done a lot faster.
[:[00:26:33] Eric Goranson: So basically what it is, it's a set of scaffolding, but it's expandable width wise. You can take it inside outside. So it's a five by five scaffolding, but you can narrow it down for tighter areas. You can go to, I think it's like a 30 inch goes up to To 60 inches, but build frames, you can get the frame itself for about three 49, I think over at Lowe's online.
[:[00:27:13] Eric Goranson: All right, guys, we got so much more to talk about here, getting the right safety stuff, having the harness. For getting up on top of that roof. Fall protection. These are all things on the exterior stuff. I'm actually putting up my fall protection stuff here this weekend, getting that dialed in. So I'm good to go.
[:[00:27:51] Eric Goranson: So your ladder doesn't slide. So the gutters is not a structural thing, but if your gutters are. Install correctly. It's going to keep her from sliding side to side. [00:28:00] And if you've got your angles, it's just going to keep that thing steadied up against it. And it's going to lock that ladder in for you. So take a look at lock jaw ladder grip.
[:[00:28:23] Eric Goranson: And it's a really impressive when you get the right safety stuff. Yeah. And, uh, fall protection harness, they start about 99 bucks. There's a lot of them out there and they work well and keep you safe out there. Keep you from getting hurt. You can get onto that next part of the project had too many friends get hurt, falling off, and if you can do a few things like that, we'll keep you around for the next project round the house.
[:[00:29:02] Eric Goranson: It's the end of the show drinking down people. It's time to go. That time again, it's last call. Welcome back to the around the house show the next generation of home improvement. Thanks for joining me today I'm eric g really appreciate you guys tuning in if you want to find out more about us head over to our website around the house online.
[:[00:29:44] Eric Goranson: But it's a little midweek catch up and we catch the breaking news, new hot topics. Stuff that's happening, product recalls, all the stuff that's going on during the week and that heads out and you can catch that anywhere out there on any podcast player. So just [00:30:00] look for around the house. You'll see it out there and take a look at that.
[:[00:30:22] Eric Goranson: You can find it there or over at our website. All right, guys, we've been talking about these top 10 tricks and tips for exterior projects that I've been working on. And here's the next one here. We were talking about. Having the right safety equipment. Next up here, using the right decking. Now there's a strong debate out there.
[:[00:31:05] Eric Goranson: Maybe I'll get a year and a half out of it. Two years. It just doesn't hold up for me. And so primarily cedar or treated wood, both of those I've just had tons of problems with. And yes, I've done the prep. It just doesn't hold up. So that's why I've gone to composite decks. Composite decks aren't all created equal.
[:[00:31:42] Eric Goranson: For instance, moisture shield decking makes a composite decking that reflects heat. So it probably is cooler even than that dark toned wood deck that you have, or at least the same temperature on mine. When I had my dark stained deck that was next to it, I would go [00:32:00] over to the, from the wood that would be warmer.
[:[00:32:22] Eric Goranson: Millboard's a company we've had them on the show before you hear the ads sometimes in our show on the podcast. These guys here are absolutely amazing. I love them. They do a great job and the boards are completely different than everybody else. They're molded. They're not that rolled on stamp. Basically looks like what these are molded at a real wood.
[:[00:32:56] Eric Goranson: They have trim board. So if you want to do the outside radius, [00:33:00] you can cold bend them. Yes, you can take that and do a radius around the outside. It looks like you got out the greatest heat bending stuff to bend composites and you can do it cold that way. It makes it much easier and you don't have to go out and spend thousands of dollars on blankets to actually be able to bend the stuff, to do something trick.
[:[00:33:37] Eric Goranson: It goes away. You can't see where it is So that's a great product right there. So take a look at the decking. There's lots of choices out there You're not just stuck with what's in your home center You There's a lot of different brands out there. Find what looks good for you, but to jump online and take a look at that millboard guys, it's super cool stuff.
[:[00:34:11] Eric Goranson: What are you putting everything together on that exterior project? I hope you're not using those just regular gold. Universal screws because I tell you what those kind of work, but they're basically gold drywall screws. They just don't hold up. You'll snap them off the work. They don't work well. They don't hold things together longterm.
[:[00:34:50] Eric Goranson: So you've got some options there. And of course they come in a lot of different colors and match your screw color to your project. The last thing I hate to see is [00:35:00] somebody putting in gold screws and they've got a dark stain and you see those screws. If you can do a, a black screw with a charcoal stain or a brown screw with a brown stain, it just looks like you knew what you were doing when you got it.
[:[00:35:31] Eric Goranson: And if you're working with cedar, that's just going to gray streak down every single one of those screw holes, and you're going to have a chemical reaction between that wood and the galvanized. And then it's just going to look bad no matter what you do with it. So avoid that. Use a coated fastener that's rated for cedar.
[:[00:36:11] Eric Goranson: If you're using. Simcenter, my tech use their fasteners that are meant for those. Don't be using the regular deck screws or anything else. You want to be using structurally rated fasteners to hold everything together because those are going to hold up. A lot of these other screws are not structurally rated.
[:[00:36:49] Eric Goranson: And it's beautiful during the winter time. Lighting is your best friend outside. Take a look over at my YouTube page. We just did a lighting segment over there and it [00:37:00] is dramatic what it changes your house at night. If you can do exterior lighting, and I'm not talking about getting the Costco solar lights, you're going to throw away next year.
[:[00:37:33] Eric Goranson: Transcribed They're a higher quality light the last two decades out there. And then what you can do is you can take those lights, wash them off the front of your house. If you've got some brick, you can make that glow at night. If you've got big trees, you can light up the canopy. You can light up walkways.
[:[00:38:04] Eric Goranson: So plan for lighting, low voltage lighting with LEDs doesn't cost you much as far as the energy use, but really pay attention to that. Now, if you are in an area and this is where you got to be, pay really attention, some areas, especially coastal areas, some places really limit the amount of light. They have those dark sky initiatives and stuff.
[:[00:38:38] Eric Goranson: But really guys, exterior lighting is the bomb and you can really make some things look absolutely amazing. All those things that you've worked hard on, maybe it's a walkway, maybe it's stairs going up to the deck, whatever. Dial those details in and you can thank me later. That is one of the biggest things you can do outside in the evenings.
[:[00:39:15] Eric Goranson: com And then you can get a hold of us over there including the phone numbers You can email me from over there. And of course check out all the videos. Thanks for tuning in around the house We'll see you next week
