February 23, 2025 • 29 mins
Today, Dean is joined by Chris Carson, the concreate contractor to discuss everything concrete!
Chris shares what made him get into the concreate business and as Dean talks preperation and detailing.
Chris shares what made him get into the concreate business and as Dean talks preperation and detailing.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app Welcome Home.
I'm Dean Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes,
I build custom homes, and here on the weekends. You know,
I'm here. I'm your guide to better understanding that place
(00:22):
where you live today on the show. You know, remodeling
season is just it is upon us. And you know,
despite everything having to do with the local fires and
all the rebuilding there, I'm just talking about all across
the nation. This is the time of year when people
are gearing up to get going. Maybe you're going to
(00:44):
be doing some room editions, maybe you're changing up some stuff,
maybe you're building from the ground up. You know where
it all starts. It all starts coming out of the
dirt with concrete. And so we're going to spend some
time talking about concrete today, concrete and Mason and if
we get a chance to get into both, that would
be great. I have sitting in studio with me a
(01:05):
very very special guest, one of my favorite concrete contractors,
and I love just sitting here in studio, you know,
talking shop with pros that I love and respect. Chris
Carson is here with me today. Oh there's our live
studio audience. Chris, say hi to everybody. Glad to have
(01:26):
you here.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Hello, glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
And we're gonna be We're gonna be diving into it.
Let's do a little biz up front here. Don't forget
to follow us on show the social social all right,
let me just try that again. Don't forget to follow
us on social media, all the usual suspects. We're there, Instagram, TikTok,
(01:49):
Facebook x and Home with Dean. Home with Dean is
the same handle for them all. You can find us there.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
We only do the good kind of social media, right, uplifting,
informative good stuff. So no risk. I'm not gonna spam you.
I'm not going to shock you. We're just gonna help
you along with your home as always, and of course,
if your home is in need of some personal house
whisper attention, then you can book an in home design
(02:18):
consult with me and the Tea, which is, by the way,
how Chris and I met originally doing a coming over
to his place doing a consult for him. Uh, and
then we just launched off on a professional relationship. After that,
I was so impressed. You can just go to house
whisper dot Design if you are looking for an in
home consult house Whisper dot Design. All right, let's introduce
(02:41):
the team. As always, Elmer is on the board. Good morning, Elmer.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Whoo, I'm here.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I love the enthusiasm man.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Thank you, Yeah, right right in. Yeah, Elmer is is awesome.
Producer Richie nowhere near microphone, but ready to take your calls.
By the way, and of course we're going to be
going to the phone, so I'm talking concrete today. But
as always, whatever it is that has got you scratching
(03:09):
your head about your house, you call me and talk
to me about that, and I'm going to help you
through it. The number to reach me eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three to three, the numeral two ask
Dean A three three two ask Dean. The phone lines
are open now. Ricardo is standing by ready to take
your call, and you already heard his melodious voice. Andrew
(03:34):
Caravella at the near his desk, Good morning morning. How
you doing.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I'm doing day two of doing the mornings. It was great.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah. Is this a is this a long term gig?
Or are you being punned.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
No, this was my choice. I just I needed to
switch just for the weekend. So so I'm making a
special guest appearance just just for today and yesterday.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Oh okay, well we will treasure every month it my friend.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yeah, well a little be on demand in the podcast, right.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Of course, always sitting across the table from me usually
is my better half, my design partner and my best
friend on planet Earth. She is nearby and we will
hear from her, but she's not in studio immediately. But yes,
don't panic. Tina is also here today, and of course
(04:27):
my special in studio guest Chris Carson, who we're going
to get down and dirty with right after.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Here to help you take your home to the next level.
What is the next level? Well, he's got to hang
in there and find out, because I'm going to help
you find it, I promise. Also, we're going to be
going to the phones in a bit. Got a couple
of calls on the board, but we've got room for you.
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three to three. The numeral two, ask Dean.
(05:04):
It's just that simple eight three three to two ask Dean.
Producer Richie standing by, He's ready to take your call.
He'll tell you everything you need to know. And yes,
I'm talking concrete today with my special in studio guest.
But as always, regardless of what I've decided to do
as a theme of the show, you can call me
about anything outside inside landscape, architectural design, decor construction DIY.
(05:32):
You know the whole mgilla. So give me a call.
Let me help you figure out what's going on with
your house. I will be happy to talk to you
about neo Gothic architecture or how to fix that leaky
toilet and everything in between. We'll just go for it,
all right. I'm very excited. Sitting across the table from
(05:52):
me this morning, my friend and professional colleague, Chris Carson
of Chris Carr Some Concrete and Masonry, is sitting in
studio with me because I wanted to talk concrete today
and any chance that I can actually bring one of
my colleagues and a respected contractor into the studio with me,
(06:15):
then all the better. Concrete. Concrete is Okay, We're gonna
get into Chris's story here. But let me just lay
some groundwork for you. Concrete is synthetic rock, Okay, that's
I mean, just to put it in a nutshell, we
figured out a few hundred years ago how to make
(06:38):
synthetic rock. In fact, the Romans figured it out how
to do it in their own way, and others before them.
