When it comes to home design, there are hundreds of architectural styles and thousands of variations on those, but if you visit any home in any city or town across America, there will be one of four styles of home.  

So, what are those four types of homes? The first is the saddest, it’s the house of neglect. In Dean’s expert eyes, the second one is nearly as bad as the house of neglect — it’s the house of bad ideas!  

What’s the third kind of American home? It’s the one that makes you smile. The fourth house is not one that gets your attention for any of the reasons listed. In fact, it doesn’t get much attention at all because there’s nothing particularly memorable about it. It’s the filler house that longs to be more. And there are 10s of millions of ’em. Let’s talk about it.  

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Solar power? So many questions that Dean is ready to answer! Spoiler alert: Dean is a fan of solar energy, especially here in California, where it will still save you money. 

What can Dean tell us about acrylic stucco finishes? Turns out, a lot! 

The last caller has a dark corner in his bedroom and he is trying to figure how to bring in the daylight using LED lighting. 

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Dean’s first caller is having hot-water troubles in her kitchen and needs to know what is necessary to get hot water to her sink, like, yesterday! 

The next caller is in his brand-new house. It sits on poured concrete slabs that are reinforced with metal bars, and there is a sign placed near the slabs by the builders that says “do not drill” — what does that mean? 

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Dean takes your calls all show! Helping you understand a little more about your home.

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Dean takes your calls all show! Helping you understand a little more about your home.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dean takes your calls all show! Helping you understand a little more about your home.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dean takes your calls on a Saturday morning!

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Dean teaches you how to cope with concrete cracks!

Dean Sharp design wizardry can be heard every weekend on KFI AM640.

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Cost, quality and time. For you to get the best out of your home design, you must give time to your project in the right way — it makes all the difference in the world. Slow down. Good takes time, excellent takes even more time. When it comes to design, listen to your house, but most importantly, listen to yourself!  

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Today’s first caller is having fireplace issues. When she attempted to light it on this cold, rainy morning, an ash smell covered the entire house — what's up with that? 

The next caller's bathtub faucet snapped clean off! He looked inside the spout and saw that it was completely corroded internally. Can he replace it himself?  

Back on the phones, a listener’s home was built in 1955, and she recently had the old roof replaced with asphalt slats. Previously it had wooden shingles, and she’s wondering if the roofers should have put plywood over the slats? 

The last caller is about to undertake a bathroom remodel and had questions regarding the recirculation pump and general design. 

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