When paint gets onto concrete by accident, or as graffiti, it is difficult to remove because the concrete is so porous that the paint soaks down in.We decided to test a few different removers.Bio-Wash Masonry Strip works very well at removing oil, latex, and spray enamel paints.De-Greaser from St...
You may have seen pebble stone-like floor decorations in some commercial entrance ways. It is made by collecting various textured and coloured, pebble-size stones, from quarries throughout the US and Canada, mixing them with an epoxy binder and laying them out in a continuous or an artistic mosa...
Most paint removal or building cleaning is either done with harsh solvents or harsh blasted granules like sand. The solvents are not good for the environment, and the sand can remove important outer layers on materials like brick.We visited a cleaning/stripping company in Toronto, Ontario called...
Sealants, caulking and other confusing vocabularyThere are all kinds of "sealants" used in construction.What we normally call a "caulking" is properly called a sealant -- a thick material that cures to a flexible solid designed to "seal" the space between two materials -- particularly two materia...
Andy caught our camera in a store and asked about the proper preparation for a flagstone walkway.I always joke that patios and walkways are for the Southern US and decks are for the Northern US and Canada, simply because dealing with water and ice always complicates anything we try to do down on ...
Andrew is restoring Toronto's Old City Hall, resetting, repairing even replacing some of those old sculptured blocks that sit high up on the wall.One of his challenges is making mortor that will act and look like the original stuff. One way that he accomplishes that goal is to grind up whatever ...
Leigh Bamford is a young tradesperson who takes historical restoration, even just old house repair very seriously. With five years of experience, she insists on using old materials and old techniques on old buildings.RemvoialRather than using a power grinder to remove the old mortar from between...
Scissors have the flat side where they two blades rub, then a cutting bevel followed by a relief bevel. So how do you sharpen them? Get the flat side flatStart by using a stone to remove any nicks that stick past the flat side. Just put the stone on the flat and grind until the entire side is ...
Working in his fathers shop, Val Bernardo, showed us how he gets that shiny polished edge on stone counters. A surprising amount of the final polishing is done by hand with colour coded polishing grits. We were visiting York Marble, Tile & Terrazzo in Toronto.If you need to do some serious ...
Oscillating Tools