Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / Is Your Bathroom Fan Enough? Plus: Peeling Paint and Stump Removal Made Simple

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Is Your Bathroom Fan Enough? Plus: Peeling Paint and Stump Removal Made Simple · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, thanks for tuning in. You're listening to Home
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: in Progress, sponsored by repcoll Life Beans and Benjamin Moore.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: And before I jump into the show this week, I
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: want to talk about my week last week because it
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: was a tough week and I, you know, I guess
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it really really got
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: me thinking and that's what I want to kind of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: work through right now. Anyway, here's the scoop last week.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Saturday afternoonish, you know, four point thirty something like that.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I get a text from my mom and Mom announces
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: in the text that she's at the emergency room with
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: my dad. He was dealing with double vision and a
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: few other things and Mom was concerned, so she brought him,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: you know, straight there to the emergency room. While long
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  Speaker 1: story short, he ended up getting transferred via ambulance to
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Grand Rapids, where they eventually decided over the course of
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a number of days that Dad had suffered from a
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: minor stroke that had affected his vision. Now at this point,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the prognosis looks pretty good, you know, the vision thing.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: They keep talking about that that's going to just take
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  Speaker 1: time to heal. If it heals, they think it's probably
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  Speaker 1: gonna heal, but if it doesn't, in order to deal
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  Speaker 1: with that double vision, he's gonna have to wear an
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  Speaker 1: eye patch and that'll take care of things. And I
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  Speaker 1: know that sounds bad right to most of you. You know,
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  Speaker 1: you've got to wear an eye patch, you know, for
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: an extended period of time. None of us are going
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  Speaker 1: to like that, and you may feel some pity, but
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: don't at least so far. You know, at this point,
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  Speaker 1: Dad is really pretty thrilled, you know, with his eye patch.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: It's kind of nice because you know he's got it,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: not because he's literally missing an eye. You know, that
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: was the original purpose of eye patches, at least, you know,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: it's my understanding of why pirates made them popular. But
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  Speaker 1: Dad's not missing an eye, so that means he can
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  Speaker 1: swap the eye patch back and forth, which he does.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: You know, he lets it ride normally strapped to the
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  Speaker 1: center of his forehead if he doesn't need it, because
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: he can read and do all of that stuff without
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  Speaker 1: seeing double But if he's got to, you know, get
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: up and move around or something like that, then he
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  Speaker 1: just slaps it down on whichever i he wants to
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  Speaker 1: cover for that particular time period, and he's off and running,
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  Speaker 1: you know, talking like a pirate and doing stuff like that.
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  Speaker 1: So at this point, he's enjoying his eye patch. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know how long that's gonna last. But don't
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: feel too much pity for him because of the eye patch,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: at least not yet. Anyway, at the end of the day,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: you know, when we take everything into account, all the
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: things that we've kind of walked through as a family
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: for the past week or so, it seems like Dad's
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: weathered the storm really well and he's gonna be with
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: us for a long time yet. But you know, I
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: know a lot of you have been through this too.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: You know, you've probably been through far worse things. You know,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: many people have. But seeing Dad in the hospital room, tired, weak,
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  Speaker 1: you know, struggling to breathe at times, you know, seeing
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  Speaker 1: all of that take place was so tough, you know,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: crazy tough. And like I said, I'm not saying anything new,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: you know, to anybody who's been there, you know, and
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  Speaker 1: that's really not my point. I'm not trying to say
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  Speaker 1: anything new. I guess I'm just talking about my experience. Right.
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  Speaker 1: It's cathartic, you know, So this is this is therapy
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: for me, But I just want to talk it through
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  Speaker 1: because it was so jolting to see this guy who's
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: always tough, right, that's always tough, faking it all the time.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: We knew some of that, but he always had this crunchy,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: crusty exterior that was super tough, you know, and he
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: was always really silly, you know, super tough, I should clarify,
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  Speaker 1: super tough. When it came to you know, injuries or
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  Speaker 1: anything like that, he would just you know, power through everything.
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  Speaker 1: But he was also crazy silly, like literally crazy, so stubborn,
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  Speaker 1: you know. Seeing that guy just laying there like that
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  Speaker 1: in the hospital was really really jolting. And as I'm
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  Speaker 1: standing there, you know, sitting there waiting there, my sisters
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: are there, and as we're all there, the memories just
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  Speaker 1: come flooding back, and it was really unreal. You know.
