Dover Projects

Smart Tool Buying Tips for DIYers

2011-04-14T14:11:00.001-04:00

A Special Guest Post From: Ethan, our friend over at One Project Closer. Thanks Ethan for your tool buying tips and insight!—Peter

The cost to fully equip your workshop can quickly add up even if you only buy the bare essentials. Many do-it-yourselfers that I know own thousands of dollars in tools. That's a hefty price to pay, and so I'm always eager to find ways to save money. Over the years, I've come across a handful of tool buying tips. This post will share some strategies so that you get the right tool and a great deal.

Professional Tools or Not

You may not realize it, but many tool manufacturers are under the same corporate umbrella. For instance, if you read about Irwin Tools, their brand encompasses many other names you'll recognize like Marathon, Hanson, Speedbor and more. Stanley Black & Decker owns Bostitch, DeWalt, Porter Cable and others. Companies are divided like this because each brand is targeted to a specific audience. Fein brand tools are marketed to professionals while Ryobi tools are marketed to homeowners. It's important to consider if you need a professional grade tool and then buy accordingly.

I own a pro-grade framing nailer and love it! This tool performs consistently and should last many years to come. Alternatively, I also own a Kobalt sliding miter saw that costs $170 at Lowes. This is a cheap saw and many users have reported problems with the fence and laser alignment. Both tools live up to my expectations. The point is I knew what I was buying and didn't overspend.

Refurbished Tools

Refurbished tools are purchases that have been returned to the manufacturer because of mis-handling or a product defect. The manufacturer fixes the tool, often incorporating new parts, restoring the tool to factory specifications. These tools pass quality control tests before they are resold through various online venues. Refurbished tools often cost 30-60% less than retail and almost always include a factory warranty.

I'm a big fan of refurbished tools and would recommend it to every do-it-yourselfer, however they may not meet the needs of a professional. There are risks associated with purchasing refurbished tools, but you can take steps to protect yourself. Before purchasing, call the retailer and ask about their return policy. What is the return period? Is there a restocking fee? Who pays shipping? Next, contact the manufacturer and learn about the warranty policy. How do you report problems? What proof of purchase do you need? By answering these questions, you'll be well prepared should problems arise.

Time Your Purchase

A little over a year ago, Consumer Reports published a calendar predicting when specific categories of product go on sale. They analyzed industry surveys, publications, and consulted in-house experts. Unfortunately, tools are not listed on their magic calendar but it does validate the theory that you should time your purchase for the best price. The idea is that you should buy when demand is low. For instance, the calendar suggests buying bikes in September.

If you have the time, watch prices to see how they fluctuate especially around major holidays. The sales may seem gimmicky but often translate into real savings. Take special note around Presidents Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. You can also expect prices to drop a little while after the tool has been introduced. For instance, the new Paslode roofing nailer was introduced about 6 months ago with a suggested price of $529.00. Already, the price has dropped about $40.

From the Dealer or Big Box?

There is a huge debate over purchasing tools and equipment from a home improvement center versus an authorized local dealer. The argument goes that a big box stores carries substandard versions of the same models found elsewhere. Many users question why a manufacturer would sacrifice their good name by creating a lesser product, but supplying a Big Box store is sure to turn a significant profit. I've seen and read arguments for both sides, and here's what I know.

Big Box stores are always competing on price, and here's an example of how that plays out. All John Deere tractors are the same but big box stores only carry the very cheapest model.
I've read reliable information about a user opening up a defective Milwaukee Sawzall to find plastic parts that are otherwise metal.
In September 2010, Porter Cable started manufacturing a C2004-WK pancake compressor but you'll never find it on their official website. This model was exclusively sold at Lowes.

Manufacturers create specific models for big box stores but that doesn't necessarily mean they are substandard. When you shop around, make sure you compare apples to apples. When in doubt, remember that you typically get what you pay for.

Discounts and Coupons

Retailers are constantly offering discount and coupon incentives to earn your sale, and most of them are revolving deals. That means that a promo code or coupon will probably reappear after a little while, often with very small variations. Here's a great example. On March 24, 2011, The Home Depot released the promo code "SPRINGSAVE" good for $10 off a $100 purchase. This deal only lasted a week, but the same exact discount appeared just the other day with the promo code "HDSPRING" (valid 4/11/2011 - 4/17/2011).

One Project Closer is a website that focuses on providing premium home improvement, how-to and tool review content. In addition, OPC maintains a list of home improvement coupons where you can find promo codes like the ones listed above. It's an easy way to save money so take a look before your next purchase.

Do you have tool buying tips?! Share your knowledge, by commenting below, so we can all take advantage.
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My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2011, Dover Projects.

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My Other Articles

Facebook Business Pages... Engage!

2011-02-18T00:31:00.003-05:00

What changed?

On Friday there were major changes to the way that Facebook business pages can interact. Much like how personal pages could always comment and post on each other's walls, business pages can now do the same. In addition, business pages can share other business pages posts, and business pages can also "Like" other business pages. That last bit was always there, but was called "favoriting a page".

Example here of Krud Kutter and Dover Projects Engaging. Click to enlarge.

I believe these changes will really impact the B to B Facebook landscape.

What exactly will these B to B interactions look like 6 months from now??? I'm not sure exactly. That said, I (being the experimental type), have "Liked" almost every Tool, DIY, Home, Design, Woodworking... business page that I've come across since this change, and I personally plan to engage with them via my Facebook community page.

Example here of the pages I've liked. Click to enlarge.

You can go to my Facebook community page here http://www.facebook.com/DoverProjects, and scroll down to "Likes"in the left hand column, to see all of the companies (and communities) I've "Liked", and you can quickly "Like" them while in the the "Use Facebook as your page name" mode (right hand column of your business page). Yes, that's yet another change that makes all of this possible... Or you can go to my "info" section and scroll down to "Likes and Interests".

I thought I'd also stick these pages I've liked here (below), for the fun of it too. By the way, if would like to add your Facebook page to this list, send me a note via twitter to @doverprojects, or just post your Facebook page link in the comments below.

Facebook business and community pages I've "Liked", so far...
(udpate) I removed the links. Google might see it spammy.... Sorry about that.—Peter

Phew. First blog post in aaagggesss... Yeah, I know. I need to move to Wordpress, etc... All in good time.

Cheers!—Peter, AKA Dover Projects

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My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.
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My Other Articles

Fix Double Hung Window Sash Cords

How to Caulk a Bathtub

Refinishing Pressure Treated Deck

How to Build a Sandbox with Seats

French Drain Design

How to Build a Flagstone Patio

How to Build Porch Railings

How to repair a sliding screen door

Replacing Broken Window Glass

Barn Foundation Repair

Knob and Tube Wiring - Replacing

Recessed Kitchen Lighting & Design

How to Drywall a Ceiling

How Roofers Can Win More Jobs

How to Insulate Basement Rim Joists

How to Insulate an Attic Door

Radiator Heat Reflectors

Air Sealed Dryer Vent

Toilet Tank Water Savers

How to Check for a Leaky Toilet

How to Clean Refrigerator Coils

How to Make a Pet Door

Energy Efficient Pet Door

Welcome to Dover Projects!

2010-07-06T11:29:00.010-04:00

You may have stumbled to my blog "Dover Projects" though a web search and now are wondering, who is this guy? Is he a professional? What is "Dover Projects"? So here's the deal.

I'm a homeowner of about 6 years now. Prior, I had only lived in apartments where no home maintenance or projects where needed. When we first bought the place, I had quite a bit of trepidation about home projects and maintenance, although I was always a fan of power tools, and making stuff, like tree houses and wooden go karts as a kid.

My wife, has the natural tendency to want to improve/upgrade things around the nest/house, whereas my main goal has always been to make sure I don't let the value of the house slide because of poor maintenance and repair. Our place is a 100 year old farmhouse, and as you might imagine there are quite a few projects that fit in to either the upgrades category or the maintenance category.

Mowing... 2 little guys make some projects a little harder...

My wife's family members are all very well versed in all types of DIY projects and thus she kinda expects that I know this stuff too. They don't live nearby so I can't tap them for information. I had to step up to the plate and learn about lots of stuff that I didn't know about. I remember when we first moved in, I'd tell people that I had know idea how the systems of a house worked, no idea how the heat worked, no idea how the pluming worked, and no idea exactly what is behind our walls (I'm still not entirely sure). ha!

Well being on a budget, having a true love for accumulating tools, and enjoying the feeling of accomplishing a a job done well done, and done by myself, has taken on what I now call "Dover Projects", a place where I share my projects. Before starting this blog, and the articles here, I would take pictures of my projects just for the fun of it. I now take pictures for the fun of it, and to be able to add them to a how to article for this blog.

My messy workbench!

Here's how my projects and articles get done. With all of my projects I know very, very little about the job before I get started. Because of this, and the love of learning about projects, I tend to go overboard with my research. I'll read multiple books on the subject. I'll research the internet heavily, I'll tap neighbor's experiences and so on. Much to my wife's shagrin, this part of all of my projects takes a huge chunk of time, but I'm a detail person and I like doing things as correctly as possible.

