Episode 1907
Out with the Old: Top 10 Materials to Avoid in Home Renovations
Join Eric G. as he dives into the top 10 outdated materials and installation methods that should be retired from your home. From concrete backer board to CPVC pipes, Eric highlights the shortcomings of these products and offers insights into better alternatives that can enhance your home’s durability and safety. He also discusses the dangers of using vinyl siding and the ineffectiveness of microwave vent hoods that recirculate air back into your kitchen. As he shares his personal opinions on these outdated practices, Eric invites listeners to rethink their home improvement choices and consider more modern solutions. Tune in for a lively discussion that promises to make you reconsider the materials lurking in your home.
Navigating through the often bewildering landscape of home improvement and renovation, Eric G. presents a compelling argument for retiring outdated materials and installation methods in the second hour of the Around the House show. This episode dives deep into the top ten materials that have long outlived their usefulness, shedding light on how advancements in technology and changes in building codes highlight the inadequacies of these once-popular choices. Eric emphasizes the importance of safety and efficiency, discussing materials such as CPVC pipes and concrete backer boards, which he deems archaic due to their failure rates and issues with moisture absorption. Through vivid examples and personal anecdotes, he illustrates how these materials contribute to larger problems in home maintenance, urging listeners to consider modern alternatives that promise better durability and performance.
As the discussion unfolds, Eric tackles the risks associated with certain plumbing materials, such as CPVC, which has garnered a notorious reputation for its brittleness and susceptibility to UV damage. He suggests that homeowners should be wary of properties featuring this type of piping and encourages proactive measures like installing leak detection systems to mitigate potential water damage. Furthermore, Eric critiques the use of vinyl siding, lamenting its lack of longevity and aesthetic appeal, while advocating for more sustainable and fire-resistant materials. The episode not only provides a checklist for what to avoid in home renovations but also empowers listeners to make informed decisions about their living spaces, ensuring safety, efficiency, and style.
In addition to the material analysis, Eric G. broadens the conversation to include practical advice on kitchen ventilation, specifically criticizing microwave vent hoods that recirculate air rather than exhaust it outside. By pointing out that poor air quality can stem from inadequate ventilation, he highlights the importance of proper kitchen design in promoting health and safety. The latter part of the episode emphasizes the need for modern solutions in home improvement, encouraging listeners to embrace newer technologies and methods that prioritize efficiency and sustainability. With an engaging blend of humor and expertise, Eric G. crafts a narrative that not only informs but inspires, making this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in home improvement.
Takeaways:
- Concrete backer board for tile installations is outdated; modern alternatives offer better waterproofing and durability.
- CPVC piping, once popular, has significant failure rates and is best avoided in plumbing.
- Tile countertops can be hard to maintain; consider alternatives for a more durable surface.
- Vinyl siding may look appealing but can be prone to mold and damage over time.
- Microwave vent hoods are not effective and can pose safety hazards in kitchens.
- Dry cutting granite or quartz countertops is illegal in many areas due to health risks.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Monument Grill
- Wedi
- Ardex
- Schluter
- Go Board
To get your questions answered by Eric G give us a call in the studio at 833-239-4144 24/7 and Eric G will get back to you and answer your question and you might end up in a future episode of Around the House.
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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.
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Transcript
It's around the house.
Eric G.:These are the ones that I gotta give bro Newton a hard time.
Eric G.:They still sell these things even though they're illegal in my state.
Eric G.:I could still go into my home center and pick one up off the shelf.
Eric G.:And if you want to hear about that, you can go back to one of our previous episodes where I talked about the building materials that don't meet building code that you can buy at the home centers.
Eric G.:Yeah, there's plenty of plenty of them out there.
Eric G.:One of those in my area or literally on the west coast here, where I'm at is vent hoods that kick the air back into your home.
Eric G.:If I could wave a magic wand to improve air quality across the United States, that would be the first thing I would do.
Eric G.:Would it be to make sure that those vents outside, that's how you move the ball the fastest on getting indoor air quality clean for you.
Eric G.:Make sure that you can exhaust all of those things.
Eric G.:When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered.
Eric G.:This is around the house.
Eric G.:Welcome to the round the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:I'm Eric G.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today, guys.
Eric G.:This hour is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grill.
Eric G.:Check them out@monument.com for a Greek reel for under 900 bucks.
Eric G.:Quality stuff on a budget.
Eric G.:You can't lose with that.
Eric G.:Well, today I thought we'd talk about my top 10 list of outdated materials or even installation methods that should be retired.
Eric G.:There's so many things out there where technology gets better, products get better, and we learn some hard lessons sometimes because many times that next greatest brand new thing 10 years later is that thing that we're all getting rid of because it just, quite frankly, didn't work.
Eric G.:And we don't see as much of that now, but we see that from especially the 80s and 90s where maybe something new was invented and it just didn't work out because we realized later that, wow, that just didn't hold up.
Eric G.:And the first one on this that I have, the first one is concrete backer tile board.