It quite literally forms the foundation of our lives. And
I mean that in every sense of the word. Concrete
is holding up your entire house right now. It's in
your driveway, it's in your sidewalk, it's on your patio,
(07:00):
it's on your walls in the form of stucco, it's
on your roof in the form of tile. It's in
your house as grout and mortar, maybe even on the
finished floor or a countertop or two. And that's just
the concrete part, let alone the masonry, which goes hand
in hand with the concrete. Concrete is the most used
(07:23):
man made material in the world in the world, next
to water, next to water exactly. It is the second
most used resource after water. Are you hearing me? Okay?
And concrete's use is increasing. China uses more concrete in
two years in two years right now, China is using
(07:46):
more concrete in a two year period than the US
used in the entire twentieth century. Think about that, all
the nineteen hundreds, from nineteen oh one to nineteen ninety nine,
all of the concrete used in the United States. Now
China uses that much concrete in a two year period
(08:07):
of time. About thirty billion tons of concrete are used
each year globally. That's the equivalent to and I don't
know I believe this analogy here or this comparison. I'm
not sure. Must have been a coffee drinker who came
up with this one, But it is the equivalent to
(08:29):
fourteen coffee mugs worth of concrete for every person on
planet Earth every day. That is how much concrete is
being used each year globally in the world. Concrete is
also a problem for us environmentally the way that we've
done it, and it is shifting. But concrete accounts for
(08:52):
eight percent, that is no small number, eight percent of
all global CO two emissions. If the cement industry, the
cement industry were a country, it would be the third
largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, after the
US and China. Just think of it that way. I
mean concrete is and no judgment on this, it's just
(09:14):
simply these are the facts. Concrete is a massive, massive
part of all of our lives and of human civilization.
Here in the twenty first century, concrete wasn't widely used
in the US. I'm going to have to tell you
this story. We're gonna have to talk about this. It
wasn't widely used in the US until after nineteen sixteen,
(09:35):
when the Portland Cement Association used what I think I
like to call a classic drug dealer marketing technique to
pull off one of the most successful product campaign stunts
of all time. We're going to talk about that, but
first I want to find out more. I want you
(09:56):
guys to find out more about my special instant studio guests,
Chris Carson. So tell you what. When we come back,
We're going to hear Chris's story. I want to hear
how you got into the concrete business, concrete and masonry business.
What leads a guy into that, and how long have
you been doing it? And what are your favorite and
(10:20):
least favorite parts of it? And then I'm going to
tell you all this drug dealer marketing technique that made
concrete such a prevalent part of our lives here in
the US. And then we're just going to get into
the practical stuff that affects y'all every day when it
comes to your concrete, everything from cracking to curing, to
(10:40):
how does it really work? To what are the kinds
of finishes? And so on and so on, all of
the issues, all the highs, all the lows. We're going
to cover it all.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI A M six forty.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Hey, it's Dean Sharp, the house whisper with you here
on this lovely Have you looked outside today? I hope
so if you haven't get your butt out of bed,
come on, open the windows. Look outside. It is a beautiful, clear,
cool southern California. I mean, dare I say spring like? Yeah?
(11:17):
I think spring has kind of sprung here. But you know,
hopefully we're going to get some more water falling out
of the sky. But it looks like at least the
birds in my yard have decided that it's springtime. And
I think, honestly, if I have to trust the calendar
or the wildlife around me, I'm going with you know,
just let nature speak for yourself anyway. It's a beautiful
(11:39):
day here in southern California. I hope wherever you are,
I know it's not the same everywhere else. It's like
two degrees in some places. Wherever you are, I hope
you're comfy. I hope you are warm and safe or
cool or whatever you need to be. And I hope
you've got some good plans for today. My big plan
today after the show, by the way, is was unexpected,
(12:02):
but it's fine. I'm gonna go do some work. I'm
gonna actually go over to a dear friend's house and
help him deal with a plumbing leak that their whole house,
you know, built in the seventies copper, and the copper
is starting to lose itself. Somebody in the past, not him,
(12:25):
ran all the new water lines overhead, which is the
right way to go. But I've got Chris in here.
There was one bit of groundwork left in his place
because they have a kitchen island, so a continuous roll
copper line has to go under from the kitchen sink
(12:46):
wall over to the to the island, and it has
started this week to pit out into leak. He woke
up he heard hissing, heard water moving in the pipes,
no faucets were on. It's a leak, and for sure
found it. And so we have a creative solution, though
I'm I'm not going to talk about it because I don't.
(13:07):
I'm just going to say we have a creative solution
of how not to tear up the floor in order
to get new water lines run over there. And that's
what I'm going to go do afterwards, and I get
to spend a few hours with my bud and it'll
be good. But also I get to spend the next
couple three hours right here with a friend, Chris Carson
(13:28):
of Carson Concrete and Masonry. Is that the official name?
Am I saying that? I just all, I'm your company
name is Chris. Call Chris see periods there you go? Okay,
Chris is a is a fantastic expert concrete and masonry contractor.
(13:49):
And that's what we're talking about today, concrete. So first
of all, just so everybody knows what your story is,
how did you get into all this, how long you've
been doing it, how'd you start, why'd you want to
go into concrete or you know.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, I'm not going to tell you how long I've
been doing it? Oh? Come as. I started when I
was eighteen, and I'm no young chicken right now. Quite
a while and I fell into this. My family had
a you know, company business and tried to do that.
It involved working inside at an early age, you know,
between school and summer vacations, helping him out, and there
(14:26):
was a future there that I wasn't meant to be inside.
