Latest / Around the House with Eric G®: Home Improvement Remodeling & DIY / Your Dream Home Awaits: Top Remodeling Tips for Late 2026

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Your Dream Home Awaits: Top Remodeling Tips for Late 2026 · Around the House with Eric G®: Home Improvement Remodeling & DIY

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  Foreign.
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  Ready to turn your house into the home you've always dreamed of without the headaches or huge bills?
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  You're tuned to around the House, the nation's number one home improvement radio show and podcast with expert advice that's helped millions tackle everything from remodels to repairs.
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  Hosts Eric G.
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  And John Dudley have got you covered with the best advice and information about your home.
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  Now let's get this hour started.
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  Welcome to the around the House Show.
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  I'm Eric G.
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  Thanks for joining me today.
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  We got a great show coming up today.
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  If you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundonline.com you can find more about us there, social media, YouTube pages, all that stuff.
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  John Dudley is out on assignment today.
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  We're going to be talking about remodeling.
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  What's going on out there?
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  What is happening?
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  Because there is so much going on across the country with remodeling that this is worth an episode for you guys.
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  Prices are softening.
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  We're seeing those material prices start to go down out there.
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  And some of that is for a couple different reasons.
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  We've seen some tariff talk going on with Canada.
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  We'll see what happens there.
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  I think that's going to be mostly dealing with automotive.
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  But when we're talking our homes, we're seeing lumber prices stand down.
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  There's not a lot of demand out there.
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  So when we're talking remodeling, we're starting to see those prices soften just because, well, there's not a lot of stuff going on out there.
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  We're starting to see in certain areas that remodeling is nearly stopped.
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  And in other places, remodeling is really picking up.
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  So it's really depending on where you're at in the country.
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  You know, coast to coast, west coast remodeling is definitely down.
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  Certain places in the south are up, people on the east and certain places are cruising.
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  So it's just depending on what's going on.
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  So contractors, though, in many states across the country are back to answering their phones again.
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  But here's the thing.
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  If you're Planning ahead for 2026 here and you want to have that new kitchen by Thanksgiving, that clock started this morning.
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  And then, you know, there's we're going to talk today as well about design trends that are officially dead in 2026.
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  And of course, the five cities where remodeling is on fire and five where contractors are looking for work now, the high rates have kind of frozen as far as interest rates out there for housing.
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  So that really stopped some of the stuff that we were seeing out there a few years ago.
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  So a lot of people now have been improving instead of moving.
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  And I think remodeling is going to be outpacing new construction in 2026, probably in 2027, because homeowners can tap that equity that buyers can't, you know, but we're seeing that cooling at the edges.
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  I saw a study that said 67% of builders said may demand came in slower than expected and some calling it the slowest spring in years.
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  And so that's what we're seeing out there on the marketplace.
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  So what do you do when you're wanting to start that project or you're thinking about investing back in the house?
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  And I'm seeing that here in my area, for instance, where we're used to seeing in Washington and even California, we're seeing houses that were up on the market for three weeks are now sitting on the market for three
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  months.
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  And we're seeing different segments of housing that are just dying like here, the more expensive stuff because of tax rates going up and things like that.
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  We're not seeing a lot of houses moving because I think there's more people selling than there are buying.
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  Now.
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  If you're a buyer, we're getting into a buyer's market in many places because now you can jump in and really save some money because now you're starting to see significant cuts on homes.
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  And something that was, like I said, was out there for a couple of weeks and gone is now taking three months.
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  And so that's really going up now.
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  I want to talk here real quick about kind of the hot five and the cold five for remodeling out there.
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  Hot Austin, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina, Nashville, Phoenix, Tampa could, in 2026, these guys could be outperforming the national average on remodeling.
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  You know, it's the there's house aging, housing stock, you know, new owners renovating after purchase and aging in place demand.
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  But the one thing that I'm looking at, each sale spawns a remodel.
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  TOM and then that turnover is remodeling fuel.
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  Now, the cold markets that I'm seeing out there, out my area, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, it's brutal in these areas.
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  Denver, Colorado is pretty soft.
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  Even Miami, South Florida condos, insurance premiums and those special assessments are eating the money that used to become kitchens.
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  TOM now in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, I can talk specifically about this because this is in my neighborhood.
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  So this is what we're seeing out here, we're seeing people spending money on things they have to have.
