[speaker001:] how did you all get tied up with this uh TI system
[speaker002:] oh did you already dial one
[speaker001:] yeah I just dial one
[speaker002:] we're being recorded already
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] okay uh we're supposed to be discussing our homes
[speaker001:] yeah but what what uh what did you uh are you with TIer or how did you get tied up with this
[speaker002:] oh it's a uh long story but uh let's discuss about our homes um what kind of home do you live in
[speaker001:] uh I guess a typical home here is without a uh uh basement I guess that's the classical uh
[speaker002:] raised style
[speaker001:] yeah uh we have something here we have something here you may not have up there which is a well we we were phasing them out is the wood shingle roof I don't know if you had it when I first got here
[speaker002:] uh-huh my parents live huh where did you got get there from
[speaker001:] from New Jersey
[speaker002:] all right
[speaker001:] uh
[speaker002:] I new you didn't have a Texas accent
[speaker001:] right no I I'm my accent's gone I've practiced a long time to get rid of it uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] the the wood shingle roofs are phasing out here they're very they're good for air-conditioning you know they they
[speaker002:] I hear you
[speaker001:] it's you it's very shocking when you look inside the attic and on a dry day and see a hundred little or thousands of little light wholes you know
[speaker002:] I would imagine so
[speaker001:] it it's very strange and then when of course when it rains then it then it then it stretches
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and does a pretty good job but uh the the fire hazard has is
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh I would imagine
[speaker001:] phasing that kind of construction out it it's so
[speaker002:] so what kind of home do you live in
[speaker001:] oh it's a rent it's a multistorey uh last year uh luckily
[speaker002:] oh a colonial style two story
[speaker001:] no colonial is not the word had they use here uh that's
[speaker002:] multistorey is what they call them
[speaker001:] a multilevel it's called multilevel
[speaker002:] okay
[speaker001:] it it it's not it's not really that typical it's a custom home
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] uh I live in Arlington actually this I'm working tonight actually in Dallas uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] at TI here
[speaker002:] oh you work at TI
[speaker001:] oh yeah
[speaker002:] so that's how you got hooked up to this
[speaker001:] oh yeah
[speaker002:] you know you know you can converse with the person for a while and get to know them before you punch the one you don't have to get started on the conversation right away
[speaker001:] oh yeah your right your right
[speaker002:] well anyway um well uh
[speaker001:] how many calls have you made uh have you
[speaker002:] oh I don't know several eleven twelve thirteen I guess
[speaker001:] oh really everyone everyone's higher than I am
[speaker002:] well I haven't made the calls mostly I've just uh I answered them I live in a two story type colonial here in Maryland
[speaker001:] yeah that that I heard I know those words from the east when I was there but that they don't use that word here
[speaker002:] yeah well most the homes here are two story because uh they stack them up since the property is so expensive at least in the Maryland area where I am
[speaker001:] do you have a basement
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] oh yeah that's typical up there to you know
[speaker002:] yeah well like I say the land here and depending on where you are and how crowded it is the land bays go up and here a little old measly quarter of an acre goes from anywhere from four to five thousand to a hundred and some odd thousand depending on where it is
[speaker001:] oh yeah no the land is much cheaper here
[speaker002:] and if you're in a fairly decent subdivision which I guess maybe I'm in a fairly middle-class subdivision then the general trend is to put as much house as you can on a quarter acre it took me a long time to get used to it coming from down south up here big big houses on little bitty postage stamp lots
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] but uh that's the general way they uh they build them here so you get about a twenty two hundred to three thousand square foot home depending on whether you include the basement or not
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] uh on about a quarter of an acre or less about ten thousand square feet
[speaker001:] yeah the lots aren't very big here either in the Dallas uh Fort Worth area
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] uh but the basement there just aren't any basements I don't know of anyone ever even thought of putting a basement in here
[speaker002:] huh well they use slab foundations or do they use block foundations or the little
