Ask a Building Trades Professional

A photography of the top of the post and another of the porch overall may be useful to see how or if you remove the post.

Is there a vertical crack in the concrete below the top concrete that has cracked? I am not talking about the gap between the step and the porch.

You could try to fill the crack as I suggested and if you do not like it you would still have the rest of the bag of cement to use on the concrete.
 
I haven't done wood refinishing. What do you think of finishing hardwood furniture with stain and maybe some oil or something rather than using polyurethane or varnish?
 
I haven't done wood refinishing. What do you think of finishing hardwood furniture with stain and maybe some oil or something rather than using polyurethane or varnish?

What kind of furniture?

If it is everyday-use furniture, especially kitchen or dining room chairs, you should use a urethane finish compatible with the stain. They have semi-gloss finish, which, if you brush with a good natural bristle brush and sand between coats, it simulates a tung oil finish.

However, for show pieces or things not used daily, stain and a tung oil finish cannot be beat. It's easy and it looks fabulous.

Follow all manufacturer's guidelines.
 
I have a couple of oldish dressers, which aren't in the greatest of shape. But I thought a couple years ago that I'd try to do some refinishing, just to learn something about how to do it. That got put on hold for a couple of years because of other things eating up my time. I don't really know anything about them, other than that they're real wood, appear to be a hardwood, but not oak. They may be maple. Recently I'm hoping I have enough free time to finish them up. But I'm not always happy with poly finishes.

This is the pair that I'm working on. This was before I did much sanding on them.

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And I've got this thing, which is older that I may tackle someday. But because it is painted, I'm not sure if I should try stripping it. May have to do chemical stripping rather than sanding.


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And as I don't have access to a plainer, I'm not sure that I'd be able to adequately fix where the boards have separated on the top.
 
For the two old dressers: chemical stripping is best, as it won't mute the edges or shapes. It's a pain, but there is no substitute. Methaline chloride (Roch Miracle) is the most versatile, Once you get down to the raw wood, then you can sand. A Danish Oil finish will give you a dark tone without staining -- but test it. Do the insides of the drawers with urethane finish, so nothing transfers to the clothes. If you don't want a dark tone, then a light stain and Tung oil makes a nice finish.

For the painted boudoir: chemical stripping would get it down, but test it -- there is a reaosn it was painted -- make sure it's a finishable wood, and not some swamp crap.

Try Bob Flexner, he's awesome:

Link to video.
 
Nice thread.

I have a question: is there a kind of wall (like a drywall replacement) that would go on studs and that you could remove & put back easily, so you could muck with all the stuff (wiring, plumbing, conduits, etc.) behind it? May seem like a weird question, but there's a reason (long story). Like a snap-on dry wall. Take it off often, muck with something, put it back. Oops...messed up. Take it off again, fix my mistake.
 
Nice thread.

I have a question: is there a kind of wall (like a drywall replacement) that would go on studs and that you could remove & put back easily, so you could muck with all the stuff (wiring, plumbing, conduits, etc.) behind it? May seem like a weird question, but there's a reason (long story). Like a snap-on dry wall. Take it off often, muck with something, put it back. Oops...messed up. Take it off again, fix my mistake.

Thank you.

Yes, there are many varieties of what we call "access panels". Here are some examples from the Home Depot

Others, like this, are more complicated:

images


This type is "frameless":

images
 
In the UK you can get removable panels that are used in toilets etc that are fixed to faced timber studding that slide up and then can be completely removed leaving just the faced studding to work between. This gives more room than a hatch and looks better. The panels have clips on the side and bottom that fix onto the stud work on the bottom and into groves on the sides, when the panel is pushed upwards the panel in no longer secure at the bottom and the clips side out of the groves at the side.

http://www.rearo.co.uk/rapidfit-ips/

So in the linked pictures the panel above and below the urinals would be removable. The top panel above the toilets would be removable which would allow access to the flush handle to allow the lower handle panel to be removed.
 
Oh wow that Rapidfit is sweet-looking. You guys gave me some good leads. Thank you for that. Now I've got some researching to do.
 
So.

I've got this building which I think has been repointed with somewhat powdery mortar - in that the front porch shows some mortar dust whenever there's a moderately strong wind, and some powder comes off when I run my finger over it.

Can I treat it with some kind of stabilizer?

For example:
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Or is this a really bad idea?

I really don't particularly want to change the appearance of the wall, which is fine. Nor do I want to have to render the thing with pebbledash, or whatever.