Here's what I read. No fiction for me! ha

By the time I'm done with this extensive research and also having now actually done the project, I feel I can write about it. Here's why I write about my projects: 1. To help others with their similar projects, 2. To show off my work! and 3. To document what I did should I need to look back.

I try to make the point that I'm not an expert. Each article has red text warning that "I'm not a professional at all..." I'm often torn between sharing a project or not. If I feel the project went well and I can add my input and share my experience for others in a thorough way I'll write it up for here. Many projects I've done have not made the it to the pages of Dover Projects because I didn't feel that I learned enough to write about something, or the project was less than successful.

I've found that no matter how many times I say, "I'm not an expert", people tend to think because they see this information in writing, that I must be an expert... I can tell this based on the questions I receive, many of which I'm not qualified to answer, so I don't, and instead I try to guide people to other resources for the correct answers.

This is my wife. We work as a team when we can, but 2 little guys makes that increasingly difficult for us to work on projects together. She has threatened to write an article here about how I never really finish any of my projects all the way, and I never clean up my tools and mess! These points are both very valid and I've offered to give her an article here, to tell the world about my flaws, but thus far she hasn't taken me up on it! She would also say I'm too bossy... perhaps this is true as well.... :)

Okay, so there you have it. That's how my projects get done, and how they end up here on my blog.

In addition to this blog, I'm also (recently) very interested in social media. This in itself is a project, but not one I write about here, as Dover Projects is about home improvement projects, and not social media.

For my real job though (I work at a software company), I'm starting to be tasked with looking in to the ways we should be involved in social media. I'm a graphic designer in the marketing department and I've had some experience with blogging, so I'm diving deeper into the social media subject and using my Dover Projects blog as the first stepping stone to rounding out what is also a testing platform for using all of the social media networks. Eventually I'll transfer things that I've learned here to my role at work, for us to be involved in social media.

So I've started a Dover Projects space on Facebook, and also have a Dover Projects Twitter account and now also a Dover Projects YouTube account where I've been posting a few videos so that I can share them via Facebook.

Though all of this, I have one over arching goal... to bring value to you, the visitor. I hope that I never misdirect you. I hope you do find the information useful, entertaining, and inspiring. I tend to write very long articles, as I want to go more in depth than the typical magazine article that might leave out half of the real world details for example. My articles are not quick reads. They are, in most cases, the entire story from beginning to end, complete with real world bumps in the road...

Oh, one last thing. People sometimes wonder how I have the time to do these projects and THEN have the time to actually write up the articles... Well, we do our projects on the weekends and during our vacations. Many of the projects you see here were done before we had kids... Major slow down with the little guys needing us now... I wrote most of these articles at 4:00 am, before the family gets up, or late at night when all are asleep. That's how much I love writing these up. I'm excited to write about my projects and sometimes my eyes pop up early with eager anticipation of a new article and I'll jump outta bed to grab those few hours of quiet time to write.

Exhausted from weekend warrior DIY projects...

And one final word. Thanks to my wife for putting up with the extra time I put into the researching and documenting of our projects. It's been many hours in the works. Many people would simply hire someone, and also not feel the need to share their projects with the world.... Thanks Sweetie for indulging me!

I should note, I do not have any affiliations with any building services, material dealers, or products. I'm not selling anything. I share my articles for the reasons mentioned above only.

Okay, let's get on to the projects! I wish you all the best success with your projects and I love when people comment on my articles to either point out when I have something wrong, or to say what they are doing with their projects, or just to say "hi"...

For more frequent updates (multiple times a day sometimes) join me on Dover Projects on Facebook! See you there!

Happy DIYing!

--Peter

Happy Holidays!

Pretty Patterned Ornaments Holiday

For hundreds of holiday card designs, click here.

View the entire collection of cards.

Repair Wood Rot: Epoxy Wood Filler

2009-09-21T21:29:00.017-04:00

How to fix rotten wood with epoxy wood filler. I'm going to show my repair to the bottom of my exterior door trim, but you can also repair other wood rot, like window sills and frames, porch columns, decorative wood, and so on. These are cosmetic fixes and not "structural fixes" (repair to sill beams for example and other load bearing structures).

After scraping old paint off our exterior door, I noticed something that wasn't good. Some of the trim around the bottom of the door was rotted out. So I pried off the middle board shown above, and found that matters were even worse than I thought. The sill beam below the door had rotted as well! Oh boy...

Here's what the sill beam looked like with most of the worst rot removed. But you can see that in order to repair the sill beam (the 6"x6" beam on top of the foundation shown above), I'll have to remove the left exterior door trim to get at the beam. Note: I don't have the sill beam repair article done yet, but I will soon.

What follows is only about making a cosmetic fix to the bottom section of the left door trim. That bottom section, although it doesn't look too bad in this photo, was very rotted (mostly on the back side) and very soft up a few inches from the bottom. This is what happens when wood is in contact moist surfaces (the steps, during rain and snow). Also the wood grain at the end of the boards is particularly good at sucking up moisture. Note: You can click on any photo to enlarge them.

Rather than remove the whole piece of left door trim, it seemed easier in this case just to cut the lower few inches off with a sawzall, make the rot repair with wood epoxy, and then reattach it later. I could have manufactured a new matching piece of wood, but it would have been quite a bit of work, as the piece was unique in size and notched out in the back, and also was not an available trim piece from home stores. I remembered seeing an article online about repairing rot with epoxy, so it was off to Google to research "rotten wood repair", as I was also eager to learn about rot repair for the fun of it as well!

After researching it was time to repair the rot. Here's what I did, using 2 products:
1. Liquid wood hardener (resin that penetrates soft wood, making it hard again)
2. Epoxy Wood Filler (2 part epoxy to rebuild/replace the rotted wood)

Here's the bottom of the door trim. You can see the rot from the front doesn't look too bad, but much of it was so brittle it just came loose in my hands, after this photo was taken.

The wood rot was worse on the back. The rotted wood was completely dry, but very soft and crumbly. Note: I'm in these photos as I was using the laptop as my camera here, and had to see what I was shooting. Please excuse my large nose!

Step 1: Remove Unstable Rotten Wood

The first step to repair wood rot with epoxy wood filler, is to remove any rotted wood that is loose, crumbly or very soft. You want to get down to reasonably stable wood. It can be a bit soft though. I used a screw driver, like a dentist removing tooth decay. Wire brushes work well for other flatter surfaces. The wood should also be completely dry, or as dry as possible before going further. This might mean using a heater, or fan, or whatever to dry the piece out. Or if it's an exterior piece you might need to cover the area with a trap for a while to thoroughly dry it out. Less than 20% moisture content is the recommended level, but who has a moisture meter? Just use common sense and get it as dry as possible.

Step 2: Drill Holes in and Around the Affected Area

Drilling holes helps the liquid wood hardener penetrate deeper into the wood. I should have drilled hole a bit bigger. 1/4" is recommended. Don't drill all the way through!

Step 3: Apply Liquid Wood Hardener

There are a number of brands out there. I just happened to have quick access to this one (Minwax, High Performance, Wood Hardener). This can was about $9.50 at Home Depot.

Lather on a few quick coats with a cheap disposable bristle brush. Be sure to get every nook and cranny. Then let it dry for 2-3 hours. When dry, the resin that has penetrated the soft wood will make it hard and stable again. My glove here looks weird as the lower half ripped off, so it's not some special fingers only glove, ha!

Step 4: Add Screws for Strength as an Extra Measure.

The screws are optional, but are not a bad idea, as they act like rebar (reinforcing bars used in concrete). The screws give the epoxy wood filler something to grab on to and will add strength to the repair. I used exterior deck screws.

Step 5: Mix up a Batch of Epoxy Wood Filler

This just happens to be Bondo epoxy wood filler. Many people have used regular Bondo for fixing wood rot before with no issues, but a quick Google search will also turn up just as many people saying that the traditional Bondo (used for auto body repair) isn't a good idea to use on wood rot repair, as it does not expand and contract with temperature changes and that a dedicated epoxy wood filler, made for wood rot does. The product above is from Bondo and say it's a "wood filler". I've never seen it before (might be the same as the auto Bondo, who knows). Anyway the photo on the front looked convincing so I figured I give it a go, as other epoxies I found online were more expensive. I'll give follow up, updates as to how it holds up in our harsh New England winters and humid summers.

First you fill the supplied cup with the wood filler. Forgot to put my gloves on here.

Then you squeeze out a bead of epoxy hardener to a length of the diameter of the cup (see your product for specific directions).

Mix the Bondo and the hardener up well with a disposable plastic putty knife.

Step 6: Apply the Epoxy Wood Filler to the Rotted Wood

Be sure to goop it into the nooks and crannies. I used plastic putty knife and screw driver to work it into the pockets of the rotted wood. Bondo suggest that you build up layers no greater than 1/2 inch thick at a time.

Bondo sets up quickly, so you'll be mixing up a few batches and applying it in layers if you have to build up a large section as I did. I'm sure there's a neater way to do this (you can build a form out of plastic), and I'm sure some people are better skilled with their putty knifes (you can wet your putty knife with lacquer thinner to keep the wood filler from sticking to it). I didn't bother much with neatness and it shows, but it didn't seem to matter. All this extra bulk will be sanded away. Let it cure for 30 minutes. It'll get warm, as the chemicals do their thing.

