DH:TP - 046 - Listen to This Before You Build in City Of

DH:TP - 046 - Listen to This Before You Build in City Of

If your home is in a "city of" or "town of," there's a whole extra layer of approvals between you and your building permit. Katie and TJ break down what that means, which municipalities are helpful (hi, Falls Church) and which ones are not (hi, Rockville), and why missing a submission deadline by one day can cost you seven weeks. TJ shares the three-month curb cut saga from building his own house, Katie discovers she grew up in an unincorporated community that may or may not have been a commune, and Jason Mraz makes an unexpected cameo.

DH:TP - 045 - What's the BFE?

Katie knows nothing about floodplains (her words). But by the end of this episode she's earned her architecture license (again, her words) and is spending her Friday evening on the FEMA website. TJ explains base flood elevation, walks through how to check if your property is in a flood zone, and shares a story about clients whose floodplain changed mid-project - they couldn't even build a deck. Katie checks her own address live on air, and TLDR gets the recognition it deserves. Link for floodplain checks: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search [https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search]

DH:TP - 044 - The Flooring Episode

You think it's all the same? False. Katie and TJ dig into the flooring decisions that trip people up, from LVP thickness and wear layers to the relationship between old wood floors and new ones. Then TJ gets into wide plank engineered floors and humidity, Katie Googles what can go wrong, and things take a dramatic turn she did not recover from. Also: psych is apparently making a comeback, TJ remotely changes his father-in-law's TV channel from the basement, and there is a song called "I'm Hungry" that no child should have to hear at full volume.

DH:TP - 043 - Why Waiting on Your Remodel Might Not Save You Money

TJ actually did research for this one, like for real research. He goes behind the remodeling industry curtain to find out if the old line about it costing more next year is actually true, and what the real numbers look like compared to inflation. Spoiler: a gallon of milk roughly doubled in 25 years. A high-end kitchen more than tripled. Katie flies without an outline for the first time and delivers the podcast's first ever sneeze.

DH:TP - 042 - Downsizing (not the Honey I Shrunk the Kids kind)

Katie and TJ welcome Realtor Jeff Wu to the podcast to talk about downsizing, or as some are calling it, right sizing. Jeff shares his 5D framework, explains why downsizing is more of an identity shift than a house decision, and drops a stat that 10,000 people turn 65 every day. TJ realizes one of his own clients has been doing this all along without him fully connecting the dots. Katie briefly takes over as solo host, and Jeff's branded shirt inspires a long overdue conversation about Designed Happy merch. Sylvia, if you're listening, we need hats.