Episode 99
Boxcar Universe: Smart Choices from Floors to Roofs
The pursuit of sustainable living has led us to explore the intriguing realm of container home living, which serves as a focal point in our discourse today. Steve Deubel engages with industry professionals, including Henry Staggs from Arizona Roofer, who emphasizes the critical importance of roof maintenance as the first line of defense for any home. Further enriching this discussion, we welcome Daniel Zink from Floors-R-Us, who elucidates the latest trends in flooring, catering to the evolving demands of homeowners. Throughout this episode, we aim to equip our listeners with essential knowledge and practical advice to enhance their home improvement endeavors. Join us as we delve into these vital topics, ensuring that our homes not only provide shelter but also embody sustainability and functionality.
Transcript
Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched for ways to shelter themselves from the elements.
Speaker A:Over the centuries, these shelters have evolved from bamboo huts to concrete towers.
Speaker A:The last few years, there's been a push to save the planet.
Speaker A:Are you ready to embark on a more sustainable lifestyle?
Speaker A:Look no further.
Speaker A:You're about to enter the adventures of container home living.
Speaker A:And now, contractor, radio and TV personality and your host for Boxcar Universe, Steve Dubel.
Speaker B:Hi, I'm Steve Dubell, host of Boxcar.
Speaker C:Universe, along with my co host Melanie Clearwater.
Speaker C:And here's what's coming up on this week's edition of Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C:On today's episode, Henry Staggs from the Arizona Roofer will be with us.
Speaker C:And if you've ignored the age of your roof, now's the time to give it some attention.
Speaker C:In tlc, Henry will give us the rundown on what it takes for you to be aware how to take care of your home's roof.
Speaker C:Remember, it's the first line of defense for your home.
Speaker C:Also joining us is Daniel Zink from Floys R Us.
Speaker C:Dan will give us the scoop on the latest floor trends and some of the best products to look for when remodeling your home.
Speaker C:All that and more on this week's edition of Boxcar, remodeling and renovating your world.
Speaker C:And I'd like to welcome all our listeners to Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C:And as we wind down the end of January here, I can't believe I don't know where January went to.
Speaker C:We're almost here.
Speaker C:You know, people are talking about Valentine's Day.
Speaker C:Got to remember all our listeners, don't forget Valentine's Day is only a little over two weeks away.
Speaker C:Make sure you get your special something for your special sweetheart.
Speaker C:So make sure that you aren't in the doghouse.
Speaker C:We'll put you outside.
Speaker C:And I'll have Henry make sure that the roof is okay so you don't get wet.
Speaker C:But I hope all our listeners actually have checked out our episode from last week, which was our very, very special episode that we did, highlighting the rescue work and heartwarming stories about the LA fires.
Speaker C:And I urge all of you to go check that out.
Speaker C:And if there's anyone that you would like to touch base with, please make sure you give give me a call.
Speaker C:You can catch me on our 800 number one eight triple three boxcar.
Speaker C:So you can always reach me via that anywhere in the country.
Speaker C:So any questions you may have about how to reach our guests, please make sure you check that out and also go to our Facebook page and give us some comments.
Speaker C:We're going to be giving our home, our Boxcar Universe website, a spring makeover, and we'll get into that soon because, you know, everything we talk about home improvement, spring is the time to do makeovers.
Speaker C:So we're going to get into that.
Speaker C:But the one thing that is coming up here at the beginning of every year in Arizona, we get two seasons of rain.
Speaker C:Our monsoon season, which is pretty much summertime, three months during the summer, but yet early in the year, like January, February, right about now, we get our second season of rain.
Speaker C:And I found doing remodeling, a lot of homeowners just ignore their roof.
Speaker C:They said, you know, if they got a leak here or if they see something, you know, that could be suspect to a water damage on their roof, they don't pay any attention.
Speaker C:Well, it doesn't rain that much here.
Speaker C:I don't have to get it fixed.
Speaker C:However, depending on the damage and how the age of the roof, you need to make sure that someone comes out, a professional comes out and inspects your roof.
Speaker C:And that's one of the things that we wanted to talk about today.
Speaker C:So our first guest, Harry Staggs from the Arizona Roofer, is with us today.
Speaker C:We're going to talk a little bit about roofs.
Speaker C:And that's Henry's main bag, as they call it.
Speaker C:Henry, welcome to Boxcar Universe.
Speaker D:Thank you, Steve.
Speaker D:I'm glad to be here.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:Great to have you here.
Speaker C:You know, you know, people talk about all those different types of roofs we have here.
Speaker C:And, you know, every climate has a different thing that they have to be aware of, especially with the weather, you know, up north and back east, you know, where they get a lot of snow, you won't find roofs that look like some of the roofs that you have out here, because the climate just doesn't, you know, isn't conducive to.
Speaker C:To the way you build your home.
Speaker C:But tell us a little bit about how you got started and your company's mission statement and your experience with dealing with Arizona roofs.
Speaker D:Yeah, I'd love to.
Speaker D:I'm going to segue just a little bit because you said something that reminded me.
Speaker D:I was in Florida this past weekend to inspect roofs for another contractor who's a friend of mine.
Speaker D:And they fasten every single tile, and then this one was fastened with screws.
Speaker C:Every single tile?
Speaker D:Every single tile.
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker D:Yes, for the high wind resistance and for the Florida building code.
Speaker D:And here in Arizona, as you guys know, we don't do that.
Speaker D:We Fasten the perimeter tile, or sometimes we'll fasten, you know, every other tile.
Speaker D:If we're like 5 and 12 or 8 and up, then we might start looking at all the tile.
Speaker D:But it was much more challenging for me to inspect that roof because I couldn't displace the tile.
Speaker D:And it reminded me in Arizona, inspecting a tile roof, it's pretty easy.
Speaker D:We lift the tile, we can look, we can see anything and everything we need to see and put it right back where it was.
Speaker D:I was doing that today before I came here and then I was feeling, I don't know, kind of happy.
Speaker D:I don't know what word I'm looking for, but it was a good feeling because when I was in Florida, I was getting a little frustrated because I want to see what's under there and I can't get the tile up without literally breaking the thing.
Speaker D:So when you mentioned that different climates have different codes.
Speaker D:Yeah, right.
Speaker D:Because they're different climates.
Speaker D:We have different wind, we have different moisture, we have different seasonal effects.
Speaker D:In Arizona we've got the, the heat and that's baking down on the roof every day all year long, except for maybe a couple of cold days out of the winter, you know.
Speaker D:But our roofs, whatever type they are, take a beating, take a serious beating from the sun.
Speaker D:And whether it's foam or tile or shingle, they're all equally exposed.
Speaker D:And that can either.
Speaker D:And if it's not being maintained properly, that will just accelerate the deterioration.
Speaker D:And so a 30 year roof could become a 10 year roof, 15 year roof, maybe 20, you know, depending on the type of roof.
Speaker D:You know, I'm thinking like a flat roof.
Speaker D:If the drains are clogged up, that 20 year system is going to be five years.
Speaker D:If you don't keep the drains cleaned up, you know, things like that.
Speaker C:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker C:You know, and you know, there's a lot of things that affect roofing and I'm glad you brought that one, one thing up because I remember doing some work on a customer's roof.
Speaker C:It had a couple of dormers up there and you know, I think they had more, more creatures living in that house and on that house than they were allowed to have in the hoa because underneath the dormer roo where just like it was covered with pigeon crap.
Speaker C:I mean, it was ever and over time, believe it or not, that pigeon poop will deteriorate a shingle roof and an underlayment in a heartbeat.
Speaker C:And then before you know it, water always finds its lowest point and finds a way to get into places that you don't even think that you could get into it.
Speaker C:I mean, around chimneys.
Speaker C:Even shingle chimneys should shingle roofs around chimneys.
Speaker C:Tile roofs that are.
Speaker C:Around chimneys are another culprit because you've got the underlayment if it isn't glued down, right.
Speaker C:Or if Maybe.
Speaker C:If it's 10 or 20 years old, the ends buckle up, and then before you know it, rain comes down, the chimney gets underneath, and then before you know it, voila.