I'm an outdoor person and my friends were in construction,
whether hanging drywall or whatever they're doing, and concrete was
my calling. So I ended up working for a very
high end concrete guy in Long Beach, California, and learned
(14:48):
from him. And he had a company to where he
slowed down and he'd lay off the people that were
low in the total pole, which was me. And about
the third time he laid me off, I go, well,
you let me off one more time, and I'm talking,
you know, I'm eighteen nineteen. I just go, I'm going
to quit and start my own business. And I put
an ad in the penny Saver and put a add
(15:11):
in there. No job too small, concrete, masonry, And that's
how it all started.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Unbelievably awesome. That is such a great story. Add in
the penny. You were called to it. I mean you really,
you were really called to it.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
It's my calling and I had no idea what I
was doing. Now I would get these jobs and they
you know, do you know what you're doing? Everything? I said,
of course, then I would go find somebody. It's like help,
I need something, knows what you're doing. That's kind of
it was, Yeah, well it's starting.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Now you are the man. So what kind of work
do you guys do and what's your I have to
ask this because by the end of the show we're
going to have people asking, oh, can Chris come and
do my concrete? Where? What is your realistic range? Okay,
you're out here in eastern Venture County with me, the
range of your work? Where will you go and where
do you cut it off?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Well, I'm very thankful that most of my work is
I'm going to say ten to twenty minutes right around
my town here. There's so much work in my town.
I do work for public entities, park School, done some
special stuff buried President Reagan at the Reagan Library associated
(16:26):
with the concrete work, some special things in my life
that I donated. But you know, came across it very
interesting to be involved with. But my bread and butter is,
like I say, parking, rect schools, residential love, doing detail,
custom concrete work, finish work. I've done it all from
(16:48):
foundations at an early age, building foundations for chains like
McDonald's and Blockbusters. And you know, I got pretty big
when I was a young young man, maybe in my
twenties into my thirties, running thirty to thirty five guys
for five trucks out of a ten thousand square foot
(17:10):
warehouse every day, my own pumping company.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
That's a serious undertaking for a guy in his twenties.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
It was a lot. That's serious, you know, and you're
starting to raise kids. But I hate it was my
calling and every you know, it's a fun business. Every
job is different, so you don't just go to an
office and check in. And you know, over the years,
as they went on, I started to learn and was
diversified in the concrete masonry, excavating, drainage, everything that's related
(17:41):
to concrete masonry. It's been a very fun business. I
still enjoy it. I'm still going to do it. I
have a great crew. If I could find people like
my crew, i'd probably be back to another big company.
But I'm pretty much the hands on guy. I'm not
one of those guys that run for one job to another.
(18:01):
I take care of my clients.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yes you do.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
We knock our jobs out and we pick up and
we go to the next one.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
This is exactly your You are just just describing your
life as one of the reasons why want to have
you on the show. I hope you're all listening. What
you just heard is exactly the profile of any contractor
that you actually really want to have working on your project.
Right here's somebody who is passionate, called to it, a
(18:33):
true craftsman, somebody who loves the details. Somebody who is
not sitting in an office somewhere letting it just happen
out there, because because his first and foremost passion is
cashing checks and going about doing something else. He's there,
he's present, he's with it, his hand picked his crew,
and he would be happy to have a larger operation,
(18:57):
but not going to do it unless the larger crew
matches the same quality profile of the as the existing crew.
This is exactly the profile of a contractor any in
any field that you are looking for. And he's sitting
here blushing right now because he's like, oh, come on,
(19:18):
but this is the truth. So all right, So now
you know, Chris, you know what he's about. And when
we come back, let's talk concrete one oh one, A
residential concrete one oh one, like we were during the break,
and it's a it's a relatively simple concept, you know.
It's a material that is you know, essentially made up
(19:42):
of for the most part, like for ingredients, right. Uh,
you got some Portland cement of some sort of form
or another, which is the adhesive. You've got a couple
of different forms of aggregate, you know, sand, plus a
larger aggregate of sorts, some form of gravel or rock
in the mix, and water. I mean, it's a it's
(20:05):
a basic cake recipe, okay, that can be altered in
an infinite amount of ways and applied in an infinite
amount of ways, depending on how you do it. And
it is incredibly intimidating for just about everybody, including me
when it comes to the finished work. Like I was
telling you, we'll talk more about that on the other
(20:27):
side of the news.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Thanks for joining us on the program today. It is
a privilege to spend time with you on a beautiful
Sunday morning, on any Sunday morning, Brain or shine, I'm
here and I'm glad you're there too. We're going to
be going to the phones right after the next break,
by the way, So now, if you've been hanging back,
now is the chance eight three three two ask Dean.
(21:00):
A three to three the numeral to ask Dean, A
three to three to ask Dean. That's the point right
of the call. To ask Dean a question about your house,
A three three to ask dean. Producer Richie standing by
ready to take your call. He'll tell you everything you
need to know. Hop you into the queue, and who
knows you and I will put our heads together. We'll
(21:21):
get it. We'll get it worked out. I promise we will.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
All right.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Sitting in studio with me, uh, Chris Carson uh, one
of the finest concrete contractors, concrete and masonry contractors I've
had the privilege of knowing. And he also happens to
be a neighbor and sitting here. We both live in
the same town. And I told Chris, hey, I'm doing
a concrete. She'll come over and hang out with me
(21:46):
and let's talk shop so that everybody can gain perspective
from your expertise and wisdom as well. We just heard
kind of his story the quick If you missed the
last segment, by the way, then you need to go
back and listen to the podcast, which, by the way,
you know this show is our House Whisper podcast as well.
