Are you thinking about renting a home or apartment or have rented them and wonder what you can do differently so you get a better place? Here are my tips for finding the best home.

Plus we take listener questions about roof moss and cleaning your patio and near the end we talk about my favorite smart home products that help stop damage to your home and some of them even before the damage starts.

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[00:00:27] Eric Goranson: We're outta here. And, uh, he would not repair it even though that was part of it. So even I have gotten burned from landlords on this kind of stuff and I've had, I've had renters trash my places too, so I've had it on both sides of this. But demanding repairs is big and understanding what it means for you to do your part with it back when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know covered.

[00:01:13] Eric Goranson: Hey, if you've been, uh, following us over on our YouTube page, which go over to, uh, at KPT v Fox 12 and look for around the house. Once you get there, you can see the, uh, well, I built a big patio cover here in the last few weeks that ended up on the show there, so you can make sure and catch it over there.

[00:01:50] Eric Goranson: For somebody that wants to be a tenant. And this is an important one here. So before you start out, uh, my first tip here [00:02:00] is know your rights and you can actually go over to, uh, the department of, uh, US Department of Housing and UR Urban Development, which is hud.gov. And then you can take a look and see what your renter's rights are over there.

[00:02:41] Eric Goranson: Maybe you might be getting ahead of yourself if you don't like it, but if you love it, You're gonna really, really be ahead and, uh, you know, there's gonna be, uh, that completed rental application, you know, written references from the landlords, employers, colleagues, [00:03:00] and then a current copy of your credit report is pretty good.

[00:03:27] Eric Goranson: And then my second tip is an important one here. Review the lease. Carefully review. Everything before you sign it. This is your contract. So your rental agreement, um, will probably contain some stuff that you're gonna go, oh, I don't know about that. But understand it, you know, are there restrictions on parking, on pets?

[00:04:15] Eric Goranson: Oh, sure you can have a cat. No problem. If it's not in the paperwork, really it doesn't, it doesn't count. So you need to have everything written down so it's all in understanding. And that's a key right there. You know, if you, who's responsible for repairs? Put it in writing, have everything written out so you and the landlord have a copy.

[00:04:57] Eric Goranson: The house had not been painted. It was horrible, [00:05:00] maintained. I jumped on it. I knew we were only gonna be in there for about a year or two as we were waiting for the kids to get done with high school so we could move outta district. And sure enough, the super cheap landlord that I had, uh, we put high quality paint throughout the house, painted it, nothing crazy on colors, just had a little bit of color here and there.

[00:05:39] Eric Goranson: So he just gotta be careful with those kind of things. So make sure you've got everything in writing. Now here's the thing, pro protecting. Yourself when it comes to privacy rates, you know, the rent and security deposits are the, the two hot buttons outta this whole thing. [00:06:00] Now, the biggest things that I see are the misunderstandings that get over, you know, when the landlord can come inspect, when the landlord can, uh, come enter the property.

[00:06:41] Eric Goranson: I'm talking about. You know, the most landlords in the US are required to offer their tenants a liable, uh, you know, livable place to be, you know, weatherproofing, heat, water, electricity, clean, sanitary, you know, nice structural home, [00:07:00] and it should be in good repair. So you have options, and this is where I'm not an attorney, but you might have to get one.

[00:07:25] Eric Goranson: And the building inspector goes, you're right. This thing's red tag. You gotta move out. So make sure that, uh, you know, you have a place to go if that was to happen. And that's a big one. And then worst case, move it out. You know, the thing is, is you do not want to be in an unhealthy situation, but the same point, you don't wanna make bad decisions that, uh, can cost you thousands of dollars in the future, especially if this ends up going to court.

[00:08:13] Eric Goranson: But, uh, I tell you what, I've had more issues. That I've run into with landlords just not wanting to fix things correctly. I had a dak that he had framed out of dimensional lumber and then put cheap stain on it. So seven, eight years in, it was all completely rotten, actually fell through part of it, and that was when I was like, okay, we're done.

[00:08:54] Eric Goranson: Now, the next one here, we'll talk about when we come back, and it's an important one. It's probably the one that you [00:09:00] can stop most of the issues with if you just do one thing. And that's a big one and we'll talk about that when we come back. Hey, if you wanna get ahold of me, head over to around the House online.com.