Speaker C:Leaks.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah, it shrinks.
Speaker D:Yeah, the underlying shrinks, and then it opens the seam up, then you're done.
Speaker D:No protection.
Speaker C:The one thing that helped me over the years when people used to call me, hey, could you.
Speaker C:Could you.
Speaker C:I got a leak here or I got a leak here, and it wasn't a full.
Speaker C:A full roof replacement was that instead of going, like years ago, back in the 90s, before infrared came out, used to be able to go out, and it's like, okay, so we use our experience and take our best guess, educated guess, to say, okay, well, it could be here.
Speaker C:And then it's more of a visual inspection.
Speaker C:And then, okay, it probably went this way.
Speaker C:But I always called out my.
Speaker C:My home inspector, have them come out and just shoot it with the gun to see where the water penetration came from, which will lead you to that point where it's going to be a whole lot easier and more cost effective for the homeowner to say, okay, pinpoint it.
Speaker C:It's right here in this area.
Speaker C:We're going to pull this area up and see what's going on underneath it.
Speaker C:And that always worked.
Speaker C:That always worked.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:But, yeah, the thing with the other thing about the tile roofs is, you know, in Arizona, you've got more than one type of tile.
Speaker C:And I'm not talking about shape right now.
Speaker C:I'm talking about whether one's glazed, one's not glazed.
Speaker C:And Lord knows, you can't walk on those unglazed ones unless you want to buy somebody a whole new roof.
Speaker D:Yeah, Clay.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:No, you can't.
Speaker D:You can look at clay hard enough to break it.
Speaker C:That's true.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, I don't know why they.
Speaker C:Why the.
Speaker C:Years ago they would.
Speaker C:You know, this is what it means.
Speaker C:Sometimes designers and builders, they don't think ahead.
Speaker C:Oh, well, it looks nice, but that's all it is.
Speaker C:I mean, how would you.
Speaker C:How you.
Speaker C:You can't really go on a clay roof and decide that you need to do a repair.
Speaker C:Not to mention that they're all cemented together.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:You have to build a path to the repair area, do the repair, and then reinstall it on your way back down the roof.
Speaker D:Yeah, and it takes a very talented craftsman to do that because if you do it wrong, it's just going to leak.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker D:Concrete is much simpler to work with because you can walk all over that.
Speaker E:I had no idea.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:But tell us a little bit about, you know, where do you find that your work is coming from?
Speaker C: Now here we are in: Speaker C:Are people coming out again and asking for your free roof.
Speaker C:Roof inspection.
Speaker D:Yeah, primarily real estate investors and realtors and.
Speaker D:Well, they're not coming out to me.
Speaker D:I'm going to them.
Speaker D:So I've been involved in ESRI and a lot of the real estate groups and sponsoring classes and things like that because they.
Speaker D:They need the help and I want to help them.
Speaker D:And I can build a clientele base that is repeat, you know.
Speaker D:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And my granddad was a real estate investor, which is where I learned my trades in the first place.
Speaker D:So I feel more comfortable at home when I'm talking to people that are doing like a fix and flip or they're remodeling a house to sell or something like that, or they're going to rent it or tennis, are moving out, whatever.
Speaker D:All that stuff is very familiar to me and kind of reminds me of my childhood and my granddad.
Speaker D:Excuse me.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:So that's where I've been targeting.
Speaker D:Yeah, about the last year or so.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, that you find.
Speaker C:I find a lot of flippers.
Speaker C:I mean, I've done my share of flips over the years.
Speaker C:It's you.
Speaker C:If you can't find the history of the home and to find out exactly how old and when certain things were done, that could affect what the investor is going to do along with.
Speaker C:But one thing that I found that did help me is you can go to the website, bill.com and you can.
Speaker C:Basically, it's like a Carfax but for a house.
Speaker C:And you can actually go back in there and see what permits were pulled over the course of the age of the life of the house to see exactly what was done.
Speaker C:And that might help you decide on, okay, what do I need to do?
Speaker C:What do I need to look at?
Speaker C:Not to mention for buyers, because, you know, a lot of times buyers.
Speaker C:Well, you know, homeowner will go on, oh, yeah, let's enclose the patio.
Speaker C:We'll make it actual living space.
Speaker C:They don't call the city.
Speaker C:They don't get a permit.
Speaker C:And then all of a sudden, when they decide to sell it, and it's like, well, you know, you have to disclose this information.
Speaker C:Then the tax records don't match what's on the property.
Speaker C:And then, you know, I actually had.
Speaker C:Years ago, I actually had that happen, and they made the homeowner tear down the patio.
Speaker C:I had to go back in and tear the patio down because they didn't want.
Speaker C:They just didn't want it, and it wasn't permitted.
Speaker C:So they said, you want the deal?
Speaker C:Get rid of the patio.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:So I had a good day of demo.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's nothing like a good day of demo.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's true.
Speaker D:It won't count in the square footage.
Speaker C:You're right, exactly.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So you got to make sure.
Speaker C:That's why, you know, there's a lot of rules and regulations that homeowners.
Speaker C:It doesn't come to mind.
Speaker C:And I think that's some of the issue, especially with, you know, with roofs, you know, you don't know what.
Speaker C:How old your roof is.
Speaker C:And if you don't know, you need a professional to come out and give you an.
Speaker C:Try and give you an accurate estimate about, okay, this is the condition of the underlayment.
Speaker C:You know, if it's a shingle roof, maybe.
Speaker C:Maybe the granules on their shingles look like they're, like, on their last leg.
Speaker C:And if that's not a telltale sign, and you as a homeowner should be able to know that.
Speaker C:I always tell people, walk around your house at least once a month.
Speaker C:Okay, if you've got a shingle roof and you're walking around your house a month, and you've got this line of shingle asphalt granules around your house, what do you think that tells you?
Speaker C:It's not the landscaper telling you something.
Speaker C:It's your roof talking to you.
Speaker D:They're coming from somewhere.
Speaker C:They're coming from somewhere.
Speaker C:So you need to get a qualified a roofer like yourself to come in and.
Speaker C:And take care of some of these things.
Speaker E:Is there.
Speaker E:Can I ask a question?
Speaker C:Sure, go ahead.
Speaker E:Is there a way that you can prolong that asphalt shingle roof?
Speaker E:As far as, like, you know, you were talking about the granules coming down the rain and whatever's washing it out.
Speaker D:There is a product on the market, and I know the fellow that distributes it here called Go Nano, and that's what that's designed to do is to revive the asphalt shingle, kind of halt it in its aging process, and sort.
Speaker E:Of lock everything In It's a nanotechnology product.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Interesting There is that, right?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:For that it's good for asphalt, wood and concrete.
Speaker D:Not so much for tile though.
Speaker D:For tile you just either you're going to.
Speaker D:I used to and still do tell my customers when they buy a house.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:If that's the original tile roof, the next roof they buy is going to be better than the builder's roof because you have an opportunity at that point to upgrade your underlayment, upgrade your battens, upgrade your bends and create an actual roof system rather than just lay a frame up there to hang tile on.
Speaker D:We can create airflow.
Speaker D:We can do things that will help the.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Keep the water out, keep it dry.
Speaker D:You know, if we got air, we get that space between the tile and the deck.
Speaker D:And so moisture can accumulate in that space and it can vaporize and condensate in that little space right there.
Speaker D:And that's going to.
Speaker D:Every time it does that, if you've got an asphalt underlayment, it's going to draw some of those oils out.
Speaker D:Each time it does that, begin to shrink it until it pulls away, comes off the fasteners and creates a open seam.
Speaker D:So when you have your second roof, typically what I like to do when the customer is willing to pay for it is use a self adhered membrane and like with a.
Speaker D:Has a protective like non fleece back but a polyester surface on the top of it and it's white so it.
Speaker E:Helps like a bit.
Speaker E:Toothane type of product.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:Modified.
Speaker C:It's not, it's not a peel and stick though.
Speaker D:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:It's peeling stick.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker E:It's like a roll of tar.
Speaker E:Almost like a really thin layer or something.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:About 60 mils maybe.
