I get a lot of questions about choosing and applying a finish to a hardwood floor.First understand that there is no one right answer -- there are a lot of products that each has certain advantages over the others and you need to select the properties that are the most important to you. There are...
This article deals with a block wall above grade. For a below grade block wall see Basement Perimeter Drainage and Leaking Foundations.
Bryan is faced with a totally un-insulated cinder block wall with 1x2 strapping and a plaster covering. He is thinking about stripping it back to the block...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Finishes Product: Plastic enamel anti-rust Paint
Temperature Limitations: Use above +10 C (+50 F) and below + 29 C (+85 F)
Rain Limitations: No rain for 1 hour
Wind Limitations: No wind if sp...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Finishes Product: Oil or Alkyd Resin Paint
Temperature Limitations: Use above +10 C (+50 F) and below +32 C (+90 F)
Rain Limitations: No rain for 24 hours
Wind Limitations: Don't paint in hig...
Anne painted her bathroom with latex paint and then started to get mould and mildew where she never had any before. She is wondering what she did wrong?
Mould is caused by the prolonged presence of condensation. Condensation is caused by a combination of high humidity and low temperatures. If yo...
Almost all of us own at least two outdoor plastic lawn chairs, more properly called resin chairs, if not a whole dining set. Most of us watch them get dirtier and dirtier every year, until we finally scrap them for something cleaner. Sitting out in the weather tends to somehow grind them int...
Yes Wendy, just as you can paint over any other painted walls.
You can paint with an oil based paint directly over the lead based paint (which will certainly be an oil based paint).
If you want to use a latex over it, then you must first use a "super adherent primer", made by most of the paint ...
revised Spring 2009
WEATHER
Follow this link for details on critical weather specifications for applying water repellents to outdoor wood.
MOISTURE PROOFING
Although pressure treated wood, cedar and redwood will not rapidly develop rot, any wood left totally unprotected outdoors will grey wit...
Wendy wants to clean years of nicotine off of her walls and repaint.
GENERAL GRIME
First, the best cleaner for any paint preparation is TSP, Tri-Sodium-Phosphate. There are now some more environmentally friendly "TSP Substitutes" available on the market as well. If no stain is left, use any ...
Alternatives to paying hydro to not install a smart meter
In Quebec as in some other jurisdictions, the electrical utility has opened the door to refusing the installation of Smart Meters by consumers -- but at a consideral penality. Initially, in 2012, Hydro Quebec is imposing a $137 charge ju...