[00:09:28] Eric Goranson: We're starting out the first part of the show here, talking about those tips to renting a home or an apartment. We'll be right back.

[00:10:07] Eric Goranson: And if you are listening on the radio, thank you support those advertisers that you're hearing on that radio station and I really appreciate. All of my radio listeners and I'm talking to you, those sponsors, there are what keep us on the air, on the radio, on uh, over 50 stations across the us. So thank you.

[00:10:53] Eric Goranson: Making sure that you get what you want, they go what they want, and you know, it can be tough. Now that could be an [00:11:00] onsite manager. It could be the maintenance person. It could be a bunch of different people. It could be a rental company that's managing that for the landlord. It could be one of those things, but having a good communication with them and having a good discussion that can most likely prevent a legal battle if you have two decent humans working together.

[00:11:41] Eric Goranson: That way if there's a theft or a fire, which is common, You're gonna be okay. This is where you wanna be protected, and the best way you can do that is through that liability and renter's insurance. Make sure you're good. Now, the next move that I have here is protecting your security [00:12:00] deposit. Now, first thing I want you to do is before you rent it and you sign the paperwork, do a walkthrough.

[00:12:28] Eric Goranson: You know, you want to make sure that that rental agreement is clear like we were talking about, which includes allowable deductions. I have seen. Landlords try to pull fast ones on. Friends of mine where they, oh, well, we, I, I take out the money for the carpet cleaning and the maintenance at the end. No, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:13:05] Eric Goranson: And then, you know, here's the thing, do your research on the area that you're looking at. You know, it's hard to get into some things like next door, but if you know somebody that lives close by, jump on their next door app and see all the Karens on there complaining. Trust me, there's plenty of them. Uh, and just make sure that you are in a safe area.

[00:13:46] Eric Goranson: I could hear automatic gunfire outside of my apartment and I only knew I was gonna be there for three or four months cause I need to get my house sold and get one bought. But oh my gosh, it was brutal. It was a rough [00:14:00] neighborhood. So these are things that you really wanna make sure you're getting to the right area now.

[00:14:30] Eric Goranson: The landlord is clearly wrong. You know, you haven't got proper notice. Whatever's legal in your states, you may wanna fight it, but unless you have a lot of provable facts, you're gonna lose this battle. So you could end up even paying the landlord's court costs if you're really in the wrong. So you gotta be very careful.

[00:15:17] Eric Goranson: Just make sure you're protected and everything's written down. Now had a question that came in from John, from Montana. Well actually John from Pennsylvania, cuz he did say he moved from Montana to Pennsylvania and he was asking about how do you remove moss from a roof? And there's a couple ways to do that.

[00:15:54] Eric Goranson: I actually like to go out and start out with kidding. Putting a zinc strip [00:16:00] across the ridge line and you can get that stuff. It's a moss removing zinc strip. It's just zinc. It's just a little wide, like inch, inch and a half roll. And you put it along the ridge and nail it down with, you know, with roofing nails on the very tip of the ridge.

[00:16:41] Eric Goranson: Now there are powders that you can get out there, which is, uh, any of the, the zinc, you know, like moss beware and those kind of things. Um, it's basically a zinc sulfate and monohydrate, which if you have a big roof, you can go to your local feed store and get a bag of it, but that is the first way to do it by [00:17:00] killing it.

[00:17:20] Eric Goranson: And so there's a lot of different ways you can make your own moss remover. And again, this is one of those things that I really am not a fan of. I think you should be using one of the, the zinc products because a lot of these DIY recipes. We'll say, you know, um, I like it when they just say, Hey, use some, uh, Dawn Ultra and some water.

[00:18:04] Eric Goranson: We'll tackle the rest of getting that moss off your roof just as soon as around the as returns.

[00:19:10] Eric Goranson: Well, we've been talking about, you know, using the zinc strips across the top and that kind of stuff. But really, if you're gonna get up on the roof and tackle it yourself, make sure that one, you're up there in a safe matter. So follow the OSHA guidelines. Tie off if you have to, uh, make sure you're wearing the right gear.