Eric G.:Sorry, guys.
Eric G.:There are so many better products out there and I've seen so many failures of this product because a couple things, One, it's not installed correctly, which can happen to any product.
Eric G.:Two, it's not waterproof.
Eric G.:And if you don't waterproof it, tile and grout aren't waterproof.
Eric G.:So you get water intrusion.
Eric G.:What does concrete like to do?
Eric G.:Suck up moisture.
Eric G.:How do you know this.
Eric G.:Take a piece of tile board and put it outside for a month or so, watch the water get soaked up in it.
Eric G.:Yep, it'll soak right through the top of that.
Eric G.:And because water can go through it now you've got a sponge and that just makes that decay or rot in a shower or bathroom floor even worse.
Eric G.:So are there better products out there?
Eric G.:Yeah, there are tons of great stuff.
Eric G.:I like the foam boards, personally, like wedi, Ardex, all those things.
Eric G.:Schluter system makes a great product out there.
Eric G.:The other stuff out there, go board.
Eric G.:Not my fan.
Eric G.:It's.
Eric G.:There's a lot of people that swear by it and I'm okay with that.
Eric G.:It's still better than concrete board.
Eric G.:But if you're buying concrete board to put tile on, there's better materials out there.
Eric G.:So my first one here on the list today is just get rid of the concrete board and install it using more updated materials.
Eric G.:It's like people that I see out there making the mistake.
Eric G.:Building a shower out of green drywall.
Eric G.:That green is moisture resistant and I guarantee failure by hanging tile in a shower on drywall.
Eric G.:Horrible idea.
Eric G.:Not going to work long term.
Eric G.:You will end up redoing it, especially now because of a couple reasons.
Eric G.:I know people out there.
Eric G.:I'm going to.
Eric G.:I can hear that 30 year veteran of tile going, I've done this for 30 years.
Eric G.:I've never gotten a callback.
Eric G.:First off, the gr, the sheetrock of 15 years ago didn't have all the air in it that it has now.
Eric G.:The lighter stuff, it was much heavier.
Eric G.:So you had a little bit better chance.
Eric G.:But odds are they didn't call you back to fix your mistakes.
Eric G.:So don't use drywall unless it's like a kitchen backsplash or something like that.
Eric G.:Totally get it.
Eric G.:But drywall in a wet area should never be used behind tile, period.
Eric G.:Tear it out, redo it, do it right.
Eric G.:Drywall is the worst thing you can put back there.
Eric G.:It's just not going to hold up.
Eric G.:Really, all you're doing is taking now what's lighter drywall, which dents easier, which comes apart easier because there's air in the mixture.
Eric G.:You're assuming that layer of paper that you're bonding to is going to hold and it won't.
Eric G.:It will fail.
Eric G.:Especially when you introduce moisture to it.
Eric G.:So let's bag on those systems and get back to tile systems here that have been around for a while.
Eric G.:They work great, they're durable, they're waterproof, Even stuff like wedi's vapor 85 is vapor proof so you can use it in a steam shower.
Eric G.:Most of the other systems aren't if you read through the specs.
Eric G.:But really that's the big one right there.
Eric G.:Let's stop using concrete board.
Eric G.:It's out of date.
Eric G.:Sorry guys.
Eric G.:Next one up is one of the biggest ones on my list and I still see this being used in Texas and Florida, certain states around the country.
Eric G.:You guys.
Eric G.:Oh, the worst plumbing material next to the black poly pipe that I see out there is cpvc.
Eric G.:Now you're thinking, oh, I don't know that much about plumbing, but I know white PVC like sprinkler pipe.
Eric G.:Now I'm talking about the yellow, cream yellow stuff.
Eric G.:This is rated for hot and cold water.
Eric G.:There were so many class action lawsuits that most of the companies that were making it 15 years ago are long gone.
Eric G.:And that's because this material, when it was sitting on the job site, it's not rated for UV at all.
Eric G.:Many times it was sitting on the job site for a week or two and that was enough sun to bake it out and break it down.
Eric G.:And 10 years later that stuff is busting, cracking, splitting.
Eric G.:I had a house with this in it at one point that I could sit there, be watching TV and I hear in my crawl space of hear running water and I would have a fitting or a piece of pipe that just split down the side in the middle of the summer.
Eric G.:That stuff fails so badly and all you can do with a house with that is literally replum it.
Eric G.:That's all you can do is start the heck over.
Eric G.:CBVC is absolute garbage in my opinion.
Eric G.:And it will cost you so much.
Eric G.: s and: Eric G.:So if you're out looking at houses and there's CPVC in there, I would just go to the next one or if it's something that's in a little area, replace it.
Eric G.:But that stuff is absolute nightmare for failures.
Eric G.:And make sure and put a water system on there, a control valve that's a leak detection type.
Eric G.:There's the ones out there, different brands, you can put them in line right when a water comes into the house and that way when it detects a leak, it'll turn the water off to the house for you.
Eric G.:That way you can stop the damage before it gets too bad.