Speaker E:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And the one thing that I learned over the years too is, you know, don't, don't try.
Speaker C:And if you have a roof damage and you have to get your underlayment up and it is peel and stick.
Speaker C:Don't, don't try, don't try.
Speaker C:It bonds with the wood and the only way you got to get it out or get it off is you go to gouge supply wood and you're just going to destroy the whole roof system.
Speaker D:That's right.
Speaker D:So you can design it properly so you have the right airflow.
Speaker D:That's the second part.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Use an elevated or an arched batten so the water can accumulate behind the battens.
Speaker D:So the water can flow down anywhere and everywhere.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And additionally when you use those battens, Just a little trick for installers, you know.
Speaker D:Now you have to go four foot with like an inch or two space in between.
Speaker D:Right, Right.
Speaker D:So you have some place for the water to flow, which never made sense to me.
Speaker D:So the water's got to flow and then travel.
Speaker C:It's got to go 2 to 4.
Speaker D:Foot on one side or another.
Speaker D:Like it's going to do that.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:It's laid flat, but with an arch batten or an elevated batten, there's nothing that stops the water just from flowing right straight through.
Speaker D:Also, when you have the intake and the exhaust vents built into your system like you should, it'll carry air through there and the air will draw that moisture out with it as well.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker D:So you can keep that, keep that underlayment protected and keep the tile protected, keep the battens protected from moisture damage.
Speaker D:Simply the same as you went inside your house.
Speaker D:You know, you want to have ventilation inside your house so that you're.
Speaker D:You're safe and protected.
Speaker D:You definitely want to ventilate your.
Speaker D:Your bathrooms and your kitchens.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker D:Or you could have all kinds of problems with water damage there.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker C:All right, we're going to take a short break.
Speaker C:When we come back, we're going to talk a little more with Henry about some roof issues.
Speaker C:And I want to share a little story with Henry which I'm sure he could identify with when it comes to having a roof leak and a repair and an insurance claim.
Speaker C:Oh, ooh, yes, those bad words.
Speaker C:Insurance claim.
Speaker C:So I want everybody to hang tight.
Speaker C:Don't go away.
Speaker C:You're listening.
Speaker C:Listening to Boxcar Universe.
Speaker B:Looking to transform your space.
Speaker B:With over 30 years of construction experience and featured on radio and TV, Ideal Home Improvement and Legacy Custom Homes AZ does it all, from repairs, remodeling and restorations to new builds, container homes and container pools.
Speaker B:Plus cutting edge solar systems to help homeowners save money on their utility bills.
Speaker B:Hi, I'm Steve Dubell.
Speaker B:Let us help you design and build your dream home with the expertise that comes from decades of experience in the business.
Speaker B: -: Speaker B:Remember, Ideal Home improvement and legacy custom homes AZ where your dream home becomes reality.
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Speaker C:All right, we are back and you're listening to Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C: at what you're going to do in: Speaker C:As in the state of Arizona.
Speaker C:Now, a lot of the municipalities around do allow secondary dwelling units on your property.
Speaker C:So this is something that a few years ago you couldn't even do.
Speaker C: luded container homes back in: Speaker C: But within the next year, in: Speaker C:And when, I mean, I mean that sincerely because they just were, they just said no, we're not, we're not going to, we're not going down that road.
Speaker C:And they just refused the permit because they didn't have all the information.
Speaker C:That is a lot less prevalent now.
Speaker C:So give us a call if you can.
Speaker C:Don't forget you can get, get me at Our Boxcar universe new 1,800number.
Speaker C:It's 18 Triple 3 Boxcar.
Speaker C:But let's get back to our discussion with Henry Staggs from the Arizona Roofer.
Speaker C:And you know, I'm sure, Henry, let me ask you a question.
Speaker C:How much of your business is insurance related?
Speaker D:Very little.
Speaker C:Very little.
Speaker D:I used to only be insurance really and then, but very little right now.
Speaker D:Yeah, I have like one that I'm dealing with right now that's an insurance claim.
Speaker C:Well, one time, right.
Speaker C:I mean that's probably pretty good because at least there's there's less brain damage because I have to tell you this story that the insurance company who is doing that, my chiropractor is doing a claim on his home.
Speaker C:Excuse me.
Speaker C:And the inspectors that come out and look at homes sometimes for different things, I don't think that they have gone through any kind of training or anything or very little because I remember when we had rains.
Speaker C: s is going back last April of: Speaker C:And there was an area that he had water damage come into his house where a roof dead ended into part of a wall to his front archway, okay?
Speaker C:And the underlayment had deteriorated because they.
Speaker C:The tile didn't go all the way to the wall.
Speaker C:There was about maybe a foot or so from the last row of tile.
Speaker C:And you saw a strict underlayment.
Speaker C:That's all you saw.
Speaker C:And then the wall, okay?
Speaker C:So they had this insurance company had.
Speaker C:They were overwhelmed.
Speaker C:So they had other inspectors come in from other states.
Speaker C:This first inspector that came in came to look at it.
Speaker C:He came from Texas and he looked at it and he looked at the damage in the bathroom, he looked at the roof, and then all of a sudden he came back.
Speaker C:And they sent me the estimate, you know, for the repairs.
Speaker C:And I'm looking through, and it's got all the different things to go through to fix his bathroom.
Speaker C:And the only thing that they had on the roof they allotted, they supposedly had figure in there for tile replacement.
Speaker C:I called this guy up and I said to him, I said, let me ask you a question.
Speaker C:I said, you looked at it.
Speaker C:Now, I tried to help them because I had my friend come out with his infrared and scan the whole thing with his infrared.
Speaker C:And I had a full report that I forwarded to the insurance company before the guy came out and he did his inspection.
Speaker C:He comes back.
Speaker C:I says, so where's the.
Speaker C:Where's the cost for replacing the underlayment?
Speaker C:And I swear, Henry, if I could have been there.
Speaker C:I know I sounded on the phone like it was deer in headlights, because he was like, let me go back and review that.
Speaker C:And then you sent me, you sent me that infrared.
Speaker C:I said, yes, you want me send it to you again?
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, well, please do.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:And he came back.
Speaker C:So he comes back and like, he came back and then he threw me.
Speaker C:It's like throwing people a bone.
Speaker C:This guy threw me $3,000 to fix his roof.
Speaker C:Now it's in the middle, okay?
Speaker C:And a lot of roofers won't even touch doing a section unless it's ridge to ridge.
Speaker C:That's the only way they'll touch it, okay?
Speaker C:So the insurance company thought that anybody would come out and replace.
Speaker C:We'll just say, for argument's sake, Maybe it's a 5 foot by 7 foot area, not ridge to ridge.
Speaker C:It's like in the middle down where that valley where it hits the metal and the stucco and call it a day.
Speaker C:I said, no roofer in their right mind will come out and warranty something like that for the homeowner to be able to do that.
Speaker C:And they were like, well, if the homeowner wants a warranty, then that's something he's going to have to get a different roofer for.
Speaker C:I'd be like, no, no, he's the insured person.
Speaker C:You're the person that's supposed to be keeping him whole.
Speaker C:And I actually went back and I got him a roof quote from ridge to ridge.
Speaker C:And then they came back and then again they quoted X amount of dollars for tile with almost nothing for underlayment.
Speaker C:I mean, it's just ridiculous.
Speaker C:And they're still, I mean, it's what, 10 months now.
Speaker C:They're still fighting it.
Speaker C:And in the, you know, and who's, who's getting hurt?
Speaker C:The homeowner.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker C:Which is ridiculous.
Speaker D:Yeah, no, yeah, you're right.
Speaker D:No, no roofer that I know, including myself, is going to warranty a small portion of a slope.
Speaker D:And the big concern beyond that and my industry anyways is there.
Speaker D:The roofers are more concerned about a future ROC complaint.
Speaker D:If they have a leak somewhere else on that slope and now they've touched it and they got their fingerprints on that roof.
Speaker C:Right, Exactly.
Speaker C:Exactly right.
Speaker D:They could end up having to pay for that slope anyways, so I don't want to do it.
