Its Summer and one of our friends gave us a question about deck coatings and what might be the right products to use for his 5 year old deck that has never been sealed. Lets look at some of the possible options and when you might want to use each product.
The first thing to understand about pressure treated decks is that they do have an approximate lifespan of 15 to 20 years. The way …
If you have a wood deck then it is important that you maintain its finish and keep it clean between stainings to extend the life of the materials and reduce costly repairs. Eventually you will need to replace boards on your deck from deterioration but with proper cleaning and staining you can expect 15 to 25 years from your deck.
Cleaning Your Deck Before You Stain It
As you can imagine its always important that you …
In this How To we will look at the benefits and drawbacks of either buying or building your own garden shed. We will consider the costs and availability of materials and what extras you may not have considered when you thought you just wanted that extra room for the lawnmower.
Many people don’t realize that when you are building something as insignificant as a garden shed in your backyard you most likely will have to …
One of our friends is asking for some help with his deck. He is a new home owner and wanted to clean up his deck and decided to use some primer and latex paint instead of staining. The results are pretty ugly and the paint is chipping off in wear areas and in random areas around the deck surface. Unfortunately it seems that he painted everything including the railings and steps and now doesn’t …
A friend asks about some water damage he found along his foundation when he removed his deck and he is wondering just how hard it will be for him to do the work himself or if he needs to hire a structural engineer and a contractor.
The problem is pretty common on homes that have attached decks where the contractor didn’t take care to make sure the home was waterproofed before he attached the deck …
If you have a pressure treated deck and you thought that it would be low maintenance then think again. Although it will last about 15 years and that is much longer than untreated wood, you can expect to be staining and treating it every other or every 3 years as long as you have it. Now if you have a roofed off porch or a gazebo the area that is protected will last much longer …
Every deck is a bit different and depending on the area of the country the type of wood used in its manufacture can vary a lot too. For most of the country a pressure treated wood deck made of a pine wood is pretty much the standard and because we all want something that looks nice the next step after installing it is sealing or staining it.
So, should you choose a Solid Stain, Transparent Stain …
If you own a home with vinyl siding the maintenance factors are pretty low in comparison to other options like brick, stone and light weight artificial stone products. Vinyl is produced to last your home about 30 years give or take and the amount of time that it will last depends on how well you keep it clean and the UV Rays that break it down over time.
If you are like most home owners …
The following chart provides the distances and sizes of lumber necessary to build the beams that support your deck.
The size on the left column describes the size of the beam necessary.
For instance the left column may say 2-2×10″ which means you need to use Two – 2 inch x 10 inch boards that are nailed together to build the beam that supports your joists.
When in doubt use a larger size beam meaning go up …
Storm Doors are great features for homes and they provide a variety of different features from security to increased protection from wind and rain.
The one feature that most storm doors do not come with is a chain that restricts how wide the door can open. This really is an important feature for most home owners because wind can pull a door out of your hand and cause it to hit something. Also children, friends …