Lisa in Edmonton has a water main that runs right under her driveway. The shutoff valve even comes up in the middle of the driveway. Erosion appears to be following the pipe and has cracked her driveway. She wants to temporarily fix it for now, and later replace the driveway, but doesn't feel she...
Most driveway cleaners are powerful solvents that dilute the oil, even dissolve the asphalt, and create more pollution. Research in British Colombia has shown that more oil gets into the ocean from streets, driveways and parking lots than from oil tanker spills.
So in an effort to clean the ocea...
Dynamite can disturb structures a long distance away and can even open cracks to let soil gasses rise up where they did not pass before. Dynamite cannot be used on or under a house. Jackhammering is not only annoying but vibrations can cause secondary damage to an adjoining house.
EcoBust ...
Here is one water proofing material that approaches the field of Science Fiction -- but it is for real and it does work.
Xypex High'n Dry is a not so commonly available brand name of what is generically referred to as Crystalline Growth waterproofing products. These are applied to a sound bare c...
For years we have talked about protecting the sill plate of basement walls from moisture rising up from the concrete. This could be water in the concrete from plumbing spills, or even from under the slab from a high-water table. The old standard ways to protect that bottom piece of wood on t...
From top to bottom:
1- Check the spark arrestor or rain cover, whichever you have on your chimney. Its most important function may in fact be to keep animals and birds out of your chimney.
2- The liner needs to be in good shape. Check the part that is visible from above, and occasionally have a...
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...
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...
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...
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...