Eric G.:But that's the first thing I would install.
Eric G.:If you have CPVC plumbed in your house.
Eric G.:And be very careful cutting with that, cutting the pipe.
Eric G.:Because if you use your regular plastic cutting, almost like the snips, you can break that.
Eric G.:And a month later you want to definitely saw the pipe.
Eric G.:Because that stuff is so brittle, it can be like glass.
Eric G.:So be very careful working around it.
Eric G.:If you're going to be taking a sink out, I always tell people, go turn the water off to the house first.
Eric G.:Just be very careful with the stuff.
Eric G.:Because it is like glass.
Eric G.:It is that brittle.
Eric G.:So be very careful.
Eric G.:And the same with galvanized pipe.
Eric G.:We know the galvanized pipe does not last.
Eric G.:It just doesn't hold up.
Eric G.: So if you've got that: Eric G.:And that's because of that galvanized pipe that you need to go and replace it.
Eric G.:So both of those, you're not seeing galvanized in people's houses anymore for a reason.
Eric G.:And let's make sure that we keep CPVC the same way.
Eric G.:Now, if you want to add a material to this list, I'd love to hear it.
Eric G.:You can head over to aroundthehouse online.com, go on the website.
Eric G.:There's a contact me thing that comes right to my inbox.
Eric G.:Send me a message.
Eric G.:I always get back to you.
Eric G.:And that is the best way to get a hold of me there.
Eric G.:Because I'd like to hear.
Eric G.:I'm sure I'm gonna have tile guys screaming about the concrete board.
Eric G.:Cause they've been doing it that way.
Eric G.:Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Eric G.:I know those are coming.
Eric G.:And if you want to waste your time on that one, you're not going to talk me out of it.
Eric G.:But that's just a product that is way outdated.
Eric G.:CPVC pipe.
Eric G.:There's no debate on that one either.
Eric G.:So we've got so much more when we come back, I want you to catch.
Eric G.:We're going to get into siding.
Eric G.:We're going to get into a bunch of different stuff out there.
Eric G.:Countertops, flooring.
Eric G.:Don't worry.
Eric G.:There's a lot of products coming up that might be shocking to you.
Eric G.:If you want to find out more about us, head to aroundthehouseonline.com we'll be right back with more of around the House after these important messages.
Eric G.:Don't go anywhere.
Speaker B:What it's like to play an instrument, to be in a Band.
Eric G.:What's up?
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Eric G.:Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:I'm Eric Gave.
Eric G.:Appreciate you joining me today.
Eric G.:If you want to find out more about us, head to aroundthehouse online.com and of course you can find us on our social media channels.
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Eric G.:We've been talking today about my top 10 outdated materials or installation methods that should be retired.
Eric G.:And this next one, again is going to be controversial because I think with larger format tile, you can maybe convince me that there's a good reason for this.
Eric G.:But I'd love to see tile countertops go the wayside.
Eric G.:It is so tough to get tile countertops to look really good.
Eric G.:Now if you.
Eric G.:I have exceptions to this.
Eric G.:If you're doing something with a lot of pattern and you want it to look more Italian or more Greek or something like that, I can get into this because you're trying to make it look like something from Europe or something from south or Central America.
Eric G.:I get it and I can go with that style.
Eric G.:But just trying to be inexpensive and putting in there 12 by 12 tiles, please save yourself.
Eric G.:You're not adding a lot of value to the kitchen with that.
Eric G.:Most people walk in and go, you tile.
Eric G.:So if you're going to do it, make it spectacular.
Eric G.:Because tile countertops are so hard to maintain unless you take the time and use the right grout and you do it correctly.
Eric G.:I like using like the ardex grout.
Eric G.:So when you get in there, it's.
Eric G.:You don't have to go back and seal it.
Eric G.:It's going to stay clean looking.
Eric G.:You can still.
Eric G.:You still got to clean it, but you won't have to do all the maintenance with the resealing and stuff on it.
Eric G.:That's a good way to go.
Eric G.:But tile countertops to me are something we should be sending down the road.
Eric G.:Unless you're trying to do something very European or international that I totally get that look and I'm cool with that.
Eric G.:But just your 12 by 12 granite countertop, please.
Eric G.:Let's make that go away.
Eric G.:The next up here is going to be controversial and I'm even going to make a couple companies that I work with.
Eric G.:Not happy about this one, but I would love to see vinyl siding disappear.
Eric G.:Sorry, vinyl siding companies.
Eric G.:Here's why I have a couple problems with it.
Eric G.:When it first came out, it was designed to be the be all lifetime type warranty material.
Eric G.:And it was.
Eric G.:We all know vinyl likes to have mold, mildew, all that stuff, grow on it, get dirty.
Eric G.:The longer it's up there, it can get brittle, it can yellow or discolor.
Eric G.:And then at some point you get to this point where you're like, okay, what do I got to do paint it?
Eric G.:That's never a good idea unless you're painting it the same color.