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  If the H vac system breaks, they're spending money on it.
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  If the hot tub's broken, they might buy another one, but they're probably going to buy used instead of a new one.
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  So we're starting to see that.
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  I have contractors that I have known for 15 years that had two year waiting periods all along the west coast and many of them are looking for work.
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  And a few of my guys have went to places like Boise, Idaho and other places just to find work.
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  So we're really seeing this.
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  This looks like right now in many of the areas on the West Coast.
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  Is it a housing crash?
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  No, but people are not spending money on remodeling.
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  And that can be a tough one.
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  So there's a lot of contractors that haven't had to market themselves for years, haven't had to pay for advertising, haven't had to do anything that are now starting to take a look and go, we've got a problem and
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  how do we fix that?
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  Now this also means that if you're a homeowner in these markets where these things aren't going well, that you have got a great chance of getting remodeling done at a fair price.
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  Because you've got people out there that are like, hey, I need this job, let's get going.
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  Now here's the problem you have to watch out for in our remodeling market today.
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  You don't want to be the guy that is funding somebody else's project to get finished.
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  So you want to make sure that you're doing a couple things.
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  This is when you see when times come like this, and this is a cycle we see every handful of years, at least once a decade.
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  What this does is it really tends to flush out those builders, remodelers that weren't really good at doing the business well.
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  They were maybe the right hand man for a contractor.
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  And I'm going to go start my own business and do my own thing.
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  That's good.
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  But this is the time that these guys go, hey, you know, I'm going to go work for a contractor.
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  I'm tired of not getting paid.
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  And this is where that kind of flushes out.
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  There'll be so many different real estate professionals out there.
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  And all of a sudden when things slow down, that's where those guys go, time to go get another job.
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  Or go back to what I was doing before I got into real estate.
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  So you're seeing the Ones that were the fringe performers in the contracting and in the real estate market tend to go back.
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  And this is kind of where we level the playing field out a little bit with this.
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  And it's tough, but as a homeowner or even someone that wants to be a homeowner coming up, this is the time that you can start to get things at a better price than you could when they weren't worried
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  about you shopping around because you got them locked in.
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  It's really important for contractors to be working with those clients and for you, if you're going to be doing a kitchen model, start with your designer, start figuring out what you want it to look like, and then once
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  you get the design worked out, then you can start to get the bids.
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  So if you're doing that master bathroom, the hall bathroom, the kitchen, start with the designer and get your design done first.
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  Then you can start working on the other pieces to get through that.
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  That's the right way to chase through this.
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  And it's going to end up being a better project for you, that designer.
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  Once you have that, now you can go, hey, I've got the same plan and I can shop it out to three different license bonded, you know, professionals out there that can do the job and then you'll get some
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  real numbers on it.
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  The biggest mistake is when people go to price out these larger projects and what you do, you call up three people, they bring the designer out, you have three different plans of what they want to do and you
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  have three different prices and it really tells you nothing.
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  So you want somebody that's going to come out, give you a very detailed estimate.
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  The perfect way to do this is to make sure that you got it where they're giving you allowances for it so you can see what the line number, line item numbers are.
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  You want to know what the faucet and the sink and the knobs and the hardware and how many electrical circuits are coming in.
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  You want to see that broken out pricing and don't be afraid to pay a little bit for it.
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  That way you're getting a really good number and most contractors will give you the money back on that when you select the project anyway.
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  Some do, some don't.
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  But don't be afraid if they do, because that is a more common thing now than it ever has now.
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  Of course there's instabit out there.
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  You've heard it on the show.
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  The contractors you're using out there to price out these things so quickly that you can do a lot of this.
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  Beforehand, make sure you follow us on social media and share this show with all your friends that might need a little bit of help with their home.
• 10:25
  Around the House.
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  We'll be right back.
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  I can play an instrument.
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  What's up?
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  This is Sticks It Inia and Satchel from Steel Panther.
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  And you are listening to around the.
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  House with Eric G.
• 12:21
  Yeah, we love Eric G.
• 12:24
  And you should too.
• 12:28
  Welcome back to the around the House show.
• 12:29
  I'm Eric G.
• 12:30
  Hey, if you want to find out more about us, head over to our website.
• 12:33
  Check out our blog section over there where we talking about wildfire smoke.
• 12:37
  We're talking about a whole bunch of different things over there.
