Episode 2065
When to Start Your Home Projects: A Cautionary Tale
As we dive into the world of home improvement, Eric G and John Dudley are tackling the oh-so-important question: when is the best time to jump into those major projects around the house? Spoiler alert: it’s definitely not September if you have any hope of hosting Thanksgiving dinner in a finished kitchen. Seriously, folks, they unravel the chaotic reality of home renovations during the holiday season, where every contractor's phone is ringing off the hook and materials are nowhere to be found. Sure, you think you can start a kitchen remodel when school is back in session and the kids are busy, but let’s be real. It’s a recipe for disaster. The guys share hilarious anecdotes from their own experiences, highlighting the absurdity of expecting a full renovation done in time for Aunt Mabel’s pumpkin pie. Why? Because no one wants to be showering with a drop cloth for a curtain while prepping a holiday feast. So, if you're not keen on spending your holidays in a construction zone, tune in for some sage advice on timing your projects right and maybe—just maybe—save yourself from the stress of a last-minute remodel gone wrong.
Takeaways:
Starting major projects around the house in September is like inviting chaos before the holidays.
Trying to remodel right before Thanksgiving is a recipe for disaster, trust me on this one.
Planning is everything; don’t wait until the last minute to start your home projects.
Contractors are not magicians; if you call them last minute, don’t expect miracles to happen.
Scheduling contractors before the holidays is essential, or you might end up with a half-done kitchen.
You really need to consider the weather when planning your projects – snow isn’t great for renovations.
Links referenced in this episode:
aerobroom.com
aroundthehouseonline.com
sitehypedesigns.com
Companies mentioned in this episode:
Aerobroom
Home Depot
Site Hype Designs
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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
Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome to around the House with Eric G. Your trusted source for all things home improvement.
Speaker B: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.
Speaker B: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.
Speaker A:Home.
Speaker B:It's everything you need to know without the fluff.
Speaker B:Before we get started, I wanted to personally thank our sponsor of this hour.
Speaker B:Make sure you check them out@aerobroom.com that's aerobroom.com Alright, G, take it from here.
Speaker B:Now here's your host, Eric G. Welcome.
Speaker C:To the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker C:I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker C:We've got brother John Dudley in the house today.
Speaker C:Thanks for coming on today again, man.
Speaker D:Thanks.
Speaker D:Thank you, brother.
Speaker D:I just created an edit for you there at the beginning.
Speaker C:There we go.
Speaker C:I love it.
Speaker D:I don't want you slacking off over there.
Speaker C:No, I put a little work into that.
Speaker C:It's all good.
Speaker C:And now here's the funny part.
Speaker C:Johnny and I, if you first time, you're catching the show.
Speaker C:He is back on again today.
Speaker C:Him and I worked together back as contractor and I was his designer.
Speaker C:He was swinging the hammer, I was waving my arms around saying where things should go, that kind of thing.
Speaker C:And then, then he's hey, you need to get back to playing bass.
Speaker C:And I ended up playing bass.
Speaker C:And now we're working together.
Speaker C:He's doing a bunch of designing of websites and stuff and him and I have really started to collaborate now because with both of our, what, 35 years in construction design and contracting, you're going to see a cool little part of our page up there where we're going to start helping companies out there.
Speaker C:So if you're a design company, if you're a contractor, if you've got a product that you're trying to bring to market out there, Johnny and I have really worked in this marketplace for a long time.
Speaker C:So we're gonna start doing some consulting.
Speaker C:Just head over to the around the house online page.
Speaker C:We're gonna make it really easy and we're gonna be able to give you a really honest look at what you've got going on because sometimes as a business owner and I've known I've been this way, it's so hard to see the forest when you're standing in the middle of it.
Speaker D:Sure it's difficult you get caught up, it's back to the music thing.
Speaker D:Which, by the way, I don't think we know a musician that hasn't worked in the trades at some point.
Speaker D:I think it's part of a penance.
Speaker D:You have to.
Speaker C:I think it's part of the game, right?
Speaker C:I think it is.
Speaker D:But yeah, no, it's.
Speaker D:I lost my train of thought.
Speaker C:No, it's all good.
Speaker C:We can talk about that.
Speaker C:Okay, what was before we get into taking on projects and when's the best time of year to talk to start them?
Speaker C:Then we're going to talk about that.
Speaker C:But you know, we can start going, okay, let's make some drummer jokes.
Speaker C:What contractor?
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:What trades are the drummers versus the lead singers?
Speaker D:Lead singers are usually painters.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Because they do it to their nails they figure they can cut in a window.
Speaker C:Ah, there we go.
Speaker C:There we go.
Speaker C:They're getting.
Speaker C:Making their toes and their nails match.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker D:Spoken from a singer, by the way.
Speaker C:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker C:And the bass player.
Speaker C:There's a lot of those jokes out there as well.
Speaker C:It's all good.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:I'm going to stop because I know drummers.
Speaker C:Auto filter kick on right there and I'm like, oh, wow, that jump.
Speaker D:People don't want to hear about drummers.
