The Home Improvement Thread

[surferguy]

you could buy just the bit and put it into the chuck of the drill, assuming your drill head is not a quick connect type. If it is quick connect - you can get a chuck that fits into a quick connect, then put the dremel bit into that. You could also buy a file and manually do it

[Robotic]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Pipe reamer, but you could just use a round file, or a flat one if you had too.

Would a pipe reamer work if the spurs were all the way down the pipe? The male end goes in about 3-4 inches. I thought about a file but the process of doing it for all the connections seems annoying when this shouldn't be a problem. You'd think the ones building the pipe would have thought this through.

[BigNumbers]

Is this stuff okay to use in Calgary given our bylaws regarding storm sewer run off?

http://en-ca.scotts.com/smg/goprod/o...e/prod11310008

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Is this stuff okay to use in Calgary given our bylaws regarding storm sewer run off?

http://en-ca.scotts.com/smg/goprod/o...e/prod11310008

Pretty sure the answer is no

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/ABS/Pages...ic/Sewers.aspx

[V]

I just put in a driveway on my front lawn with a 3" layer of 3/4" road crush. I'm thinking of topping that off with a couple inches of washed rock so that it stays relatively clean even in the rain, but I'm not sure this is necessary. I'm also not sure if I should wait for everything to settle a bit before I add. Also don't know what size of washed rock I should use.

Any thoughts?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by photon

That foam stuff is awesome, so easy to work with. Just keep in mind that you don't get the weight of the concrete. Don't use sonotubes lol, when I was buying the stuff the guy was telling me one of his customers bought it and used sonotubes.. On a really windy day the wind lifted his fence right out of the ground!

EDIT: Expensive though for a large project. This is the one I used:

https://www.lowes.ca/concrete-mixes/..._g1505553.html

Just moved my fence today, used 3 bags for 6 posts. Really cool stuff! Kind of amazed at how well it worked, and how much it expanded. Way easier than dealing with cement, would use again. A bit more expensive, but meh. Worth it.

[Wormius]

Hmm. So you think that foam could be use to correct a lean in a fence post, or would it just be a temporary fix?

[Fuzz]

If you could dig out a pocket for the foam, and brace the post while the foam cures it should work fine. It seems to have a lot of strength. I had to stretch my chain link fairly tight at the top, and I was afraid it would have to much leverage on the post, but it barely moved as I pulled it tight using all the force I could muster.

[Ducay]

Anyone have any experience staining Cedar (more specifically rough sawn cedar)?

Internet and stores are filled with thousands of options. I've tried samples of a few of the big box brands (including Sikkens, etc).

Penetrating oils seem too dark and I'm worried about longevity with some of the water borne ones (including the Behr that had top marks from Consumer Reports). Luckily its all vertical surfaces (pergola and not deck boards). But basically every product is covered in horror stories online, even the "pro" stuff.....

Case of too many options being a bad thing

[DylanScores]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Anyone have any experience staining Cedar (more specifically rough sawn cedar)?

Internet and stores are filled with thousands of options. I've tried samples of a few of the big box brands (including Sikkens, etc).

Penetrating oils seem too dark and I'm worried about longevity with some of the water borne ones (including the Behr that had top marks from Consumer Reports). Luckily its all vertical surfaces (pergola and not deck boards). But basically every product is covered in horror stories online, even the "pro" stuff.....

Case of too many options being a bad thing

Look up Messmer's UV plus stain. We used it on our hardwood deck and lasted 3 years before reapplying it again this year. Our deck is south facing. It's available at Cloverdale paints.
We used sikkens before on our old cedar deck and only lasted 1 year. Good luck.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Anyone have any experience staining Cedar (more specifically rough sawn cedar)?

Internet and stores are filled with thousands of options. I've tried samples of a few of the big box brands (including Sikkens, etc).

Penetrating oils seem too dark and I'm worried about longevity with some of the water borne ones (including the Behr that had top marks from Consumer Reports). Luckily its all vertical surfaces (pergola and not deck boards). But basically every product is covered in horror stories online, even the "pro" stuff.....

Case of too many options being a bad thing

I bought the Armstrong Clark stuff from the USA to use on my cedar deck.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by DylanScores

Look up Messmer's UV plus stain. We used it on our hardwood deck and lasted 3 years before reapplying it again this year. Our deck is south facing. It's available at Cloverdale paints.
We used sikkens before on our old cedar deck and only lasted 1 year. Good luck.

Will look into this. Thanks. Any issue with blackening/mildew? Seems like the Messmer's is heavy in Linseed oil.