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  Speaker 1: I thought I had a good handle on the memories
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  Speaker 1: of my childhood. I feel like I've done a good
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  Speaker 1: job keeping those front and center in my mind, you know,
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  Speaker 1: all the fun that I had growing up. But when
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  Speaker 1: that moment hit this past week and I'm standing in
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  Speaker 1: that hospital room, I was completely amazed at the thoughts
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  Speaker 1: that came pouring back into my mind, you know, things
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  Speaker 1: that I hadn't thought about in years, but things that
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  Speaker 1: I could literally hear in my head. I could hear
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  Speaker 1: these things again, and I could smell, you know, certain things,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, it was very a very visceral experience.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: The memories were that vivid. You know, Dad flying kites
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: with us every single March, for example. You know, the
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: snow's not even completely melted yet, the wind was always
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: super chilly, but the sun was out, and he'd get
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: us out there in the yard every March, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and we'd be out there, you know, bundled up, staring
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  Speaker 1: at this kite in the air for hours, you know,
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  Speaker 1: running around in the yard staring at the kite, having
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a blast. I had no idea what the main draw was,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: looking back, you know, what made me stay out there
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  Speaker 1: so long as a little kid. But it was a
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  Speaker 1: rite of spring, you know, every single year when Dad
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  Speaker 1: came home with his new kite, which he did every March,
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  Speaker 1: we knew spring was coming, and we knew we had
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  Speaker 1: big time fun coming up on the coming Saturday because
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna be out in the yard with that kite.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Another memory, Dad talking to his invisible friends at the
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  Speaker 1: grocery store or the restaurant or church or wherever. And yeah,
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  Speaker 1: you heard that right. The man had invisible friends. You know,
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  Speaker 1: they were invisible. They were friends Bob and Henry. You know,
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  Speaker 1: that's what he called them. We don't know where the
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  Speaker 1: names came from or what sparked this. And honestly, I'm
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: talking about this in the past tense. It's still ongoing.
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  Speaker 1: He still has invisible friends. Kids. We thought it was hilarious.
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  Speaker 1: The grandkids think it's hilarious. And of course that's the point.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't have serious problems that he really thinks these
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  Speaker 1: people are there. I don't think so anyway. I think
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  Speaker 1: he knows that they're fake. But he has a lot
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  Speaker 1: of fun. He's never embarrassed. He never had this sense
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  Speaker 1: of embarrassment at all. You know me, I'm constantly embarrassed.
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  Speaker 1: I'm very self conscious wherever I go anywhere. Dad he
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  Speaker 1: could go anywhere, He could do anything, and if people
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  Speaker 1: thought he was crazy, that was just you know, that
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  Speaker 1: was icing on the cake. That was gravy. He loved that.
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  Speaker 1: So he'd go places and he'd hold open doors for
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  Speaker 1: invisible people to walk through. You know, I remember as
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  Speaker 1: a kid watching people with shocked faces as Dad is
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  Speaker 1: holding a door open and kind of urging some small,
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  Speaker 1: invisible person to move through the door and get to
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  Speaker 1: the car. He'd have full conversations with him, and we
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  Speaker 1: would laugh and laugh and laugh. He'd save seats for
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  Speaker 1: them at restaurants or at church. It was honestly nuts,
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  Speaker 1: but as a kid, it was hilarious. Even now, it's funny,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's funny watching the people of his condos
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  Speaker 1: see him talk to invisible people. Or now, now some
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  Speaker 1: of these people, these invisible friends, Bob and Henry, they
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  Speaker 1: live in stuffed animals that Dad has collected. It's too
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  Speaker 1: weird to explain, but just understand he's got little stuffed
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  Speaker 1: things that he carries around with him that he talks
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  Speaker 1: to like they're real people. And the kids love it,
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  Speaker 1: grandkids love it. It's weird. You know, it's weird. I'm
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  Speaker 1: giving you that it's weird, but it's Dad, and those
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  Speaker 1: memories came flooding back. Another thing that I would think
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  Speaker 1: about is the hours and hours and hours that he
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  Speaker 1: spent coaching my little league teams, playing baseball or football
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  Speaker 1: in the yard with me, even boxing. You know, I
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  Speaker 1: remember one Christmas, I opened up a pair of boxing gloves,
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  Speaker 1: and surprise, surprise, Dad got a pair as well. And
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  Speaker 1: from that point on we'd box. He'd be on his
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  Speaker 1: knees in the yard or in the living room and
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  Speaker 1: we'd be, you know, going back and forth sparring, and
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  Speaker 1: Mom would be yelling, you know, stop that you're gonna
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  Speaker 1: get hurt. You know, things like that all the time.
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  Speaker 1: But it was so much fun. I can't go through
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  Speaker 1: every single memory that I've ever had. I can't even
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  Speaker 1: spend you know, much more time going through just these.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I've got to shut up and move on.
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  Speaker 1: What do these matter to you anyway? These memories? You know,
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  Speaker 1: you've got your own memories. These silly ones are mine
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  Speaker 1: and their gold to me. But for you, who knows,
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  Speaker 1: you know, maybe they're just ridiculous. But here's the thing.
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  Speaker 1: You've got your memories, yeah, you know, your memories with
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  Speaker 1: the people that you love. And if you haven't already
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  Speaker 1: done so, take the time to write them down, you know,
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  Speaker 1: or tell them to your kids, or do both if
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  Speaker 1: you've got a chance. You know, if you've still got
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  Speaker 1: this opportunity, talk them over with your mom and dad.
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  Speaker 1: You know, your grandpa and your grandma, the people who
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  Speaker 1: made these memories with you. And you know, maybe you're
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  Speaker 1: doing that already, maybe you do that on a regular basis,
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  Speaker 1: then you are winning. You know, that is how you
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  Speaker 1: should be doing things. I have not done enough of this.