• 12:40
  You can find that@aroundthehouseonline.com well, we're talking about remodeling in 2026 in this last half and I wanted to talk a little bit about materials.
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  We teased on it here in the first segment, but the honest numbers.
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  Here's the thing.
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  Prices have been falling a little bit.
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  Framing lumber has flattened a year over year dip of about 2%.
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  That ended nine straight quarters of annual increases.
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  So futures have been bouncing around and that's what people buy lumber at.
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  That's going on 600 per thousand board feet in July.
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  Far off of what it was.
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  Geez.
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  During the pandemic it was twice that.
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  Here's what I'm seeing though, and this is getting interesting.
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  US Sawmill output is way down for two straight quarters.
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  And this is getting interesting because we're seeing some big yard shutdowns out there.
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  What's the biggest one?
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  Hardwood veneers.
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  They've almost all closed up.
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  The big companies are gone.
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  So we're really seeing that where all of a sudden most of our hardwood stuff, I saw stuff on the east coast closing.
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  We closed ours out here on the west coast.
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  So we're really seeing that hardwood go down.
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  And then even the softwood tariffs from Canada.
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  And so that has really pushed a lot of the British Columbia mills to curtail or close.
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  So commodity lumber is a decent buy right now.
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  So if you're framing up the house, the OSB plywood, that stuff is down.
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  So we're seeing better rates on that.
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  How that's going to go into 2027, I have no idea.
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  When we see more places close, that's where I start to get worried because one that's hurting those communities.
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  And second of all, that's not going to help the prices when we see these guys close because it's just making it so we have less supply, which isn't good for Anyone if you're doing some framing, that's good, but
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  that doesn't help you when it comes to kitchen and bath cabinetry, when it comes to tile and all those other things out there.
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  So we are seeing more production coming back in the United States.
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  And so that's a win that we're seeing right there.
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  So the real savings, the discount isn't at the lumberyard, it's in the labor market.
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  And the showroom appliances is a tough go if you're working on that kitchen remodel.
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  Here's one thing you got to pay attention to.
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  Look for the closeout sales if you're trying to save some money on it.
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  Most, if not all appliance brands have what they call map pricing.
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  Map pricing is what they do when they have a minimum advertised price.
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  So that's why when you go on and you have a specific model of a refrigerator that's $1,099, like why is everybody the same?
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  It's because they're putting it at the minimum advertised price.
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  It's almost like price fixing, but it's not.
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  They all keep them at the same price to protect the dealer markups.
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  But they can get away from map pricing when they do their warehouse sales or things like that.
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  So pay attention to those sales around holidays or any of the.
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  Your local regional multi location showrooms will have some sales like that which can get kind of cool.
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  So you can get some stuff that was out of the box, maybe it was damaged and they fixed it and that can be a real one to save you some money on appliances because I tell you what, that
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  can get really expensive quick and pay attention to what you're getting.
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  Model numbers make a difference on what features are there and others.
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  And that's the one thing to take a look at when you're out there shopping.
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  Now don't be shocked that if the they look exactly the same and maybe the model number between Home Depot and Lowe's are slightly different.
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  Sometimes they will build special models so they don't get stuck in any kind of a price match situation.
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  And then of course you've got your special buys as well that you'll see where appliance company or a big box retailer will buy those and then blow them out.
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  And then those won't be part of map pricing many times because it's a special model number that no one has.
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  And here's the crazy part where what we're about 18 weeks to Turkey, we're starting to get towards Thanksgiving, so we want to make sure that we are getting these projects going.
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  If you want to have it done by the holidays, you better have that designer meeting next week.
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  Because here's the thing.
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  If you're 18, 19 weeks till the holidays now, you're looking at it going, okay.
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  Some of these cabinet companies can take six to eight weeks to build cabinetry.
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  If you're not dealing with a stock company, that's one that you should be paying attention to because that takes a third to half of your lead time down for the holidays that you've already got stuff ordered, ready to
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  go and coming.
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  And you don't want those guys starting to remodel until the cabinet show up.
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  Because I've seen that get burned many times.
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  So that's a key right there.
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  Now, if you're going to be buying cabinetry out there, there are some things that I want to talk about here real quick.
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  If you're out shopping cabinetry, don't pay as much attention to price.
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  Figure out what you're getting.