(22:08):
Listen to the podcast and just listen to Chris describe
the course of his career, how he got started, why
he does what he does. You will hear whether you're
interested in concrete right now for your house or not.
You will hear the quintessential profile of the proper contractor
to find for your project. Okay, because Chris and I
(22:32):
were both we were just talking during the break, just
you know the years of you know, learning stuff the
hard way, discovering what it is that's most important to
us in life and in business, and then just holding
to it and not letting it go at that point.
And that's where that's where Chris is at, and so
that's a lesson worth learning. Chris, let's talk about just
(22:56):
concrete one oh one. Like I said before the breaks,
it's a pretty simple mix, but it's got infinite possibilities.
That's why it is the largest resource used second second
to water on planet Earth. Right, the thing that I
think is most intimidating about concrete for most people is that,
(23:18):
you know, it's a one and done thing. I mean,
you got to get it right. Once it all pours
out into that sidewalk or that driveway or whatever it is.
You either did it right or you didn't. It's either
you know, and and it's not like it's not like
framing a wall where I'll show up and the crew
has put the window in the wrong place and I'm like, oh, guys,
(23:39):
grab the saws all let's move that over a few
inches and renail it. That's not happening in your business.
So there's a whole level of prep and detail that
has to go into it. Let's just talk about that
a little bit. Yeah, it's prep prep work. I'm starting
(24:01):
with excavation. Compaction is obviously a big thing. Concrete as
good as whatever you pour over, meaning meaning it lays
on the ground. It lays on the ground, and if
the ground moves earth, yeah it's gonna it's gonna fight.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
So we we take we take precautions to alleviate the
movement in the earth, which is inevitable. So by doing
simple things as far as a base, you know, compaction,
getting your subgrade up to over nine, compaction, and then
(24:38):
installing the proper sub base. My preference is a base
material and compacting that. And then when.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You say a subay, like a road based material, like
a mixture of sand and gravel, that itself when you
just pour it in kind of finds itself at eighty
percent just pouring it in place, and then you can
pack that down a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Whether it's sand, gravel, or base material. A barrier in
between the dirt, the earth and the concrete and this
allows I'm going to say, like a sponge. It it
allows a cushion for movement, for the concrete to not
fail as it would maybe just as poorn it right
(25:20):
over the earth of the dirt. Also, there's a lot
of other things that come into play when you're pouring
concrete and you know you have water involved, You're picking
up mud and stuff in the dirt, the sand and
the compacted base material. Keep your boots clean when you're
walking around a lot of times things will come off
the bottom of your boots and the end result will
be in the finished surface at the top of the concrete.
(25:40):
But back to yeah, you got the base material, course
you have your rebar material, the thickness, the mixed design,
poor in placement. But I just want to add one
thing with all this being said, all this work that
is involved in doing a proper concrete job is the
control joints. The control giants are they're promoting the cracking.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Okay, so let's so we're going to back up just
a second here. Our listeners have heard me say this
for years and years, and you and I have heard
this and say it all. There are only two kinds
of concrete in the world. Concrete that has cracked and
concrete that hasn't cracked yet yet. Okay, it's going to crack.
(26:26):
It's going to crack. So a control joint is how
we anticipate the cracking and how we control the cracking.
That's why it's called a control joint. A control joint
is a is a groove that we place essentially in
the a scoring groove that we place in the top
surface of the finished appearance of the concrete. And just
(26:51):
like the perforation on a ritz cracker or not a
ritz like a saltine cracker. When you get a whole
sheet of crackers out and you start to tweak that
brittle side substance, those crackers are going to crack along
that perforation because we've weakened the surface tension intentionally right
at that point. And so a control joint is not
(27:12):
to stop cracking. It is to direct the crack down
inside the joint, right, And that's the idea. And not
enough people and not enough contrary contractors actually place enough
emphasis on control joints because they get pushed by a client.
Oh I don't want all those lines all over the place.
Can we just make it bigger and smoother? So just
(27:35):
oh we're gonna have to go to break here. But
just just as a point of your technical expertise, when
it comes to any large surface pore of cement, what's
your I mean, I've got guys who have said, you know,
ten ten, every ten feet is fine. I've never been
comfortable with ten feet because I've seen problems with ten feet.
(27:56):
Other guys are like, well, you know, every two feet,
but what is your comfortable range? In general that you
would advise our listeners don't have control joints any further
than this far apart.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'd say when you get into the bigger jobs, the
parking lots and things like that, an eight foot would
be to me a maximum. It's much better to look
at a nice control joint than a crack. I like
to go about six feet. I'm talking more residential work.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Yeah, so a driveway or so on. So find a
way to incorporate into the design of the flat work
these scores that can go. You know, let's say a
maximum of six feet, and what you'll and what we'll
get ideally after that is the cracks. But the cracks
will occur in places will control that surface tension, and
(28:48):
they won't show up because they'll be down inside that groove.
That is the key, that's the goal. All right, We're
going to talk more about this, but when we come back,
we've got some calls on the board, so I think
we'll answer some phone calls. Chris, how's that sound all right? Everybody?