Speaker D:And under rare circumstances, let's say a tree falls, hits the roof and causes mechanical damage in that area.
Speaker D:It's not weather related.
Speaker D:That's a lot simpler to do because we can isolate that.
Speaker D:He's in three course or something like that.
Speaker D:But with, but with what you're talking about, there's probably going to be some wood damage, I would imagine too, at the deck.
Speaker D:So I can picture exactly what, what you're talking about.
Speaker D:It kind of.
Speaker D:It curves around a little bit.
Speaker D:You got maybe three or four foot coming down that probably the two or three trim tile on the inside facing the door hanging loose.
Speaker D:That's probably what it looks like.
Speaker D:And there's going to be probably wood damage there.
Speaker D:That wood goes under the framework right there.
Speaker D:So it's really difficult to get out because you got to pull one board up, climb up in there, take that thing out.
Speaker D:So when, when, when a ripper who's done those kinds of repairs sees that, that's what he's thinking right away.
Speaker D:I got to get that wood out.
Speaker D:I got to get out from under that frame right there.
Speaker D:And this Is going to cost this much.
Speaker D:And then they.
Speaker D:I'm going to be responsible for this whole slope if I touch that little bit right there.
Speaker C:So, yeah, it's all about.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's all about the liability issue.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker C:You know, and then looking at it from another aspect of it, I have another.
Speaker C:Another friend of mine who actually is a massage therapist, she had a saguaro cactus fall on the edge of their roof of their home, which was.
Speaker C:And it was a big one.
Speaker C:I couldn't believe it.
Speaker C:It took out.
Speaker C:It took out the corner.
Speaker C:It was on a slope of.
Speaker C:I was about maybe 12ft up from the front of the house, going up on a pitched roof.
Speaker C:It took out the whole eve and took out a truss inside, Cracked it, so it was ugly.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:And the siding was all destroyed.
Speaker C:I went back and finished the whole siding and got all the siding and restored the siding.
Speaker C:But she had the roofer who had quoted them to come out and do the, you know, do the truss repair and fix the sheeting and everything else up there.
Speaker C:And they had to do.
Speaker C:Again, a question of how much of the shingle roof are you going to replace?
Speaker C:Well, you know, shingles, I think the roof is about 15 years old.
Speaker C:So you can't go back up and just change one section because, not to mention, it's not going to match, Even if it's the same.
Speaker C:Even if they made that shingle, the sun baked the old stuff, it's not going to match the new stuff.
Speaker C:So she says, well, if you can't do that, let's just replace the whole front, because nobody will see the back when it.
Speaker C:On the other pitch going down on the back.
Speaker C:So she was okay with that.
Speaker C:Do you know that the insurance company is still giving them a hard time about that whole thing because they don't want to take responsibility for doing that.
Speaker C:And who gets stuck?
Speaker C:The homeowner and the roofer who's looking for the job.
Speaker C:And he's more than willing to do it.
Speaker C:He is not.
Speaker C:Nothing's getting done.
Speaker C:And the only thing that's protecting the house on the roof is a home depot blue tarp.
Speaker C:And that's it.
Speaker C:That's it.
Speaker C:It's pretty.
Speaker C:Pretty crazy.
Speaker C:I'm telling you.
Speaker C:It's just you.
Speaker C:That's why you need some kind of professional.
Speaker C:And sometimes you need, you know, an arbitrator in between.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:To work a public adjuster to come in and say, hey, get your act together.
Speaker C:Because sometimes, and I've seen this happen before, public adjusters, it's like lighting a Bomb underneath the insurance.
Speaker C:A fire underneath the insurance company.
Speaker C:Because all of a sudden, then they.
Speaker C:All of a sudden they pay attention.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, and it shouldn't have to be that way.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:That I've advised many clients to call a public adjuster.
Speaker D:I have a friend in town that he is a public adjuster, and he taught me some things I didn't know.
Speaker D:Even though I did a bunch of insurance work, I never really thought about who the adjuster represents.
Speaker D:He's just the guy who does the thing, you know?
Speaker D:But I learned that the insurance adjuster is beholden to the insurance company, not to the homeowner, whereas the public adjuster is beholden to the homeowner.
Speaker D:Then you have the independent adjuster who's beholden to whoever hires them.
Speaker D:And I dealt with all three of those.
Speaker D:The independent and the public adjuster, I think, anyways, personally, are the best to deal with because they seem to really be working towards finding the best solution for the homeowner.
Speaker D:And like, in that shingle case, I, as a roofer, I'd want to do the whole thing, even just from looking at it from a craftsman point of view.
Speaker D:I don't want to point.
Speaker D:Riffers are really famous for pointing at stuff and saying, I did that.
Speaker D:I riffed that house.
Speaker D:I ripped that thing.
Speaker D:Even if they just were there for one hour, one day, every riffer that would even touch that thing is going to claim it.
Speaker D:Because riffers are very proud of their trade.
Speaker D:And to have a little patch of shingles that is not going to match the rest of the roof.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker D:They don't want to tell anybody they did that.
Speaker D:That's.
Speaker D:That's an embarrassing job, of course.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Well, you know what?
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:With the.
Speaker C:And in the hoa, always another.
Speaker C:Another entity that gets involved in the mix.
Speaker C:With my chiropractor's job.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They went back and forth.
Speaker C:We had.
Speaker C:We had to take a sample of the second adjuster.
Speaker C:Not the guy from Texas, the second adjuster, because the first guy, they threw him off the case.
Speaker C:And second adjuster, we gave him a sample of the tile, and he claimed he had to send that tile to.
Speaker C:I don't know where to see if they made it and this and that.
Speaker C:And then later on, we found out it's made in South Phoenix.
Speaker C:They didn't have to send it anywhere.
Speaker C:And they said, well, the nearest one is.
Speaker C:They gave us a number.
Speaker C:And they actually.
Speaker C:The insurance company made us go down and get half a dozen tiles.
Speaker C:Then they made us go back up and Put it on the roof.
Speaker C:The HOA wanted to see how well it matched versus the old tiles.
Speaker C:And it didn't match.
Speaker C:It didn't match.
Speaker C:And the chiropractor told the insurance company and said, look, the HOA has the last word.
Speaker C:If they say it doesn't match and it doesn't look good and they won't allow it, the insurance company's got to fess up and say, hey, you know, you have to replace.
Speaker C:We'll do that ridge section and call it a day.
Speaker C:Which isn't that.
Speaker C:I mean, they're only talking about $5,000 here, but they're like, bite.
Speaker C:They're just really nicking and crawling and digging their fingernails into holding on to that dear mighty dollar because they don't want to give it to the homeowner.
Speaker D:They probably already spent that on all the adjusters they're sending out.
Speaker C:Probably, yeah.
Speaker C:And how many adjusters go out that don't know what they're doing?
Speaker C:That's the problem.
Speaker D:Right, right.
Speaker C:That's the problem.
Speaker C:But tell our listeners a little bit about.
Speaker C:Okay, so what part of the Valley do you cover?
Speaker D:Well, I'm all over the Valley.
Speaker D:So I'm down in the southeast Valley area, and my business partner is over in Levine.
Speaker D:So between the two of us, we cover pretty much everything that we need to cover.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:Within the Valley area, I will travel outside the valley area for certain clients and for particular jobs, if it's worth the travel.
Speaker D:But we just kind of stay inside the Phoenix Valley area.
Speaker C:What do you find the most type of work that your company handles?
Speaker C:Is it more shingle, more tile, more foam, or is it a kind of little mix and match of area?
Speaker D:It's a little mix and match.
Speaker D:It'll kind of come in waves.
Speaker D:We'll get a bunch of tile stuff, and then it seems like there's no more shingles left on the planet or something.
Speaker D:And then it'll be all shingle stuff.
Speaker D:And it depends on the area, too.
Speaker D:So we'll go down to Tucson and do work.
Speaker D:And typically if we go down there, it's for shingles.
Speaker D:Almost always.
Speaker D:It seems like for shingles here, it's tile.
Speaker D:You know, there are shingle roofs obviously here in the area, but we do a lot of tile.