I wasn't thrilled with the Sikkens SRD stain either, really darkened the wood, even the natural tone, and like every other stain out there, a number of people seem to have durability issues with it.

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I bought the Armstrong Clark stuff from the USA to use on my cedar deck.

Which type of theirs (transparent, semi-trans)/color did you use? The Armstrong stuff intigues me (despite the sketchy review site DeckStainHelp.com hyping them) and sounds like there are a number of people who have had success with it, but the cost including shipping it up is pretty prohibative when I'm not sure how it will look on my cedar (Fine paying the ~$80 a gallon if I knew it'd work); since mine is rough sawn, it basically just inhales oil based stain (good for protection), but also means that even the "natural" tinted options make some of the darker pieces quite dark (as the pergola has both light and darker red cedar)

[DylanScores]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Will look into this. Thanks. Any issue with blackening/mildew? Seems like the Messmer's is heavy in Linseed oil.

I wasn't thrilled with the Sikkens SRD stain either, really darkened the wood, even the natural tone, and like every other stain out there, a number of people seem to have durability issues with it.




Which type of theirs (transparent, semi-trans)/color did you use? The Armstrong stuff intigues me (despite the sketchy review site DeckStainHelp.com hyping them) and sounds like there are a number of people who have had success with it, but the cost including shipping it up is pretty prohibative when I'm not sure how it will look on my cedar (Fine paying the ~$80 a gallon if I knew it'd work); since mine is rough sawn, it basically just inhales oil based stain (good for protection), but also means that even the "natural" tinted options make some of the darker pieces quite dark (as the pergola has both light and darker red cedar)

The mildew protection is quite good. Regarding darkening, I think it's ok TBH. Our deck is made up of Kayu, red mahogany. After staining, some of the deck boards are dark and some are not, but I think they are suppose to be like that after applying the stain. A gallon cost about $70-75 and Cloverdale sell small sizes if you want to try it out first?
I used the specific one for the hardwood, Messmers UV Plus Hardwood stain semi transparent. It has more brown to it than red. But I know They also carry something specifically for cedar wood.

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by V

I just put in a driveway on my front lawn with a 3" layer of 3/4" road crush. I'm thinking of topping that off with a couple inches of washed rock so that it stays relatively clean even in the rain, but I'm not sure this is necessary. I'm also not sure if I should wait for everything to settle a bit before I add. Also don't know what size of washed rock I should use.

Any thoughts?

You don't want a couple of inches of washed -- it doesn't compact, so you're forever sinking into it with bicycle, wheelbarrow, lawnmower wheels. I'd consider just a "skim coat" of 10 mm -- basically only one layer deep. And pack it into the existing stuff with something good and heavy. It won't totally seal in the mud, but would be cleaner than what you have.

As for how long to wait? I think if you've compacted it reasonably well (enough to drive in without it oozing around) then you're good to go.

Source: years of pain with 2+ inches of 20 mm washed rock on my RV parking pad. I hate the previous owners of this house who thought it would look good!!!

[4X4]

Originally Posted by V

I just put in a driveway on my front lawn with a 3" layer of 3/4" road crush. I'm thinking of topping that off with a couple inches of washed rock so that it stays relatively clean even in the rain, but I'm not sure this is necessary. I'm also not sure if I should wait for everything to settle a bit before I add. Also don't know what size of washed rock I should use.

Any thoughts?

Did you use a tamper? That's where I'd start. Ideally would have tampered the prepped area before spreading the road crush, then tamper the crush and live with it for the spring through a few rain storms and see how it is before buying a load of washed and labouring to spread it.

[V]

I heard from a couple construction guys today that I might want to sprinkle some concrete powder in my next layer of crush to make it a lot harder. I think I'll get this crush good and compacted with my lawn tractor, and then add another layer with some concrete sprinkled in then I shouldn't need the washed rock, which is too expensive.

[Fuzz]

You may just want to rent a power tamper, I think it is around $50. You should tamp every 2", so if you already laid down 3" I'd power tamp really well, then add another layer and tamp again. You will be amazed how firm a surface you can get doing that. You also want to keep it moist, but not so wet that it sticks to the tamper.

[Wormius]

Power tampers are awesome. I tried the whole route of doing it by hand, but after you see what the power tamper does, you will surprised at how you barely did anything with the hand tamper.

[4X4]

Hah. A hand tamper is like trying to build a deck with a screwdriver instead of a drill.

[Wormius]

Duplicate post.