Dangers of Radon and New Flooring Options Print

• The cost of water harvesting, gutters.
• Romey Learned about Rain Reserve at the Heirloom Seed Festival.

Caller:

• Johnny - He just wanted to call in to talk about his adventure we encouraged listeners to take. They helped capture black footed ferrits and it was a blast! Find AZ Game and Fish events here!

**Rosie welcomes listener's to join him on a golf charity event. Email him!

• More on the research Arizona is doing with the black footed ferrits.

Sign Up for the Sanderson Ford Arizona Staycation Here!!!

*Thanks to our sponsors, Sanderson Ford, the Sphinx Date Ranch, and The Best Western Plus Inn of Sedona.

Local Farms and Farmer's Markets to visit in Arizona:

• Find farmer's markets at the Fill Your Plate website.
• MacDonalds Ranch
• Mother Nature's Farm
• Schnepf Farms
• Rocker 7 Farm Patch
• Desert Botanical Gardens

Jennifer loves Green Living Magazine and talks about some of the event she found there.

• Mortimer Family Farms  (Punkin Chunkin' Is There....)

Romey lists more events & farms to visit in Arizona:

• The Marana Pumpkin Patch
• Sahuarita Pecan Festival
• Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Ranch

Facts about chickens across the US and how they're growth has changed over the years and we talk about the Sustainable Poultry Network.

*Rosie encourages you to support St. Vincent Depaul!

Gardening expert, Jay Harper with Harper's Nursery & Landscaping Company is here to take your questions and we also have Cheryl Goar with the Arizona Nursery Association in-studio!

• Romey and Cheryl talk about the event they attended with the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Tip of the Week: Again, it's time for fall planting in the garden. Temps are cooling and that means winter lawns, fall veggies and flowers that can't thrive during the summer heat.

• Creep, Sleep and Leap....what it means and how planting trees in the fall means great healthy roots when the summer hits next summer.
• Winter flowers are ready to go in!
• Find at Garden Center here.
• Find out about the "Hot dogs and Horticulture" event!

Caller:

• Bob - He's lost a limb in the middle of his lemon tree and after cutting it out, he can't figure out what's killing the rest of the limbs. Any ideas?

Recommendation - This is common with lemon trees.....if you end up cutting a main branch out it will leave the growth underneath it exposed and it snowballs from there...
Stop trimming it for a while and make sure it's fertilized. Jay describes the whole process he'd go through.

*Proper fertilizing methods for this time of year.

• Joe - His passion fruit plant has been stripped by caterpillars. How can he save it?

Recommendation - Use "BT" to control them. Here's Bonide's BT Treatment.

• Using plants to help cool your home and save on energy costs during the year.
• Vines and a nice trellis is a great solution.

Letter from a Listener:

• Carmen - She loves her cat's claw vine but her husband has tried to kill it for years with no luck....

Recommendation - Unfortunately, the root system is pretty big but he'll need to dig out everything he can find and then when a shoot pops up brush on roundup and keep going. Jay has a lot of suggestions. Listen to the full segment.

*Jay and Romey talk about the black footed ferrits and why they're good for the environment.

*More about the Arizona Nursery Association the crew attended the day before and some innovative landscaping ideas they all loved. 

Callers:

• Margaret - She only has 10 lemons this year....is it because she didn't harvest them in time?

Recommendation - No, that's not the issue. It could be a bad pollination for the year and some even don't produce every year. It has nothing to do with the prior years fruit not being harvested.

*We discuss Glendale's recent upgrades.

Thanks to Cheryl and Jay for stopping by today!!!

Bob Brown, owner of Arizona Foundation Solutions is here to talk about the danger of Radon in homes.

• Defining Radon
• Some geographical areas that are more susceptible, but every home is a candidate. 
• How Radon enters the home and how many deaths are caused by this.
• Learn about it here.
• The good new....it's very simple and expensive to test for radon.
• What the Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency is.
• How Radon Test kits work and when it's time to test.