Speaker D:Let's get down to brass tacks.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:We'll get into that.
Speaker C:This is that time of year when you're getting into September and we're mid September already somehow.
Speaker C:And it's crazy, but this is about the time that people go, oh my gosh, we're creeping up on the holidays.
Speaker C:It's time to start a remodeling project.
Speaker C:This can be the worst time to push the foot to the gas and run the proverbial design car into the wall.
Speaker C:Because I tell you what, and Johnny, you've dealt with it, I've dealt with it.
Speaker C:It's always, hey, it's kids are back to school.
Speaker C:Time to get that kitchen model.
Speaker C:Because I've got 32 people coming over for Thanksgiving.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:And we talked about it before we hit play here every year, busiest time of year.
Speaker D:Everybody thinks you're going to get a three month remodel done for Thanksgiving and they call you on September 20th.
Speaker D:It's not fair to anybody.
Speaker D:It's not realistic.
Speaker D:And be cautious because there's plenty of contractors that'll tell you they can get it done because they need a buck.
Speaker D:And that just made every contractor out there hate me because some probably can if they got a ten guy crew or a bunch of great subs.
Speaker D:Somebody Might be able to pull it off, but they're only going to pull it off for one client.
Speaker D:So you want to make sure they're not promising your whole neighborhood.
Speaker C:It's a problem that I see out there.
Speaker C:And sometimes marketing creates these false expectations.
Speaker C:The bathroom in a week.
Speaker C:Guys, if you're throwing another Home Depot vanity in there.
Speaker C:Sorry, Home Depot little kit got the floating top, it's got the cabinet, got the sink and the faucet, and you're maybe throwing up some, patching up some drywall.
Speaker C:You're putting a new plastic surround around the tub and changing out a light fixture.
Speaker C:Yeah, you could do that in a week.
Speaker C:But if you're ripping into the studs, doing a tile shower, new custom vanity, that kind of stuff, even if you have all the materials there.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:A week with all the inspections is nearly impossible.
Speaker D:And I was just going to say you mentioned materials.
Speaker D:To be fair, it's not all on the contractor, right?
Speaker D:No, the cabinet didn't come in this week.
Speaker D:Sorry.
Speaker D:We can't put your cabinet in because products are behind on schedule.
Speaker D:It's busiest time of the year.
Speaker D:So you're up against scheduling issues, you're up against shipping issues, and it's just a bad place to be pinned.
Speaker D:Especially because everything gets more intense around the holidays already.
Speaker D:Then you're gonna throw this remodel in the mix and suddenly the whole house is fighting.
Speaker D:You're showering with a drop cloth for a shower curtain.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker C:Back to that.
Speaker C:Yeah, well, and here's the thing, and we talked about this a few weeks ago.
Speaker C:You know it.
Speaker C:All it takes is for that semi truck to get in a car accident on the way to the delivery site.
Speaker C:And all of a sudden the truck's on its side.
Speaker C:And so your cabinets and the tile on the other side of the truck landed over on the cabinets and you've got a bunch of twigs.
Speaker C:And so these are things that I say.
Speaker C:Okay, let's schedule.
Speaker C:The tentative start date is going to be around this time, but we'll update that once all the materials are there.
Speaker C:Yeah, and you really can't start that until someone's gone through and went.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Cabinet, right.
Speaker C:Finished ends, right.
Speaker C:Sink, right faucet, right tile, right system going behind the tile.
Speaker C:You got to get all that stuff dialed in, then you can schedule.
Speaker C:But the problem is tiny bathroom is the worst because it's a five by seven room half the time.
Speaker C:And you can't put the plumber, electrician, and the tile guy in the same spot.
Speaker D:Three guys can't work in that space.
Speaker C:No, math doesn't work that way.
Speaker C:So that's where it gets really tough.
Speaker C:And then with kitchens.
Speaker C:Oh my gosh.
Speaker C:Let's talk about that.
Speaker C:And we're gonna have to go out to break here in a couple minutes.
Speaker C: el, let's say you've got that: Speaker C:And even it's something that new, it's 40 plus years old, maybe you still have to add so many new things to get up to code with that.
Speaker C:So you might need a.
Speaker C:Back in the 70s and 80s, many times the wall outlets were on the same circuit as the lights, and now they need to be different.
Speaker C:And now you need to have a dedicated circuit for the refrigerator, for the dishwasher, for the garbage disposal, for the microwave.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:You can easily be in an extra three to five circuits.
Speaker C:Oh, wow.
Speaker C:I only have two spaces in the power box, so now I got to go through and do a panel while I'm at it.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:And so before you even get started, you got an electrician in there doing a new panel.
Speaker C:There's five to ten grand these days, especially if you've got GFCI or arc fault breakers in there.
Speaker C:And then all of a sudden it's all right, here we go.
Speaker C:As we know with the trades in there and permits, you might be waiting three weeks to three months to get the building permits on that.
Speaker D:And again, I can't stress enough for us when we're slinging those things out.
Speaker D:I never made promises that I didn't seriously consider like that I didn't know I could pull off.