[00:19:50] Eric Goranson: But you gotta be super gentle cuz the thing you don't wanna do is remove the granules. You're gonna remove some anyway, but you really almost have to hand if you have clumps of moss, you [00:20:00] almost have to just carefully get in there and handpick those out cuz they're gonna be attached to the roof surface.

[00:20:22] Eric Goranson: That's if you're gonna pay for something to do it. If somebody shows up with a high pressure pressure washer, that's when I figured out that I hired the wrong people for the job. Cuz uh, that pressure washer is not good for the roof. So at no circumstances you'd be up there with that. Just a really low pressure SUD water can do all the work needs to do.

[00:21:07] Eric Goranson: The previous owner didn't apparently clean it. Uh, Patty has tread vinegar, baking soda, Don Dish, so bleach. 30 seconds cleaner with a broom brush. Nothing is doing a good job yet. Doesn't own a pressure washer. So, uh, Patty says, thanks for your guidance. Here's the thing. Now there's a couple things you have to remember when you're using these different cleaners.

[00:21:54] Eric Goranson: Scrub, brush, all of that, spray it off. That will kind of [00:22:00] work. It'll work just about as good as anything else, but I'll, here's the honest truth, Patty. I would go rent a pressure washer cause for what? They're gonna charge you for the pressure washer from your local home center to rent. You'll probably spend more money on chemicals and tools to do it by hand.

[00:22:40] Eric Goranson: Now there are some great garage floor cleaners, which are great for the grease and the mold and really the, the oils. And that is some of the, like the zep garage cleaner. That stuff works really well on removing oils. Oils are pretty good cuz you could actually hit that with an enzyme that'll eat it [00:23:00] and you know, it'll still keep coming out of there.

[00:23:29] Eric Goranson: But, um, that's not great for the environment, not good for you, not good for a typical homeowner. But if it was me, I would just go rent the pressure washer for a few hours, get some good cleaner for the pressure washer, and spray away and let the pressure do the work. And then after it's dried and you gotta looking good, you might go around and seal it.

[00:24:12] Eric Goranson: Smart home tech products to help protect your investment in your home. So if you're a homeowner, or even if you're a landlord, like we were talking earlier, this is something that you should think about having in every single home. That can protect your investment. Now it's just one, not one product, but I've got a handful of 'em that I use at my house that I've been testing on that I think are really important to have.

[00:25:05] Eric Goranson: So it's gonna look for electrical shorts, because when electricity makes a noise in the back of an outlet or something like that, or if you've got some kind of a short going someplace, it senses it and it'll notify you and it actually watches all the way up to the transformer. Of your house. So it goes all the way out to the pole, and that's what's really cool about this or in the ground if you've got underground cable.

[00:25:48] Eric Goranson: Many of the insurance companies are paying for this for homeowners because guess what? If they can spend a little bit and prevent a house fire, pretty smart for them to give it to you, [00:26:00] right? That's how well this works. So, uh, for more information on it, just head over to, uh, YouTube. You can catch up my YouTube over there and I'll actually, I'll put it up on our social media here so you can take a look at it.

[00:26:32] Eric Goranson: This is not what this is designed for. This is designed for looking for small issues, and the cool thing is it has a thousand dollars insurance policy for an electrician to come out and fix the problem so they know what that sound that it made looks like. So, yeah, it can even help fix your house on top of that, and that's called Whisker Labs is the company, ting Fire is the product.

[00:27:23] Eric Goranson: Their water leak detection system detection is really cool. So they call it growy sense Guard. And what Growy Senses guard is, it can really, honestly, it'll stop water damage in its tracks. We come back, we'll talk more about those details here because this is something that if your system senses. A water break in your home.

[00:28:42] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The House Show. This is where we hope you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us. You're just catching us on the radio. Check us out. Anywhere you catch the podcast, just look for around the House show, or you can get over to our Facebook, which is around the House Show and our closed group there where you can share up [00:29:00] projects.