Speaker D:Any of our lift and lays that we do are going to be probably up here.
Speaker D:And the further south we go, now that I'm thinking about it, the further south we go, the more shingles we seem to be dealing with.
Speaker D:And the further north we go, the more tile.
Speaker C:Well, see I would have thought, based on all my trips I've ever done, going down to Tucson, I see a large majority of tile down there.
Speaker C:Yeah, they're there for sure, you know, so.
Speaker C:But yeah, but if you had to give our listeners one good point of advice about the roof, what would you tell them?
Speaker D:Well, like you've been saying, have it inspected.
Speaker D:That is something that in my industry is like, it's almost a battle cry.
Speaker D:Have your roof inspected, conduct preventative maintenance.
Speaker D:Those are the simplest things that we can do to prevent the leak in the first place.
Speaker D:But a lot of people, and it's frustrating to me and anybody else in my industry, wait for the leak, then they call the roofer.
Speaker D:But by the time we have the leak, it could be, if we catch that thing in advance, it could be some small, very easy to repair.
Speaker D:Sometimes just clean out the valleys.
Speaker D:That's all we need to do.
Speaker D:Sometimes replace a little bit of something or put in a new van or there's a, you know, a damaged vent that's been pulled away or something like that.
Speaker D:We can fix that before it becomes a problem inside.
Speaker D:Now they got drywall and potential mold, things like that, but they wait for the leak.
Speaker D:And we try to use the analogy in our industry, and I think that we're failing with this analogy is you don't wait for your car engine to blow up before you check the oil.
Speaker D:You do it regularly.
Speaker D:And so for a roof, I would say have it inspected.
Speaker D:If not, you know, twice a year, once a year, and if not that, every.
Speaker D:At least every other year.
Speaker D:And try to do it sometime just before the monsoon seasons so that you know that your roof is ready for the monsoon season.
Speaker D:And if you neglect that, make sure you get someone out there afterwards.
Speaker D:Because chances are good, if you're involved in a monsoon burst, you're going to have debris on your roof and you get that off of there.
Speaker D:And if it's tile roof, sloped roof, I don't think there won't be debris there.
Speaker D:It will build up in the valleys, it will get under the tile and it'll push its way back and they'll start to deteriorate.
Speaker D:That base sheet or the underlayment right there in those valley areas, which are.
Speaker D:Which are very prone to leaks once that underlayment is gone, which was the problem we're dealing with in Florida that I mentioned earlier, they have leaks at the valleys for similar.
Speaker D:Similar reasons.
Speaker D:So, yeah, that would be my advice.
Speaker D:If not right before the monsoons, right after the monsoon season.
Speaker D:So we're Talking September or June through September, right in that area.
Speaker D:And don't wait for the leak.
Speaker D:If you're waiting for the leak to get your roof inspected, then you're behind the curve.
Speaker C:Let's put it this way.
Speaker C:If the roof leaks really bad, you know, what's the next, see these segues are so good.
Speaker C:You know what's the next thing that's going to get damaged?
Speaker D:Drywall.
Speaker C:Your floor.
Speaker E:Drywall, Floor.
Speaker C:Drywall, floor.
Speaker C:It just works its way down.
Speaker E:Water is going to find its way down.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, we were talking about this the other day.
Speaker C:Somebody looks, thinks if you had water damage from the, from your roof and you look at the drywall, it looks like your drywall has a sag in it.
Speaker C:Like it's getting old.
Speaker C:There's water damage in that thing.
Speaker C:It's crazy.
Speaker C:All right, we're going to take a short break.
Speaker C:When we come back, we're going to talk to Dan and we're going to talk about roof.
Speaker C:Talk about roof.
Speaker C:We're going to talk about flooring.
Speaker C:So you got me all confused here.
Speaker C:We're going to talk about flooring.
Speaker C:Dan Zink is going to be here, here with Floyd's R Us.
Speaker E:It seems like we could go on about roofs for a long time.
Speaker C:We could, there was so much to talk about, you know, and before we hit that, before we hit that music, Henry, tell our listeners how they can contact you.
Speaker D: So my phone number is: Speaker D:That's my direct line.
Speaker D:I answer that phone.
Speaker D:I can also be reached on my website, which is W WW.
Speaker D:I hope I said the right amount of W's there.
Speaker D:Yep, the Arizona roofer.net not.com someone else has that unfortunately, but.net and or you can email me at the ArizonaRoofermail.com Arizona roofer.
Speaker D: -: Speaker D:And that goes straight to me.
Speaker D:So I answer my phone calls and personally handle that stuff myself.
Speaker C:All right, Henry, thanks so much.
Speaker C:We're gonna go to break right now, so hang tight.
Speaker C:We'll be right back.
Speaker C:Don't go away.
Speaker F:Hi, I'm Erica Thompson, the dominating designer.
Speaker F:A hard working artist with a sense of humor.
Speaker F:What is the dominating designer process?
Speaker F:It's just like what you see on tv.
Speaker F:We discuss your wants and needs about your project, go over your ideas.
Speaker F:Then I provide you creative, one of a kind options that fit your budget with respect to your home's value.
Speaker F:When we finish your project, you are set to enjoy your new space.
Speaker F:I would love to help you with your upcoming project.
Speaker F:Please reach out to me on Instagram the dominatingdesigner.
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Speaker B: -: Speaker C:All right, we are back and you are listening to Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C: And this is the: Speaker C:We've got a lot of events coming up that we're going to be having on the show.
Speaker C:Some interesting things here in the valley of the Sun.
Speaker C: d that went back that this is: Speaker E:Congratulations.
Speaker C:Couldn't, couldn't believe that it was like 20 years.
Speaker C:Where did that go?
Speaker C:You know, My God.
Speaker C: So, yeah, we started doing: Speaker C:I was broadcasting on the Internet from a little storefront in old town Glendale, you know, about two stores over from that German restaurant that's over there.
Speaker C:It was really good and it was a interesting journey to start.
Speaker C:And here we are 20 years later.
Speaker C:So it's all good.
Speaker C:And here we're at the beautiful, palacious Boxcar Universe Studios with my wonderful producer, Gabe manning the ship here.
Speaker C:Yep, there he is.
Speaker C:And we want to get into talking a little bit more about our next topic with our next guest, Daniel Zink from Floors R Us.
Speaker C:And Dan, welcome to Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C:I know it's been several months we've been trying to make this happen, but thanks for taking the time to get here.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Good afternoon, Steve.
Speaker E:Thanks for having me on.
Speaker C:I know you're a busy guy.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:I'm glad to be here, though.
Speaker E:It's a pleasure.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We want to talk a little bit, obviously, about flooring because flooring is a big deal in people's homes, especially people that want to get rid of, you know, what they have.
Speaker C:But before we get into Some of those.
Speaker C:The demo stuff that you do as well as the flooring stuff.
Speaker C:Tell our listeners a little bit about you and about your company.
Speaker E:Floors R Us.
Speaker E: e've been in the Valley since: Speaker E:And we recently had a very large store on Grand Avenue which we closed the doors on, but we are now shop at home.
Speaker E:And we still provide a wonderful service, great warranties, and, you know, we definitely stand behind all of our work.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's.
Speaker C:And obviously that's so important because there's so many people out there that don't stand behind their work.
Speaker C:And that's not, that's not a really good thing.
Speaker C:And I know I could never go to bed at night and sleep if I didn't try and do my best for my customer.
Speaker E:Exactly.
Speaker C:You know, so.
Speaker C:But what.
Speaker C:Tell our listeners what types of, what types of flooring do you handle?
Speaker E:Well, right now, currently we're doing mostly residential.
Speaker E:Our license does expand to commercial flooring, but right now we're concentrating mostly on residential.
Speaker E:And, you know, it covers a wide range of all the floorings.
Speaker E:Very experienced in all the floorings.
Speaker E:Trending is probably.
Speaker E:Your vinyl floorings are trending more now, and very large format tiles, that's trending.
Speaker E:The day of the small tile seems to be disappearing.
Speaker C:Yes, Especially, you know, you go into those older homes where you have the typical 12x12s with quarter inch grout lines.