Eric G.:But if you're painting vinyl siding, then why do you have vinyl siding on there to begin with?
Eric G.:And then there's the safety stuff.
Eric G.:What I don't like about it is if you have a house right next door that's on fire to yours, good chance of that melting down the side, maybe catching on fire, exposing the side to weather, water, everything else.
Eric G.:It's just not a durable material.
Eric G.:In most cases, it's just something that the kids tennis ball pokes a hole in it.
Eric G.:If you have hail driving, it can shred it off the side of the house.
Eric G.:If there's a lot of things that can go wrong with it, I would much rather see a product go on there that is a concrete type.
Eric G.:Something like that is going to be more durable, more resistant to heat.
Eric G.:Something that you can paint and change the color on.
Eric G.: s and early: Eric G.:Why don't we save you some money?
Eric G.:And for cheaper than a painting company, let's go in.
Eric G.:And in a day and a half we'll put vinyl siding up there.
Eric G.:These people went down the neighborhood and got this stuff going.
Eric G.:But the problem was men of these older homes, they got vinyl siding put over the beautiful details that were hiding underneath it.
Eric G.:Maybe it was cedar shingles, maybe it was some cool scalloped detail.
Eric G.:And then people go in and go, wow, I can't believe when they take it off There, what's hiding underneath.
Eric G.:It's like a big treasure hunt.
Eric G.:So to me, I'd much rather see a house get restored back to its original and the vinyl siding go away.
Eric G.:Even the manufactured home companies I work with don't use vital siding.
Eric G.:They'll use Hardy Plank.
Eric G.:They'll use concrete board, one of the other companies that make that type of stuff.
Eric G.:Any one of the more fire resistant sightings, I love that.
Eric G.:I just think final sighting doesn't hold up to heat.
Eric G.:It's brittle and it doesn't hold the value.
Eric G.:And to me, when it gets worn out, it just looks cheap.
Eric G.:And I'm not a fan of it.
Eric G.:And the problem is people go, you can always paint it.
Eric G.:The problem is the only time you can paint it is if you're painting something lighter.
Eric G.:Because if you go darker then that.
Eric G.:It's funny because the lighter vinyls for vinyl siding, they're less heat resistant in the chemical makeup than the darker stuff.
Eric G.:If you take a white house and say, I'm going to make a charcoal, watch out on that first summer day, it is going to be horrible.
Eric G.:Many times that stuff looks like it's melting and dripping off the side of the house because it wasn't meant to handle that kind of heat.
Eric G.:So it's in the chemical.
Eric G.:Doesn't matter what paint you use.
Eric G.:It's just that stuff is not meant to get that warm with the sun.
Eric G.:And I've seen dozens of times that looks like it's just melted off the side of the house.
Eric G.:So be very careful when you're dealing with vinyl siding and when in doubt, I would just start chasing around the house and replacing it.
Eric G.:I think it's going to give you something, especially in wildfire regions and things like that, or hail or tornadoes.
Eric G.:Put something that's gonna be a little more durable out there for you.
Eric G.:It's a better investment.
Eric G.:I'd rather see metal go out there personally.
Eric G.:It's gonna be a better product for you.
Eric G.:All right.
Eric G.:Now, the next one here is controversial.
Eric G.:I love these controversial ones.
Eric G.:Can you tell this one is big.
Eric G.:Microwave vent hoods.
Eric G.:I would love to see those go away.
Eric G.:To me, microwaves are almost optional these days.
Eric G.:Could put one in a base cabinet if you want to.
Eric G.:That's what I did at my house.
Eric G.:But microwave vent hoods are just not safe.
Eric G.:And let me give you my argument on this.
Eric G.:First off, you're taking a cooking surface and putting it over the top of another cooking surface.
Eric G.:So great example.
Eric G.:Somebody comes over there, loose shirt, maybe they got a sweater on Or a jacket, something that zips up or buttons up in the front.
Eric G.:Somebody's got a pot boiling right there.
Eric G.:And they lean over to put something in the microwave and their shirt tail right below the bottom of the button catches it.
Eric G.:Now they have a clothing fire.
Eric G.:Now, the second thing is you've got that bowl of soup.
Eric G.:You're pulling it out because you're warming it up.
Eric G.:If that is higher than the center line of where your eyeballs are, you are now putting yourself in a dangerous position because you can't see to keep it level if you're pulling it out.
Eric G.:So the chance of pouring something boiling over is high.
Eric G.:And the last one is the ventilation.
Eric G.:They suck as vent hoods.
Eric G.:They don't work well.
Eric G.:There's no capture area down below them.
Eric G.:And they're.
Eric G.:They barely meet building code as far as the air they move.
Eric G.:They're just not good.
Eric G.:So in that, I say remove them, put the microwave someplace else and put a great hood, the vents outside.
Eric G.:That, to me is the best answer.
Eric G.:And to make that you've got that venting correctly and take the microwave, get rid of it, put it under the cabinet, put it over there in a pantry, do something with it that meets building code in your area.