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  The word custom means nothing when it comes to cabinet quality.
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  And quite frankly, in some of the groups that I'm in, ask a cabinet maker on Facebook.
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  The biggest problems they have there are not from the craft Maids, American Wood Marks, Belmont or these guys, the big retail cabinet producers that you see in many of the stores out there or nicer showrooms.
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  If you look at a brand, for instance craft made, they do a nice job for a semi custom cabinet.
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  Their finishes are way better than probably 80% of the custom shops out there because they use the latest technology.
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  They're doing a sprayed on finish that's baked on.
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  It's much more like an automotive finish than what you see.
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  The biggest problems that I see out of custom cabinet shops are low quality finishes or they ship them out raw in stain and paint them out in the job site, which is horrendous.
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  I never accept that.
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  If they're going to be painting them out there, which I don't believe in, but I get it.
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  I want to see them at least be primed and sealed because you know how wood reacts.
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  If you're putting a cabinetry in a house that's getting delivered and they're painting and they're drywall and all this other stuff in there, that house is high humidity and you are going to have warp doors, crack doors, all
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  these issues with that.
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  So cabinetry showing up on the job site always has to have some finish on it, period.
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  Second of all, I want to make sure that they're not using a lacquer finish.
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  There are so many different grades of finishes out there.
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  There's stuff that you saw go on 1957 Chevy back in the day when I was coming off the GM assembly line and that was a lacquer finish.
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  I'm not going to use that old technology going on.
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  Something that's going to get used every day.
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  The the older finishes now are the conversion varnishes.
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  There's the water based urethanes out there that really do a nice job of finishes.
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  And a lot of the water based finishes are beautiful and I like it when they're going through a flatline finish system.
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  And these are like a big conveyor belt and they've got an automatic spray head.
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  It reads the panel or the door and it sprays only where it needs to be and it puts an even film across it.
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  Does a way better job than what somebody spraying by hand is because the computer can make sure it's putting the exact same level of finish upon things.
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  So you're not going to have a light spot or a heavy spot.
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  It's just going to be just right and then seconds later it's dry.
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  Because they're going to use either UV or heat to cure that.
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  Number one, if they're going to make you something, you should have a whole set of drawings that you're initial door sample and color and wood species that you're approving that you can hold on to.
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  Because I want them to make two of them.
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  One for you, one for them.
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  And if they're going back to finish it in the shop, it has to match that.
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  And if it doesn't, they gotta make it right round the house.
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  Be right back after these important messages.
• 20:51
  Don't change that dial.
• 22:38
  Welcome back to the around the house show.
• 22:40
  I'm Eric G.
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  Thanks for tuning in today.
• 22:41
  Today, if you want to find out more about us or send me a message, head over to a.
• 22:45
  We were just talking about working backwards from Thanksgiving, which is November 26th, I believe this year.
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  And if you're six to 10 weeks on a lead time counters can't template until cabinets are set, then fabrication on top.
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  You can really see a full kitchen of 8 to 12 weeks of construction after the cabinets land.
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  So we're going to deliver those hard truths to you to make sure that you can get this project done.
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  Now here's the thing too.
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  And this is something for you contractors out there.
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  This is that conversion moment.
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  Here's the thing.
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  The holiday countdown.
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  The biggest time killer isn't the construction.
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  It's the six to eight weeks that People burn going back and forth on budget before they even commit you.
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  If you're serious about getting it before Thanksgiving, you gotta have a quick turn on this.
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  So you don't have six weeks to wonder what it costs.
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  Get numbers really quick.
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  Get them this week.
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  And John Dudley, my co host, he has been working on that instabid program and the out there for contractors that are just rolling out now.
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  And I tell you what, that is going to change this.
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  This is going to make it where you can jump on and get some quick estimates and understand what it's going to cost before people even come out.
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  And that's going to be something that's really going to change how we see construction out there.
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  And it's going to really tighten up this schedule.
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  That point of the first phone call of, hey, you want to come out and take a look at things to all right, kitchen's done, final inspection's done, and you're good to go.
• 24:22
  That's going to be something maybe next year that we're really going to see change is how instabed changes that timeline, because there won't need to be that six weeks of going back and figuring and pricing and back and
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  forth.
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  The biggest time suck is going to be just figuring out your design and the colors and stuff you want with the designer.
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  But that's part of the process that has to have that human element in my mind.