But nor do I want to cause more problems than I already have.
 
Silurian knows a great deal more about cement and mortar than I do, so I'll defer to him on this.
 
What's the proper way to build a garden type setup that has chicken wire around it and maybe on top, for protection against squirrels, rabbits, and birds and stuff? I am imagining medium-sized rectangular plots (maybe 2 or 4) that I could walk through, each one having different vegetables, with maybe boards of wood on each side, soil inside, raised a bit, but am not sure about the rest. Also not sure if that's the best way to do it, either.
 
I think I'm going to need a bit more description of what you're looking for on that one before I can help.
 
Basically something like this. I'm not sure xactly what sort of design, since there seem to be so many ways of doing this.. depending probably on what kind of vegtetables I want to grow, I assume. And other factors maybe? I'm not sure what I'd want to grow yet, and it would probably change from year to year, so it would have to be a versatile design.

Specifications: Let's say there's 4 of these plots, separate from each other, each one 1-3 metres on each side "or something like that", with enough room in between them for me to walk through, to make maintenance easy.

Here's the general idea in terms of the layout of my back yard:

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I made up random vegetables just cause I have no idea what I'm going to grow. Kale seems to be easy to grow and is loaded with nutrients, so I think at least kale, it seems like a good thing to start with. And obviously not coconuts, pulling that off would be outside of the scope of this forum and everyone's expertise (I think). Also nothing illegal. And yeah I spelled Tomacco wrong
 
I tried raised beds at one time.

The idea itself isn't a bad one: get a nice deep bed of soil rich in well-rotted organic matter and lift it off the surroundings so that the drainage is better. Also improving access as you don't, in theory, have to bend all the way to the ground.

Trouble is it doesn't work terribly well in my experience. I mean, to get a bed which is a mere 6" above the surroundings is going to involve shifting at least one tonne (for an average sized bed) of soil.

Now, that in itself isn't all that bad. But then the bed is just going to sink as the season goes by, and next season you have to shift another tonne of soil to get you back to the beginning.

Also, what limits the depth of a bed is the hard-pan beneath. And having a raised bed, you would think, would give you an increased depth of soil. Amazingly, though, all that happened to me was I raised the hard pan as well, and so didn't have an increased depth at all.

I have seen beds which were raised by as much as 18 inches with nice brick work surrounds. Very nice if you're a keen wheel-chair gardener.

All in all, though, raised beds: you can keep 'em, imo. Unless, I suppose, your area is nastily water-logged and you couldn't possibly drain it any other way. Otherwise, improving drainage just means you have to water it more.

edit: hang on, though. On a second look, your post doesn't seem to mention raised beds at all. Ignore me.
 
So.

I've got this building which I think has been repointed with somewhat powdery mortar - in that the front porch shows some mortar dust whenever there's a moderately strong wind, and some powder comes off when I run my finger over it.

Can I treat it with some kind of stabilizer?

I have never done something similar but it looks like it would work. The data sheets say that the product is clear but it does say it will change the appearance slightly so you may want to paint the whole wall or to a point that may disguise the change. It is breathable so it will let the water in the wall out but most likely slower than nothing; you may wish to wait until we have had a dry! month if the wall is exposed. I see the stuff has a 12C flash point so keep the smokers away. I would apply the stuff so you can stand upwind of it and wear the correct gloves and eye protection.

Have you considered repointing the bricks?


http://www.toupret.com/uploads/files/TOUPRET_UK/5-FDS_UK/TOUPRET_FDS_WALL_HARDENER

http://www.toupret.co.uk/uploads/UK/ft_wall_hardener_uk_a4.pdf
 
edit: hang on, though. On a second look, your post doesn't seem to mention raised beds at all. Ignore me.

I am pretty sure "raised beds" is what I'm after, unless I'm completely misunderstanding the term. I basically got the idea from my friend from Toronto, he lives in an urban setting, but has a plot in a community garden nearby, where he's able to grow vegetables in a controlled setting. Each person who gets a plot there gets a 2x2 metre or so raised bed garden thingy, with planks of wood at the bottom, raised soil, and chickenwire maybe 2 metres or so going up. For maintenance the chickenwire can be moved, but the setup isn't amazing, so it's a bit hacked together, really. But it works.