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  Speaker 1: I've done a lot, but when I'm standing there in
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  Speaker 1: that hospital room, I realize I haven't done enough. And
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  Speaker 1: that's something that we all know, right, We instinctively know that,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we know that we're supposed to make the
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: most of the time that we've got. You know, there's
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: no time like the present. Don't put it off. You know,
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  Speaker 1: all of those things, all those little cliches, and yet
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: we do, right, we put it off. We all put
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  Speaker 1: it off. You know. On the show, we talk about
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: home projects all the time, and I'm always encouraging you
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  Speaker 1: to get them tackled, you know, to cross them off
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  Speaker 1: your list. Get that room painted. You know, don't wait
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: another weekend. You're gonna feel so much better when you're done.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when the walls are wall papered beautifully or
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: painted beautifully the living room, it's that perfect color. You're
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: gonna feel great when that's done. Right, I talk about
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: that all the time. And that's good stuff, you know,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: it is. It's good stuff. Getting those projects done. It
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: is gonna make you, you know, feel better about your home.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: You're gonna feel good about getting things crossed off your list.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: That's all really good stuff. But man, are those things
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  Speaker 1: so ridiculously paltry in comparison to spending time with the
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  Speaker 1: people who shaped you, you, you know, as a human being
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: who raised you, who filled your life with great memories.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: You know, we have seen a ton of junk over
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: the last few weeks. And one thing that we all
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  Speaker 1: know for sure, you never know what you're gonna get.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you never know how much time you're gonna have.
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  Speaker 1: And when you're standing in a hospital room unexpectedly on
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  Speaker 1: a Saturday afternoon, you realize now, I guess I can't.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I can't speak for you. When I was standing in
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  Speaker 1: that hospital room unexpectedly on a Saturday afternoon, I realized
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  Speaker 1: what was important and what wasn't important. I realized how
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: much time I've spent chasing things that don't matter, and
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: how little time, when it's really all boiled down, how
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  Speaker 1: little time I poured into the things that really, really
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  Speaker 1: really matter. You know, Dad and Mom live two minutes
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  Speaker 1: from my house, you know, five minutes, ten minutes if
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  Speaker 1: I walk there, but I don't see them nearly enough.
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  Speaker 1: It's time for some changes, you know. I've realized that,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm hoping I can come through on this because
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  Speaker 1: it's easy to make these bold you knows, and then
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: life is going to catch up. But I want to
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: remember what I was feeling in that hospital room when
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: things were a little dicey and we didn't know what
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: we were gonna have. You know, now we're looking at it,
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  Speaker 1: and now we've got more time and plenty of time
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: and all of that. But there was a moment, you know,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: at least a moment where I didn't know what we
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: had left, and I realized how much I just left
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: on the table. And that was so dumb to not
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: have spent more time, you know, with mom and Dad.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: So buckle up, Mom and Dad. I'm coming over a
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: lot more. That's the plan. You know. Maybe Dad and
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I can box, I don't know, just sit around wearing
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: eye patches. We could talk like pirates, we can talk
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: to invisible people. I have no idea what you guys
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: are gonna want to do. What's gonna be fun? Maybe
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: we can just have coffee and laugh about all the
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: things that we did growing up, you know, all the
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: beauty that you gave us as kids growing up. Who
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: knows what we're gonna do, but we're gonna do a
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  Speaker 1: lot more of it, all right. I'm sorry to go
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: on and on about that. I hope some of that
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: matters to some of you out there, but I needed
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: to get it off my chest. I needed to think
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: it through out loud, and over all the years that
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I've done this radio stuff, one of my favorite things
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: has been to live out in the open in front
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: of everybody. And I feel like if I learned something,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: I'm sure somebody out there is going to be grabbing
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: some of what I'm saying and seeing some value in it.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: So hopefully you found some value in that. Let's take
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: a break right now, and when we come back. I've
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: got a lot of different things we're going to hit.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: At the end of the show, We'll be covering a
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: listener question about a paint failure, a monumental paint failure
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: in a bathroom. We're going to talk about what went wrong,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: how to fix it, and more importantly, how to avoid
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: it in the first place. We'll do that. We'll also
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: dig into bathroom fans, you know, finding the right one
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: for your space if you're looking for a new one,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: and how to know if the one that you currently
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: have is doing the job that it needs to do.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: So we'll get to all of that, and coming up
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: in just a little bit, we're going to be basically
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: making some clarifications on something that I talked about last
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: week but was a little bit vague about. We're going
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: to get to that right after this Homean Progress is
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: brought to you by repcoll Like Paints and Benjamin Moore.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: You know, people often think of paint as just another
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: line item on the project's supply list. But here's the thing.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Everything you do, every hour of prep, every stroke of
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: the brush, all comes down to the quality of the paint.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: The paint is the project. Make sure it's the best.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: All right. Right now, I want to take a few
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: minutes and clean up some untidiness from last week. Basically,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: I want to make some clarifications that I left a
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: little vague on last episode, and y'all called me out
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: on a couple of them, and you were right to do. So. Okay,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: last week we spent some time talking about stump removal.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: You know in your yard stump removal, you know how
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: to speed up the prop Why do I need to
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: make that clarification. I don't know why my brain felt
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the need to make a clarification that I'm talking about
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: removing stumps from your yard anyway, stump removal from your yard.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: We talked about speeding up the process with chemical removers
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and even epsom salts, and that sparked some follow up questions.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: So today I wanted to circle back and make a
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: little more of a clarified, clear presentation on what I
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: was getting at all. Right, first off, let's look at
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: the products that I talked about to chemically remove the stump.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Most chemical stump removers they're made with potassium nitrate, and
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: that's pretty effective. It encourages microbial and fungal activity that
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: helps break the wood down faster. EPSOM salts, on the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: other hand, fall into a little bit of a gray
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: area here. You know, technically their magnesium sulfate, which plants
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: actually need in small amounts, but when you use them
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: in larger doses, they kind of create the salty environment
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: that can dehydrate and weaken a stump. So yeah, they
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: can help, you know, they can help the process, but
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: they really aren't going to work as quickly or as
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: reliably as potassium nitrate, you know, a chemical stump remover. Basically,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: you should think of EPSOM salts as more of a
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: slow assist rather than a magic bullet. So while the
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: EPSOM salt route isn't technically wrong, it's really not the
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: best way to go. They're going to be slow, and
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: they really should be a secondary or you know, a tertiary,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: a third option. They're going to be best for small
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: stumps or for preventing regrowth, not full decomposition. So I
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: wanted to clarify that I didn't make that clear last
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: week when I was talking. All right, now, let's deal
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: with another question that came up that I like even better,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: because I really wish I had gotten into this last week.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: If here's the question, if I use stump removers, you know,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: a chemical stump remover, am I ever going to be
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: able to grow grass in that area ever? Again? You know?