• 24:45
  So this is really important when you're trying to stay on schedule.
• 24:49
  So kitchens, boy, you're up against it already.
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  But here's the good news.
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  Bathrooms, especially that tub to shower conversion, cabinet refacing and paint, countertop swaps, flooring, lighting power, powder rooms, fireplace surrounds, interior paint.
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  Maybe that new mud room refresh that can be done before the holidays.
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  Pretty easy.
• 25:12
  You're still gonna have to get after it.
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  Now, the bubble.
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  Yeah, full kitchens.
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  But if you're going with it and you're getting stock stuff, easily can get it done.
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  If you're dealing with more custom and a little bit higher end.
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  Yeah, that can take some time.
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  So what's already done for this year that you're not going to get done by the end of the year?
• 25:32
  Additions, structural work, custom cabinetry, and exotic finishes before the holidays.
• 25:39
  So that's really where you're going to be at now.
• 25:42
  The good news is, if you're going to start this in January, now's a great time to do it.
• 25:46
  That's the pro move right there, and that's going to save you some time.
• 25:49
  And I tell you what, this is where I see people really get in their own way as far as homeowners getting through the process.
• 25:58
  You need to work out a schedule and you'll have to make decisions quick.
• 26:02
  And that's okay.
• 26:03
  You can do that, but you're gonna have to have a good plan.
• 26:06
  And that's where that good designer comes in.
• 26:09
  For kitchens and bathrooms, I love finding a designer through the nkba.
• 26:13
  I'm a certified kitchen designer through them.
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  That is my education body that I work through to get my certification, the National Kitchen of Bath Association.
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  And you can go over to nkba.org and find a certified kitchen and bath designer over there.
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  I'm one of the old school ones because I got my certification back in 1999 and so they've renamed stuff.
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  I'm kind of in the legacy group there of the old certifications.
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  But now you can be a certified Kitchen of Bath designer.
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  They've got certified master kitchen about designers.
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  And so they've got really these different levels of certification which can really help you out in finding someone that has taken the tests, that is fully educated.
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  And if I had one complaint on our design community out there, it's going to be the people that have no training and no knowledge that call themselves designers.
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  Are there good ones of those?
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  Yes.
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  Are there plenty of them that are people that maybe their real estate career didn't work out or they sure love hdtv, so they're playing designer on their own.
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  Yeah, there are.
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  And so your job is to weed through those folks and see what you can do to find the right one that fits.
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  So for me, that certification is really key for making sure that you get the right person to walk through the project that'll help manage it from the designer point of view.
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  And in the long run, I know you go, oh, that's going to cost me money.
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  Probably going to save you a ton in the end because you're not going to be doing things twice.
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  You're not going to be making those design mistakes that you go, oh, my gosh, now we got to change this out or have to.
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  I put the wrong color countertop and it looks horrible.
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  You're going to eliminate those needs and those messes, which can be really positive.
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  And it's going to give the project someone else in there helping you manage it.
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  And go, now the other thing is too, is I want to talk about real quick is making sure that you're not going to be your own general contractor.
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  Now, if you're a retired general contractor, knock it out.
• 28:16
  Here's the problem for Most working people, if you're going to be buying the plumbing stuff and then taking it to the plumber or take to the house, you are now on call.
• 28:27
  If you picked up the wrong stuff or something is defective, that plumber is not going to run back to the plumbing store and swap it out without charging you for it.
• 28:35
  So if you're going to be your own general contractor and you're going to be trying to save money and buying the materials, one, it can hurt your chances.
• 28:43
  Depending on your state on warranty, yes, they might only warranty the install and that's it.
• 28:51
  Now, if your plumbing company or your contractor bought the materials and they're putting it in there now, that's going to be covered all under the contractor's warranty.
• 29:02
  So now it's going to get the full warranty.
• 29:04
  So sometimes people say, I'm gonna buy, I'm gonna save money and I'm going to buy this stuff myself and give it to the contractor.
• 29:12
  That can be a huge mistake for a homeowner because here's why.
• 29:16
  Many times that contractor going into a wholesale plumbing store, they're going to give them 20, 30, 35% marked off the price.
• 29:26
  That's great.
• 29:27
  Now it has to go through their books, so they're going to get taxed on it.
• 29:30
  So they got to make sure that they have that marked up.