After about 15 minutes with a 5" orbital sander, I was able to craft a very close replica of the original trim piece, complete with notched cut out on the back side (the house siding goes behind that notch). No more wood rot here. And once primed, painted and reattached, this piece will be rot resistant, as it's epoxy, not wood.

More photos and story coming shortly of the piece being reinstalled.--Peter

Products/Tools
Minwax, High Performance, Wood Hardener
Bondo Home Solutions Wood Filler (No info. on 3M's website, they make the stuff)
Popular alternative: Abatron LiquidWood, and Abatron WoodEpox
Another alternative: Conserv Epoxy
Another alternative: PC Products
Wire brush, screw driver or whatever to remove the rot
Drill
Disposable bristle brush
Plastic putty knife
Shaping tools: Rasp, sandpaper, sander, etc.

Resources
The Family Handyman: How to Repair Wood Rot with Epoxy
This Old House: How to Repair Rotted Trim with Epoxy
Abatron.com: Wood rot repair information and products
PC Products: Product video

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.
______________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

Cleaning Algae, Mildew and Mold with a Pressure Washer

2009-09-19T19:34:00.030-04:00

Every Spring it seems our house's vinyl siding, porch, and deck attract dirt, algae, mold and mildew, and needs a cleaning. Prior to buying a pressure washer I used a hose which did an okay job. I've stepped that process up a bit now!

No, this isn't about cleaning siding, but I'm starting with this photo to show you the power of a pressure washer. This is a shot where I've removed years of surface crud from unfinished pressure treated wood. The new looking wood is where I have given the steps a good close up blasting. It's slow work doing this kind of cleaning, but the results are amazing. But please do read further down in this article to learn about the damage that pressure washers can do to wood. Also, see below for the complete rehab to these steps. Note: You can click on all photos to enlarge them.

Here's a typical shot of what the side of our garage looks like before pressure washing (after our harsh New England winters), showing lots of dirt, algae, mold and mildew on the vinyl siding. This side gets particularly bad, as our driveway snow plowing leaves 4 foot piles right up against the vinyl siding.

Here's a shot after using the pressure washer with detergent made for cleaning dirt, algae, mildew, and mold from siding, wood, and driveways, etc.

And here's the cleaned siding looking especially bright on a sunny day.

I Fell in Love with my Pressure Washer
This year I bought a pressure washer to refinish my deck (that deck article is here), but I also used it to clean many other things around the house. It's pleasing to use, as the work is easy and the results are immediate. I was going to put the pressure washer (some call them "power washers") on craiglist.org, after using it for the deck refinishing, as it was cheaper than renting, for the amount of time I needed it, but I fell in love with it, and I have kept it! By the way, this is also a good strategy to get tools past the budget department (joke, but not really)!

It's a Nice to Have
It's not something you use all the time, but it's nice to have when you want it, and it's the kind of tool you can feel great about loaning out to the neighbors. You might even want to go in with a neighbor, to reduce the cost of ownership.

I've never used a pressure washer before, so I can't compare this model/brand to others, but this one seemed to work very well for my needs. It's a Husky 2600 PSI, 2.4 GPM, Axial Cam Pump, Pressure Washer, which has a 173cc Kohler Courage XT-7 engine. I got it from Home Depot for about $320 (Spring, 2009).

Here's the wand, which feels much like what you would use at a self-service car wash. The water pressure feels about the same too. I think the tubing from the machine to the wand is 25', one upgrade I might make is to get a longer tube, which means you don't have to move the machine around as much.

Here's shot of 2 of the nozzles that this Husky power washer comes with. There are 4 provided. One is for soap application (not shown) and the other 3 vary in the spray focus (0 degree, 25 degree (not shown) and 40 degree). The more focused the pattern, the more force the spray has. All of these can rip through the surface of wood, so never ever point them at humans or pets, they could rip a hole right through them! The nozzle you use and the distance from the surface you are cleaning determines the spray strength. There isn't a control on the wand for pressure, it's either on or off. The only problem I found with the nozzle "caddy" (shown above) is that the nozzles would fall off the posts that they are supposed to be stored on.

Here's a top down view of the detergent reservoir. The uptake tube is above it here, and when in use, the tube is inserted into the detergent tank.

Gas and Cleaning Solutions

Here's what you'll need to get started. Zep makes a few varieties of cleaning products for vinyl siding, driveways, concrete, brick and wood. Be sure that you get a detergent made for pressure washers. These detergents come in concentrate, so you'll need a container to dilute the cleaning solution with water in, thus the empty milk jug on the right. Never use bleach in your pressure washer, as it can damage the pump and other parts.

A few More Sample Uses

Garage steps before shot. These steps are stained with opaque gray, below the crud.

Garage steps after shot. I intentionally removed some of the loose stain with the powerwasher, in order to prepare the wood for a new coat of stain.

Here's a before shot showing algae on our front porch (the wood is wet here, as I took this photo after initial wetting with the detergent. Dry they didn't look this bad).

Here's the after shot. You can see there is some very minimal lifting of lose paint. Loose paint will come off whether you want it to or not.

Gutter Cleaning

Here you can see the section I've cleaned in the middle. Be careful not to spray up and under shingles. And don't use powerwashers to clean shingles. You'll damage shingle surface.

Here are the gutters, and the rest of the front of the house, after powerwashing.

Here's a before shot of a hidden part of the house. I was surprised to see how dirty it was. I did this work in the spring. In the summer and fall this area is covered by large bushes, so you don't usually see it, and either did I. By the way, I've since cut back all foliage about 2 feet from the house. You should do this too, to allow the house to dry, and it keeps ants and other bugs from having easy routes to enter your house.

Here's an in progress shot. You can see where I've pressure washed the vinyl siding above the dryer vent and up, and then I cut one swath down the middle of the siding to show the immediate cleaning difference. Yes, that's a dryer vent. You can read about that energy saving dryer vent here.

Here's the after shot. I'm not sure why the right bottom is darker. Some permanent damage my have happened to the siding? All dirt and algae has been removed. It was overcast this day, so my photos seem a bit gloomy, but boy did the siding shine a brilliant white when the sun hit it. I did all of the exterior surfaces and siding in one day. One thing you want to avoid is shooting the spray up and behind the siding. It's best to work spraying the siding straight on, or at a slightly downwards angle. You'll need a step ladder to get up high and still spray downwards. For getting the second story, switch to a more focused nozzle to give you pressure to really get up there.

Speaking of technique, read the directions carefully on the cleaning solution bottle. Application of the cleaning solution should be with a low pressure soap nozzle, and from the bottom up to avoid staining The cleaning/removal of the detergent should be from the top down with a medium pattern/pressure nozzle. Your pressure washer's manual, and the detergent bottle will have detailed instructions, so I'm not going to cover proper technique fully here. It is though very important to read the whole manual as there are important safety and usage notes, that will keep you from damaging yourself or the washer.

Resurfacing Old Pressure Treated Wood Steps

Here's a shot where I'm removing years of surface crud and weathering from unfinished pressure treated wood steps. The new looking wood is where I have given the steps a good close up blasting (about 2 inches from the wood). It's slow work, as you have to move slowly to really get an area cleaned well, but the results are amazing.

Here's a side by side, before and after shot. I was really blasting this wood hard, to bring it down to clean wood. In doing so, experts would say that I've damaged the wood, which is true. You can see that the soft grains of the wood have been completely blasted away, leaving deep grooves, where the harder wood grains remain.

Here's a shot after the wood has dried. You can see that fibers of the wood have lifted and that the boards have become furry. Expert powerwashers say they use the right chemicals and only use a few hundred pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure to do this kind of cleaning without damaging the wood. I used 2600 psi, at close range! I like to live on the wild side. I'm a rebel!

To remove the fur, and to smooth out the ridges, I first pounded down all of the popped up nails, and then sanded the boards with a 6" Rigid brand random orbital sander, using 60 grit (aggressive) sandpaper.

I quick brushing and vacuuming cleans up the wood dust, in preparation for staining.

Here are the cleaned steps ready for opaque deck stain which will match my deck.

I used this stuff (Sikkens, Rubbol Solid DEK). It's an opaque stain. To me, it seems to go on even thicker than exterior paint. I love the almost rubbery surface it makes. Just one coat seems to do the job well. The manufacturer recommends 2 coats (one that acts like a primer, and then a finishing layer). I also used it with my deck project.

For quick painting (as I like to slap it on and be done with it), I'll use a piece of cardboard to keep things from getting painted/stained the shouldn't be.

And here we go, the final smooth steps are now a favorite hangout for my son and I. Don't mind the shoe issue. He put them on himself, "good for you son!".

Resources
Outdoorcleaning.com Outdoor Cleaning with Pressure Washers (By Briggs & Stratton)
The link above seems mainly a source to drive people to buy, through their site, pressure washers, but it does have lots of great basic videos. Also it shows you all the things you can clean, which was also a good reminder to me that I have more stuff to clean. They have videos showing how pressure washers can be used to clean: siding, brick, stucco, decks, fences, concrete, vehicles, boats, remove paint, outdoor furniture, grills, pools, spas, and lawn and garden equipment.