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: If I use a chemical stump remover or EPSOM salts,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: am I just salting the earth And it's never going
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: to ever you know, allow grass to grow there ever again? Well,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the short answer is absolutely yes, you can grow grass
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: there again. In fact, both of these chemicals actually break
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: down and nutrients that the grass loves. You know, potassium
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: nitrate that becomes potassium and nitrogen, two key ingredients in
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: most fertilizers. EP some salts that breaks down into magnesium
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: and sulfur, which are also plant nutrients. So you're not
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: poisoning the soil, you're just changing its chemistry, and you
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: are adding more of these components, these nutrients than you'd
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: probably want in that space. So if you've done that,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: here's how to get grass growing again. You know, if
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: you've used either of these chemicals. First off, once the
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: stump is softened and rotted down, shovel out as much
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: of that decayed wood and sawdust as you can. Right,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: we talked about that last week. Get it out of there.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: If you leave it, it's going to rob the nitrogen
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: from the soil and your grass is going to come
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: in yellow and kind of weak. So clear it out
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: and then backfill with fresh top soil or a compost mix. Now,
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: after you've done that, be sure to give the area
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: a really good flush with water a few times over
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: the course of a week. And that's going to help
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: wash away salts and disperse some of the other chemicals
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: that are there in higher concentrations than you'd really like.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: When it comes time to get the grass growing, so
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: flush it really well. And another step here, you know,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: once you've done this flushing for a good week, is
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: to test the soil. You know, you can bring it
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: away to different garden centers who will test it for you,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: or you can grab an inexpensive you know, DIY kit
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: from a garden center or buy one online and that'll
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: give you a quick read on the pH levels and
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: sometimes the nutrients depends on which kit you get. For grass,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: you're usually aiming for a pH between six and seven.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: If it's off, the test kit's going to tell you
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: how to adjust it, and that way you're not just guessing,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: you know, before you recede everything. So do all of that,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: and when you're ready to plant, loosen up the soil
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: a few inches deep, mix in a little compost and
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: spread the grass seed in. I'd recommend using a starter fertilizer.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: That's probably a really good way to go. It's going
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: to give the new grass an early boost, so do that.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Rake it in, cover it lightly with straw or peat,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: moss or whatever, maybe even more top soil a little
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: bit of that and keep it watered, you know, kind
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: of like a wrung out sponge, not swampy, but just
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: like a wrung out sponge, and do that until the
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: grass pops. Be patient. Depending on the season, you're usually
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: going to see a full patch of grass within two
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: to three months. And if the ground settles or things
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: start to look thin, just add more soil and overseed. Now,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: there is one other option that I heard about, an
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: organic approach that's worth mentioning to get rid of a stump,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: and that's to mound dirt right over the stump, you know,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: mound dirt over that thing, plant groundcover, and then let
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: nature rot the stump out on its own. Now, that
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: works too, but it's going to take a lot longer,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: you know, generally two to five years to make that happen,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: and you'll have to top off that soil as things
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: break down, and you're going to have that bump, you know,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: that little hump on the yard. It's less effort upfront,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: but more patience is required, and you've got to tolerate
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: that look for a while. So there you go, removing
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: a stump. I think I covered all the things that
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I didn't say as clearly as I wish I had
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: last week. I think I'm good. I'm going to let
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: that one go and move on, all right. Peeling paint
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: in the bathroom? What's going on? How do you fix it?