Eric G.:All right, we got so much more coming back.
Eric G.:We're halfway through this hour and we're halfway through the list.
Eric G.:If you have any questions, feel free to email me or send me a message over to roundthehouse online.com and if you want to find out more information, you can find us there.
Eric G.:Around the house.
Eric G.:We'll be right back after these important messages from our sponsors.
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Eric G.:Welcome back to the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
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Eric G.:Wherever you're catching this show, you can always find out more about us at aroundthehousonline.com we got the new website coming up here shortly.
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Eric G.:I took some time off over the holidays and I spent that extra time instead of working on the website making sure that's dialed in, taking some time off and making sure we got a new radio show out each and every week.
Eric G.:New podcasts.
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Eric G.:I thought, hey, let's keep this thing going and keep getting you great content out there.
Eric G.:We've been talking about here this hour that is brought to you by our friends at Monument Girls.
Eric G.:Check them out@montymcgrills.com we've been talking about the top 10 outdated materials or installations that just should be retired because there's better ways, better products, and better ways to do that, and they're just outdated.
Eric G.:So far on the list, we've covered concrete board under tile, cpvc pipe tile countertops.
Eric G.:Unless you're doing something cool that's looking like it's out of Europe or something, Totally get that vinyl siding.
Eric G.:And then my last one here was microwave vent hoods.
Eric G.:And the next one is still a vent hood, but it's the recycle kind.
Eric G.:And there's an asterisk to this, too.
Eric G.:These are the ones that I got to give Bro Newtone a hard time.
Eric G.:They still sell these things even though they're illegal in my state.
Eric G.:I can still go into my home center and pick one up off the shelf.
Eric G.:And if you want to hear about that, you can go back to one of our previous episodes where I talked about the building materials that don't meet building code that you can buy at the home centers.
Eric G.:Yeah, there's plenty of them out there.
Eric G.:One of those in my area or literally on the west coast here, where I'm at is vent hoods that kick the air back into your home.
Eric G.:If I could wave a magic wand to improve air quality across the United States, that would be the first thing I would do, would be to make sure that those vent outside.
Eric G.:That's how you move the ball the fastest on getting indoor air quality clean for you.
Eric G.:Make sure that you can exhaust all of those things that are bad and your range.
Eric G.:That cooktop is really good at doing that.
Eric G.:It doesn't matter if you're cooking all natural food.
Eric G.:You're cooking vegetables, you're cooking meat, you're cooking it in all natural products.
Eric G.:None of the crazy seed oils that are debated on radio and TV right now, it still gives off chemical byproducts.
Eric G.:Whether you're using an induction range, an electric range, a propane, or a natural gas range, they're all given off chemicals.
Eric G.:Now, you will have flame byproducts as well as the other ones.
Eric G.:But generally the biggest stuff is going to be the greases and the byproducts of you cooking the food.
Eric G.:And so that needs to anybody out there that has that recycle Then hood should be a high priority, especially with indoor air quality concerns that we have today that the more we learn about it is to make sure you've got a healthy home.
Eric G.:And that's going to be taking that vent hood, running it out all the way outside the building and getting that good and gone.
Eric G.:And then if you have over 400 cubic feet per minute, which is not a little range hood, these are more of your pro style because that's 400 basketballs of air every minute.
Eric G.:If you have that, then you need to have a discussion.
Eric G.:Either if you're in an old house or a newer house, even more so, because you need to have a discussion about makeup air.
Eric G.:So when you're putting out 400 cubic feet per minute of air that you're bringing it back into the house so you've got something clean coming in that's conditioned and you're not taking in 100° or 20° air back in the house.
Eric G.:You want it to be conditioned somewhat to do that.
Eric G.:But I would love if we could get rid of those crazy things.
Eric G.:I'd be happier and we'd have a lot healthier people out there in their homes by making sure.
Eric G.:And you got to use it too, guys.
Eric G.:That's the other thing we do at my house.
Eric G.: Mine's a big: Eric G.:And I tell you what, that thing is noisy.
Eric G.:When I replace it, I'm going to put a better one in there.
Eric G.:But that thing is noisy.
Eric G.:It's a rattler.
Eric G.:But it does work and it does move air.
Eric G.:So that's the thing that's on my list of upgrading my range and my range hood.
Eric G.:One of these days to get that more dialed in and get something a little higher quality.
Eric G.:All right, the next one up here, guys, is another one of those that, sorry, I'm not here to make you guys mad.
Eric G.:These are my personal opinions.
Eric G.:We all can have them.
Eric G.:And this is going to be one of those that I know.
Eric G.:I'm going to have people rolling their eyes going, not a chance.
Eric G.:And this is, I think we should work away.
Eric G.:That's in the government, should be involved in it.
Eric G.:But personally, we should work away from top load washing machines, those closed washing machines.
Eric G.:And here's why.
Eric G.:Couple reasons.
Eric G.:One, they use way more water, like 5,055 gallons versus 15 second of all, they're way harder on your clothes.