They also have great videos on technique, key features, operation, maintenance and winterizing. I was going to say that I didn't know who provides this site, but I see now at the bottom of the site it says "Briggs & Stratton" who are the engine providers for a few different brands of pressure washers. Okay, I give the site more credit now. Check it out. I'm about to go through it more thoroughly too!

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.
______________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

Fix Double Hung Window Sash Cords

2009-06-09T20:47:00.015-04:00

Have you ever had the problem where your window won't stay up? Window sashes have counter balances concealed in the window frame that balance the weight of the window so that they don't slide down in the frame. The problem is sometimes they break, or freeze up, depending on the counter balance system.

Here's a shot of a problem counter balancing system. Note: You can click on all photos to enlarge them.

Old Windows
My 100 year old house has old and new windows. The 100 year old windows have "sash weights"— heavy weights attached to cords inside the window frames with cords that go over pulleys at the top of the frame. A few of these have broken cords, which would mean taking the window frame apart. This article is not about fixing them.

New Windows
The new windows on the second floor though, were replaced by the previous home owners. They replaced them with Anderson Double Hung windows (double hung means they have 2 moving sashes, a top and bottom sash).

These might be about 15 years old? I don't really know, but they have a different mechanism for counter balancing the sash. At first sight it is not obvious how to fix these things, but I was able to find a good PDF online that explained the whole process in detail (see top PDF). I'm not sure how many windows work like these now, but perhaps your windows are similar, even if they are not Anderson, or of the same vintage.

Are Your Windows Under Warranty?
First check though to see if your windows are under warranty. I didn't bother with mine, as I'm fairly sure they are out of warranty, and we were not the original purchasers. If they are, you can schedule a service call to have them fixed for free, or at least the part might be free, and you'd pay for service. You'll typically need to have proof of purchase date, for warranties to be honored.

Here's How to Replace the Counter Balance Springs on Anderson Double Hung Windows. To be specific, these are the replacement steps for: Anderson Perma-sheild Narroline Double-Hung windows. If you don't have these types of Anderson windows, you might find your Anderson window replacement balance parts here on the Anderson website.

Shown above is the side of the window. You can see that the upper sash does not stay up and both cords (there's one for the upper sash and one for the lower sash) are slack and do not recoil into the window as they are supposed to. Note: You can click on photos to enlarge them.

Here's the "sash counter balance" unit we are going to replace. There's one of these boxes concealed in the upper left and upper right top of the window frame. When working properly, the cords should retract into the box. This box has been corroded by water damage I believe. What follows is how to get at that box.

Now I apologize, but I don't have the very first photo of the window intact. This photo shows after removing from the vinyl piece that was covering what is shown in the picture as wood. After you remove all of the screws (see photo below too for removing the top 2 screws) you can remove the vinyl "jamb liner" as it is called, by flexing it slightly at the bottom and sliding it down (have both sashes in the upper most position when you do this).

There are 2 screws at the top of the jamb liner that can only be removed when you have both window sashes have been lowered all the way down.

With the jamb liner removed, and both sashes in the lowered position, you will be able to swing the inner most sash out of the window frame.

Looking a the side of the pulled out sash, you will see a recess in the side of the sash, where the cord is anchored by a plastic tube piece. Grab hold of the cord, to take the tension, and pull the end of the cord out of the sash. Do not let go of the cord suddenly, as it is under high tension and doing so could case injury, and or counter balance unit damage. Gently let the cord retract and release (see photos below). Do the same with the other side. Only one of my sash balancers was frozen (the right side), so it of course is no longer under any tension, as it doesn't retract). Repeat the same steps for the upper sash.

Here's the cord out of the sash.

Here are the cords on the working side, fully retracted into the top of the window frame.

Here are the cords on the non-working side, not retracting into the top of the window frame.

Remove the "head jamb liner" screws, and then bend it slightly and pull downwards to remove it. This will expose the 2 sash balancer units. This view is from the outside of the house, as I was able to work from a roof just below.

My head jamb liner was stuck toward the inside edge. I ended up having to pry it down with a screwdriver. Be careful not to damage this piece though.

And here is the culprit. This box is not retracting the sash cords as it should be.

Remove the staple holding it in. I was surprised that their was just one. Your model might have screws to remove instead. Then simply pull the balancer out.

As shown before. Here's the box removed.

And here's with the end of the unit pried open to see what was inside. There's a coiled spring, that seems to be lined with rubber. When working properly, the spring should uncoil and wrap the cord around it, and helping to lift the window sash.

That's all the photos I have for now, as I've not put the new boxes in yet. I did order the Anderson sash balancers at Home Depot. I brought the old, none-working box in and they were able to make a phone call, read off the number on the box, and order a new box. They do not stock these items. I also couldn't find any local Anderson dealers that stock these, as their seem to be too many variations to make it worthwhile to keep all of them on hand.

Ideally you would also bring with you any information that is etched into the corner of the window glass. As there are codes there that help identify your particular replacement unit.

I actually ordered 2, as I figured I might as well replace both while the boxes were accessible. I was surprised to find that each unit was only $14.00. I expect to pay more for everything these days. The order took about 5 business days to come in.

I picked them up today. I'll shoot them and show the install, although all you do is reverse the steps of course, so maybe nothing more is needed--Peter

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.
______________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to Caulk a Bathtub

2009-06-06T12:30:00.021-04:00

I've recaulked this bathtub twice already in the five years that we've been here. Being male, I'm blind to most dirt, grim, mold, and mildew. My wife though is not. I never notice the mold or mildew in the tub, but she does. Not only that, but it drives her absolutely nuts.

So when I asked what she wanted for her birthday, and she replied, "fix the bathroom caulking, it's gross!", I thought If I have to do this again, I'm going to research it first and do it right this time. It' a lot more work doing it correctly, but hopefully this will last... longer anyway.

Two article on the web (after a bunch of searching), really seemed to be on target, and are the basis for the steps that follow for how to caulk a bathtub. I suggest you read these articles as well.

The Natural Handyman: How to Caulk or Recaulk a Bathtub or Shower Enclosure
House Repair Talk: Bathtub Caulk: See posting by Nestor Kelebay

Credit, and thanks goes to Jerry Alonzy and Nestor Kelebay for those great articles.
_________________________________________________________________

Before

After

The corner shown in the "before" photo above was the worst area. You'll notice that the gap between the bathtub and shower tile has quarter round ceramic tiles. I searched the web for a while and couldn't find anything like this arrangement. I then concluded that they were either used for decorative detailing or to hide a large gap. Seemed to me they needed to go, as they created too many seams where caulk could fail, leak and harbor mold and mildew. Cleaning just the surface, wasn't an option, as it seemed the mildew was coming from behind the quarter round tile. Note: You can click on all photos to enlarge them.

Here's the whole tub. I never see the mildew, but she does. I believe the tub is fiberglass with an acrylic finish. The shower walls are ceramic tiles with grout between them.

Here's a close up of my really bad previous caulk job. I did the typical bad quickie job here; put down a bead of caulk, spread with my finger... done in 10 minutes for less... and it shows, and failed, twice.

Here's the better way.
Step 1: Removing the old bathtub caulk

I have ceramic quarter rounds to remove here, whereas you'll most likely only have caulk. The following photos show the mechanical means of removing the old caulk. Start with a utility knife, or razor blade scraper, at a low angle, to cut the caulk seal. The low angle is so that you don't cut or scratch the tub, or shower enclosure.

Then use a putty knife (or a drywall tool, couldn't find my putty knife) to remove the old caulk.

Women often know best. Look what was lurking beneath the surface. This also means water was leaking behind the corner of the tub too.

Here's that same area, showing mold and mildew beneath the removed tiles and caulk.

Use a screw driver to remove caulk from the gap between the shower walls and tub. Be careful not to chip/crack/damage the tiles or the tub.

Behind the quarter round ceramic pieces was filled with my old caulk job, so I had a lot to remove.

Remove as much caulk as you can with mechanical means before going to step 2.

Can you see the sweat? It's actually quite hard work.

Step 2: Removing ALL (microscopic) old Caulk

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see a thin layer of caulk on the wall that needs to come off. And here my friends is the most important point of this entire article. YOU MUST remove ALL of the silicone caulk before applying new caulk. And here's why. Silicone caulk does not adhere to itself! So if you have even so much as a microscopic layer of silicone caulk left and then apply new caulk, it wont stick for long. You should test a small spot on your bathtub and wall before applying any chemicals to be sure it does not stain or have other bad results...

Here's how to remove all of it. Lay down some folded over paper towel strips at the gap, and soak them with mineral spirits. There is also a specific product for this, from DAP, called Silicone Be Gone™, it's a gel form of mineral spirits. I could not find it nearby, so I used mineral spirits which seemed to work nicely. You have to leave it for 1-2 hours without drying, so you cover the paper towels with plastic Saran Wrap. The mineral spirits don't remove the caulk, it just makes it softer so that it's easier to remove.

Turn on your bathroom exhaust fan, if you have one, and put a fan in the window to blow the fumes outside.