This is Dean Sharp, the House Whisper on KFI. This
has been Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Tune
(29:10):
into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every
Saturday morning, from six to eight Pacific time, and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app Welcome Home.
I'm Dean Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes,
I build custom homes, and here on the weekends. You know,
I'm here. I'm your guide to better understanding that place
(00:22):
where you live today on the show. You know, remodeling
season is just it is upon us. And you know,
despite everything having to do with the local fires and
all the rebuilding there, I'm just talking about all across
the nation. This is the time of year when people
are gearing up to get going. Maybe you're going to
(00:44):
be doing some room editions, maybe you're changing up some stuff,
maybe you're building from the ground up. You know where
it all starts. It all starts coming out of the
dirt with concrete. And so we're going to spend some
time talking about concrete today, concrete and Mason and if
we get a chance to get into both, that would
be great. I have sitting in studio with me a
(01:05):
very very special guest, one of my favorite concrete contractors,
and I love just sitting here in studio, you know,
talking shop with pros that I love and respect. Chris
Carson is here with me today. Oh there's our live
studio audience. Chris, say hi to everybody. Glad to have
(01:26):
you here.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Hello, glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
And we're gonna be We're gonna be diving into it.
Let's do a little biz up front here. Don't forget
to follow us on show the social social all right,
let me just try that again. Don't forget to follow
us on social media, all the usual suspects. We're there, Instagram, TikTok,
(01:49):
Facebook x and Home with Dean. Home with Dean is
the same handle for them all. You can find us there.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
We only do the good kind of social media, right, uplifting,
informative good stuff. So no risk. I'm not gonna spam you.
I'm not going to shock you. We're just gonna help
you along with your home as always, and of course,
if your home is in need of some personal house
whisper attention, then you can book an in home design
(02:18):
consult with me and the Tea, which is, by the way,
how Chris and I met originally doing a coming over
to his place doing a consult for him. Uh, and
then we just launched off on a professional relationship. After that,
I was so impressed. You can just go to house
whisper dot Design if you are looking for an in
home consult house Whisper dot Design. All right, let's introduce
(02:41):
the team. As always, Elmer is on the board. Good morning, Elmer.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Whoo, I'm here.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
I love the enthusiasm man.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Thank you, Yeah, right right in. Yeah, Elmer is is awesome.
Producer Richie nowhere near microphone, but ready to take your calls.
By the way, and of course we're going to be
going to the phone, so I'm talking concrete today. But
as always, whatever it is that has got you scratching
(03:09):
your head about your house, you call me and talk
to me about that, and I'm going to help you
through it. The number to reach me eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three to three, the numeral two ask
Dean A three three two ask Dean. The phone lines
are open now. Ricardo is standing by ready to take
your call, and you already heard his melodious voice. Andrew
(03:34):
Caravella at the near his desk, Good morning morning. How
you doing.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I'm doing day two of doing the mornings. It was great.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah. Is this a is this a long term gig?
Or are you being punned.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
No, this was my choice. I just I needed to
switch just for the weekend. So so I'm making a
special guest appearance just just for today and yesterday.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Oh okay, well we will treasure every month it my friend.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yeah, well a little be on demand in the podcast, right.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Of course, always sitting across the table from me usually
is my better half, my design partner and my best
friend on planet Earth. She is nearby and we will
hear from her, but she's not in studio immediately. But yes,
don't panic. Tina is also here today, and of course
(04:27):
my special in studio guest Chris Carson, who we're going
to get down and dirty with right after.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Here to help you take your home to the next level.
What is the next level? Well, he's got to hang
in there and find out, because I'm going to help
you find it, I promise. Also, we're going to be
going to the phones in a bit. Got a couple
of calls on the board, but we've got room for you.
The number to reach me eight three three two. Ask
Dean eight three to three. The numeral two, ask Dean.
(05:04):
It's just that simple eight three three to two ask Dean.
Producer Richie standing by, He's ready to take your call.
He'll tell you everything you need to know. And yes,
I'm talking concrete today with my special in studio guest.
But as always, regardless of what I've decided to do
as a theme of the show, you can call me
about anything outside inside landscape, architectural design, decor construction DIY.
(05:32):
You know the whole mgilla. So give me a call.
Let me help you figure out what's going on with
your house. I will be happy to talk to you
about neo Gothic architecture or how to fix that leaky
toilet and everything in between. We'll just go for it,
all right. I'm very excited. Sitting across the table from
(05:52):
me this morning, my friend and professional colleague, Chris Carson
of Chris Carr Some Concrete and Masonry, is sitting in
studio with me because I wanted to talk concrete today
and any chance that I can actually bring one of
my colleagues and a respected contractor into the studio with me,
(06:15):
then all the better. Concrete. Concrete is Okay, We're gonna
get into Chris's story here. But let me just lay
some groundwork for you. Concrete is synthetic rock, Okay, that's
I mean, just to put it in a nutshell, we
figured out a few hundred years ago how to make
(06:38):
synthetic rock. In fact, the Romans figured it out how
to do it in their own way, and others before them.
It quite literally forms the foundation of our lives. And
I mean that in every sense of the word. Concrete
is holding up your entire house right now. It's in
your driveway, it's in your sidewalk, it's on your patio,
(07:00):
it's on your walls in the form of stucco, it's
on your roof in the form of tile. It's in
your house as grout and mortar, maybe even on the
finished floor or a countertop or two. And that's just
the concrete part, let alone the masonry, which goes hand
in hand with the concrete. Concrete is the most used
(07:23):
man made material in the world in the world, next
to water, next to water exactly. It is the second
most used resource after water. Are you hearing me? Okay?