Eric G.:So you're buying more clothing.
Eric G.:And you can tell by how much lint comes out of them.
Eric G.:If you do a load of towels, that agitator beats those towels.
Eric G.:Up and then when you put it in the dryer, you get that huge half inch blanket out of.
Eric G.:That's just your towels getting beat up.
Eric G.:All that lint that's showing up on that screen is what got worn out by that washing machine.
Eric G.:And you notice that the third thing is something that seems counterintuitive, but it's more, the more I've worked on top load washing machines versus front loads, the more I realize that the top load washing machines don't have a way for them to be cleaned.
Eric G.:I've got a front load washing machine and I can run cleaner through it.
Eric G.:I can run everything through it and it's going to steam clean, it's going to clean itself up.
Eric G.:So I know that the drum, the outer drum versus the inner drum where it keeps the water from coming out of the machine, I know that's pretty clean and it's, it doesn't smell, it's in good shape.
Eric G.:The problem with top load machines is I wish they had a cleaning cycle that would take that water up another inch in it.
Eric G.:Because what happens is when you run a cleaning cycle through there, you might get the stuff underneath that drum in there, but the problem is the, where the worst junk is in that top ring around the top.
Eric G.:Many times that water doesn't get up there enough to clean it.
Eric G.:So if you ever had to pull one of those machines apart, you look at the, you get the drum, you're like oh my gosh, look at all this.
Eric G.:Basically it's just a mix of body oils, whatever came off the fabric softener and the soap, whatever came off your clothes, dry skin, body oils, all that stuff and it's completely disgusting and it just cakes on the side.
Eric G.:Go and grab YouTube, watch washing machine repair.
Eric G.:Look what you see when people pull these things apart.
Eric G.:And to me that's not really healthy washing your clothes in something very dirty.
Eric G.:Now I'd be curious to see and I haven't had time to do this, I'd love to get one that's totally nasty and see if I run a front load washing machine cleaning solution through it, how much it helps.
Eric G.:But they would were never designed to clean the inside to maintain itself.
Eric G.:Now there might be a brand or two out there that has its own self cleaning cycle on it and that's awesome.
Eric G.:Most of the front load machines now do but they're so inefficient as far as how much water they use.
Eric G.:It's just not a clean way to deal with your clothes.
Eric G.:So for me I'd much rather use Something that's going to use a lot less water gets the clothes as cleaner, cleaner.
Eric G.:And I'm using way less water and my clothes can last years longer than with a top load machine.
Eric G.:That's why I've had a front load machine for nearly 20, 25 years now.
Eric G.:I've been using that since the 90s.
Eric G.:And so that's really where I started to really fall in love with that because of the energy savings.
Eric G.:And I'm not some greenie.
Eric G.:I'm just saying that, hey, if I can keep back from using, paying for more water, if I can save some money, I'm all about that and it's a good way to clean.
Eric G.:So that's another one.
Eric G.:Now there's a couple things here as a side note.
Eric G.:If you're maintaining yours, awesome.
Eric G.:I don't think the government should be involved in this.
Eric G.:I think it should be a personal decision.
Eric G.:And number three, there are some new technologies that are coming out for dryers that I'm very curious to see that I think could be really cool.
Eric G.:We just need to see how well they hold up.
Eric G.:And that is a dryer, that is a heat pump dryer.
Eric G.:Now, this dryer takes a a little longer to dry, but it uses a lot less energy and you're not pushing all of that outside.
Eric G.:So my biggest complaint with our typical clothes dryers now is one, traditionally they leak a little bit.
Eric G.:So you get wherever that laundry room is, you get a little bit of clothing dust in there from the lint and everything else.
Eric G.:But most people don't have that duct perfectly sealed up in the back.
Eric G.:It's close, but it's not perfectly sealed up.
Eric G.:Now these new heat pump water, heat water heaters.
Eric G.:Heat pump dryers are cool because they basically dehumidify the clothes.
Eric G.:So you don't have the air going through there.
Eric G.:You're not using all that air and having to pump it outside.
Eric G.:It's dehumidifying within the machine.
Eric G.:So now it's taking that and not putting that lint into the air of the home.
Eric G.:It's not putting it outside.
Eric G.:All right, and we come back.
Eric G.:We're going to wrap up this subject on my top 10 outdated materials or installations.
Eric G.:It should be retired after these important messages.
Eric G.:If you want to comment on this, send me a note roundthehouse online dot com.
Eric G.:We'll be right back.
Eric G.:Don't change that dial.
Eric G.:All right.
Speaker B:It'S the end of the show.
Speaker B:Drinking down, people.
Speaker B:It's time to go.
Speaker B:It's that time again.
Speaker B:It's last call, last call.
Eric G.:Welcome back to the around the HOUSE show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:I am Eric G.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today.
Eric G.:If you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online.com and of course, this hour is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grill.
Eric G.:Check them out@monument grills.com well, we've been talk about my top 10 outdated materials or installations that just should be retired.