Speaker E:Correct.
Speaker C:But the only thing that makes good 4 is good demo.
Speaker C:That's about it.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:And keeping demo clean is a priority of ours.
Speaker E:So when we do come into your home and demo, we'd make sure that everything's masked off.
Speaker E:We have proper ventilation, proper attire and protecting product.
Speaker E:We protect your floors, we protect your home.
Speaker E:Make sure that you don't have a big dust bowl mess, you know, when we leave.
Speaker C:Yeah, especially that.
Speaker C:I've seen that happen before where I've gone in and somebody has done a, you know, a demo, like a tile demo, like you said.
Speaker C:And you know, we're going up, taking vents down to, you know, paint and do all this other stuff.
Speaker C:And the filters are completely clogged on the, on the inlet side of your air conditioning because nobody masked the vent off before they did the demo.
Speaker E:Exactly.
Speaker C:I mean, it's just, it's.
Speaker C:It's bad.
Speaker C:Now think about that, you know, and we, we've done shows in the past about that where the dust that accumulates in your home under normal circumstances sometimes is too much to bear because it'll clog your filter.
Speaker C:Think about what what concrete dust and tile dust is if it gets sucked into your air conditioning unit.
Speaker E:I mean, being, being in Arizona is a pretty dusty place sometimes.
Speaker C:I mean, you know, we do live in a desert here.
Speaker E:Yes, we do.
Speaker C:And that's amazing.
Speaker C:Some people, they don't get it.
Speaker C:They just don't get it.
Speaker C:They go in and this is, again, if there's anything else that I could possibly do for every show that I've ever done is to get the homeowner to stop for a minute and think about, you know, am I making the right choice?
Speaker C:And I always say, like, don't get your landscaping or paint your house when obviously the analogy works because don't get just anybody to come in and do demo because you don't know they know what they're doing.
Speaker C:They don't think beyond the box, so to speak.
Speaker C:And the dust and everything else in the whole house.
Speaker C:And before you know it, if you allow them to do it, then you have nobody but yourself to blame.
Speaker E:It's the hurry up, we're done, pay me mentality.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I'm out of here.
Speaker C:And it's like my friend Dan, who's the home inspector who turns around A lot of, a lot of companies like that, Dan, have the taillight warranties.
Speaker C:When you can't see them anymore, the warranty's gone and that's it.
Speaker C:But where do you find that homeowners are changing right now.
Speaker C:Are they, are they going, are they changing tile out for the wood laminate or they, or vinyl laminate or they, or they just like, it's time to get rid of all the carpet.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:You know, carpet's always been an issue with customers for a lot of reasons that, you know, it collects dust, it collects dirt, it gets dirty.
Speaker E:I like to refer to it as the house diaper.
Speaker C:The house diaper.
Speaker E:Well, if you don't take care of it, it's going to be, you know, it's a very high maintenance floor.
Speaker E:If you, if you're.
Speaker E:So, if you take care of it properly, your carpet can last a long time.
Speaker E:That is going to require a lot of vacuuming.
Speaker E:I mean, I mean, you're gonna have to vacuum at least once a week if you don't want your carpet to be deteriorating.
Speaker E:If you're spending a lot of money on carpet.
Speaker E:Yeah, the fibers will last a little longer, but sooner or later, if you're not vacuuming the car, the dirt is going to get into the carpet fibers, it's going to start cutting away at them.
Speaker E:It's just going to Destroy them.
Speaker E:And a lot of people are getting away from carpet, whether or not it's, I mean, there's some carpet out there now that's more expensive than, you know, stone.
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker E:Oh, yeah.
Speaker E:I mean, we, I have a little bit of carpet in my home, so we just did replace the master bedroom and, and it was $10 a foot just for the carpet really.
Speaker E:So you can get up there, it can get expensive.
Speaker E:So if you want nice stuff, you know, you should, you know, take care of it properly or else you're gonna be spending a lot of money, you know.
Speaker E:And so for that price, I probably could have put a very high end wood in the, in the bedroom.
Speaker E:So.
Speaker E:But it does bring warmth, it does bring comfort, and carpet has some value to it.
Speaker E:So it's not completely a waste.
Speaker E:But a lot of customers don't want any carpet in their home at all.
Speaker E:So going, you know, to hard surface is a big deal.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:And here's another trend taking place is that the travertine era has ended.
Speaker E:I mean, it's gone.
Speaker E:It's.
Speaker E:People aren't doing travertine.
Speaker E:They want travertine out of their house.
Speaker E:They want to rip it out.
Speaker E:And it's a little bit of a task.
Speaker E:It's very dusty.
Speaker E:It's very, you know, I, I personally like stone.
Speaker E:I like the way that travertine looks and such.
Speaker E:But it seems to be trending to be popular, to rip it out, just get it out, you know.
Speaker C:Well, and you know, when you go back and think about it, it was, it was, it was fairly popular but not that long ago that, I mean, you know, and, well, again, it's like, you know, painting trends, I think the graying of America is over.
Speaker C:People just are not painting gray anymore for the most part.
Speaker C:I mean, they're going back to, you know, especially like cabinets.
Speaker C:They're going back to white cabinets, you know, shaker style for the most part, if it's an average type home.
Speaker E:But I've seen the light browns.
Speaker E:I like a lot of light browns with gray in it.
Speaker E:It's popular now that people are going, you know, this is what you're going to look at for years.
Speaker E:And you know, you want a floor to look nice, appealing, and you want it to be installed correctly too.
Speaker E:So, you know, or else you're going to have problems.
Speaker E:There's a lot of, there's a lot of people out there installing floors.
Speaker E:They're not doing them correctly and they, they start separating on you or they'll start cracking and doing things.
Speaker E:But you know, as far as trends for colors and stuff, I'm seeing a lot of browns come back, and, you know, they want just a touch of gray in it.
Speaker E:You know, they don't want the gray floor anymore.
Speaker E:The dark grays are gone.
Speaker E:And, you know, those.
Speaker E:Those are pretty much trending away.
Speaker C:Yeah, well, you know, and again, yeah, it's a matter of preference, but I think you're right.
Speaker C:I think the one thing that I've seen is that, you know, we talk about traffic areas, like, for carpet, they get.
Speaker C:They get trounced.
Speaker C:And you could only resurrect them so many times before.
Speaker C:Even after you.
Speaker C:After you shampoo them or do whatever you got to do to them, the fibers just don't come back to life.
Speaker C:Is that talking about.
Speaker C:Like we were talking earlier with Henry about the effects of the sun?
Speaker C:The sun will actually.
Speaker C:This one carpet in this one bedroom is completely destroyed from inside.
Speaker C:The point where the window ends and where the vertical blind begins, which is only about 2 or 3 inches, but it's so old and got burned out, you could literally see the carpet mesh underneath because the fibers are all gone.
Speaker C:It's the mesh.
Speaker C:The only thing that's left is the mesh.
Speaker C:So at that point in time, I'm like, you know, either do one or two things.
Speaker C:You either don't open your verticals and keep them closed so you can't see it, or you replace it and put some new flooring down.
Speaker C:And that's obviously the second one is the more preferred choice.
Speaker E:Well, if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a wood floor, you still want that wood look, you know, the vinyl flooring is affordable, you know, and the vinyl flooring has actually gone through a lot of trends in the last few years that, you know, it was a relatively new floor.
Speaker E:I mean, we had the laminates before, remember?
Speaker E:And people were like, oh, you know, I mopped my floor.
Speaker E:Water got in the seam and busted open the seam of the.
Speaker E:You know, and it was just.
Speaker E:I just spilled a little water.
Speaker E:Well, you didn't clean it up right away, and there it is.
Speaker E:Gets in the joints, blows them open.
Speaker E:Well, the vinyl floors don't do that.
Speaker E:So, you know, they last a lot longer.
Speaker E:They're more durable, they're thinner, but they actually look a lot more like wood than the laminates.
Speaker E:They have a very appealing look to them.
Speaker E:And you.
Speaker E:When you're buying a laminate floor, you want to look at, you know, the surface of the.