Speaker D:And that's adding plus 20 on the time frame, like always super cautious.
Speaker D:The problem is, and I'm as a contractor, I'm backpedaling a little here.
Speaker D:You don't want to fault the contractor because the cabinet that got delivered's got a huge gouge in the left side of it, or the faucet doesn't function, or there's so many things that go wrong or just even non delivery because they're backed up.
Speaker C:Or great example, I ordered some cabinets for a project that had 24 inch pantry cabinets and they had double doors to two 12 inch doors on either side.
Speaker C:It's what the order was.
Speaker C:Cabin showed up, one had a single door, one had two doors, one was missing the rollout trays.
Speaker C:And now you got a hot mess going on.
Speaker C:We come back, let's talk more about this because this is where those projects go sideways, which will really ruin your holidays or whatever plan.
Speaker C:It's like the people that plan those weddings around the House being finished that you're building.
Speaker C:Don't do that.
Speaker C:We'll talk more about that just as soon as around the House returns.
Speaker B:Make sure you catch all of our back episodes on your favorite podcast player.
Speaker B:If you want to hear all of them, join our around the House Insider program for just $4 a month and get the exclusive commercial free podcast a couple of days early.
Speaker B:Around the house.
Speaker B:We'll be right back after we fix the leaky faucet or at least to stare at it angrily until it feels guilty.
Speaker A:Understand what it's like to play an instrument, to be in a band.
Speaker C:What's up?
Speaker D:This is Sticks it in you and.
Speaker C:Satchel from Steel Panther and you are.
Speaker D:Listening to around the House with Eric.
Speaker B:G. Yeah, we love Eric G. And you should too.
Speaker A:1987.
Speaker A:I never wanna leave.
Speaker C:Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker C:Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker C:We got Johnny Dudley here in house from site Hype Designs and we're just talking about making sure you can get that project out before the holidays.
Speaker C:When do you start that project?
Speaker C:Whether it's inside, whether it's outside.
Speaker C:Hey Johnny, before we get started, let's run out to our around the House nugget, that great cleaning tip from our friends over at Aerobroom.
Speaker D:We like clean.
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Speaker C:Now here's your quick tip.
Speaker C:Did you know over cleaning your carpets can actually harm them?
Speaker C:Excessive shampooing or steam cleaning can weaken fibers, fade colors and leave residue that attracts dirt faster.
Speaker C:Stick to vacuuming weekly and deep clean only once or twice a year using a low moisture method for best results.
Speaker C:Protect your investment.
Speaker C:Less is more when it comes to carpet care.
Speaker C:Join us next time for more home tips and make sure to visit aerobroom.com the perfect project I think is all based around the planning, right?
Speaker C:That's really what pulls that off.
Speaker C:And I tell you what, I have seen so many homes.
Speaker C:There was a house that I was working on with a big builder up in Bremerton, which was across the water from where I was working at the time over in Kent.
Speaker C:And they had built this really cool custom home on the water.
Speaker C:It was gorgeous.
Speaker C:Nobody had an idea, or at least I didn't.
Speaker C:That homeowner had decided to.
Speaker C:One week after the completion date was scheduled for the home, there's a wedding at the house on the waterfront.
Speaker C:And nobody's happy.
Speaker C:Nobody's happy.
Speaker C:It is a week before the party and they hadn't started landscaping yet.
Speaker C:They were.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker C:This was going to be an extreme home makeover kind of thing where it all came together and the problem is when you push it that hard, it never looks great.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker D:Good time.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Great example.
Speaker C:And I love my people up here in the Clark county street of Dreams.
Speaker C:Love those guys.
Speaker C:They're great.
Speaker C:They do this whole parade of homes thing up there.
Speaker C:And over in Vancouver, Washington, if you're in the Portland area, they do a great show this time.
Speaker C:They had a couple builders or three.
Speaker C:Yeah, two builders.
Speaker C:They bit off more.
Speaker C:They could chew.
Speaker C:Guess what?
Speaker C:Street of dreams opens up.
Speaker C:Their houses aren't done.
Speaker C:And I hate to see that.
Speaker C:But at the same time, these young bucks, as I'll call them as the guy told me he didn't know who I was, which was kind of like the way I like to roll around those things.
Speaker C:He goes, man, I had four months to do this house.
Speaker C:And on my.
Speaker C:In my head I'm like, why'd you do it?
Speaker D:And it's enticing as a contractor, right?
Speaker D:You're like, we can do this.
Speaker D:You're looking at big dollar signs.
Speaker D:You need the money.
Speaker D:Things are slow.
Speaker D:You get this opportunity.
Speaker D:Sounds great.
Speaker D:But again, nobody ends up happy.
Speaker D:And that's the point of doing.
Speaker D:You're messing with people's homes.
Speaker D:And like you said earlier in different segment, it's like a child.
Speaker D:And I say nobody's happy because the contractor doesn't feel good about that.
Speaker D:They didn't want to fall short.
Speaker D:The homeowners irate because they got a wedding coming or whatever.
Speaker D:The thing is.
Speaker D:No, it's better now.