Now that the caulk has softened, I'm able to remove even more. By the way, the sharper the blade, the more successful you will be with removal, so buy yourself a bunch of new blades. I had a 100 pack in the basement and used about 10 blades.

Okay and now... You're going to soak it with mineral spirits again to get off even more. It's time consuming, but it's the only way to get the new caulk around the bathtub to adhere well.

Reuse your paper towels. Soak them again with mineral spirits.

Cover with plastic and wait another 1-2 hours. Don't let it dry out.

Do more scraping with the razor blade, and also use things like a stiff plastic brush, Scotch-Brite green scouring pads (more aggressive, but might scratch fiberglass, or acrylic surfaces) or white (less aggressive, but scratch resistant) scouring pads, rub with paper towel, etc. Do everything you can to remove ALL of the silicone, without scratching the shower enclosure, tiles, or bath.

Nestor's article (link above) recommends rubbing a fine powder onto the old caulk area, and where it sticks you will know you have more caulk to remove. You then would repeat the process again for those areas that still had caulk. I tried this with some flour, but nothing stuck, meaning I didn't have any silicone left, or flour doesn't work so well for this trick. I'm not sure.

When you feel that all the caulk is gone, wipe off the area with water.

Step 3: Retarding Mildew and Mold

I didn't find any of the concentrated mold killer as recommended by Nestor. All of the products except for one, only claimed to retard mildew or mold. The one product that was a concentrate and a "killer" said for exterior use only, so I didn't get that. I'm not sure that what I got will do much, but with all mold and mildew remediation, the first step is always to fix the water leakage problem. Hopefully the new, good seal will do just that.

Give it a quick squirt into the gap. Don't over do it as you want this area to be bone dry when you recaulk.

If you've had a more serious leak in this area, you may have water damage, mold and mildew, which could require removal of shower tiles, new wallboard and so on. Fixing serious water damage, and mold and mildew issues is beyond the scope of this article.

Step 4: Clean with Denatured Alcohol

Use a paper towel, soaked with denatured alcohol to clean away any residual grim.

Step 5: Let it Dry Over Night.
You can only apply the new silicone caulk to the bathtub with it is absolutely bone dry.

Step 6: Painters Tape to Control the Application of Caulk

Get moderately wide tape, and for this job, you don't need the version that is for delicate applications, but as you will tape left over you might want it anyway. I find that for painting projects the delicate stuff is a must have. It's more expensive though, so it's up to you.

Apply the tape with a 1/4 inch of tub surface showing and a 1/4 of shower wall showing between the gap and tape. Press it down tightly so that the new bathtub caulk doesn't migrate under the tape, especially at the tile joints if you have them in your shower wall.

Here's a close up of the tape job. The corners of my shower were fine, but I needed to go up the corners a bit with new caulk.

Step 7: Caulking the Bathtub

The Natural Handyman link above has good information on the type of caulk you should use for your tub and shower wall combination. In my case my tub is fiberglass and my shower walls are tile, so I'm using 100% pure silicone caulk, which is recommended by many fiberglass tub manufacturers. You might wonder why you wouldn't use grout around the bathtub. Grout is not flexible, anytime you are sealing between disparate materials that may expand and contract, or move, for example when you fill the tub with water and then add your body weight the gap size can change, so you need flexible material here (caulk) and not grout.

These tubes are made to go into caulk guns. If you don't have a caulk gun you get a get one for less than 10 bucks, or you can buy tubes of caulk that come in squeezable tubes, which may be easy for a beginner to control anyway. One trick with applying caulk is not cutting the hole too big. You can cut the nozzle open with a utility knife, or you might have a cutter like I do (shown above) in the handle of your caulk gun. Cut the hole at an angle and make it about the size of a coat hanger wire.

Then you'll need to puncture the seal within the caulk tube with a nail or you may have a pin on your caulk gun for puncturing the seal, prior to putting the cartridge in the gun.

Squeeze an even bead of caulk into, and along the gap. Do this all in one caulking session. Some people recommend filling the tub 3/4 full with water, to simulate the weight of taking a bath, or taking a shower, which would widen the gap before caulking, to be sure you've got a seal that will accommodate usage conditions. They leave the water in the tub while the caulk is curing. I didn't do that as I don't think my tub moves much, if at all. Also if you fill the tub with water, you run the risk wetting the area your about to caulk.

With your finger carefully smooth out the caulk, so that it is an even thickness all the way around.

Now you can remove the tape, being careful not to disturb the remaining caulk.

Give the caulk a few minutes to skin over, which is also a good time to mix up a small contain of half water and half dish detergent for the next step.

Dip your fingers into the soapy solution and run your finger gently alone the caulk for the final shaping. The soap allows your finger to slide over the caulk without sticking to it. The goal here is to give the caulk a final finished shape and to be sure it is forms a nice seal at the bead edge. Do not flatten the caulk so much that it makes a feathery, thin edge. A feathery edge will be more likely to pull away with time.

And here is the final result. A good seal around the bathtub that should last for some greater time without leaks, mold or mildew. General maintenance is required to clean this area periodically to prevent mold/mildew. Notes on maintenance to come...--Peter

Resources
The Natural Handyman: How to Caulk or Recaulk a Bathtub or Shower Enclosure
House Repair Talk: Bathtub Caulk: See posting by Nestor Kelebay

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.

______________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to Build a Sandbox with Seats

2009-05-11T21:23:00.054-04:00

All wood sandbox plans

After a year with the plastic turtle sandbox, it was time for an upgrade. My son is now 3 and the time has come to make a real sandbox. There are of course many sandbox plans online, and mine follows one of those plans (Bob Vila's simple sandbox and deluxe sandbox), but here I'm going to give you my real-life step-by-step build, with ALL the gritty details often left out of those shorter how-to articles. So yes, it is long and has many steps for a sandbox, but I prefer to leave nothing out, for those that are actually about to build a sandbox.

If you don't want to make something so elaborate, you can simply nail some old boards together and fill it with sand. Done! I tend to make things much more involved... Still this is a very easy sandbox to make.

Here's the finished sandbox. This gives you a good idea of what a 6 by 8 foot sandbox (inner box dimensions only, does not include seat overhang) looks like with a 3 year old in it for size. There's a 1 year old brother getting sandbox ready soon, so knowing they don't like to share, I figured we'd need a big sandbox. Note: You can click on all photos to enlarge them.

Total sand weight is 3,000 pounds! Sand will be your biggest expense in the project, so keep that in mind when determining your sandbox size. This is a 6 x 8 foot sandbox with 2 x 12 Hem/Fir boards, not pressure treated. The sand in the box is 8" deep.

Step 1. Drink some wine and make a mock up with paint stirrers!

I enjoy upfront planning, so hey why design your box with feather light boards rather than figuring out your design with heavy boards. Maybe you only want seats on one side, or two sides? Maybe you want multiple levels, or an extra box on one end for toys?

At one point I was thinking about making truck garages on the insides, and double walls that would house things like a solar panel powered radio, and pvc pluming for a water feature! I also was trying to figure out a cover that converts to a shade! This mock-up helped me reel-in my imagination and stick with the basics... Add-ons can come later. lol.

Step 2: Find a good location, and decide on the size

For location, you'll want: to be able to see the kids from inside you house, some shade and not directly under a tree (too much falling debris and cutting down into the roots, for the box excavation, can be hard on you, and the tree). For size you'll want upwards of 4 x 4 feet. I used some old pvc pipe to play with design variations and to help me imagine the size in the back yard. I also stuck a stick in the middle to observe how much sun that area received throughout the day.

Keep in mind this plan has seats that eat into the box area a bit. If you make it too small, it could look like this, nice work, but perhaps too small for the big toys kids seem to have these days.

Here's the Plan for this Wood Sandbox

Step 3: Wood and hardware for the sandbox

My sandbox plan uses all 2x12s and one 4x4 for the corners. Basically I'm building a box (2 8ft pieces and 2 6ft pieces), and seats on top of that (2 8ft pieces to be cut down for the 6ft sides, and 2 10ft pieces to be cut down for the 8ft sides). The seats are longer than the box sides, because I'll be cutting 45s where the seats meet each other.

Here's the lumber you'll need:
BOX:
2x12s 8ft (2 needed @ $13.83 each) Have the home store cut 2 16ft pieces in half.
2x12s 6ft (2 needed @ $10.37 each) Have the home store cut 1 12ft pieces in half.
4x4 8ft (1 needed @ $8.91) You'll cut this into 4 11.25" pieces.

SEATS:
2x12s 8ft (2 needed @ $13.83 each) Have the home store cut 1 16ft piece in half
2x12s 10ft (2 needed @ ~$15.00 each) Have the home store cut 2 12ft pieces down 2 feet

(When I went they didn't have 6, 8 or 10 foot pieces in 2x12s, thus the in store cutting, and I also couldn't transport long pieces)

Total for Lumber: ~$115.00 (no sales tax in our state)

Be picky about your wood. If you tell them it's for a sandbox, they give you the first piece out of the bin. But we want a square box, so no twists, cupping, warping, etc. They'll grumble a bit, but stick to your guns, take pride in your work, even if it's "just a sandbox".