So.. is that a raised bed setup? I liked it because it seems to make maintenance easier, but now that you mention related soil issues, perhaps that is not the way to go? The issue is that there is a lot of clay in the ground back there, but maybe I could just dig down instead? It seems that I'd have to fill it with worthy soil anyway, so the amount of soil shouldn't change. But if what you say is true, then with a raised bed I'd have to replenish soil supplies each year, which I'm not keen on. Would I not need to do this if I dig down a bit, if I fill the hole with worthy soil in year 1, will I need to replenish any of it in the following years?

The raised bed thing also looks cool and professional. I like the look of it, but if logistics get in the way, and it's more efficient to do something else, then I'm all ears. Convenience and practicality are my main 2 considerations.
 
It does look cool and professional, I agree. Which is why I tried it on a limited scale.

I don't gainsay it for those who like it. But it honestly didn't work for me.

I mean, vegetable gardening is a bit of hobby affair anyway, I guess. But if you cost how much the timber is going to cost, and calculate how much actual soil you'd have to move, it soon looks like just chucking time, money and effort away for very little reward.

Raised beds can look good. But only for the first year. Thereafter they look increasingly ramshackle, imo.

But yeah, if you've got heavy clay you've got more problems than I know how to deal with. So, I dunno, maybe raised beds are the way to go for you. But digging holes in the ground and filling them with high quality soil is a distinct possibility for any nasty situation.

The recommendation (they tell me) for just about any soil type, though, is to incorporate loads and loads of well-rotted organic matter, raised beds or not.
 
What are you willing to spend? How much work are you willing to do? How much does finished appearance mean to you? I have a couple ideas. My first one, I think you won't want to do. Now all of them mean you're going to be digging a pit that size maybe 20 or 30cm deep. I dug out an area and lined it with cinder blocks stood on end. Got the job done. But I did it that way because I had the blocks. Bet you don't.

Next option, and probably the better looking one, is to get a bunch of pressure treated 4x4s. You dig out your trench, and line it with the 4x4s, maybe 2-3 beneath ground level, and 2-3 above ground level. You'd spike them together somehow, to keep it all solid. That looks like this, only on a smaller scale. And you don't have to use the 6x6s, you can save money and labor using 4x4s instead.


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Then you can get PT 2x4s and use them as uprights to support your chicken-wire fence. But before putting up that fence, I'd be tempted to go with the garden for a year and see if you really had enough animals foraging to make the fence worth your time and effort.

Cheaper, probably less work, but not as attractive, you could do something like this instead.

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Now with this, instead of using 4x4s, you can use 2x6s or 2x8s. The picture shows using 4x4s for uprights. But as you are not building a retaining wall, you aren't dealing with the same weight pushing against your boards, and can build lighter and cheaper. So instead of using the 4x4s, use a 2x4, and you can just continue those upwards to be the uprights supporting your chicken-wire fence.


After that, if your soil is no good, get a company, there will be several in your area, to deliver a truckload of good dirt. Or go to a garden center and buy many, many, bags of good dirt. Mix is with peat moss when you fill it in. You get around the problem of it compacting down too much by churning it with a shovel every year when planting. But you'll probably still be adding to it somewhat every year.
 
What are you willing to spend? How much work are you willing to do?

I am willing to spend.. hmm.. good question. I don't really have a set budget in mind, but I am willing to spend what it takes to make it look solid and professional enough. More important than the look to me is ease of maintenance and durability of the construction, effectiveness of the design, etc. I am not sure the sort of range I should be thinking of here, but how about.. I am willing to spend up to $500 CAD? ($390 USD or so I think)

Looking out my window yesterday, I have also realized that instead of 4 garden plots I can probably only do 2. That should cut down on costs as well (I think, each plot will be a bit larger now, but only 2 instead of 4)

Is that a good budget to have in mind for a project like this? It seems that it would probably be cheaper, but I don't really know.

edit: As for the effort I am willing to put into this, I am trying to motivate myself to do more work in my backyard overall, so I am willing to make this into a large project.

How much does finished appearance mean to you?

I want it to look professional, I will see it each time I look out my window, and it will be with me for as long as I live here. So I want to do it right! Functionality and ease of maintenance are more important like I said, but I want it to look professional as well.

Thanks for your post, I have a lot of ideas churning in my head now. I think the way to go is to dig that 20-30cm pit instead of having a raised garden. That seems easier for now, the future, and it might not look as cool, but that's not as important.

As for animals, I see a rabbit hang out in my backyard all the time, as well as squirrels. So there's definitely critters running around the backyard from time to time, I have no doubt that they would go after my vegetables if they were easily accessible, but I suppose I don't really know much about what animal likes what kind of vegetable or whatever.
 
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