[speaker001:] uh it used to be a pier and beam where they would drill piers and and the first you would have a crawl space underneath your house but that's phased out in the last twenty five years where it's all slab
[speaker002:] crawl space okay slabs are easier and quicker to pour and lay I guess
[speaker001:] yeah and uh they they say that the the reason they don't put pier I think it's cheaper like you say but uh the soil does move a lot here and they say that you just couldn't uh
[speaker002:] uh uh-huh
[speaker001:] put a basement in the soil but I'd think they just to me I don't know really know why it wouldn't work I think you can put a basement in anywhere it's just not not popular
[speaker002:] I see what to dig out for it
[speaker001:] yeah really
[speaker002:] do you have high water tables
[speaker001:] no no it's not very high some of the water here
[speaker002:] so it's just a matter they just don't do it
[speaker001:] yeah this is Dallas there the water's down two thousand feet
[speaker002:] uh-huh well of course down there you probably don't have land as quite as much a premium so you can sprawl a big rancher out
[speaker001:] yeah I guess it's the style I really don't have an answer here because of the tornado I always thought tornados uh I thought people would build a lot of storm cellars you know or shelters you know but even that is not uh popular at all I don't know I don't know of anyone doing that uh
[speaker002:] yeah yeah uh-huh
[speaker001:] uh I don't even see it in the newspaper where people advertise that they have storm cellars or anything they just don't have them period
[speaker002:] uh-huh I understand well uh you say you live in a ranch style house yourself
[speaker001:] yeah it's it's multilevel yeah like my garage I have uh uh a bedroom over
[speaker002:] well now is it like a split level
[speaker001:] split level yeah
[speaker002:] in other words you've got some bedrooms above say a garage area and then the living room dining room area is halfway between both you go down steps to your garage and maybe a family room down there and you go up the steps to your bedroom
[speaker001:] right right exactly right right right
[speaker002:] okay that's what they call a split level up here and a split foyer is where all the steps are at the entrance way if you know what I mean
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] that's a split foyer type and then uh a colonial is where they stack it on top of each other and you pretty well have most of your living space on the first floor like uh a family room or uh you know something like that and the dining room area and a living room and maybe a a kitchen with a possible little eat in area or somethi ng like that
[speaker001:] what's your typical heating up there in Maryland gas or
[speaker002:] well uh you I've been through two or three different things of them first house I came up here had gas heat with electric stove then the second house I owned had gas heat and gas stove and uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um even gas water heater whereas my previous home it had electric water heater anyway and then the house I'm in now is all
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] uh electric it even has a heat pump
[speaker001:] oh really
[speaker002:] yeah and uh
[speaker001:] well heat pumps nice up there it would probably work pretty well
[speaker002:] well heat pumps do work pretty well up here it's taking them a few years to get the bugs out of them but uh
[speaker001:] yeah that's true
[speaker002:] they they finally seem to work quite well and I would imagine down where you all live heat pumps will work quite well or maybe down there all you need is just air-conditioning that's all
[speaker001:] well they should yeah because it's warmer in the winter or you have less of a winter down here of course it's a short winter but it does get down to five degrees uh occasionally
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] but uh I don't really know if heat pumps are that popular yet I guess uh I don't I haven't been that close to it in the newer homes
[speaker002:] well I would imagine all you need is just air-conditioning
[speaker001:] yeah we we have heat uh some have air-conditioning units I I I have an all electric house but uh it's fifty fifty there's a lot of gas houses here uh because it's so popular
[speaker002:] uh-huh oh that's right you're you're in the oil state so I would imagine there's plenty of gas around so that's the way to go for heat
[speaker001:] oh yeah people I think probably prefer natural gas for for heating
[speaker002:] yeah uh-huh I would too because me I like gas heat I love it
[speaker001:] I don't I'm an engineer and I don't like the danger of it I've seen too many houses here blowup and I think yeah and I just think
[speaker002:] oh really