Also be ready for them to steer you towards the pressure treated wood. Tell 'em you want pine or similar (Hemlock/Fir is what I got). Most outdoor, and ground based wood structures call for pressure treated wood, but for a sandbox, your kids will be in it, and you'll be working with it, and by the time your kids have out grown it, it will still be in fine shape. No pressure treated, chemical laden wood needed. By the way, some people turn these into raised flower beds after the kids lose interest.

You'll also want to make sure you can get the lumber home. My lumber did fit in one loaded Rav4. I did though have the wood cut at home store before transport. They'll do this for free, and it will save you some cuts at home.

Here's the hardware you'll need:

6" metal straps for under seat corners (4 needed @ $1.68 each)
5" long, 3/8" diameter, galvanized hex bolts (16 needed @ $1.53 each)
3/8" galvanized hex nuts (16 needed, 1 pack of 25 @ $4.78)
3/8" galvanized washers (32 needed, 2 packs of 25 @ $4.79 each)
3" exterior deck screws (a bunch needed, 1 box @ $8.69)
1 1/4" exterior deck screws (a bunch needed, 1 box @ $8.69)
Total for hardware: ~$63.00 (no sales tax in our state)

Total for wood and hardware: $178.00 (I'll have to double check this as I swear my bill was about $150.00
So perhaps that sounds like a lot for a sandbox, but keep in mind that if you look online you'll spend a lot more for a lot less in quality and size:

Here are some examples of sandboxes online:
$30-$70: Plastic turtle (this thing is tinny and can only fit one truck and some legs)
$679.99: 8x4 foot sandbox (smaller than my 8x6 box)
$99.99: 4x4 foot sandbox (with cover $164.98)

Step 4: Building the sandbox base

Go ahead and mock it up. Here's basically what we are building, but the seats will be cut to meet at 45s and the 4x4 in the front there will be bolted in each corner.

Cut the 4x4 into 4 pieces, each 11.25" long. Remember 2x12s are not really 12" wide, they are only 11.25" wide. Yeah, that's that nominal wood size vs. actual wood size thing... "Nominal" is what they are commonly called, like a 2x4, but the "actual size" of a 2x4 is 1.5"x3.5" for example. These 4x4 pieces will be bolted into the corners.

Here's the basic idea looking down on a corner. You can see that the 5" long bolt isn't long enough to go through the boards. That's why we are going to countersink them. And yes, 2" plus 4" inches equals 6", so why is the 5" bolt just as wide... It's that nominal vs. actual dimension thing again... See how the "4x4 is only 3.5" wide, and the 2" board is really only 1.5" wide...

Okay, so we take our 11.25" section and mark it down the middle of 2 sides and then measure 3" in from the ends on one side, and 2 inches in from the ends on the other side. The holes for the bolts will be offset so the bolts don't hit each other.

Start by drilling the countersink hole with a 1 1/8" spade bit, then drill all the way through with a 1/2 bit into a junk piece of board below. This old bit (above) was dull so I ended up running out to get a new 1/2" straight "speed bit", so much faster, and didn't kill the battery on my cordless drill.

Here's what you should end up with. I just guessed on the countersink depth. Make sure you are consistent with what sides of the box get the holes at 3" vs. 2", so that the finished sandbox has bolts that aligned.

I worked in my uneven driveway, so I used a few cedar shakes I had as shims to level the boards. Also I used a carpenter's square to be sure the boards were at right angles. You can put the square on top like in the photo, or nest it against the outside of the boards to check for square.

Maybe there is a better way to hold the boards in place, but I used a small adjustable clamp to hold the boards square and level, while I used the 1/2" bit to drill through the holes in the 4x4s and through the boards.

Install the bolts (heads on the outside), nuts and washers (washers on the inside and outside). The bolts are flush with the lumber which is why we countersunk them. No need for little hands to get scratched up on protruding bolts.

Here's my finished box. I noticed that my box wasn't square. Measure from corner to corner, diagonally for both diagonals. The measurement should be the same, if it's square. If you look closely at the nearest corner, I screwed-up. That long front board, should be in front of the shorter side board. I had to redo that corner. It's really easy to make this mistake, so check twice before you drill and bolt!

Step 5: Building the sandbox seats

Okay, sorry, but I got in a hurry to finish this before the babysitter came back with the guys, and I forgot to take some photos. Basically I measured and marked the seat boards for cutting by resting them on top, and marking them where they meet the inside corners of the 4x4s.

I cut the 45 on my miter saw (I had to flip the board over to cut through all the way, as my 10" blade doesn't slide or cut through 12" boards at a 45. For all of these cuts, by the way, you could use a circular saw.

Next I took a single 3" deck screw (no pre-drilling required) and lined up the inside corner of my seat board directly over the inside corner of the 4x4, and drove a single screw to hold the seat in place. I did the same on the other end of the seat, and worked my way around all of the seats in that way.

You'll see that my boards did not line up exactly, but that can be fixed later, and I'll take the "hey it's just a sandbox" excuse at this point. Cheat it, and you can make it work by adjusting the boards.

Before adding the seats, I took apart the box and reassembled it near the final location (too heavy to move assembled). I then used blocks/shims to elevate and level the sandbox (going to stain all wood, including the bottom edge of the box, and I wanted it level before adding the seats).

As straight as the boards seemed to be, they still didn't meet well, as they all have there own slight bends and twists. So I took some 3" deck screws, and while squeezing the boards together, I screw gunned them into alignment.

Here's the result of that effort. Don't put them in too close to the corners, or you'll split the wood.

In addition to the screws above, I also put these 6" plates under the seat corners. The screw heads aren't flush with the plate, but nothing felt sharp to the touch for the kiddies. By the way, I have to thank Hans at my local Home Depot, who was nothing short of excellent. He helped me get all the right hardware needed for this project, based on a detailed plan that I brought along. He also was the one that suggested the 6" plates and the corner screws shown above.

In addition Hans suggested that I use 3" screws for attaching the seats, as he pointed out that you want 1.5" to be in the 2x12 below. I even invited Hans home with me to complete the build, and I think he would have taken me up on it, had duty not have called to help others. So my hats off to Hans (from the Netherlands) and Home Depot for a great hire. Thanks Hans!

Another thing I bounced off of Hans was what I've heard about checking the growth rings in the ends of the boards. As wood ages, it cups, and it cups inwards towards what would have been the center of the tree. As our seats age, we want them to cup downwards and not up. If they cup upwards water will sit there, promoting rot. Hans had a good way to remember which way the rings in the ends of boards should go. He said, "you never want your wood smiling at you". Thanks Hans.

Just as a time check, the above purchasing, transporting and building took me a day with a few breaks here and there.

Step 6: Completing the seats, sanding, and wood filler

Next I'm going to screw the seats down with the 3" deck screw, but wait, how will I know where to put in the screws if I can't see the board below. Well I measured in from the under side of the seat to the box board...

Then I transferred that measurement to the top side.

Knowing that 2" thick boards are really 1.5" think (that nominal vs. actual thing again), I made another mark. Measure twice, you can see I had too here. I measured and marked both ends of each seat board.

Next thing I did was snap a chalk line down the length of the seat boards between the marks.

Now that I have my center line marked right over the box boards (assuming the box boards aren't warped), I drilled in a 3" deck screw every 10" or so, seating them below the surface, to fill in with wood filler later. This thing is bomb proof! The seats are so sturdy that I can walk around all parts of the seats with no movement at all.

I then filled the cracks, screw heads, knot holes, and mistake holes with Minwax stainable exterior wood filler. I think the filler over the screw heads will stay put. I don't have high expectations for the corner gaps, but we'll see. I'm thinking they will crack in a few months, as this stuff always seems to shrink even though it says it doesn't, but perhaps it's better than nothing.

Next I used 60 grit sand paper on a 6" orbital sander to remove excess wood filler, and to round off all sharp corners and to knock down any sharp edges. I also sanded the seats at the 45s so that they met each other perfectly. Then I sanded every surface to prepare the wood for staining. Stain and paint like a freshly roughed up surface to adhere to.

And the final step before sanding... I used a leaf blower to blow off all dust and debris.

Step 7: Staining the sandbox

I had the tarp nearby as the rain was on and off, but I still managed to stain the whole thing in about 15 minutes. I used BEHR deck stain in their semi-transparent "Redwood" color. Goes on very quickly. Ideally one would get the cut ends of all lumber too, as that is where moisture enters the wood and causes rot and warping, but hey, it's just a sandbox...

Break for the day, What follows is from the next weekend. The rains came and so did the wife and kids.

Step 8: Getting the Sandbox into position

I marked off the spot for the box and then cut the sod up into squares with a spade and removed about 3 inches down.

After removing the sod, I leveled the ground with a level on top of a 2x4 to make it longer, and I used a metal rake to smooth/move dirt. I stole some gravel from my barn drainage project and added it just were the box perimeter would sit. I needed it to help level the pit, as one side near the rock wall, had compacted stone/stone dust that I couldn't dig through, so to build up the other end, I added the gravel, which I also think will help a bit with drainage and rot, as the boards will be sitting on the rock and not directly on soil.