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: And how do you avoid it in the first place.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: We'll get to all of that right after. This home
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: in progress is brought to you by Repcolite Paints and
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore. Think about it. You spend hours prepping, sanding, taping,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: and then finally painting. Don't throw all that work away
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: with an inferior product. The paint isn't just another supply.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: The paint is the project. Make sure it's the best,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: all right. I want to jump into another paint question
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: from a listener, and this one's a good one. Not
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: that the other ones weren't, but this one's This one's
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: really good. But before I get to it, if you
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: have a paint question, you know, a paint question, a
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: design question, a question about color or whatever, email it
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: to me at radio at repco Light dot com. I'll
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: get you your answer in the email, and if I
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: use your question on the show, like I'm doing right here.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: I'll send you a gift certificate for a free gallon
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: of Repcolite or Benjamin Moore paint, you know, free paint
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: just for asking your question. I won't use your name
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: on the radio, I won't signal you out in any way.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I won't put your picture up on so media. I'll
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: just go over your situation and use it to help
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: other people. You know, we're using it to help other
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: people who are in the same boat. So you can
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: feel good about that, right, and you're gonna get a
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: free gallon of paint for your next project. So email
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: your questions to radio at repco Light dot com. All right,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: here's the question for today. A listener wrote in with
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the following situation quote. I painted my bathroom about four
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: months ago and I used Benjamin Moore paint in the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: satin finish. Now I'm dealing with a fair amount of
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: paint that's peeling from the ceiling in the walls. What's
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: going on and how do I fix it? So after
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: that initial email, we went back and forth for a
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: little bit so I could gather a little more information.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: And after doing that, here are some additional facts to
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: help make the situation clearer. First off, the previous paint
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: that the listener painted over was a finish on the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: shinier side of things, a satin, maybe even a semi gloss,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: so keep that in the back of your mind. The
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: customer has a bathroom fan installed, but it's a little
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: on the older side, so keep that in mind. And
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: then finally the customer wipe the walls down with a
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: damp rag before painting to remove cobwebs and the like.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: But that was about it for the prep work. All right,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: that's the background, and it's honestly a pretty common situation
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: and setup. And here's what's likely going on in this
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: particular situation. When you're talking about paint peeling. The first thing,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: you know, especially in a bathroom, the first thing that
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: you're probably going to run into if you google around,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: is the suggestion that there was a moisture problem, you know,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: and that's definitely a possibility in this case. I think
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: it's part of the problem, but it's definitely not the
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: whole thing. You know, bathrooms are incredibly high moisture situations,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and having a bathroom fan, a bathroom fan that's the
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: correct size for your space, and that's working well is critical.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: You know, it's going to move moisture out after showers,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: and it's going to go a long ways towards preventing
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: moisture issues like peeling and the growth of mold and
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: mildew down the road. So the bathroom fan, that's really important.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Now to make sure that you've got the right sized
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: bathroom fan. There's a little math you can do, and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I'll put this in the show notes if you need
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: to revisit it a little bit later. But all you
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: need to do is take the length times the width
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: times the height of your bathroom and multiply by point
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: one three. Okay, length times width times height, and then
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: multiply that total by zero point one three. So zero
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: point one three. What in the world is up with
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: that number? It seems really random, right, Well, it's not
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: as random as it seems. It's a conversion factor that
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: turns the room's cubic feet into the amount of airflow
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: that you're gonna need. So basically, when you do that
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: length times width times height and then take that total
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: and multiply it by zero point one three, you're really
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: coming up with the answer to how many cubic feet
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: per minute cfms does it take to replace the air
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: in this bathroom about eight times each hour? All right,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: that's what you're getting with that number. I could explain
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: the math that gets you to the zero point one three,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: but does anybody at this point really want to know. No.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: The answer to that is no, nobody wants to know
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: the math that gets you there. Just multiply the length
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: times the width times the height of your bathroom. Get
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: that total, and multiply that by zero point one three,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: and you're going to know the minimum cfm cubic feet
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: per minute size fan that you need for your bathroom.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: All right, So make sure if you're getting a new
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: fan that you pick out the right sized fan. And
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: there is another quicker way, you know, that's for a
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: bigger bathroom or a complicated bathroom. If you've got a
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: small bathroom that's really straightforward, eight foot ceilings and it's
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: under one hundred square feet, basically, just figure whatever the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: square footage is of that bathroom space, get a fan
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: that will move that much air. So if you've got
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: a bathroom that's eighty square foot, you're going to need
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: an eighty cfm fan. That's the simple method. If it's
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: one hundred square feet or less, and the ceilings are
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: eight foot if they're higher than that, or the bathrooms
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: a little bigger than that, or it's more complicated. Do
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: the formula that I gave you, the length times width
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: times height times zero point one three, and I'll put
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: all of that in the show notes, so you can
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: go there and just revel in the glory of that
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: math formula. All right, check it out. Make sure if
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: you're buying a new fan, you get the right right
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: size fan. Now, in the next segment, we're going to
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: talk briefly about how to do all of that to
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: figure out if you've got the right size fan. If
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: you've got one already in your bathroom, you know that's trickier.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: You've got a fan installed. You're not going to pick
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: out a new one where everything is clearly labeled. You've