Speaker C:You don't want to do it right over the holidays.
Speaker C:It's the perfect time to do it.
Speaker D:Hell, ring the kitchen to shreds.
Speaker C:I want to see them this year.
Speaker C:I'm starting to remodel right now because I know sure as heck I'm not going to get this ready.
Speaker C:And three weeks early November, I'm going to send out the email to my relatives going, we're back.
Speaker C:Ordered countertops are Back ordered.
Speaker C:No way we're going to be able to get that done.
Speaker C:But now you're doing it over your brother or sister's house and they can jump on the grenade for you.
Speaker C:Now, if that's your style, start that project now because that's the way it's going to go.
Speaker C:It just, it's sad, but it's just what happens.
Speaker C:You need for major remodels.
Speaker C:It will take months of planning.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:And to be fair, life is quick and people are busy and you don't think about it until you're like, you just said it earlier, we're in the middle of September, however that happened, and people go, whoa, Thanksgiving's, we better call somebody to get this thing done.
Speaker D:This thing.
Speaker D:The rest of the year you're worried about kids and vacations and jobs and all the stuff that comes with life.
Speaker D:And not until it's in your face.
Speaker D:You're like, oh, homework's due.
Speaker D:Let's tear things apart.
Speaker C:And yeah, it gets crazy.
Speaker C:And here's the thing too, and I just want to say this as well, is that so many people, and I love this on social media.
Speaker C:There are so many great resources out there.
Speaker C:But I was on a social media page today, and if you're listening to the show today, sorry if I'm calling you out on this.
Speaker C:You reached out to the group and said, hey, I'm designing my own kitchen.
Speaker C:What size of cabinet do I need for my dishwasher?
Speaker C:And what size of cabinet do I need for my double oven?
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:And my answer was, wow, this is a perfect time to bring in that professional to make sure you get it designed right.
Speaker C:If you're asking for what size of cabinet you need for the dishwasher, you need to help.
Speaker C:You need to have some serious help.
Speaker D:Back to pay the pros.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:And it's that important.
Speaker C:So really, this planning stage is important.
Speaker C:Now, whether you're doing a kitchen model, a new house build, that's all the same now, right now, I would say, is the time.
Speaker C:If you're planning on adding that pool next year or if you want to build that outdoor kitchen, start the planning process now because by the time January comes around, you'll be getting close to ready to start that.
Speaker C:Now, a lot of those exterior contractors are, over the next three months are going to be booking up their springtime.
Speaker C:I know high end contractors that do decks and all those exterior things.
Speaker C:They're already booked most of next year.
Speaker C:So get in their books, get through the design process and work through it.
Speaker C:And yes, I know the designer is expensive, but it will save you money every time.
Speaker C:They will make horrible decisions.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Also, your options on contract is at this point in the year, just like you said, they're booked in the spring already, which leaves you a handful of leftovers to select from instead of maybe getting the contract you want because they're like, no, man, we've got three people present for Christmas already.
Speaker D:Not going to happen.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Really what I say right now, spend your time, work on it.
Speaker C:Go for that January start now.
Speaker C:Now here's one thing I will say and this is the thing and it's depending on the climate you're in.
Speaker C:If I'm doing a project where you are, Johnny, in Columbia, that's one thing.
Speaker C:I don't have to worry about that.
Speaker C:I don't have to worry about how am I cooking in my kitchen for two months while they work through this project.
Speaker C:Sometimes if you want to do that in the springtime when you've got a covered barbecue outside, you could still be cooking and they can still be working.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:Maybe doing the January start for the kitchen remodel isn't awesome if you're out there in the snow.
Speaker C:I'm a diehard barbecue guy, don't get me wrong.
Speaker C:But it's not always awesome to be out there flipping burgers or brisket around when it's 10 degrees outside with blowing snow.
Speaker C:Not the best for jumping out and doing that, but really plan that project.
Speaker C:So you're going to be looking pretty good and then you'll be better off because think about how you're going to do it.
Speaker C:Are you going to be doing the dishes in the bathtub?
Speaker C:We've seen that before, more than twice.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:And the other thing is too is we'll talk about when we come back.
Speaker C:I've got a couple little tricks here and we talked about it in the last segment a little bit.
Speaker C:But there's some tricks you can do when you've got a limited space.
Speaker C:If you've got that little tiny house construction, you want to live through it.
Speaker C:I'll give you those tips just as soon as around the House returns.
Speaker C:Don't go anywhere.
Speaker B:To find out more, head to aroundthehouseonline.com and make sure to subscribe to our social media media channels.
Speaker B:Around the house will be right back after we convince the smoke detector that dinner is not an emergency.
Speaker B:I think it's done now.
Speaker B:Welcome back to the around the House show.
Speaker B:Before we get started, I wanted to personally thank our sponsor of this hour.
Speaker B:Make sure you check them out@aerobroom.com that's aerobroom.com.
Speaker B:all right, G. Take it from here.
Speaker C:Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker C:I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker C:We've been sitting here talking about how to get that project going in the right time of year to do it, because depending on the climate, you can make it a lot harder depending on the holidays or things like that.