• If you DO HAVE RADON, what's the next step?

Caller:

• Jared - He is an HVAC contractor and he sees a lot of underground returns on AC systems. Does that increase the likelihood of radon entering the home?

Recommendation - If you have a leak......yes, that can be a big problem. When Bob sees them, he almost always has to completely remove them.

• We tackle myths surrounding radon.
• Average cost to fix this very serious threat.
• More steps if it IS found.

• Bob talks about his radon mitigation system and how his patented process was created.
• How Bob's exepertise on foundations translated into his interest in radon.
• A common misconception....if your neighbor is cleared, that DOES NOT mean you are free and clear.
• What makes certain areas more susceptible.

Caller:

• Renae - If you test your home and it's free and clear....when, if at all, should you retest your home.

Recommendation - Tests are short term and inexpensive so testing more than once is a good idea. Faulty readings can happen.

• Why concrete slabs and enclosed crawl spaces are especially dangerous areas of the home.
• Learn about "Heaving"

Caller:

• R.D. - The area his home is built on is all fractured granite. Should he test for Radon?

Recommendation - Yes! If you have granite in the soil, that's a warning sign for dangerous areas.

*Learn where to get radon test kits here or call Bob at Arizona Foundation Solutions.

• Joan - She lives in a modular homes on pilings. Should she be concerned?

Recommendation - It would take some investigation and for such a cheap test kit...just test your home.

If you have questions for Bob, call Arizona Foundation Solutions.

What Room in Your Room Do You Hate?  Click here to learn about it and to sign up!!!

      *Win $350 worth of paint and tools from PPG Pittsburg Paints!

Today we're talking "flooring" with Von Payne of East Valley Floors.

• Trends Von is seeing.
• Finding the perfect floor for your home.
• Romey's home and what he learned, Rosie's unique flooring and the weird way they treated it, plus Von's favorite floor.
• Color trends and current tile trends.
• New grout options.

Rosie interviews Ted with Apollo Flooring in Tucson:

• Rosie welcomes Ted, the owner of Apollo Flooring.
• Vinyl planks that look like wood are his biggest seller, currently. He describes why this is so popular.
• Many of us don't realize how much vinyl we walk on in a day.
• Vinyl eliminates most of the need of grout.
• The reduction of carpet's popularity.
• "Acoustical Issues" and solutions.

• We discuss options for a caller who couldn't hang on...
• Remember when adding flooring options, doors and other parts of the home will be effected.
• What the process should be when choosing a flooring type.
• Von shares a unique installation he's part of.

Caller:

• Charles - He wants to know how to clean up his grout and has heard about stains and paints to cover the grout lines.

Recommendation - Make sure the surface is extremely clean and start with sulfamic acid, a powder you apply with water and will loosen up heavy dirt. Scrub the grout and then let it sit for about 30 minutes before wiping it up. Next, let it sit for 24 hours and apply a colored grout seal stain. This should last about 5 years on most applications.

• Harriet - She wants to know the difference between luxury vinyl and laminate and how do you care for it?

Recommendation - Traditional sheet vinyl is still basically plastic and overtime it will wear down and need a finish. Laminate is much more durable and should last longer.

*Costs she can expect in each application.

Caller:

• Rea - She filled in a sunken basement and it's covered in tile. If she removes all of it, how does she make it look like concrete?

Recommendation - She'll need to remove all the wood and fill in the sunken slab with real concrete. Von can probably help!

• Clinton - He has laminate that looks like wood and no matter what he does it looks dirty about a half hour after he sweeps up. What can he do?

Recommendation - 1st, get a really good cleaner to strip the old finish off. Next apply a finish that will be much easier to clean and look good. Start in a corner before he does this to the whole floor.

*Why Von loves real wood and real stone flooring. He describes why...listen to the expert.

*The "Best Bang For Your Buck" according to Von Payne.

For Flooring Options in the Valley, visit East Valley Floors!

Join Rosie On The House Every Saturday Morning!!!