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: got one up there, you have no idea who put
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: it there. Like mine at my bathroom, I have no
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: idea when it was installed. You know how many you know,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: cubic feet per minute of air it's moving on a
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: regular basis. I don't even know if it's working very well.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: All right, if that's your situation, next segment we'll talk
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: about how you figure out if that fan is suitable
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: for your space. All right, we'll do that in a minute.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Get the fan figured out, right, that's important. It's also
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: essential that you run the fan the right amount of time. Right.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Having the fan is one thing, running it is another.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: And that sounds really stupid by but you know, if
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: you've got kids, you know, you know it doesn't always
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: get run. So make sure you're running it. But also
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: make sure that you're running it the right amount of time.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: And the rule of thumb on this is to run
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: it for about fifteen to twenty minutes after you turn
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: off the shower. You know, the tendency is to want
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: to turn it off right away, right, we want to
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: conserve energy and all of that. But the energy you're conserving,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: the savings that you're getting, you're definitely losing that by
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: just leaving that moisture in the room. That the damage
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: that that could do to your walls or whatever that
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: could cause. It's worse to have that moisture than to
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: pay that little bit of extra to run the fan
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: a little bit longer. So run it fifteen to twenty
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: minutes after the shower, and that should evacuate most of
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: the moisture from the room. It's also good practice, of
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: course to open the bathroom door as soon as possible
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: after showering. That's going to help get that moisture out
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: as well. All right, that's one piece of this peeling
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: paint puzzle, and skipping those steps is definitely going to
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: lead to issues down the road, you know, surfactant leaching, mildew, mold,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: things like that. And even so, get the right bathroom
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: fan run at the right amount of time, all of
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: that that'll help in this instance. While that's part of
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: the problem, I'm almost certain that the bigger cause, the
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: bigger cause for all of this peeling is really prep work,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: or the lack of prep work is probably the better
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: way to say it. You know, bathroom walls have seen things.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, think about it, they've seen things, right, you know,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: think about your bathroom walls for just a minute, you know,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: imagine what they've encountered in their you know time with
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: you you know, soaps, come, hair spray, residues from all
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: kinds of different cleaners, dirt, grime, you know, the bathroom
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: walls they see pretty much everything and if that isn't
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: cleaned off well. All of those surface contaminants end up
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: really kind of forming a barrier that prevents your new
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: paint from bonding to that previous coating. So you always
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: need to clean those walls, and you need to clean
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: them well, you know, not just wipe them down with
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: a damp rag, which is what the person who emailed
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: me really just did. All they did was wipe it
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: down with a damp rag. That's better than nothing, but
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: it's not good enough for this situation. So use a
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: good degreaser like TSP tri sodium phosphate or a TSP
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: substitute that will work as well. You could use crudcutter,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: you could use spray nine, even down dish soap. All
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: of those will work well as cleaners. So wash the
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: walls down well. And in a bathroom situation, personally, I'd
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: lean towards using a Scotch Brit pad on the walls,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: you know, one of those little green scrubby pads that
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: you use for dishes. Get a Scotch Brit pad we
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: sell them at Repcholite, and use that to really scrub
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: and cut through the residue on the walls. You know,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: once you've done all of that rinse everything with clean water,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: so you know you're not leaving any of the cleaner behind.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: All right, once that's done, there's another step that you
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: need to consider. If you remember back to the background
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: info that I threw out there, the listener said, the
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: previous paint, you know, the coating that they were painting over.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: They said that paint was relatively shiny. They thought it
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: was maybe a satin sheen, maybe even a semigloss, And
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: that's pretty common in a bathroom. People will generally use
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: a shinier paint on that surface because of moisture. It
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: resists moisture better than a flat finish wood or a
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: mat although I do have a product I'm going to
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: recommend at the end of this segment that's a matte
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: finish that will resist moisture better than anything out there,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: so we'll get to that. But typically a flat or
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: a mat is going to absorb moisture more so than
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: a satin sheen or a semi gloss. And so a
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: lot of bathrooms have satin sheens and semi glosses on them,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: which makes that surface pretty shiny. And the problem with
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: that is that shiny paint is a barrier to adhesion.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: You know, if you're painting over a shinier finish, if
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: that's what's on the walls, you don't just wipe them clean.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: You clean them like we talked about, But then you
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: need discuff sand them to dull them down so that
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: your new paint has something to grip into. And I'd
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: recommend going over the walls with a one eighty to
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: two twenty grit sandpaper and do a good scuff sanding
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: and do that stuff standing. I just hinted at it,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: but you do it after you cleaned. I don't want
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: to go before you've cleaned it and end up grinding
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: that contamination deeper into the paint. So wash it first
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: with your degreaser, you know, rinse it clean, let it dry,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: then do your scuff sanding, and then when you're done sanding,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: done doing that stuff standing, wipe the walls with a
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: damp rag. You know, no cleaner this time, just a
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: damp rag. And all you're trying to do at that
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: point is remove that sanding dust. Okay, once that's done
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: and the wall's dry, you can repaint. Typically on a
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: previously painted surface that's sound and scuffed. You don't need
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: a separate primer. You know, you just go with two
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: good coats of your finished paint and you should be good. Now,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: if you've got bare dry wall spots or something like that,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: or patches, you do want to spot prime those areas first.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: All right, that's what you do to avoid peeling. But
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: what if you've already got peeling. You know, that's the
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: situation we're dealing with here. If that's the case, then what, well,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: it's not pretty. You know, I really wish there was