• 29:32
  So now that 20, 25, 30% is going to get washed out and be about the retail price you're paying so they can make their money and manage the project.
• 29:42
  So this is where the key is.
• 29:44
  Now you're gonna get yourself off the hook for having to be the runner.
• 29:48
  When you're sitting down in a meeting at work and you get the text from the plumber going, hey, these parts are wrong.
• 29:52
  You need to go swap them out and they have them in stock and you run down there and go get it.
• 29:56
  Now you're paying the plumber to sit around for an hour while you get through your meeting to go get stuff.
• 30:01
  Guys, that's not a smart use of money.
• 30:03
  So be careful.
• 30:05
  Sometimes trying to save money can make it way more expensive, and that's where you're gonna get burned on that.
• 30:14
  So sometimes saving money is the most expensive option.
• 30:19
  So that's gonna be one that you really have to pay attention to.
• 30:21
  Now the other thing that is, the other one that I have to say is the kind of the wild card here is going to be permits.
• 30:30
  If you're doing structural permits, it could be something that's a, a week or two or it could be something that's a month or two and you just don't know.
• 30:38
  Look at California.
• 30:39
  You've got so many people that have homes are trying to rebuild in the Pacific Palisades that are still sitting in planning for the next year or two as they're trying to get them built back up.
• 30:49
  So depending on your area, there could be a huge weight or it could be something simple where your contractor goes up to the counter, buys a counter permit for the three new circuits you need to put in, or
• 31:00
  five more circuits you need to put in for your kitchen remodel and a few little things like that and some minor plumbing changes, and they're in and out.
• 31:08
  Or it could be a whole big decision where you have to go through a big process to make sure you've got that dialed in with your local building permit agency, whatever that is.
• 31:19
  Now, there are still some places in the US that really are kind of the Wild west for that.
• 31:25
  But in most places, you usually have a state like Washington or Oregon where those permits are done off a state system, but they're done through your local building department at your county or city.
• 31:37
  Other places, it's all over the place.
• 31:39
  And some places you don't even have to really get anything unless you're building a new house.
• 31:42
  A lot of remodeling permits don't even happen.
• 31:46
  So these are things to really pay attention.
• 31:47
  Know the rules in your area.
• 31:49
  I have seen people get arrested for breaking those rules.
• 31:53
  And was it overreach?
• 31:55
  Yeah, in my opinion, it was.
• 31:57
  But you know something, that could be crazy, and we don't want to see crazy when it comes to remodeling.
• 32:03
  All right, when we come back, I got some permit stories here for you that I'm seeing out there.
• 32:07
  We'll talk more about that when around the House returns.
• 32:10
  Don't change that topic.
• 34:11
  Welcome back to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.
• 34:15
  I'm Eric G.
• 34:16
  Thanks for joining me today.
• 34:17
  I am flying solo today on one of those more rare events that we have, but I wanted to talk about remodeling in 2026 and what we're seeing out there.
• 34:26
  Now, here's the thing.
• 34:27
  We'll talk about some permit stories here in a minute, but I wanted to talk about this one.
• 34:31
  The hot or not trends that we're seeing for late 2026, all white kitchens on are just on their way out for 2026.
• 34:43
  Design is moving forward.
• 34:44
  You know, we're seeing more layered, you know, spaces with deep greens, inky Blues, soft taupes, color is back in.
• 34:56
  You know, that millennial gray and cold minimalism fade is gone.
• 35:02
  That is, we're, we're heading out of that one.
• 35:03
  That is, we are going the opposite direction to more cozy and lived in.
• 35:09
  So other stuff that I'm seeing that's not hot is the, you know, the word.
• 35:16
  Art, decor, waterfall, everything, you know, it's.
• 35:20
  It's the stuff that we're seeing that clients demanded five years ago that already date the house.
• 35:27
  The oil rub bronze finishes, the white oak with the black hardware is kind of on its way out.
• 35:34
  It's been done for way too long.
• 35:37
  So we're really seeing that stuff kind of come just kick its way out the door.
• 35:42
  And like I talked about a few weeks ago in the show, when we see design trends hit, you know, Target, Home Depot, usually it's on its way out.
• 35:53
  So a couple of things that I'm seeing on the hot list.
• 35:55
  Curves and arches are big again.
• 35:57
  Curved showers, arched openings, barrel vaults, even fluted moldings are starting to come back in warm layered color.