Next comes the landscaping fabric. I overlapped two pieces by 4". You want your sand to drain and landscaping fabric will allow water to pass through into the ground, where as plastic will not. It also keeps soil, worms, weeds and other nasties from getting into your sand. This stuff comes in rolls from home stores, nurseries, and landscaping supply places.

Okay next step, you guessed it, 2 strong people are needed to move the sandbox into position. I'm going to wrap the landscape fabric up the sides about 2 inches and staple gun it in place, then trim off the excess. I've not done that yet. Then I'll backfill some dirt around the base of the box so that you don't see the fabric and staples. Many other sandbox plans online show the fabric being attached to the inside walls of the box. I don't know which way is better. I decided to go outside with it, as it seemed easier to deal with attaching and I liked the idea of the fabric barrier being sealed down around the box by the weight of the box. Perhaps someone can weigh-in as to why it's better to attach it to the inside, as I admit that seems to be the standard.

And now the part many have been waiting for. What kind of sandbox sand and how much sand! Well I spent quite a few hours researching this, as there is much debate about "what is the best sandbox sand" not only for quality, but also for safety. In the end, I rented the Home Depot rental truck and got 60 bags of their play sand, which I was able to drive right next to the sandbox, which made it easy to dump in. No wheelbarrowing needed, which would have been the case had I ordered a delivery of bulk sand from a landscaping company. That's a huge plus when you are talking about 3,000 pounds of sand and a hill down to the box from the driveway.

I was lucky enough to have Clark, a local college student, helping with a few projects this day. I cut the bags and threw them down, while he emptied them. Amazing how much sand is needed. Would you believe it takes 60, 50 pound bags? I have to say the sand was beautiful. It's just like our beach sand here in Northern New England. Silky smooth, light colored, and, well, lets just say I'm planning on getting my beach towel out with a cooler soon.

And here we have the end result. I can't keep this guy out of the sandbox. He loves it, and so do I. Make no mistake, the surround seating wasn't for him, it was for me. I didn't want a sandbox with tiny corner seats. I can lie down on the seats if I like.

My son and I spent the first evening lying in the sandbox looking up at the sky, which I had not done in some time. We saw clouds moving very quickly as a front was coming in. The sky was dramatic and fun to watch. We saw 3 planes very high up, leaving contrails, and I'm not sure how the Master Card ads go, but I have to say this story ends the same way, "time spent with your kid, when both of you are sharing a beautiful moment.... Priceless"

Ah yes, pure bliss.

I just happened to find a photo of my old sandbox. I loved it. Just goes to show that a pile of sand will entertain just as well. Here I had set up a construction site. They, we, I, am working on the foundation for some building to come. I remember staging this for a photo. Somethings never change. lol

How Much Sand do You Need for a Sandbox?
To calculate volume, it's Length x Width x Height.
Length is 8' for this box, width is 6' and I filled this box with 8" inches of sand. We have to convert the 8" to feet, because in the end we want to know the cubic feet of volume needed. So you divide 8" x 12" (one foot), which is .66 feet.

So 8' x 6' x .66' = 31.68 cubic feet (let's round that to 32 cubic feet)

Play sand comes in 50lb bags, and each bag is roughly half a cubic foot each. So 32 bags would fill the box 4", and twice that many bags (64) would fill it to 8". I only got 60 bags because the weight limit on the home depot rental truck is 3,000 lbs. 60 x 50 = 3,000.

If you plan to order sandbox sand in bulk and have it delivered, you'll need to order it in "yards" which is really cubic yards. To get cubic yards you divide your cubic feet needed by 27, and then round up to the next cubic yard.

32 cubic feet / 27 = 1.19 cubic yards

I think they only deliver in whole yards, so you'll need 2 yards (with lots left over), or settle for 1 yard. The delivery charge depends on your distance from the sand dealer.

What I paid for Sandbox Sand
The bags were $2.49 that day, so 60 x 2.49 = $150 (plus $20.00 for the truck) = $170

Total Cost of Project
$178.00 Materials
$170.00 Sand
$348.00 Total for this plan

Sandbox Sand Quality and Safety (I'm not an expert!)
It seems that the fine, dusty particles in sand can be inhaled, not ideal for young ones, and that sand dust contains silica (or sand is silica not sure), and that in California the play sand bags have to have a cancer warning on the bag. California seems to have more stringent warnings like this for many things. Our play sand bags did not have this warning, but I'm sure it's the same stuff. Studies have shown that in occupations where a worker is exposed to sand dust on a daily basis and for years (like sandblasters I suppose) that there have been links back to the sand dust for lung cancer and other lung problems. After writing this blog I found a link to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Quikqete Play Sand. Seems there are quite a few lung related issues, but these can been kept in check by 1. Keeping the sandbox outside, and 2. Keeping the sand moist and dust free prior to play.

After hours of research I couldn't find a concrete answer to the dangers of sand in a sandbox for kids. I did find forums of concerned parents, and much discussion ranging from people returning there unopened bags to Walmart and planning to start a riot with the Walmart management. I also found a few that claim the warnings are way over blown as kids aren't exposed all day long for years. And I found others that suggested parents ought not to worry so much and if they were worried about sand they ought never to go to the beach either.

I found one final article that summed it up best. Basically it said that the reason there are no definitive answers to the effects on kids is that it has and continues to be impossible to research with scientific accuracy, as there aren't any good test subjects. Worker (like sandblasters) are easier to research (They worked for X years, around X amount of dust and X amount of them have lung cancer that is from this occupational hazard). Imagine trying to study that in kids. Where would you start? My kid was in the sand box a bunch of times here and there back 10 years ago and now he/she has lung cancer... It's just too unscientific to track.

So like lots of things in life I think you have to do your own research, and then make your own decision based on your own risk assessment. For me personally I sent hours and hours in my sandbox as a kid and I'm still kicking. I even called 3 landscape supply companies and basically gave me mixed messages and seemed to be unaware of any issues. They do offer various grades of sands and you can ask them what's best for sandboxes. I suspect they won't give you a good answer. I also called a local sand quarry, they also seemed to unaware of any issues, and pointed me towards landscape supply companies to get a bulk deliver... A bit cover up? I don't think so. I think they truly don't know much about it. As sandboxes are not a big business for them, and they aren't doctors they are sand providers.

I got the stuff in the bag, vs. a bulk deliver (which would have been cheaper) because I could rent the home depot truck and drop it right into the box, and because the bags are called "Play Sand" and the bulk places couldn't accurately tell me what was good for play sand. I can tell you the sand was very dusty prior to the first rain. After that it has been more or less too damp to produce any dust at all. We are in a New England Spring so it rains a lot. Perhaps in arid climates or mid-summer it will be dusty again? I can always water it down if I wanted too.

Pea stone has been suggested as another option instead of sand. We well had a pea stone gravel patio (that we removed in favor of flagstone) and I can tell you it hurt my feet to walk on. I wouldn't want my kids playing in pea stone. Digging in that would hurt little fingers. And then I'm sure they would eventually stick the rocks up their noses! Maybe? lol

Okay, enough said. I add some links to articles later.
Berkeley Parents Network: Sand and Sandboxes--discussion about safe play sand

There's a company that makes "Safe Play Sand" but I'm not linking to them as I think they are bogus. First the price, $60 shipped per bag (I used 64, 50lb bags, that would be $3,840 for the sand). Yes, it's heavy and that's the reason the price is so high. I just think you are out of your mind if you buy this stuff. Second, and here I'll have to give a link to them. Take a look at this page. So on the left there are Google ads (fine for bloggers, and other personal sites, not okay for a commercial site a professional commercial site). And then see how they are trying to make more money with their Amazon Ads? Blinking Ads no-less. I just can't believe that a decent company that is genuinely concerned with your kids heath, would also pull out every additional web trick to make more money. Seems like a half-baked company to me. And I'm thinking their product is too. Lots of scare tactics on there too... This is all just my opinion, and they can weigh in if they like.

Can You Make Sand Castles with Home Depot Play Sand?

I never gave it much thought, but some parents are after sand that can be moldable, and apparently have gotten sand before that isn't. I've never heard of such a thing, but anyway, I just ran out back and did a test of our Home Depot sand (it's actually Quikete Play Sand). I've create all moldable forms for a complete test! LOL. Here you see a castle from a pal mold, a hand crafted castle complete with moat and tunnel, and a sand cake (someone was saying their daughters couldn't make them in their sand). Is this a sand cake? I have no idea! But there you have it. Very moldable. Of course I should have started by saying the sand was wet from a slight overnight rain. If you don't have rain, you have a hose.

More to come about covers, and cats! But that's all I can write for right now--Peter

Resources:
Bob Vila: How to Build a Simple Sandbox
Bob Vila: How to Build a Deluxe Sandbox
FamilyCorner: Building a Basic Backyard Sandbox
HandymanUSA: Building a Sandbox
Eric Stromer: Build Your Own Backyard Beach Sandbox

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.
_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

Refinishing a Pressure Treated Deck

2009-04-22T16:12:00.038-04:00

How to stain and repair a peeling pressure treated wood deck.

