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

• Article

  Patching massive concrete

  Marian from Baltimore Ontario has a big hole in her foundation wall where a steel 'I' beam was removed, as you can see in the photo she sent us. Her contractor filled it in with mortar and bricks. She would rather fill it with concrete.So we set up a block of concrete with a similar hole, and c...
• Article

  Mixing techniques: concrete, soil and paint.

  Often we need to mix things around the house and don't always have the best tools for the job. In this TV segment I showed two inexpensive tools that really help in this category.The Odd Job, available at many renovation centres, is a small barrel that was originally made for mixing small batche...
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  Can I lower the floor of the basement?

  Tom from Thomasburg, Ontario writes: "I'm thinking about buying a house, however the basement has low ceilings. Is it possible to bust out the cement floor instead of jacking up the house?"Yes you can dig down, but you need to be aware of just how the soil under the house supports the house. Al...
• Article

  Basic Construction connectors

  Most of you are aware that metal connectors are often used to hold things together in a house, much more than in the good old days. The most common one that most people can see in relatively new basements, even decks, is the joist hanger you see in the second photo. Rather than having to sit th...
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  How do you build a deck with vertical 6x6's that twist?

  If a 6x6 or 4x4 wants to twist, it will do so and you can do little to stop it. However you can decide which end will twist!Buried pillarsIf you bury the 6x6 into a concrete pillar, the bottom will be fixed and the top will move, perhaps before you get around to locking in the rest of the deck f...
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  Commercial "back out" toilets for basements.

  Jeff in Ottawa, Ontario wanted to put a toilet in his basement but was worried about the slope required from the toilet exit to the floor drain. He was even looking at an expensive toilet pump.One easy solution for basement toilets is often overlooked. Drilling through a concrete floor is never...
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  How to strap a block wall for board and batten

  Rick from Grand Bend, Ontario writes: "I need advice on how to strap a block wall for board and batten. The wall is 10 ft. high, and I am wondering how many straps I will need?"Too few straps and the boards will warp, too many and you are wasting your energy and perhaps blocking ventilation behi...
• Article

  Discovering a power chisel

  Some tools go un-noticed on the hardware store shelves, like the rotary hammer chisels. At first glance this appears simply to be a heavy duty hammer drill. It has a special quick change chuck called an SDS system and will only work with drills and other accessories with the special SDS shanks....
• Article

  TIP -- Using left over concrete.

  Pouring concrete and have a bit left over? Or do you have half a sack of concrete mix leftover that will probably go hard through humidity before you get around to using it?Getting rid of this stuff can be a problem, so turn it into part of your landscaping.Judy suggests simply taking a large bu...
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  How can I fill a crack between the garage floor and the wall?

  JR in Nova Scotia has a crack between the slab of his garage floor and the foundation of the house, through which bugs are crawling in. How to seal it.The crack was probably caused by normal shrinkage of the slab after it was poured. The best way to seal the joint with the wall is with something ...