And concrete's use is increasing. China uses more concrete in
two years in two years right now, China is using
(07:46):
more concrete in a two year period than the US
used in the entire twentieth century. Think about that, all
the nineteen hundreds, from nineteen oh one to nineteen ninety nine,
all of the concrete used in the United States. Now
China uses that much concrete in a two year period
(08:07):
of time. About thirty billion tons of concrete are used
each year globally. That's the equivalent to and I don't
know I believe this analogy here or this comparison. I'm
not sure. Must have been a coffee drinker who came
up with this one, But it is the equivalent to
(08:29):
fourteen coffee mugs worth of concrete for every person on
planet Earth every day. That is how much concrete is
being used each year globally in the world. Concrete is
also a problem for us environmentally the way that we've
done it, and it is shifting. But concrete accounts for
(08:52):
eight percent, that is no small number, eight percent of
all global CO two emissions. If the cement industry, the
cement industry were a country, it would be the third
largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, after the
US and China. Just think of it that way. I
mean concrete is and no judgment on this, it's just
(09:14):
simply these are the facts. Concrete is a massive, massive
part of all of our lives and of human civilization.
Here in the twenty first century, concrete wasn't widely used
in the US. I'm going to have to tell you
this story. We're gonna have to talk about this. It
wasn't widely used in the US until after nineteen sixteen,
(09:35):
when the Portland Cement Association used what I think I
like to call a classic drug dealer marketing technique to
pull off one of the most successful product campaign stunts
of all time. We're going to talk about that, but
first I want to find out more. I want you
(09:56):
guys to find out more about my special instant studio guests,
Chris Carson. So tell you what. When we come back,
We're going to hear Chris's story. I want to hear
how you got into the concrete business, concrete and masonry business.
What leads a guy into that, and how long have
you been doing it? And what are your favorite and
(10:20):
least favorite parts of it? And then I'm going to
tell you all this drug dealer marketing technique that made
concrete such a prevalent part of our lives here in
the US. And then we're just going to get into
the practical stuff that affects y'all every day when it
comes to your concrete, everything from cracking to curing, to
(10:40):
how does it really work? To what are the kinds
of finishes? And so on and so on, all of
the issues, all the highs, all the lows. We're going
to cover it all.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI A M six forty.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Hey, it's Dean Sharp, the house whisper with you here
on this lovely Have you looked outside today? I hope
so if you haven't get your butt out of bed,
come on, open the windows. Look outside. It is a beautiful, clear,
cool southern California. I mean, dare I say spring like? Yeah?
(11:17):
I think spring has kind of sprung here. But you know,
hopefully we're going to get some more water falling out
of the sky. But it looks like at least the
birds in my yard have decided that it's springtime. And
I think, honestly, if I have to trust the calendar
or the wildlife around me, I'm going with you know,
just let nature speak for yourself anyway. It's a beautiful
(11:39):
day here in southern California. I hope wherever you are,
I know it's not the same everywhere else. It's like
two degrees in some places. Wherever you are, I hope
you're comfy. I hope you are warm and safe or
cool or whatever you need to be. And I hope
you've got some good plans for today. My big plan
today after the show, by the way, is was unexpected,
(12:02):
but it's fine. I'm gonna go do some work. I'm
gonna actually go over to a dear friend's house and
help him deal with a plumbing leak that their whole house,
you know, built in the seventies copper, and the copper
is starting to lose itself. Somebody in the past, not him,
(12:25):
ran all the new water lines overhead, which is the
right way to go. But I've got Chris in here.
There was one bit of groundwork left in his place
because they have a kitchen island, so a continuous roll
copper line has to go under from the kitchen sink
(12:46):
wall over to the to the island, and it has
started this week to pit out into leak. He woke
up he heard hissing, heard water moving in the pipes,
no faucets were on. It's a leak, and for sure
found it. And so we have a creative solution, though
I'm I'm not going to talk about it because I don't.
(13:07):
I'm just going to say we have a creative solution
of how not to tear up the floor in order
to get new water lines run over there. And that's
what I'm going to go do afterwards, and I get
to spend a few hours with my bud and it'll
be good. But also I get to spend the next
couple three hours right here with a friend, Chris Carson
(13:28):
of Carson Concrete and Masonry. Is that the official name?
Am I saying that? I just all, I'm your company
name is Chris. Call Chris see periods there you go? Okay,
Chris is a is a fantastic expert concrete and masonry contractor.
(13:49):
And that's what we're talking about today, concrete. So first
of all, just so everybody knows what your story is,
how did you get into all this, how long you've
been doing it, how'd you start, why'd you want to
go into concrete or you know.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, I'm not going to tell you how long I've
been doing it? Oh? Come as. I started when I
was eighteen, and I'm no young chicken right now. Quite
a while and I fell into this. My family had
a you know, company business and tried to do that.
It involved working inside at an early age, you know,
between school and summer vacations, helping him out, and there
(14:26):
was a future there that I wasn't meant to be inside.