• 36:07
  That is big, natural reclaimed materials, little art deco geometry with marble and metallics.
• 36:16
  Smart design for aging in place is massive out there for the multi generational living.
• 36:23
  So I saw a study that had 66% of homeowners addressing special needs during bathroom remodels.
• 36:30
  Whether it's a curbless shower, bigger doors, you know, like a 36 inch door going into all the rooms, wider walkways, easy reach, storage, these are all things that we're seeing.
• 36:42
  A ton of showers are going with full slabs inside there or at least large format tiles.
• 36:49
  So you get out of the grout that way, you've just got panels in the corners and you're good to go.
• 36:58
  That is the new way we're seeing things.
• 37:01
  A lot of the smaller tiles, not so much.
• 37:04
  We're seeing big stuff that's easy to maintain, easy to keep clean.
• 37:09
  And with the large format tiles, it can look like one big slab of marble.
• 37:13
  You can even go around and return it back into the sides.
• 37:16
  I did that on my shower a handful of years ago.
• 37:18
  I used slab porcelain.
• 37:20
  I did the whole back of the five foot wall of this shower out of one slab there.
• 37:25
  And then when it came around to the sides, that's what was cool, is when I came around the sides, I green matched it.
• 37:32
  And up on the ceiling, because it was a steam shower.
• 37:34
  So that was huge.
• 37:36
  So those are things that we're starting to see there.
• 37:39
  Paint colors, you know, is easy because guess what?
• 37:42
  When that changes in A few years, just paint again.
• 37:45
  That's an easy one.
• 37:47
  So these are all things that we're starting to see.
• 37:50
  And of course we're starting to see some other trends out there where people are adding more health and wellness into their homes.
• 37:55
  They're dealing with wanting to make sure, especially with the wildfire smoke that we saw over the last few weeks across the country, that's going to be going on for another couple months probably in many areas.
• 38:06
  I know we're just starting to get it here.
• 38:09
  This is one of those things that health and wellness, clean air inside your home is a big piece of the discussion.
• 38:18
  So we're seeing people maybe not spending as much on that kitchen model, but when the, gosh, when the, when the H vac system stops working, they're not paying the 6 or $7,000 to put a, a basic new one
• 38:32
  in.
• 38:33
  I'm seeing them spend the 10 or 15,000 to put something in that's going to be efficient.
• 38:38
  It's going to put out way cleaner air through filtration or cleansers and dehumidification in most places and humidification in those few places that need it.
• 38:49
  So we're really seeing that kind of stuff out there and really make a difference.
• 38:54
  And we talked about it the other day.
• 38:55
  I still think that many of the LVP luxury vinyl planks are on their way out.
• 39:01
  We had a pretty steered spirited debate on social media over those clips from when I had my friends from Treadline on the show.
• 39:08
  And I still stand by it.
• 39:10
  I think that that product is going to be decent in homes that.
• 39:17
  Especially when it's glued down in entry level homes where you can't afford to put tile in there and hardwoods just not going to be fitting the budget.
• 39:25
  I get it for that.
• 39:27
  It's what frustrates me when I see a $900,000 or $1 million home with it all over the place.
• 39:33
  And you can just tell that the builder was getting, was saving some money on that one and not putting the right materials for that price of home out there.
• 39:42
  So that's something to really pay attention to in the value side of things.
• 39:46
  You know, for pets.
• 39:47
  I get it.
• 39:48
  Problem is it's not waterproof.
• 39:50
  The water still goes down through it.
• 39:52
  It still makes it around the little snap, click parts and around any other places.
• 39:56
  And then when you trap it underneath, especially in basement floors or a concrete floor, that's when the mold and mildew comes in there.
• 40:02
  And you can have a very unhealthy home really, really quickly.
• 40:07
  And that's something to really pay attention to.
• 40:10
  So take your time on that one, guys.
• 40:12
  Do your planning on any of these projects out there and pay attention when you're talking about H Vac systems out there.
• 40:21
  Do some research on the brands themselves and what it is.
• 40:26
  You know, there's a lot of great brands out there.
• 40:28
  There are some that were legacy brands out there that are having some reliability issues.
• 40:33
  And so do your research online, see what you're going to go with.
• 40:37
  And then if you're looking at H Vac or Healthy Air like that, one of those kind of places, do your research, make sure that you know what you're doing when you get into that.