[00:29:16] Eric Goranson: And, uh, next up, uh, in the second hour, if you're catching the second hour coming up here after this segment or in the next podcast here, that is going to be, we're gonna talk about heated towel racks and how easy they are to put in your home. And I tell you what, after putting one in. This is something you're gonna want to check out, but right now we're talking about leak detection and Growy makes Growy senses guard and this really just stops damage in its tracks.

[00:30:13] Eric Goranson: And then of course, the average price of a home water damage insurance claim is $6,965. Of course it varies depending where it is. But uh, here's the cool thing here. This is super smart. You basically plug it in and it goes in line of the water coming into your house and you have remote sensors that you can install and this literally goes around and it will sense.

[00:31:06] Eric Goranson: It's gonna tell you, um, the humidity in the space. So if you put that sensor down in there, it'll tell you, Hey, it's getting cold down there, and you've got high humidity. It's gonna tell you if the water's on. It's gonna tell you what your water pressure is and what your water flow is. It's giving you all these important things to your house.

[00:31:49] Eric Goranson: Uh, none of these things are being paid for here that I'm talking about today. This is just my belief of things that I've been using that I think are the best things to use around your house. [00:32:00] Uh, so none of this is sponsored com uh, sponsored content. This is not anything anybody's paying me a dime for, but here's the thing.

[00:32:30] Eric Goranson: N B Sentinel. These guys make mailboxes that hold your packages. They're like a safe for your delivery Dropbox. So it's really cool and these things fit either where you can go in the side of your garage where it can drop the packages into your garage. It can go into a box out by the mailbox. It can go into a post, like a column.

[00:33:17] Eric Goranson: These things work really well. It is a Dropbox and so what it is, and you can find it more out@mbsentinel.com and uh, I'm gonna have to do a project with these guys cuz I, I love this stuff and it is their box gobbler. So basically somebody comes up, And puts the code in, that's your delivery driver cuz you've put the code in there and all of a sudden they open it up and they can drop in and it's an insulated panel and somebody has an access where they can drop that big package inside and you'll never have.

[00:34:17] Eric Goranson: These guys are pretty trick. I like what they're doing there and I think that's important stuff. I love companies that are giving back and you can go through with these guys and build your box. So they have the through wall inserts like I was talking about. They have fence and column integrations where if you've got a a column out, maybe with a gate post, you could put it in that.

[00:34:56] Eric Goranson: These are important things that you should be having around your house and I think that could be [00:35:00] a nice addition to your residents. So those are kind of my top ones here to go, uh, you know, go to items for your house that can prevent a fire, a flood, someone breaking in. And of course package is getting stolen.

[00:35:32] Eric Goranson: American Woodmark has recalled. A bunch of continental cabinets in Hampton Bay Kitchen wall cabinets due to an impact hazard. Now first off, this is from the Consumer Pro Product Safety Commission, cpsc.gov/recalls, and this was from May 11th. But here's the thing, tells you one thing, American Woodmark is the ones that Meek Continental Cabinets and Hampton Bay.

[00:36:19] Eric Goranson: Basically, these cabinets are falling off the wall. Posing an impact hazard. And so these cabinets, which are traditionally particle board, even in plywood, but usually the backs of these cabinets made by American woodmark are traditionally like deto and hot glued, and there's a couple staples holding it together while the hot glue sets up.

[00:37:04] Eric Goranson: So that's the issue right there. So you got a real big problem with that, uh, people loading stuff up on there. So that is something I would really take a look at. And that's American Woodmark recalling Continental or Hampton Bay Cabinets. Take a look at your kitchen cabinets, folks. I don't wanna see anybody losing grandma's dishes or something coming outta the cabinet right there because the backs are coming off of 'em and the cabinets are hitting the floor.

[00:37:47] Eric Goranson: I don't wanna see that happen. That could be a bad situation where you could get really hurt. I don't want that post breaking off and then having something stabbing at you. Not a good picture that nobody wants to see. All right, everybody. If you want more information about around the [00:38:00] house, head over to around the house online.com and then we're gonna have some special stuff coming up here in June.

[00:38:32] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody have a great rest of the week. We've got a next hour, which is spectacular. We're gonna be talking about bathroom design and some of the coolest things you can do to save yourself on laundry. And have a more comfortable showering or bathing experience. Something that I think you're gonna want to add to your home.