I'm an outdoor person and my friends were in construction,
whether hanging drywall or whatever they're doing, and concrete was
my calling. So I ended up working for a very
high end concrete guy in Long Beach, California, and learned
(14:48):
from him. And he had a company to where he
slowed down and he'd lay off the people that were
low in the total pole, which was me. And about
the third time he laid me off, I go, well,
you let me off one more time, and I'm talking,
you know, I'm eighteen nineteen. I just go, I'm going
to quit and start my own business. And I put
an ad in the penny Saver and put a add
(15:11):
in there. No job too small, concrete, masonry, And that's
how it all started.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Unbelievably awesome. That is such a great story. Add in
the penny. You were called to it. I mean you really,
you were really called to it.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
It's my calling and I had no idea what I
was doing. Now I would get these jobs and they
you know, do you know what you're doing? Everything? I said,
of course, then I would go find somebody. It's like help,
I need something, knows what you're doing. That's kind of
it was, Yeah, well it's starting.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Now you are the man. So what kind of work
do you guys do and what's your I have to
ask this because by the end of the show we're
going to have people asking, oh, can Chris come and
do my concrete? Where? What is your realistic range? Okay,
you're out here in eastern Venture County with me, the
range of your work? Where will you go and where
do you cut it off?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Well, I'm very thankful that most of my work is
I'm going to say ten to twenty minutes right around
my town here. There's so much work in my town.
I do work for public entities, park School, done some
special stuff buried President Reagan at the Reagan Library associated
(16:26):
with the concrete work, some special things in my life
that I donated. But you know, came across it very
interesting to be involved with. But my bread and butter is,
like I say, parking, rect schools, residential love, doing detail,
custom concrete work, finish work. I've done it all from
(16:48):
foundations at an early age, building foundations for chains like
McDonald's and Blockbusters. And you know, I got pretty big
when I was a young young man, maybe in my
twenties into my thirties, running thirty to thirty five guys
for five trucks out of a ten thousand square foot
(17:10):
warehouse every day, my own pumping company.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
That's a serious undertaking for a guy in his twenties.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
It was a lot. That's serious, you know, and you're
starting to raise kids. But I hate it was my
calling and every you know, it's a fun business. Every
job is different, so you don't just go to an
office and check in. And you know, over the years,
as they went on, I started to learn and was
diversified in the concrete masonry, excavating, drainage, everything that's related
(17:41):
to concrete masonry. It's been a very fun business. I
still enjoy it. I'm still going to do it. I
have a great crew. If I could find people like
my crew, i'd probably be back to another big company.
But I'm pretty much the hands on guy. I'm not
one of those guys that run for one job to another.
(18:01):
I take care of my clients.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yes you do.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
We knock our jobs out and we pick up and
we go to the next one.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
This is exactly your You are just just describing your
life as one of the reasons why want to have
you on the show. I hope you're all listening. What
you just heard is exactly the profile of any contractor
that you actually really want to have working on your project.
Right here's somebody who is passionate, called to it, a
(18:33):
true craftsman, somebody who loves the details. Somebody who is
not sitting in an office somewhere letting it just happen
out there, because because his first and foremost passion is
cashing checks and going about doing something else. He's there,
he's present, he's with it, his hand picked his crew,
and he would be happy to have a larger operation,
(18:57):
but not going to do it unless the larger crew
matches the same quality profile of the as the existing crew.
This is exactly the profile of a contractor any in
any field that you are looking for. And he's sitting
here blushing right now because he's like, oh, come on,
(19:18):
but this is the truth. So all right, So now
you know, Chris, you know what he's about. And when
we come back, let's talk concrete one oh one, A
residential concrete one oh one, like we were during the break,
and it's a it's a relatively simple concept, you know.
It's a material that is you know, essentially made up
(19:42):
of for the most part, like for ingredients, right. Uh,
you got some Portland cement of some sort of form
or another, which is the adhesive. You've got a couple
of different forms of aggregate, you know, sand, plus a
larger aggregate of sorts, some form of gravel or rock
in the mix, and water. I mean, it's a it's
(20:05):
a basic cake recipe, okay, that can be altered in
an infinite amount of ways and applied in an infinite
amount of ways, depending on how you do it. And
it is incredibly intimidating for just about everybody, including me
when it comes to the finished work. Like I was
telling you, we'll talk more about that on the other
(20:27):
side of the news.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Thanks for joining us on the program today. It is
a privilege to spend time with you on a beautiful
Sunday morning, on any Sunday morning, Brain or shine, I'm
here and I'm glad you're there too. We're going to
be going to the phones right after the next break,
by the way, So now, if you've been hanging back,
now is the chance eight three three two ask Dean.
(21:00):
A three to three the numeral to ask Dean, A
three to three to ask Dean. That's the point right
of the call. To ask Dean a question about your house,
A three three to ask dean. Producer Richie standing by
ready to take your call. He'll tell you everything you
need to know. Hop you into the queue, and who
knows you and I will put our heads together. We'll
(21:21):
get it. We'll get it worked out. I promise we will.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
All right.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Sitting in studio with me, uh, Chris Carson uh, one
of the finest concrete contractors, concrete and masonry contractors I've
had the privilege of knowing. And he also happens to
be a neighbor and sitting here. We both live in
the same town. And I told Chris, hey, I'm doing
a concrete. She'll come over and hang out with me
(21:46):
and let's talk shop so that everybody can gain perspective
from your expertise and wisdom as well. We just heard
kind of his story the quick If you missed the
last segment, by the way, then you need to go
back and listen to the podcast, which, by the way,
you know this show is our House Whisper podcast as well.