Eric G.:Stuff that I'm like, all right, we're done with this.
Eric G.:There's better stuff.
Eric G.:Let's move on.
Eric G.:So far I've talked about concrete board under tile, CPVC pipe tile countertops.
Eric G.:Unless you're doing something really cool and decorative.
Eric G.:Little asterisk on that one.
Eric G.:Vinyl siding, microwave vent hoods, recycled vent hoods, ones that blow the air back in your face, that don't send it outside, that are about as valuable as a recycling toilet, top load washing machines.
Eric G.:And the next one here is important and it's getting this way now.
Eric G.:It's already banned.
Eric G.:We just need to see if people are going to start holding people accountable for that.
Eric G.:And that is dry cutting quartz or granite countertops on site.
Eric G.:Am I talking about if I go into a quality granite fabricator, they have CNC machines, beam saws, all these things in there that are cutting without dust.
Eric G.:So they're dealing with that, dealing with the dust.
Eric G.:It's under control.
Eric G.:It's a clean workplace.
Eric G.:But what I see, and I see this a lot in California, even though it's against the law there, I see it here even in my area.
Eric G.:And I'm sure you see it in your area.
Eric G.:Ever been to a job site or you've been to, I don't know, seen in your neighborhood, granite crew out there and they're cutting the sink out in the driveway and they've got a grinder and they're just cutting away and there's a Charlie Brown pig pen cloud of dust.
Eric G.:And you know something, it's almost always silica dust, which means these guys are going to have some serious health issues down the road.
Eric G.:That stuff is horrible.
Eric G.:You get silicosis.
Eric G.:It's just one of those things that it is a EPA banned.
Eric G.:You can't be doing that if you want to get fined by your state, federal, whatever.
Eric G.:Whoever takes care of that in your area have somebody that's looking for that.
Eric G.:I've seen it.
Eric G.:I know people that hired brick masons to work on their chimneys while they were on vacation and they came back home after being out of country, joined the beach someplace and they had somebody Knocking on their door on Monday saying, hey, we had complaints about this cloud of dust in the neighborhood.
Eric G.:Now they couldn't get the guy on it or the team or whoever it was because nobody was there.
Eric G.:But all it takes is for somebody to show up.
Eric G.:And you can't be dry cutting concrete, granite, any of those products.
Eric G.:It has to be a wet cut.
Eric G.:So this is really a big issue out there.
Eric G.:And there's another one here.
Eric G.:And this kind of goes into number nine on my list.
Eric G.:I'm seeing the same issue with laminate floors or even hardwood floors that are putting in stone.
Eric G.:Limestone core centers on these.
Eric G.:They're trying to make it so if you heat it, it's got some thermal mass to it.
Eric G.:I get it.
Eric G.:But you also see a lot of people not owning that snap cutter.
Eric G.:So what do they do?
Eric G.:They're out there chopping it on the chop saw.
Eric G.:Guess what?
Eric G.:I've called around.
Eric G.:None of these flooring companies are telling you if they've got silica, silica dust in that stone core.
Eric G.:It's post consumer.
Eric G.:Guess what?
Eric G.:I bet you it does.
Eric G.:Odds are it does, because otherwise they'd be saying it doesn't.
Eric G.:And again, silica dust all around inside the house because they're probably cutting it inside.
Eric G.:I want to make sure that that is something that's being addressed.
Eric G.:You shouldn't be cutting it with a saw inside like that.
Eric G.:Take the proper.
Eric G.:There's.
Eric G.:I'm not going to get into on the show because there's a lot of things you have to follow.
Eric G.:But you need respirator.
Eric G.:There's a lot of things you have to do.
Eric G.:Vacuum system to meet all the codes.
Eric G.:And there's a lot to it.
Eric G.:And that's why you're seeing with foundation companies when they're having to grind and do stuff.
Eric G.:There's all these new tools and materials and safety stuff they have to follow.
Eric G.:And I get it because I want the homeowners and the workers safe.
Eric G.:So be really careful with that one.
Eric G.:Now the next one here and slide over into this one.
Eric G.:Another material that I'm just tired of out there that I think is it's had its run.
Eric G.:Laminate floors.
Eric G.:They're loud, they're noisy.
Eric G.:They look like a picture of wood.
Eric G.:I would like to see laminate floors go away.
Eric G.:I have it in my house.
Eric G.:It's not the most durable.
Eric G.:They're horrible on stairs.
Eric G.:They love to scratch up on the edges really quickly, especially if you have pets.
Eric G.:It's just one of those things that don't hold up well and Then if you have any flex in the floor, they like to unsnap.
Eric G.:And it's just.
Eric G.:It's a material that between laminate or lvp.
Eric G.:I'm not even the biggest fan of LB LVP anymore.
Eric G.:After having it in two homes, I'm at the point where I'm done with it.
Eric G.:I want something more durable.
Eric G.:Yeah, it's better than carpet, but I'd much rather have a real wood product there that I can care and maintain for and even my dogs.