Speaker C:And here's one thing I wanted to bring up before we get too far.
Speaker C:If you think that you're going to get anything on your project with contractors accomplished the week of Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas and the week after Christmas, you are sadly mistaken.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I mean, it.
Speaker C:Manufacturers are down.
Speaker C:People are on vacations.
Speaker C:It's a dead time.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:Contractors are people, too.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:I noticed this in the cabin industry, and it's been something that always goes on.
Speaker C:At some point they have to shut things down a little bit and go through and go, hey, wait a minute, we really need to get that machinery fixed up.
Speaker C:We need to swap out a saw.
Speaker C:We need to upgrade the finish room.
Speaker C:Many times, that is those weeks at the end of the year.
Speaker C:And they can do that or they go, hey, we're behind schedule.
Speaker C:We're going to use this to catch up.
Speaker C:And so many times, those two weeks, heck, if you can find your salesperson or even the plumber to show up that week, you're lucky.
Speaker D:Difficult.
Speaker C:So don't count those in your weeks of the project.
Speaker C:That's just not going to work out that way.
Speaker C:And again, so you think about it, okay, so we have one week less during Thanksgiving, and we've got two weeks we lose in Christmas.
Speaker C:Now, other weeks that you don't get things done on, there's a week in February which is designing construction week, and then usually Las Vegas.
Speaker C:This year it's going to be back in Orlando, which I'm not looking forward to.
Speaker C:Sorry, Orlando.
Speaker C:Love your theme parks.
Speaker C:Getting to the convention center is a nightmare.
Speaker C:It should be 12 lanes.
Speaker C:It's two.
Speaker C:And then it seems at least it's.
Speaker D:Really hot and humid.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Even though it's February.
Speaker C:The other part of it is, is this is one of the world's largest trade shows.
Speaker C:And so it takes up the entire hall.
Speaker C:And there's a mile between the two halls that you can walk on an exterior walkway that's covered.
Speaker C:But, oh, my gosh, you're already walking 12 or 13 miles.
Speaker C:And then you have to put a mile in there.
Speaker C:It's kind of like Walking in Vegas to the next building.
Speaker C:I'm gonna go next door.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's a mile.
Speaker C:Yeah, same thing there.
Speaker C:Same thing there.
Speaker D:You don't notice so much in Vegas.
Speaker C:I know why, but we're not going to talk about that because this is a family show.
Speaker C:But I will make this noise for the people, just to make them kind of laugh as I grab something here.
Speaker C:Those aren't business cards.
Speaker C:They're hanging out.
Speaker C:But really the thing is, when you're running around, man, it's.
Speaker C:There's certain weeks you just don't get anything done.
Speaker C:That's one of them.
Speaker C:Any one of the holiday weeks where it's Labor Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, write them off.
Speaker D:And then really, you got to count it as a week because, yeah, it's three days.
Speaker D:Everybody gets.
Speaker D:But the two other days on either side of that are dead as well.
Speaker D:Yeah, either they're not going to work or they're just not into it.
Speaker D:They don't want to come back, or they're excited to leave and they leave early the day before, it's It.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's a week.
Speaker C:It's just not going to work well.
Speaker C:And then, of course, you got the shipping and stuff like that.
Speaker C:November, December, or anytime during the winter time, if you have to get something across the country, it can take a long time to get there.
Speaker C:So that's an important one as well.
Speaker C:Now, when you're designing outside, it's interesting.
Speaker C:And this is one of the ones that I always.
Speaker C:I take exterior renovations, like putting in the pool and doing the outdoor barbecue and the outdoor kitchen.
Speaker C:It's almost more complex than doing it inside because you really gotta plan out for it.
Speaker C:To me, when you're doing that exterior project, you have to design out, like, the entire project so you can do it right.
Speaker C:I see so many people.
Speaker C:I'm gonna put the fence up.
Speaker C:I'm gonna put this around here.
Speaker C:I'm gonna do this.
Speaker C:And they go, let's put the pool in.
Speaker C:And I'm like, dude, you gotta tear everything out to put the pool in.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Bring in machinery or bring in deliveries, whatever the case may be.
Speaker C:Oh, it's so bad.
Speaker C:So really, it's one of those things.
Speaker C:Just design it from start to finish.
Speaker C:Bring in that landscape designer.
Speaker C:Even I, who planned everything else.
Speaker C:I had my friends over at System Pavers over this last week, and I tell you what, I got them last minute on this.
Speaker C:End of summer is not usually the best time.
Speaker C:As everybody's trying to get their stuff done.
Speaker C:I had them do this Beautiful patio.
Speaker C:And check it out on social media.
Speaker C:I'll have it up here soon if it's not up already.
Speaker C:But they did this beautiful patio.
Speaker C:I had a water line to one of my sprinklers going down there.
Speaker C:Now I've moved so much dirt around this place, I'm like, guys, be a little careful.
Speaker C:I think it's deep enough.
Speaker C:But there's a couple areas that I had to go around.
Speaker C:Some big rocks that I call icebergs because you see the top little bit and there's.