(22:08):
Listen to the podcast and just listen to Chris describe
the course of his career, how he got started, why
he does what he does. You will hear whether you're
interested in concrete right now for your house or not.
You will hear the quintessential profile of the proper contractor
to find for your project. Okay, because Chris and I
(22:32):
were both we were just talking during the break, just
you know the years of you know, learning stuff the
hard way, discovering what it is that's most important to
us in life and in business, and then just holding
to it and not letting it go at that point.
And that's where that's where Chris is at, and so
that's a lesson worth learning. Chris, let's talk about just
(22:56):
concrete one oh one. Like I said before the breaks,
it's a pretty simple mix, but it's got infinite possibilities.
That's why it is the largest resource used second second
to water on planet Earth. Right, the thing that I
think is most intimidating about concrete for most people is that,
(23:18):
you know, it's a one and done thing. I mean,
you got to get it right. Once it all pours
out into that sidewalk or that driveway or whatever it is.
You either did it right or you didn't. It's either
you know, and and it's not like it's not like
framing a wall where I'll show up and the crew
has put the window in the wrong place and I'm like, oh, guys,
(23:39):
grab the saws all let's move that over a few
inches and renail it. That's not happening in your business.
So there's a whole level of prep and detail that
has to go into it. Let's just talk about that
a little bit. Yeah, it's prep prep work. I'm starting
(24:01):
with excavation. Compaction is obviously a big thing. Concrete as
good as whatever you pour over, meaning meaning it lays
on the ground. It lays on the ground, and if
the ground moves earth, yeah it's gonna it's gonna fight.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
So we we take we take precautions to alleviate the
movement in the earth, which is inevitable. So by doing
simple things as far as a base, you know, compaction,
getting your subgrade up to over nine, compaction, and then
(24:38):
installing the proper sub base. My preference is a base
material and compacting that. And then when.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You say a subay, like a road based material, like
a mixture of sand and gravel, that itself when you
just pour it in kind of finds itself at eighty
percent just pouring it in place, and then you can
pack that down a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Whether it's sand, gravel, or base material. A barrier in
between the dirt, the earth and the concrete and this
allows I'm going to say, like a sponge. It it
allows a cushion for movement, for the concrete to not
fail as it would maybe just as poorn it right
(25:20):
over the earth of the dirt. Also, there's a lot
of other things that come into play when you're pouring
concrete and you know you have water involved, You're picking
up mud and stuff in the dirt, the sand and
the compacted base material. Keep your boots clean when you're
walking around a lot of times things will come off
the bottom of your boots and the end result will
be in the finished surface at the top of the concrete.
(25:40):
But back to yeah, you got the base material, course
you have your rebar material, the thickness, the mixed design,
poor in placement. But I just want to add one
thing with all this being said, all this work that
is involved in doing a proper concrete job is the
control joints. The control giants are they're promoting the cracking.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Okay, so let's so we're going to back up just
a second here. Our listeners have heard me say this
for years and years, and you and I have heard
this and say it all. There are only two kinds
of concrete in the world. Concrete that has cracked and
concrete that hasn't cracked yet yet. Okay, it's going to crack.
(26:26):
It's going to crack. So a control joint is how
we anticipate the cracking and how we control the cracking.
That's why it's called a control joint. A control joint
is a is a groove that we place essentially in
the a scoring groove that we place in the top
surface of the finished appearance of the concrete. And just
(26:51):
like the perforation on a ritz cracker or not a
ritz like a saltine cracker. When you get a whole
sheet of crackers out and you start to tweak that
brittle side substance, those crackers are going to crack along
that perforation because we've weakened the surface tension intentionally right
at that point. And so a control joint is not
(27:12):
to stop cracking. It is to direct the crack down
inside the joint, right, And that's the idea. And not
enough people and not enough contrary contractors actually place enough
emphasis on control joints because they get pushed by a client.
Oh I don't want all those lines all over the place.
Can we just make it bigger and smoother? So just
(27:35):
oh we're gonna have to go to break here. But
just just as a point of your technical expertise, when
it comes to any large surface pore of cement, what's
your I mean, I've got guys who have said, you know,
ten ten, every ten feet is fine. I've never been
comfortable with ten feet because I've seen problems with ten feet.
(27:56):
Other guys are like, well, you know, every two feet,
but what is your comfortable range? In general that you
would advise our listeners don't have control joints any further
than this far apart.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'd say when you get into the bigger jobs, the
parking lots and things like that, an eight foot would
be to me a maximum. It's much better to look
at a nice control joint than a crack. I like
to go about six feet. I'm talking more residential work.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Yeah, so a driveway or so on. So find a
way to incorporate into the design of the flat work
these scores that can go. You know, let's say a
maximum of six feet, and what you'll and what we'll
get ideally after that is the cracks. But the cracks
will occur in places will control that surface tension, and
(28:48):
they won't show up because they'll be down inside that groove.
That is the key, that's the goal. All right, We're
going to talk more about this, but when we come back,
we've got some calls on the board, so I think
we'll answer some phone calls. Chris, how's that sound all right? Everybody?
This is Dean Sharp, the House Whisper on KFI. This
has been Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Tune
(29:10):
into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every
Saturday morning, from six to eight Pacific time, and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
Home with Dean Sharp News
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