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: a great easy answer to this, but there isn't. It's
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: not pretty if you're in this situation. Really, what you
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: need to do is careful scrape. Carefully scrape so you
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: don't damage the wallboard, but carefully scrape all the loose
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: paint from the walls and the ceiling. You know, it's
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: not a fun project. There will be, though, some big
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: winds after a while, and it will get to be
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: like a little bit fun as you're going. You know,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: you'll be in there going for maybe an hour or
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: two scraping off little pieces. That's usually how it works,
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden you're gonna start working
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: loose you know, a piece that's not breaking up like
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: the other ones did. It's kind of big, and you're
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: gonna get all excited and you're gonna be working at it,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: trying to get this big piece off, and soon it's
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: gonna be as big as like a like a you know,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: a tea saucer or something like that. And then then
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: you get it to the size where it's a dinner
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: plate before it finally breaks off. And it's happened to me.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: And let me tell you when that happens, I snatch
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: it up off the floor. I'm holding it up next
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: to me like it's a fish that I just caught,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: and it's like, I want my picture taken with it.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: I'm showing it off to everybody in the room. Look
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: what I just got off the wall. And then everybody
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: is trying for a big your piece, right, So that
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: moment happens, you know, And as stupid as it sounds,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: you know, and you may not believe me, but make
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: a metal note, it's going to happen. You know, if
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: you're in this situation, it will happen, and just be
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: glad that it does, because it's little things like this
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: that keep you sane during this whole scraping process. So
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: scrape off all the loose paint that you can get,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: and don't expect to get everything off. You know, most
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: likely you're going to remove large sections of the paint,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: but then you're going to find other sections where the
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: paint is bonded really well. Now, the main thing here
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: is to make sure that whatever paint you leave on
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: the surface, make sure it's really stuck down well. That's critical.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: If you don't do that and don't make sure that
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: it's stuck down well before you paint over it, there's
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: a really good chance that when you roll your new
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: paint over it, even just the surface tension of that
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: new paint drying can start to pull that other paint loose.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: And that is incredibly disheartening. I've been there. You don't
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: want to be there. So take the time to make
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: sure that whatever paint you leave on the wall or
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: the ceiling, make sure it's really stuck down well. Now,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: once you've removed everything that's loose, wash the walls down
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: with a degreaser, you know, like I mentioned earlier, TSP
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: crudcutter dawn, and then give the walls a good rinse. Then,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: if the surfaces are shiny, you still need to do
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: that scuff sanding, and while you're sanding, spend extra time
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: feathering the edges where the peeled paint meets the paint
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: that didn't come off, you know, smooth those transitions so
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: they won't telegraph through your finish. Now, once you've done
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: all of that, wipe the walls down with a damp
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: rag and let them dry. And when they're dry, go
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: ahead and top coat with your new finish paint. And
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: one last thing. If you're painting in a bathroom, there's
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: one single product that you should be thinking about using.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Or a bath and spa from Benjamin Moore. Now, I
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: talked about a matte finish earlier. That's like a miracle product.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: It resists moisture better than pretty much any other product
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: out there. It's this one, or a bath and spat
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: from Benjamin Moore. Like I said, it comes in a
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: matte finish, so you get a beautiful, beautiful look. But
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: like I said, it resists moisture, you know, better than
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: anything else out there. It's as close to a silver
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: bullet as you're going to find for a bathroom. You know,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: there's no reason to do all that prep and then
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: use a lesser paint, do the work, and then finish
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: with the best thing that you can buy, and that's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: aura a bathroom spa. All right. That's what's going on
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: with some peeling paint in a bathroom and how to
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: fix it. Remember, if you've got a paint or design
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: question and you'd like an answer and a free gallon
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: of Benjamin More or Repcolite paint, just email your question
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: to radio at Repcollite dot com and if I use
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: it on the air, I'll send you a gift certificate
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: for a free gallon of paint. All right. I mentioned
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: in this segment that you need to have the right
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: sized bathroom fan. That's easy when you're buying a new one,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: But how do you find out if the fan that
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: you have is adequate. Well, there are a few simple
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: things that you can do to figure that out, and
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: we'll get to those right after this. You're listening to
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Home in Progress, where the projects are real, the mistakes,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: they're educational, sometimes painful, mostly educational, And the only thing
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: more stubborn than that old wallpaper on your bathroom wall
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: is your determination to get it fixed. Sponsored by Repcolite
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Paints and Benjamin Moore Paint with a purpose, people who care,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: and everything you need to get the job done right,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: all right. Last segment, I answered a listener question about
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: fixing appealing paint problem in a bathroom, and in that
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: segment I mentioned how important it is to have a
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: bathroom fan that's suitable for the size of your room.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: And in all my brilliance, all my sheer and utter brilliance,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: I gave you the formula so you can crank out
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: that math and figure it out. In case you've forgotten,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder. Take the length times the width
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: times the height of the room, and then multiply that
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: total by a point one three. That's going to give
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: you the minimum cfm, the minimum cubic feet per minute
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: of air that your fan should be able to move. Now,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: if you're buying a brand new fan, that's pretty easy,
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: just go out and pick one that's rated for that number.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: But what if you've already got a fan in place,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: how do you know if it's adequate, if it's functioning well,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: you know for your space. Well, there are a couple
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: of really you know, super simple tests that you can
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: perform that will help you get a handle on what's