Eric G.:My hardwood floors hold up great.
Eric G.:As long as you have a good finish on it, it's great.
Eric G.:That's another thing to consider.
Eric G.:I would mind if I didn't see laminate floors again, I'd be okay with that.
Eric G.:And I think there's a place for it.
Eric G.:But at the same point, it's just such a material that you really can't repair.
Eric G.:And once it gets damaged, you just have to rip it out and throw it away, which I'm not a big fan of.
Eric G.:I'd much rather see something that you could do something to do a little repair or have companies do a better job of building repair kits for these.
Eric G.:So there we go.
Eric G.:Now, my last one here is one of the things that I've been fighting on the Internet for a long time, and that is using Push to Connect like sharkbite fittings for your plumbing projects.
Eric G.:Now, I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars of water damage from these things failing over the years.
Eric G.:Now, these were also installed correctly by plumbers at the time.
Eric G.:So you will be better off doing the repair correctly.
Eric G.:Now, here's where I think Push to Connect fittings have their place.
Eric G.:I think they're great as an emergency tool.
Eric G.:If you're doing some work in the house and you're gonna cut off a valve and re.
Eric G.:And maybe it's a.
Eric G.:You're tearing out a bathroom and you're tearing out the shower valve and you need to cut it, cap it off real quick, totally get it.
Eric G.:You can pull that cap right back off later and either sweat in the new fittings, sweat on a conversion to go to pex.
Eric G.:Whatever you're doing, there's a way to do it.
Eric G.:But I've just seen Push to Connect fittings, especially the Shark Bites, that brand fail time and time again.
Eric G.:And I tell you what, I always.
Eric G.:I just say, don't use them now.
Eric G.:I guess they have a new one that's coming out if it's not out someplace that is supposed to be more reliable.
Eric G.:But it always makes interesting when you See them take their time, old one, and they're seemingly discontinuing it.
Eric G.:And guess what, it's probably for a reason.
Eric G.:But I have seen these things fail.
Eric G.:And that's why really you don't see licensed plumbers use them, except for temporary.
Eric G.:Because really they know how to use the torch.
Eric G.:And learning how to sweat copper pipe is not that hard, guys.
Eric G.:It's something that if you know the basics on it and you can learn, it goes pretty quick.
Eric G.:And if you can learn to do that, then you can do that.
Eric G.:I would never use a push to connect fitting with plastic pipe CPVC pipe.
Eric G.:Oh my gosh, that slides right off of that stuff.
Eric G.:That's.
Eric G.:That's almost a guarantee to have a problem there.
Eric G.:That's probably the biggest offender that I've seen is it's sliding off the CPVC pipe.
Eric G.:And again, if you're using white CPVC to carry water, fresh water around your house, I wouldn't be using sprinkler pipe.
Eric G.:Go through and do packs, do it right.
Eric G.:But make sure that you're using the right fittings.
Eric G.:And other than having something as an emergency tool, the removal tool there to have in your toolbox, I would say let those push to connect fittings go.
Eric G.:They're just going to be a headache and you might as well get something nice on there.
Eric G.:And that's my list, guys.
Eric G.:That is my list.
Eric G.:We've seen on the push to connect fittings, we've seen Roger Wakefield do some tests on them and that's interesting.
Eric G.:There are better brands out there that hold up, but I just don't trust them.
Eric G.:I've seen them fail and it's.
Eric G.:They're expensive.
Eric G.:You know why?
Eric G.:If you can go buy a $50 fitting and sweat that onto a piece of pipe, why go buy a $10 one or $12 one for something that's less reliable than that properly sweated fitting on there?
Eric G.:That's my logic, guys.
Eric G.:Hey, if you want to make a comment on these on my list here, feel free to send it over to me aroundthehouse online.com there's a contact me there.
Eric G.:And of course, if you are a podcast listener of the show and you want to hear it commercial free, head over to aroundthehouse online.com we have our premium membership, four bucks.
Eric G.:And I tell you what, that'll get you commercial free and you catch the show two days early so you can hear it on Thursday instead of Saturday and be a part of that exclusive club.
Eric G.:And we're gonna have some other stuff.
Eric G.:And there's a lot of episodes out there that are extended ones.
Eric G.:So if you've heard the show and you're like, wow, I wish I could have heard a little bit more.
Eric G.:Many of our interviews have another 10 or 15 minutes on that and you can catch it on there on the podcast in the premium membership.
Eric G.:So take a look at that.
Eric G.:More information is over to around the house online.com all right, everybody, have a great rest of your week.
Eric G.:Thanks for tuning in to around the House this weekend.
Eric G.: appreciate you tuning in this: Eric G.:Have a great rest of your weekend.
Eric G.:I'm Eric G.
Eric G.:Thanks for tuning in to around the House.
Speaker B:Somewhere unseen and undiscovered, Anywhere beyond the mean love is a love song.
Speaker B:Let's be lovers?
Speaker B:We're all over the radio Take my hand out, Nowhere to go all over the radio with.
