Old House, Real Problems: Pet Odors, Pest Damage, and Learning to Paint for the First Time

Original Air Date: 08/08/26 Episode Number: 471

Episode SummaryDan's son Caleb stopped in to pick up primer and ended up on the radio. He bought his first house -- a 1901-era fixer-upper -- and has spent the past several months dealing with cat smells in a crawl space, a squirrel that chewed through wiring, a dead possum under the floorboards, and the humbling experience of learning to cut in a straight line for the first time. The back half of the conversation covers paint choices, color coverage, the trades versus college, and what it's actually like to be six years into a career as an electrician.

Timestamps[00:00] -- Meet Caleb the Guest[01:33] -- First Walkthrough Shock[03:04] -- Cat Smells and the Crawl Space[04:21] -- Enzyme Cleaner Fiasco[07:02] -- Sealing Odor Hotspots[09:26] -- Squirrel in the Ceiling[12:54] -- Dead Possum Discovery[15:22] -- First Time Painting Lessons[19:27] -- Color Choices and Coverage[22:13] -- Choosing the Wall Color[23:06] -- One Coat vs. Two[23:47] -- Ceiling Paint Lessons[25:50] -- Vanity Makeover Plan[27:16] -- DIY Confidence Tips[30:27] -- Trades Talk Break[31:09] -- Back in Studio[31:36] -- Living With Messes[34:05] -- Skipping College[37:24] -- Why Trades Work[40:39] -- Trade Life Humor[42:27] -- Wrap Up

The House [01:33]Built somewhere around 1901 -- "early 1901" on the listing, which Caleb says basically means they don't really know. Good news on move-in day: the electrical had already been updated, which mattered a lot to an electrician who knew exactly what that job would have cost him. The first thing visible when you walked through the door was a dining room painted in the brightest Barbie pink either of them had ever seen. Online listing photos had made it look like a warm sunset. In person it looked like Pepto-Bismol. That was the cosmetic problem. The real problem was the smell.

Cat Smells and the Crawl Space [03:04]Three confirmed cats, possibly four, had been using the dirt crawl space as a litter box for three or four years. The crawl space starts at about two feet of clearance and drops to six to eight inches near the outer walls -- full belly-crawl territory. Caleb suited up with a respirator, goggles, a painter's suit, and a child's garden rake with four metal prongs that he says will remain in a place of honor in the basement indefinitely. It goes with him before the fishing poles if there's ever a fire.

He went through the crawl space with enzymatic cleaner -- but the first jug he bought was formulat