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Found 92 results for the keyword(s) ‘Concrete’

• Article

  Repairing Concrete Steps

  Dave Ashberry of King Packaged Materials joins Jon in running down the various methods and products used making surface repairs to concrete. Cracked corners or edges on concrete steps are a major hazard and should be fixed. Top & Bond (now sold under the brand name Sakrete) is one of the bas...
• Article

  OVERVIEW: Outdoor concrete in a cold climate

  Air Entrainment When ordinary concrete gets wet and then freezes, the ice crystals can cause surface chipping, or even more serious fracturing. All outdoor concrete in Canada, even by code, should be what we call air entrained. This means that there are microscopic air bubbles in the concrete ...
• Article

  Myths and misconceptions about concrete and water

  A comment from a reader: "I notice in your section on self leveling concrete that you mention about needing to let the water out before putting anything on top of the new compound. (Self Leveling Concrete) This is a common misconception about concrete, in fact the water does not leave, it become...
• Article

  Self Levelling Concrete

  Kim from Victoria, B.C. pulled up a carpet and discovered that the concrete floor slab was not level with the door sill. What to do? Use Self Levelling concrete. This is an easy to find but very special type of concrete that will say 'Self-Levelling' right on the bag. It is designed to flow like...
• Article

  Strange white stuff around the patch on my concrete wall.

  Ed from Quesnel, B.C. had patched a leak in his concrete wall. It worked -- no more water. But now a strange white stuff has developed all around the patch. What is happening? Obviously he has succeeded in stopping the water from entering his basement, but he has not eliminated the presence of w...
• Article

  Eco-Ice Grip -- Treated wood chips for slippery ice

  This is one amazing product.  Softwood wood chips with just the right mix of magnesium chloride to help the chips to melt into and stick on the ice - making the safest icy walkway I ever walked on.  This is a Swiss invention and Canadian distribution is finally underway.  See comments at the end...
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  Setting Concrete Slabs Safely and Easily

  Individuals who invent things always have trouble getting them to market.  Even when they are good products they may not get enough marketing traction to make it really worthwhile.  There are many products that I have fallen in love with that have simply fallen away with time.  I have used my Sla...
• Article

  Supporting outdoor structures

  In this 2004 HGTV episode, we collected several different viewer questions about supporting outdoor structures so we could compare one to the other.  At the bottom of this article I have added, in 2015, the Helix screw piles that may just have replaced all the rest. Elephant Feet The first vi...
• Article

  Foundation settling - Reading the cracks

  Our camera caught up with Alfred at the renovation centre and he says that he has cracks in the concrete and in the plaster. What to do?  (Be sure to read all the way to the end of the article to learn how to read a crack.) The important first step is to determine which one of three possibilitie...
• Article

  Basement walls -- Moisture & Vapour Barriers

  Do I need to place a vapour barrier against the brick wall, then insulation and then another vapour barrier over that?  The wall does not leak and is fully underground.  Barbara THE VAPOUR BARRIER The vapour barrier is more properly called a vapour retarder. It is designed to stop moisture in t...