• 40:45
  Because there's a lot of design that goes into that and this is not where you want to find just the cheapest bidder.
• 40:51
  There are so many people out there.
• 40:53
  You got your truck in the truck, H Vac guys.
• 40:55
  Oh, that was a three ton unit that was in there.
• 40:57
  We're going to put another three ton back in it.
• 41:00
  And then there's your H Vac professionals that are licensed or have been trained as a dealer from that main company like for instance a carrier.
• 41:10
  And so they know that system backwards and forwards and they're not going to fall for the trap that maybe the size before was wrong.
• 41:19
  Many times, many times those systems have been absolutely designed wrong for heat load or the heat load change.
• 41:29
  Maybe it was in when they built the house where a lot of trees around there and now those trees are gone from storms or, or they grow to grew too big or the other way where you had it,
• 41:39
  there was no shade and the trees are now bigger and now your heat loads different or you've insulated or you put new windows in.
• 41:46
  So these are things you want to do.
• 41:48
  Too big can be just as bad as too small.
• 41:52
  So you want to make sure you got that size correctly so you're not cycling it and you can control the humidity.
• 41:58
  And a minute.
• 41:58
  Now they say 80% of homes across the US should have a dehumidifier.
• 42:03
  If you don't have one, just do this for me.
• 42:06
  Jump on Amazon or go down to your hardware store, get an air quality monitor, check your humidity in your house right now, see where you're at.
• 42:15
  And if you're above 60%, that's not good.
• 42:18
  You've got to deal with that because that's going to grow mold and that's going to start rotting things out you don't want to be dealing with.
• 42:23
  So that's the part right now.
• 42:25
  It gets expensive.
• 42:27
  But if you're going to deal with healthy home stuff.
• 42:29
  This is the way to do it.
• 42:30
  Be informed, know what you're doing and then bring in the professionals that are not going to lay on what was done before.
• 42:39
  You want them to recalculate everything and make sure it's right.
• 42:42
  Because my house, well, it was done wrong before and then we went in and fixed that stuff.
• 42:48
  And there's some great things you can do now out there too.
• 42:52
  You can go in and put in a zone system.
• 42:53
  In many homes, if you got a crawl space or a basement where you have access to those trunks that maybe go upstairs to the, to the second level where the bedrooms are.
• 43:03
  I did a zone system in mind.
• 43:05
  So I had a two zone system.
• 43:07
  So I had upstairs in my full upstairs, I had a thermostat up there so I could keep the bedroom at a different temperature than downstairs.
• 43:16
  So in the heat going on, I could keep downstairs actually a little bit warmer and upstairs a little bit cooler, which again, with heat rising is a little bit of a battle.
• 43:26
  But it works for a comfortable home that you can have at night when you're trying to go to sleep and it's hot as Hades out there and you're trying to get through the night.
• 43:37
  So if you want to be comfortable, take a look at that stuff.
• 43:40
  It is something that can add value.
• 43:42
  It is something there might be rebates for, especially if you've got an old system.
• 43:46
  There could be some savings out there, especially if you're on the low income side.
• 43:51
  Many states have programs for you that'll make this work for you.
• 43:54
  All right, guys, that wraps up my remodeling stuff here for late 2026 this last half of the year.
• 44:01
  All right, everybody, have a great weekend.
• 44:03
  If you want to find out more about us, make sure you follow us on around the house online dot com.
• 44:09
  Check out our two YouTube channels.
• 44:11
  We've got that.
• 44:12
  And if you're listening on the radio, make sure you catch the podcast player.
• 44:15
  We got about two grand, 2,000 episodes sitting over there that you can do a deep dive on just about any subject.
• 44:22
  And so you can search that as well.
• 44:24
  But you always catch the most recent show right on the radio.
• 44:27
  I'm Eric G.
• 44:28
  Thanks for tuning in around the House.
• 44:30
  We'll see you next week.
• 44:31
  Thanks for catching the around the House show.
• 44:33
  Make sure you follow us on social media and hit up our website aroundthehouse online.com.
• 44:40
  We will see you next week.
• 44:46
  Don't be a stick in the mud.
• 44:47
  Grab your buddy, grab your butt, take this good time and turn it up louder.
• 44:52
  No one ever talks about the nights.
• 44:55
  They went to bed counting them.