Speaker E:There's the core and the surface.
Speaker E:And, you know, most of the companies are going to have a backing on there, but if you're, you know, if you have a surface that's only, you know, 12 mil thick, you know, it's, it's not going to hold up as long.
Speaker E:You know, I've seen them actually fall apart from vacuum cleaners and you say, well, it's a vacuum cleaner.
Speaker E:How is it destroying a vacuum, a floor?
Speaker E:Well, it'll suck the edges off, right?
Speaker E:It'll crack them.
Speaker E:It'll, you know, and it's, you want to go towards a 20 mil wear layer floor where it's going to be durable enough that it's not going to get, you know, beat up by traffic.
Speaker E:So, and start, you know, edges cracking and they're pulling apart and things like that.
Speaker E:So that's what I recommend.
Speaker E:And so it's, you know, it's, it's, it's.
Speaker E:If it's going to break the bank to pay that little extra, then, you know, there are still a couple of good quality 12 mils out there.
Speaker E:But you got to be very careful and do your research.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker C:All right, we're going to take one more break and then we're going to be back.
Speaker C:We could talk with Dan a little bit more about some different types of flooring.
Speaker C:I want to get his take on bamboo flooring, if that's still being used or not, and the pros and cons of that, as well as some pet friendly floor types for you.
Speaker C:Because I remember when I did my bedroom years ago, my first house in Arizona, you know, the one thing that you got to be careful when they turn around and they say there's a big difference between scratch proof and scratch resistant.
Speaker C:Okay?
Speaker C:And scratch resistant is you got to get scratches.
Speaker C:There's no other way to describe it.
Speaker C:But hang tight.
Speaker C:We'll be right back.
Speaker C:You're listening to Boxcar Uniform.
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Speaker G:Electric and I have a tip to help make your life better.
Speaker G:One important reminder is to call a qualified electrician when you have frequent problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers.
Speaker G:When a circuit breaker trips or a fuse blows, it's indicating that you have a problem with some other part of the circuit.
Speaker G:If your breaker trips more than once, you should have a qualified electrician come out and take a look at it.
Speaker G:Contrary to what may be acceptable, you really shouldn't try to continuously try to reset the breaker because there may be a problem somewhere else down the circuit and you could be causing a fire hazard.
Speaker G:There could be a loose connection or some other form of problem on the circuit.
Speaker G:And every time you reset the circuit breaker, it could be causing a spark at the other end.
Speaker G:We recommend having a qualified electrician come out and check on the condition of the circuit and make sure that the circuit does not have any problems.
Speaker G:And it could just be a bad breaker also.
Speaker G:But you definitely want to have a qualified electrician check that out.
Speaker G:To have someone come out from our team may only take a portion of a day, but it could potentially save you a lot of money or your life.
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Speaker C:All right, we are back and you are listening to Boxcar Universe and one of the other things I want to let our listeners know about, too, our good friend Renee Sievers, who actually is the creator of Tiny Fest, which is for those of you around the country that don't know what Tiny Fest might be.
Speaker C:It is very similar to a home show with tiny vehicles in it, Tiny Homes.
Speaker C:And she is going to be out at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego on March 8th and 9th, and we're going to be covering that Tiny Fest and bring you some great information and the latest in trends from tiny homes.
Speaker C:And she has got a great story which I will share with all our listeners once again.
Speaker C: , I think it was December of: Speaker C:She's got a lot of great information about tiny homes.
Speaker C:And her story is just one of just, you never know when you have a passion and you start doing something, how it will grow and grow and grow.
Speaker C:And now she does two Tiny Fests a year in California.
Speaker C:One in Southern California, like I said, in San Diego, the other one up near San Francisco later on in the year.
Speaker C:So all good information coming your way.
Speaker C:But let's get back to our discussion here with Dan.
Speaker C:You know, during the break we were talking about a little bit about those pet friendly floor types.
Speaker C:What would you recommend would be a pet friendly floor type that if a customer had will say dogs.
Speaker E:Dogs, cats, anything with.
Speaker C:Anything with nails, claws, including, including alligators.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker E:Yeah, it can happen.
Speaker E:I remember a guy had a pot belly pig in his upstairs and it was big.
Speaker C:Obviously he would.
Speaker E:His needs for flooring were a little different.
Speaker E:So.
Speaker E:Yeah, no, I think most people are probably concerned more about, you know, their dog slipping, you know, is the dog going to slip and slide across the floor, you know, and their nails, are they going to scratch the floor up?
Speaker E:Most likely, yes.
Speaker E:This is, I think partially where you want to get a higher end laminate, you know, something with a thicker wear layer, something with a little more resistance to the scratching.
Speaker E:You know, it's important because it can look like heck after a little while, you know.
Speaker E:And also, you know, keeping the floor clean is going to make a big difference, you know, with scratching and non scratching your floor.
Speaker E:You could be scratching your floor, you don't even know it.
Speaker E:You walk in the door, you got some dust or some sand on you and then you, if it's not cleaned up, you walk across it, you're skidding across it and it'll scratch the floor.
Speaker C:It's like sandpaper.
Speaker E:Sandpaper.
Speaker E:It will tear it up.
Speaker E:So you know, it can, it can be.
Speaker E:So keeping the floor clean is very, very important.
Speaker E:There's ways to get the scratches out there.
Speaker E:As long as they're not extreme, you know, they can come out.
Speaker E:You know, there's products out there that can, that can help with that.
Speaker C:They're buffing out that.
Speaker C:One of the things that I think it's, it's, it what I've seen a good viable solution to like if you tear out all your carpet like in your master bedroom and you want to have that type of floor and a lot of people are just finding area rugs.
Speaker C:Put an area rug under your bed and then the outside area around the bed is, is your, is your, you know, your laminate flooring.
Speaker C:And this way in plastic, it's from.
Speaker C:It actually works from an aesthetic point of view and the design of what you're doing in the house.
Speaker C:I think it looks a lot better than just, you know, straight carpet.
Speaker E:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker E:And you know, carpets gonna be a lot more comfortable for an animal.
Speaker E:You know, if you have a dog or a cat, they're gonna feel way more comfortable with that.
Speaker E:You know, just the other day, my Dog jumped off the couch and he landed on the hard surface and he threw his shoulder out.
Speaker C:Oh, wow.
Speaker E:So I had to take him to the vet.
Speaker E:And, you know, it's like he slid across the floor instead of landing.
Speaker E:And it's just, you know, the way it is with hard surface tile, it's going to be much of the same.
Speaker E:You know, you can get a matte finish tile that would help, you know, with grip and stuff like that.
Speaker E:And, you know, it's the same thing with a stairway.
Speaker E:When you're going up and down a stairway, you know, it can get pretty slippery, so you got to be careful.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:What would you find is the best thing to clean the laminate flooring?
Speaker C:Like, for instance, is a Swiffer the best thing for it to clean?
Speaker C:Obviously, you don't want to dump a lot of water on it, but.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Well, I mean.
Speaker E:Yeah, you just want to.
Speaker E:You just.
Speaker E:It can be mopped, you know, if you have laminate, you're going to stay away from a mop.
Speaker E:Swiffer is fine.
Speaker E:If you have a vinyl floor, because a lot of people are calling vinyl floors laminate, and it's not really laminate.
Speaker E:So you're going to probably.
Speaker E:You can.
Speaker E:You can hit it with a mop.
Speaker E:It can take some water.
Speaker E:It's not going to tear it up too bad.
Speaker E:A lot of water sitting for a long time is going to do damage to anything, just like a roof or anywhere else, you know, it's gonna.
Speaker E:It's gonna take its toll.
Speaker E:But you want to.
Speaker E:If you get spills and stuff like that, you want to clean them up right away.
Speaker E:You don't want them to soak in and sit there and, you know, it's just not good.
Speaker E:So keep it thin.
Speaker E:Keep the water lines thin.
Speaker E:You'll be fine.
Speaker E:If you need to repair scratches, you know, there's products out there you can, you know, find that can do it.
Speaker E:It's like kind of having scratches on your car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:You know, and there's some polishes out there, floor polishes that'll take him out and stuff.
