One viewer was asking why the bricks on his commercial building were falling apart on the bottom of the wall. In the photo you can see another viewer's problem from last year where her bricks fell all apart after pouring a concrete porch right up to the brick level. In her case, the concrete sl...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Concrete Product: All site mixed or delivered concrete
Temperature Limitations: Use above +2 C (+35 F)
Rain Limitations: No rain until surface is firm -- several hours
Wind Limitations: n/a
...
Concrete, outdoors in the Canadian climate, has a particularly difficult time surviving. Walkways, patios, driveways and the like must have as much as 4 to 6 inches of gravel as a drainage base to minimize the effects of shifting from frost movement in the soil. Drainage around these areas has to...
Hilda has a century-old house and is repointing the bricks. She wants to know if it is wise to seal the wall with Silicone to prevent water from getting in.
The answer is -- no.
Brick is designed to shed water, absorbing a bit, but drying out quickly as soon as the rain stops. In addition the a...
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...