Speaker C:And when I talk about rocks, guys, this isn't something that's 40 pounds.
Speaker C:I had three rocks in this area that I removed so I could put the patio in that were 36 inches long, 24 inches high, a big oval.
Speaker C:One of them was 42 inches long.
Speaker E:Oh, geez.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I had to go down to my friends at Park Rose Hardware.
Speaker C:I rented one of the walk behind excavators.
Speaker C:It weighed more than the excavator, but in the ground I could roll it, hit it with the bucket, push it along, stack some wood up against before the neighbor's fence so I don't send it down the hill and have to replace the fence too.
Speaker C:But really I moved those things out of the way.
Speaker C:And sure enough, in the one corner where it came down into this area, it was just in there, just enough where they could get the sand layer in.
Speaker C:It's three inches below the block.
Speaker C:But really I was like, oh, don't compact that area too hard.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:Big rocks, big trees, gas lines, water lines, big roots.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker D:Gotta pay attention.
Speaker C:Gotta think ahead now with electrical as well.
Speaker C:That's a big one.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So if you're doing electrical on this too, you've got landscape lighting, you got power for the pool pump, you got the hot tub, you got the cold plunge, whatever you're doing out there.
Speaker C:Yeah, you could need six or seven circuits out there depending on what you got going.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, the hot tub, that's a whole other world.
Speaker C:So this is really where you need to figure out what all your electrical needs are.
Speaker C:Have the electrician come in, get them all basically roughed in for you so you know what you're doing and you can get it there and then do.
Speaker D:It before you build the twelve thousand dollar deck.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And holy smokes, dude.
Speaker C:Have you seen what the prices of decks are recently in Columbia?
Speaker D:No, but I can only imagine since wood and copper and everything around you is tripled in price, I can't imagine what cedar looks like.
Speaker C:Yeah, like my buddy Dr. Dex, Jason, he is up in the Tacoma area.
Speaker C:You know, this cat does amazing decks and it's crazy because for him doing a composite deck and he does such amazing stuff.
Speaker C:If you're not following him on social media and you're planning on doing a deck, take a look at it.
Speaker C:This cat does some absolutely amazing stuff.
Speaker C:So what he does.
Speaker C:I'm going to share this up to Johnny here so I can show you.
Speaker C:Sorry, guys, you're not going to see this.
Speaker C:But he'll be able to see it.
Speaker C:He does radius stuff where heat bends things.
Speaker C:So you'll see the composite.
Speaker C:Heat it up to a certain temperature and make it bend.
Speaker C:So he'll do all these radiuses, he'll do all this cool stuff with it.
Speaker C:And then when it's cold, you know, it'll get really warm.
Speaker C:He uses these heat blankets and he puts them in a form and does all this really cool stuff.
Speaker D:Well, that is amazing, right?
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:Looks like the Hilton.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's just ridiculous.
Speaker C:He does all this cool stuff.
Speaker C:It's awesome.
Speaker C:But if you've got a two tier deck and some steps and he's doing this stuff, you're seeing some of these deck packages that by the time you put in the glass railings and the lights, they're $300,000 for a deck.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I'm not talking.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:You're like, hey, that's a nice deck, but wow, it gets pretty crazy.
Speaker C:It gets pretty crazy.
Speaker D:Half the cost of another house.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, it's nice when you got a nice deck, but come on, that gets crazy.
Speaker C:It gets crazy.
Speaker C:Now when we come back, Johnny, we're going to wrap this one up because we got a lot of stuff to talk about here and I want to talk about a few other little things we can catch up on as well.
Speaker C:Because I tell you what the nice thing is with these decks like this and any of these exterior projects, there's a lot of planning.
Speaker C:And I've got some secrets for you too that might be able to help you save a little money on these projects.
Speaker C:We'll talk about that just as soon as around the House returns.
Speaker B:Make sure you catch all of our back episodes on your favorite podcast player.
Speaker B:If you want to hear all of them, join our around the House insider program for just $4 a month and get the exclusive commercial free podcast a couple of days early around the house.
Speaker B:We'll be right back.
Speaker B:Just got to teach my smart thermostat who's really in charge around here.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker C:Welcome back to the around the house show the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker C:Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker C:I'm Eric G. If you're just tuning in, we've got John Dudley here as well from Site Hype Designs.
Speaker C:Licensed contractor, this guy and I go back 25 plus years of mayhem, music and everything else.
Speaker C:Hey, there's a band name, I think.
Speaker D:And Magic Eric Imagine Music and Magic.
Speaker C:Sounds like a 70s band.
Speaker D:I was gonna say Russia Mushrooms, but.
Speaker C:I figured 70s band, we'll keep it easy.
Speaker C:We'll keep the pizza toppings out of this.
Speaker C:So we've been talking about just the right time to start these projects.
Speaker C:And I tell you what, guys, it's one of those things that, man, we've all learned those lessons and I think we've all.
Speaker C:Anybody that's had a house for a few years that have tried to do these projects, and it's the morning of the party and you're out there trying to fix something or put something together or any of that other stuff.