Speaker E:So just apply them.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:You know, and they'll.
Speaker E:They'll.
Speaker E:The old.
Speaker E:The old.
Speaker E:The old lemon with.
Speaker E:What is it?
Speaker E:The oil there.
Speaker E:The olive oil.
Speaker C:Olive oil.
Speaker E:A little lemon, a little olive oil.
Speaker E:Put it on the wood, scratch it, and it disappears.
Speaker C:Magic.
Speaker E:It is.
Speaker E:It's magic.
Speaker E:And it's really amazing.
Speaker C:That's pretty.
Speaker E:But, you know.
Speaker E:Yeah, there's floor care.
Speaker E:I think Bona makes products.
Speaker E:BO na.
Speaker E:They make products to, you know, maintain your Floors and clean them.
Speaker E:And, you know, that's.
Speaker E:That, That's a good product.
Speaker E:And, you know, you can.
Speaker E:I don't know if they.
Speaker E:I think you can get that at, you know, the big box store.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker E:The orange one.
Speaker C:The orange one.
Speaker C:Yeah, we know about that one.
Speaker C:Do you find many people are looking for bamboo flooring?
Speaker E:You know, not really.
Speaker C:Used to be.
Speaker C:Used to be a trendy thing.
Speaker E:It went through a really trendy time, and it was long before they actually had to remake the way that they did bamboo floors.
Speaker E:And bamboo floors came out years ago.
Speaker E:They were expensive, they weren't cheap.
Speaker E:And then the next thing you know, everybody, you know, we're getting phone calls.
Speaker E:Hey, how do I get the termites to stop eating my bamboo floor?
Speaker E:You know, move, move.
Speaker C:That's how you get them to stop.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker E:So, and, you know, in bamboo is a grass, you have to remember it's not like an oak, you know, or a mahogany, where it's, you know, gets this dense, you know, denseness to it.
Speaker E:It's a grass.
Speaker E:It needs to breathe.
Speaker E:So what they did was they came up with a process called carbonization, where it reinforced the bamboo.
Speaker E:And ever since they did that, it became, you know, much stronger, much, much longer, you know, lifetime lifespan.
Speaker E:And, you know, but what happens to wood if it shrinks and contracts is you have different surfaces on that wood.
Speaker E:Some is ceramic, you know, the old lacquers.
Speaker E:Those are.
Speaker E:Those are.
Speaker E:You don't see a lacquer floor these days, you know, but, you know, they're made out of harder surfaces, harder, harder substances.
Speaker E:And so what happens when they say if it shrinks and then expands?
Speaker E:You're going to get checking.
Speaker E:You know what that is?
Speaker E:The checking is it'll start cracking.
Speaker E:These little tiny hairline cracks will start forming on top of the surface of your floor.
Speaker E:And it can happen with wood flooring to any type of wood flooring.
Speaker E:You want to regulate the temperatures in your home when you have wood flooring, you know, and make sure that, you know, again, keep them clean, keep your floors clean, keep water off of them.
Speaker E:Wood floors and bamboo, it's not the best thing for them.
Speaker C:Yeah, really.
Speaker C:I mean, here are things you need to worry about.
Speaker C:One more thing I wanted before we wrap up.
Speaker C:I want to just touch base on.
Speaker C:And Dan, you and I talked about this before.
Speaker C:Obviously, with some flooring, it's not just like once you rip the carpet up, let's just say you have a wood substrate or even concrete, you just can't put the flooring back Down.
Speaker C:Because again, talking like we talked about earlier with Henry, we're talking about the moisture aspect of what comes through your concrete and everything else, which definitely is going to affect your floor.
Speaker E:Oh, definitely.
Speaker E:And so, yeah, and all the, all the, all the laminate, the vinyl laminate, the vinyl floors had went through a process of learning.
Speaker E:So years ago, you wouldn't see.
Speaker E:You'll see if you have an old box of it, you'll pull it out, and you can see in the warranties that they don't have very much stuff in there that you had to do.
Speaker E:But now, boom, you have to put the underlayment on the floor, make sure that it's the constant moisture that is the killer.
Speaker E:It's not just, hey, we have a little moisture here every now and then, but the moisture is coming up through your concrete.
Speaker E:And you say, well, we're in Arizona.
Speaker E:We don't have problems with that.
Speaker E:Well, yeah, we do, because moisture gets stored underneath your concrete so that when the, when, you know, it's wintertime now, everything's compressed and condensed underneath your concrete.
Speaker E:But as soon as spring comes around and the heat starts hitting, that moisture is going somewhere and it's going through your concrete into your floor.
Speaker E:They really would like you to have a vapor barrier on the floor.
Speaker E:If you have a wood floor, a second story, you don't have to worry about it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And again, it's some things that you need to know about.
Speaker C:And again, it's like, you know, anybody can go to the Big Orange or the blue store and buy wood flooring.
Speaker C:But again, you know, it's the process that it counts.
Speaker C:And again, I urge a lot of people, if you go to YouTube and you look up something, whatever you'd like to do, a lot of it makes for good humor.
Speaker C:That's about it.
Speaker C:Because there's a lot of people that go on there and do videos that don't know what the hell they're doing.
Speaker E:You don't want somebody coming into your home installing incorrectly.
Speaker E:And then six months, a year, year and a half down the road, your flooring looks like heck.
Speaker E:And you're wondering why.
Speaker E:And there's a process.
Speaker E:There's, you know, there's laws.
Speaker E:I mean, you know, you can.
Speaker E:You'll lose the whole floor.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, Dan, tell our listeners a little bit how they can contact you.
Speaker E: -: Speaker E:Or you can email me@danzfloorsmail.com d a n f l o o r s gmail.com and we'll try to get your answer.
Speaker E:Answers to your questions.
Speaker E:A lot of people have questions and, you know, they might not, you know, understand or know a process or what they might want to choose or what they need to have or need to choose for their flooring.
Speaker E:And it could make the difference, make or break, you know.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, again, making the right choice doesn't.
Speaker C:It doesn't cost you much to make an extra phone call.
Speaker E:Exactly.
Speaker C:Just to make sure to find out what you're doing is the right thing.
Speaker C:Because again, again, you can go to bed with peace of mind and knowing that.
Speaker C:Knowing that things were done correctly and that you have the right source to get your answers from.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker E:And always use licensed contractors, right?
Speaker C:Yes, always.
Speaker C:Don't.
Speaker C:Yeah, don't use.
Speaker E:I wanted to mention that because you were talking about those guys coming in and out of.
Speaker E:With the roofing and.
Speaker E:And when a storm goes by and.
Speaker E:And it's just.
Speaker E:I've had it happen to me, actually, with the roofing.
Speaker D:So they assume a license, but that's not a thing.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Just because they have a certification, though.
Speaker C:I would go a step beyond that.
Speaker C:Make sure that you go back and ask for references and go back and ask for a certificate of liability insurance to make sure that you as a homeowner are covered and other people have used this person and you've done all the due diligence you could possibly do before you let them come in your home.
Speaker E:So having a certificate doesn't make you responsible to the state.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker E:Having a license makes you responsible.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:All right, guys, thanks so much for being here today and I really appreciate.
Speaker C:You know, we've talked about the home top to bottom, roof to floor, so it was a great show.
Speaker C:And more stuff coming your way on the future episodes of Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C:But I'd like to remind all our listeners that we are your source for information on remodeling and renovating and plus container homes and container pools.
Speaker C:Don't forget about those container pools because spring will be here before you know it.
Speaker C:And if you're thinking of getting a pool, why not a container pool?
Speaker C:I can help you with that.
Speaker C:Make sure you give us a call at one Boxcar and we'll get you an estimate on your container home or container pool.
Speaker C:You could always reach me at steveoxcaruniverse.com and Boxcar Universe.
Speaker C:The podcast can be heard on any podcast player.
Speaker C:And always remember, let us elevate your sustainable lifestyle.
Speaker C:See you next time on Boxcar Universe.
Speaker E:You're a great American.
Speaker E:I love you.
Speaker C:It.