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: going on and how well your fan is doing. First off,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: let's figure out if it's the right size for your space.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: And a simple way to do this is to do
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: this just when you take a hot shower when the
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: fan's running. How long does it take for the room
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: in the mirror to clear once you turn the water off.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: Now it shouldn't take terribly long, you know, keep the
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: door closed for this particular test, but run the shower,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: run it hot for the normal amount of time, and
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: then once you shut it off, see once how long
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: it takes for everything to clear up. If you're still
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: in a bit of a fog fifteen maybe twenty minutes later,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: then the fan isn't performing adequately. It's either too small
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: for the space or it's not working well. Not to
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: figure out which of these two is going on. There's
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: another test you can run, and it's not terribly scientific,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: but it will work. It's the tissue paper test. You know.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Just hold a square toilet paper up to the grill
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: with the fan running. If it's drawn firmly against the cover,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: then the fans moving air adequately. If it doesn't stand
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: place and falls to the ground, then the fans not
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: performing adequately. You know, it's probably tired, it needs to
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: be replaced, or there's a duct work problem. We'll get
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: to that in a minute. If it is performing adequately,
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: if it does keep that toilet paper, that tissue paper
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: stuck to the grill, but it didn't clear the room
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: out in about fifteen minutes or so, then it's probably
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: the wrong size fan for the bathroom. Or once again,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: it could be a duct work problem. All right, now,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: to figure this out, I know this is complicated, but
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: you can go back and check the show notes. You
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: can go back and listen to this again, so you
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: can work through the troubleshooting. But to figure this out,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: to figure out whether it's the fan is too small
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: or whether it's a duct work problem, you got to
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: start by figuring out, you know what size fan you
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: actually have in the space, and to do that, turn
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: the power off to the fan and then gently pull
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: the grill down an inch or two, reach behind it
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: at that point, and then squeeze these two little spring
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: clips that you'll find on either side of it, and
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: squeeze those together and you should be able to remove
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: the cover once it's off. Look for a data label.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: You know on most fans it's going to be right
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: on the motor play or the power unit mounting plate,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: something like that. Sometimes it's on you know, the inside
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: perimeter of the housing. So look there and once in
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: a while you'll find it stamped into the metal. Now,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: if you've got attic access, you may even see a
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: label on top of the housing. Now, that sticker is
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: usually going to show you the model number and the
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: CFM rating. If all you can find is a model number,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: just jot it down and then look up the specs later.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: The internet is there and it will help you. It'll
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: help you get the CFM rating from the manufacturer's page. Now,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: once you've got that figured out, you just need to
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: compare it to the size fan you need. You know,
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: if the numbers look okay and the fan is relatively
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: new and it's not just tiring out, there's one more
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: thing to check, and that's the duct work. Now it
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: may be surprising, but the duct work can actually make
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: or break a fan's performance. Every bend in the ductwork
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: steals power from your fan. To keep it simple for
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: the radio, think of each ninety degree elbow is adding
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: about five extra feet that the fan has to push through.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: So a fifteen foot run with two ninety degree bends
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: is basically like twenty five feet or so for your fan. Now,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: how much your fan can handle depends on both its
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: CFM rating and your duct size. With typical residential fans,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: you know, say eighty to one hundred and ten cfm.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Once you get beyond the twenty five to thirty feet
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: of length on a four inch duct, you're going to
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: start seeing noticeable performance drops. For example, your fan might
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: be rated for let's say one hundred cfm, but you
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: could end up with only seventy or eighty cfm actually
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: moving through the system, you know, depending on the length
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: of the duct, and you know, let's say it's a
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: four inch duct, if you were running with a six
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: inch duct for that exact same length, the performance is
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: going to increase. And maybe that's a little bit surprising,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: but it's really like the difference between drinking through you know,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: a coffee stirr versus a regular straw. Right, the wider
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: opening lets things flow easier. A six inch duct is
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: going to let air move slower and with less effort
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: than cramming it through a four inch duct. So if
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: you've got a long run or several bends, if possible
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: step up to six inch duct work. Even if your
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: fan has a four inch outlet, you know, transitioning immediately
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: to six inch for the rest of the run still helps.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: All right, it's a ton of info, I know that,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: but it's all something to look into if your bathroom
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: fan isn't performing. And if you missed any of it,
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: remember you can catch this episode in all our past
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: episodes at repcol light dot com. Check it out. All right,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: that's gonna do it. Remember to check out our blog
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: for more info on many of the topics that we
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: cover in the show, so you can get a lot
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: more stuff there. And don't forget if you'd like a
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: chance for a free gallon of Benjamin Moore a Repcolite paint,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: I mean a free gallon you pick what you want,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: you know, a free gallon of paint. If you'd like
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: a chance at that, all you need to do is
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: send me a paint or design question. Email it to
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: radio at repcol light dot com, and if I use
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: it on the air, I'll send you a gift certificate
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: for a free gallon of your choice, any Benjamin Moore
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: or Repcolite product. Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: and you absolutely should. You'll be way happier when you do. So.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: if you do have time, and if you do enjoy
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: the show, leave us a review. Spread the word. It
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: really helps us take the show to new people, helps
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: new people find it. I'd really appreciate it if you'd
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: leave a review and subscribe to the show. All right,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: have a great week everybody, and I'll see you next time.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks for listening.