Speaker C:And I've just seen so many of these things where you're like, I'm gonna.
Speaker C:Okay, here's a good one.
Speaker C:Raise your hand.
Speaker C:I can see all of you out there listening.
Speaker C:How many times have we done the.
Speaker C:I'm gonna fix it from the party, but I'm gonna fix it right later.
Speaker C:And how many years has it been sitting that way?
Speaker C:1 year, 2 year, 5 years, 10 years?
Speaker C:Is it still there?
Speaker C:So many times that happens.
Speaker C:Oh, this will be good enough.
Speaker C:I'll come back and get it later.
Speaker C:Later.
Speaker C:Many times doesn't exist.
Speaker D:If it's good enough, it's still good enough, right?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker D:That is a contractor speaking about his own home.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker C:But really, again, trying to plan these things out.
Speaker C:And really the time of year is such an important one.
Speaker C:And I can't say this enough, part of this design process is.
Speaker C:And I say this about kitchen design and I want to say this again because we touched on it earlier.
Speaker C:So many people think that they can do it themselves.
Speaker C:And yes, you can do a lot of projects yourself, but when I would hire kitchen designers that were right out of a four year college degree, right out of college, I knew I had two years of them working full time before they really got their sea legs underneath them.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:Which means you, as a person who usually will do one or two kitchens in a lifetime, are going to make massive mistakes.
Speaker C:And mistakes are expensive in kitchens.
Speaker D:To pay the pros tell me that's my mantra this week, pay the pros.
Speaker C:Johnny, great story here.
Speaker C:Real quick.
Speaker C:And this was one of Those.
Speaker C:This was.
Speaker C:I was out at the.
Speaker C:I told you.
Speaker C:I was at the parade of homes and tri cities in Washington state and 610k on a country with my friends over there.
Speaker C:And beautiful house, top of the hill.
Speaker C:This is a house that used to be really right where when I was in high school was make out point on the top of the hill.
Speaker C:They actually flat took 10ft off the top of this thing and made it wide enough to put houses on either side.
Speaker C:Which to me still blows my mind because it was a maybe 30 or 40ft of flat space that they actually leveled out, which was cool.
Speaker C:But this house that they had.
Speaker C:Now I gotta give the realtors smart on this.
Speaker C:This was a big house, top, best view in the tri cities.
Speaker C:They decided to put the house next to it on the market and do an open house during the time that the parade house next door was being done.
Speaker C:Smart, right?
Speaker C:Okay, Open house.
Speaker C:Bring them in.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:This house was $2 million.
Speaker C:They were builders.
Speaker C:And if I'm talking about your house guys, I apologize.
Speaker C:I'm not trying to be a jerk.
Speaker C:But guess what?
Speaker C:This house was too much of a good thing.
Speaker C:They needed to hire a designer because you walk in and think of black in white looking marble.
Speaker C:But I don't think it was marble.
Speaker C:It looked like it was porcelain.
Speaker C:Printed tile, kind of 4 foot by 2 foot, big, large slabs.
Speaker C:They must have got a container of it for a heck of a good price.
Speaker C:The entire house looked like it was black and white.
Speaker C:Tiger striped with white walls and white.
Speaker C:Everything could be cool.
Speaker D:Now we're back to Vegas.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:But this looks like the Rio when it was built new and it needs a remodel.
Speaker C:It just wasn't right.
Speaker C:And the showers and the backsplashes was.
Speaker C:There was one tile in the house.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:It was everywhere.
Speaker C:And I walked around and went, this needs a $500,000 remodel.
Speaker C:And it was rough.
Speaker C:They did some cool things.
Speaker C:They pre wired all the windows for power blinds.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:Now they make battery ones that are super efficient that you really don't need the plugins anymore.
Speaker C:So there was a lot of that stuff to it.
Speaker C:And it was on a side note.
Speaker C:I felt bad because I'm like, wow, next door.
Speaker C:How similar priced.
Speaker C:And it was looking like a base model Chevy Cavalier.
Speaker C:And then I'm looking at the fully loaded Cadillac next door for the same price.
Speaker C:And I was like, oof, oof.
Speaker C:Now there's a home for everybody.
Speaker C:But there's also a problem with remodeling.
Speaker C:If you ever think you're gonna sell it.
Speaker C:You gotta think about resale value and you think you don't think about it until you have to sell it.
Speaker C:But these guys are.
Speaker C:Plans change.
Speaker C:They obviously designed it for themselves.
Speaker C:It's one of those problems.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:Now there's another trend out there with remodeling that I think unless you've got that multi million dollar house, it makes no sense.
Speaker C:Now culturally I get it.
Speaker C:They're called spice kitchens.
Speaker C:So you have a kitchen.
Speaker C:You've seen them.
Speaker C:They got the kitchen, big, huge kitchen, 48 inch, 60 inch Wolf sub zero.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:They got the big range, the big five feet of built in fridges.
Speaker C:And then there's this other kind of servants kitchen around the corner.
Speaker C:Now I get it.
Speaker C:If for religious reasons maybe you need a kosher kitchen or something like that.