[speaker001:] when I had I had uh a gas uh uh fireplace you know I had and I saw the way it was constructed yeah it went over my daughter's bedrooms you know over the garage I thought and there's there's just too many fittings in this thing to leak and so I just disconnected I never did hook that sucker up so I just took it out completely
[speaker002:] uh-huh gas logs uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] although people love gas here but I I'm ultraconservative on safety and I just don't don't want it
[speaker002:] uh um-hum uh-huh well I don't mind electric heating and and the like it's okay I mean I I like gas heat because it's so nice and warm but when it comes to cooking I cook I just absolute think a gas stove's the best that money can buy
[speaker001:] yeah well I've heard people
[speaker002:] you just can't beat cooking on gas
[speaker001:] yeah I've heard people say that I and I
[speaker002:] that flame man is hard to beat because you can regulate it and I mean you you want to turn the flame down on the stove you turn it down right now you don't have to wait for a cool down time which you have to rely on with uh conventional stove or or a warm-up time I mean it's instantly there
[speaker001:] yeah yeah right
[speaker002:] and that kind of response is quite uh quite effective I think for cooking
[speaker001:] oh yeah no I I've I've known people love it for years and uh but uh we've done without it for twenty years here and and uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh yeah well I've done without it too but I sure prefer it my wife does too
[speaker001:] yeah yeah no I I haven't I haven't really noticed uh I don't miss it you know with our of course I'm against I'm just I'm one of the
[speaker002:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker001:] a million people that uh is against uh gas
[speaker002:] well do your houses down there have porches or are they just pretty much like just a front door and that's it
[speaker001:] no no there's not much in front there's no sitting out front you know there's no like like in the east when I was young
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] of course it goes way back we used to sit out front I had a porch up front but no there's not a porch
[speaker002:] yeah aren't they nice
[speaker001:] yeah yeah oh yeah
[speaker002:] they're sort of coming back up here in the east
[speaker001:] I I I wish I had that you know
[speaker002:] front porches are they're not very big but they're kind of coming back
[speaker001:] right I I think the old ways in a lot of uh ways should come back uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh but I really love a screened in porch outback man I just eat that up
[speaker001:] but no the yeah no that there it's not popular here either screens in screen in is not that that's so that's uh
[speaker002:] huh well don't you all have mosquitoes down there
[speaker001:] not like not like you have up there no
[speaker002:] really
[speaker001:] it's too dry it's so dry that it's uh
[speaker002:] that's surprising
[speaker001:] Dallas is super dry
[speaker002:] hm how far are you guys from the coast down there where uh uh what is it uh
[speaker001:] uh three hundred miles yeah
[speaker002:] oh are you that's a pretty good piece then
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] I didn't know you were that far inland I knew it was a ways but
[speaker001:] our our weather is like we have a we have a the warm raining season is now is April
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] and a little bit of May an then it goes into super dry all summer then you summer with a hurricane season but
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh well tell me uh do your homes down there pretty much have garage disposals and things like that
[speaker001:] yeah yeah they have everything
[speaker002:] they do are y'all on septic or y'all have public sewage
[speaker001:] no public there's essentially no septic not in Dallas Fort Worth though you have it in the out lying areas but uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh oh they use one and two car garages or just one car garages or carports
[speaker001:] two two no not carports uh it's essentially garages
[speaker002:] okay so they do go garage because I lived down south for a long time carports were real popular in certain areas where I
[speaker001:] yeah not Dallas uh Fort Worth is you know the two car garage and certainly all air-conditioned uh
[speaker002:] used to live uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker001:] uh uh two thousand square feet is probably I don't know if that's average or not
[speaker002:] about how much floor space yeah that sounds about average I think all over the country
[speaker001:] yeah uh I I think so too there's a lot of swimming pools here I don't have one uh
[speaker002:] yeah oh really I don't either I hate to clean the rascals I had a I had a pool outback behind my previous house one of those