Speaker C:Totally get it.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:My problem though is, and I saw these at the another parade of homes recently.
Speaker C:When you have the level of the sub zero wolf and then I walk around the corner in its Frigidaire gallery.
Speaker E:Oh.
Speaker C:In the same space.
Speaker C:You got to stick with the right brands.
Speaker D:You do vanity kills.
Speaker D:When you're putting that Frigidaire next to the Viking or the Wolf, you can.
Speaker C:See him in the same case.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's.
Speaker C:And I say this as a guy, it's like buying your wife all these diamond rings and then you go get the cubic zirconia one and say oh no, but it's great.
Speaker E:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:Tough sell.
Speaker D:Tough sell.
Speaker C:It's a tough sell to me.
Speaker C:It doesn't work.
Speaker C:And I think there's a big mistake with that.
Speaker C:And unless you've got some cultural or religious.
Speaker C:And I know there's plenty of them out there because I've designed them.
Speaker C:But designing a spec house with that is pretty darn specialized.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's a little bold.
Speaker D:It's a little things.
Speaker C:So when you're designing these projects, again.
Speaker D:I say vanity kills.
Speaker D:I think, I think a lot of those are just because people want to say they got one.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:And you and I have both done some luxury things in the past.
Speaker C:But the cool thing is, and I laugh about it so many times, these luxury kitchens, the homeowner looks at me and as the designer goes, I'm never going to cook in this anyway.
Speaker C:People for that.
Speaker D:Which is exactly what went through my head.
Speaker D:And honestly, there's a bunch of those in Colombia.
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And these bigger old houses, old money, these penthouses where they've got.
Speaker D:That's this, that's where the food's Actually made.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:These fancy appliances out here, those are just vanity again, right?
Speaker D:Yeah, we blew 100k on the appliances, but they sure look cool when the friends come over and hang out at the bar.
Speaker C:Yeah, but come on, man.
Speaker C:To me, if I'm entertaining and I'm.
Speaker C:I got people over and I've got that big range, I better be using it for sure.
Speaker C:That's part of the deal for me, you know, that's my point.
Speaker C:I don't want people in the back sitting there cooking for me.
Speaker D:That's my point.
Speaker D:You'll put that kind of a kitchen in of that caliber with those appliances and you need a second one.
Speaker C:I mean, you got a thousand dollar, fifteen thousand dollar range and you're gonna cook it on the eighteen hundred dollar Frigidaire gallery in the back, right?
Speaker E:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Drives me crazy.
Speaker C:You also see this too.
Speaker C:And guys, this is something to consider here before we go out and wrap the show up.
Speaker C:Think about the materials you put in.
Speaker C:I walked into one house, it was absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker C:These recessed can lights in the living room, in the hallway, in the dining room, kitchen area, A great room.
Speaker C:We're like 8, 900 bucks a piece.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Beautiful fixtures.
Speaker C:I walk into the bedrooms and they're $29Amazon 6 inch recessed can lights.
Speaker C:You're killing me.
Speaker C:You're killing me.
Speaker D:You're a designer, son.
Speaker C:I know it, I know it.
Speaker C:But those are the things.
Speaker C:And my buddy Ty was walking with me as well.
Speaker C:He's so disappointing.
Speaker C:You see this?
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker C:So think about how everything's going to play together in the project, guys.
Speaker D:Even as a contractor, as a human in general.
Speaker D:Oh, I notice that.
Speaker D:I notice if that trim is crooked at a in and out burger.
Speaker D:You know what I mean, dude?
Speaker D:Like, eye for detail.
Speaker D:It's a curse.
Speaker D:I paid the pros.
Speaker D:I always count on you for design.
Speaker D:I don't know, like, yeah, how do I make this space in this kitchen look as cool as it can?
Speaker D:Because I'm flipping this house and you would come over and I'd have ideas in my head because I done a thousand kitchens.
Speaker D:But you'd walk in and go, oh, we'll do this right here.
Speaker D:And this would be really cool.
Speaker D:And we'll get some tile that goes with this and bam.
Speaker D:Thank God, because I would have created a monster.
Speaker D:I'm just gonna grab this.
Speaker D:It's cheap, but it looks okay.
Speaker D:Throw it.
Speaker D:I paid the pros.
Speaker D:That's.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it looks good.
Speaker C:And it looks good.
Speaker C:Johnny, we're out of time, brother.
Speaker C:Thanks for coming on the show today, my friend.
Speaker C:Always good to have your color commentary on here.
Speaker C:Thanks for being my huckle fish today.
Speaker D:That was very polite.
Speaker D:No, man, I love it.
Speaker D:Thanks again for having me, brother.
Speaker D:Look forward to doing it again real soon.
Speaker C:For sure.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:You want to find out more about him, go over to his website over@sitehypedesigns.com and he'll fix your website, too.
Speaker C:Thanks, brother.
Speaker C:I'm Eric G. You've been listening to around the House.
Speaker A:Love is a love song let's be lovers we're all over the radio Take my hand I know where to go all over the radio with you.