We've lived here for 5 years now, and have always talked about fixing up the deck and we finally got to it (one afternoon, and two Saturdays). After researching on the web for ways to remove deck stain, and paint, I was a bit perplexed because I wasn't sure exactly what was on our old deck, which makes a difference as to how you should proceed, for both removal and applying new deck stain or new deck paint. (Sorry I seem to have messed up the layout of this article.)

This close up of our pressure treated pine wood deck, shows cracks, peeling and some wood rot. My first idea was to replace the boards. Cost would have been around $350 or so. That plan was vetoed by the budget committee. My second plan was to flip the boards over, as the under sides looked much better and the boards are 2 x 6s and only the top surfaces had issues. The deck was still very sturdy structurally, minus 2 rotting boards. In the end, the budget committee/planning board told me I had to "work quickly" with what was there. So the decision was made to fix what was there, without turning this into a lengthy project. Note: click on photos to enlarge them.

Here's a quick after shot, for a before and after comparison.

Here's a before shot of the deck.

This is a before shot looking down one side of the deck.

This is a before shot of the other side.

You can see that it was in need of TLC.

Nowadays decks are all stained, and the stain can be opaque, giving the appearance of paint. I recommend that you take a piece of your deck (a stair riser board perhaps, as I did, or a chip of your current finish) down to your local paint shop. They'll give it the look, feel, and scratch test, and might even throw a few chemicals at it to see how it reacts to identify what's currently there to determine your best next steps.

Here's a railing section where the pressure treated wood has "cupping" and popped up deck screws. Exposed to years of wetting and drying the boards swell and then shrink, pushing up screws and nails.

Here's a similar example at the corner of the railings. The cracks in the posts are typical of how pressure treated wood dries and ages. Although it doesn't look so nice, it doesn't affect the structural integrity of the deck. If you are thinking of using wood putty to fill the cracks don't. At least that what I read on the web. It seems that when the wood expands and contracts with the outside temperature, the putty will come out, or something else not so good.

Not knowing if I had paint on here or stain, I took a guess and tried stain stripper (this was before I eventually took a sample to the local paint shop). The directions have you mop it on thick and let it sit, while making sure it doesn't dry out. "Lifting" of the stain is supposed to begin after 5 to 45 minutes. I let it go for about 35 minutes, misting it every so often with the a hose. You'll need a paint tray, a stiff brush, rubber gloves, and goggles to do the job.

This a shot of the deck with the stain stripper on it. Great time to take a breather as it does it's thing.

Here's a close up of the stain remover in action. Well nothing much happened to the stain, even while working it with a stiff brush, but the deck did get a good cleaning up of mildew and algae. With not much in way of results, I began to wonder if I had paint on there instead of stain. Perhaps some bits came up, but not much for sure.

I then gave the deck a good rinse with the garden hose to remove the stripper, and started in with a 2,600 max psi pressure washer. This yielded much better results than the stripper. Anything loose (and then some) came up. I couldn't have easily removed all of the stain/paint, so I only removed what wanted to come up and then a bit more. A pressure washer can damage the wood if used too close or if you use too much pressure on soft woods like this pressure treated pine, but I didn't care much, as the surface of the boards couldn't be much worse. Above shows the results after stripping, pressure washing and drying.

A Note About Pressure Washers in The Wrong Hands
Many professional pressure washing services state on their websites that much damage can be done by pressure washing at too high a pressure. They state that they use powerful cleaners and strippers that can only be purchased through dealers that work directly with them. They state that the chemicals that home owners can purchase, at home centers, can't do the job well, and thus home owners resort to using too much pressure, which can potentially cause serious damage to their wood. Because the professionals use these powerful cleaners, they state that they only use very low pressure (in the hundreds of psi, versus thousands as I have used). I believe the above statements to be true, so if you are not comfortable with taking the risk of ruining your deck, have a professional do the work. I on the other hand only need this deck to get through a few more years as we have plans to remodel it in the future. Also, I'm a die-hard do-it-yourselfer, and I make mistakes sometimes and learn from them. I'm willing to take chances and sometimes I pay the price. So you have been warned, and professionals will be happy that I've added this disclaimer. Onwards...

You can rent a decent pressure washer at your home store, but I decided to buy a $300 model and then after using it for a few weeks, for pressure washing everything on my property, I'm planning on selling it on Craigslist. Much cheaper than renting for a few days, if I get a decent price for it. If not, hey I'm already falling in love with it... and might just have to keep it!

By the way, the pressure washing will create a mess of flying debris about 10 feet out from your deck, so you might want to throw down some drop cloths, or plastic to protect your patio or whatever. Keep in mind if you put plastic over your plants you could bake them in hot sun.

After stripping, pressure washing and drying (4 days of sunny warm weather drying), we went to town banging down every nail on the deck. Some had popped up quite a bit due to the shrinking and swelling of the wood in our variable Northern climate, and others just needed one good whack to seat them below the surface in preparation for our next step... sanding.

The great thing about doing these projects yourself is that sometimes you can justify a new tool purchase! I had a 5 inch orbital sander, but it wasn't up to this larger job. What I wanted to buy was a Makita 7" orbital sander, that the professional painters rave about online, but it has been discontinued and I couldn't find it quickly, so the best I could do was a 6" Rigid orbital sander with higher amps than the smaller sanders. This did the job perfectly. I ideally wanted 40 grit paper, but the local home store only had 60 grit (finer than 40). 40 would have done the job quicker, but the 60 was fine too. We didn't use anything finer after the 60 grit, and it all looked great. Some might want to do a resand with 100 or so.

We sanded to remove more of the stain/paint, but also to sand down some of the cupped boards and to smooth down the rough board surfaces (cracks from over time, and roughness caused by high power pressure washing removing softer grains of the wood). I also used my smaller 5" orbital sander to round the railings around the deck and on the stair rails. This really helped make the wood look in much better shape.

The railings shown earlier, that were lifting off the posts... I fastened them down with stainless steel screws. These did a nice job of sucking the railings back in place. Stainless wood screws are great for decks and pressure treated wood, but they are expensive, and even the square head type I used are easy to strip if you drive them too quickly or if you don't apply enough steady downward pressure on your screw gun. After that I used my smaller 5" orbital sander to make smoother transitions from one deck railing to another.

Here's another example of using the sander to correct warped, misaligned boards. I also rounded any other sharp deck edges where hands, feet and other body parts might prefer a softer contact.

Not too exciting, but here's what the boards looked like after stripping, power washing, sanding and then finally blowing the whole deck clean with a leaf blower. This removes all loose debris, and also some stain/paint flaps that were still holding on by a thread.

As mentioned before, I didn't know exactly what we had on the deck already (stain or paint), so I took a stair riser board off the deck steps, down to the local paint shop experts. Even they (2 workers and a few professional painters) had a hard time identifying what was on my boards. In the end it was determined that it was stain, but that it must have been applied when the pressure treated wood was still wet, as the stain was peeling off. Anyway, they recommend Sikkens opaque stain for our job.

Sure enough, this stuff was great. I took what they gave me without research other brands, and I think it was a great choice. The first coat is recommended a primer and then Sikkens recommends a second coat. Well we have kids, pets, jobs, so we are one coat, one afternoon stainers. So one coat it was, and wow, what great coverage, and it did a great job of filling and smoothing much of the smaller surface cracks in the deck boards. I mopped it on fairly thickly in order to get it down into the cracks, and then smoothed out the surface.

The color department (shown wearing overalls above) wisely decided to go with a color similar to what we had previously in order to get away with one coat, and if we missed a spot, nobody would be the wiser. I never really liked the gray, but hey, you have to pick your battles, so gray it was, again...

Here's a close up of the Sikkens stain on the deck in their "satin" finish. Once I saw the outcome I was so glad that "the planning committee" made me stick with the existing boards. The deck is smooth, splitter free, and looks great! Time will tell how it holds up under heavy traffic, and our harsh weather. I'll have to update this later this summer, after use. Click on this or any photo for a closer view.

Even the railings looked and felt great to the touch with the rounding I did with the sander and with the new thick stain on.

Here's what was a misfitting railing joint, now looking much better.

As mentioned earlier I had 2 rotten boards. This was one of them. Ideally I would have replaced them before the other work, but long story short, I did them after. First I tried using a hammer from underneath to pop them up (that's why you see wood debris kicked out of the rotten section. That didn't work so well, as the boards were tucked under the siding at the house, and under the railings on the other end. Out comes the saw! I love to have the right tool at the right time.

I cut the board in the middle and pried it up. You can see the 2 halves on the railing above. The photo that is 5 photos up, has the new board in place (look for the nicer piece right in the middle). I used stainless steel screws to put it in place after sanding and staining it in the workshop. I was lucky and had a few pieces of 2 x 6 pressure treated pine that had been drying out for about 2 years. So they were ready for stain and installation right away.

And here now is the finished result. We are all happy with it, including our young kids who will no longer be getting splinters, and it's no longer the deck we have to be embarassed about when guests are over. It's done and ready for summertime.

I guess one main point of this article is that if you think your deck boards are shot, they might not be. If they are structurally sounds (no rot, stable and secure) then they may just need a facelift.

From a few feet out, you might even think we have Trex! But when you get closer you know it's the real thing, not some cheesy plastic imitation. There is nothing like real wood to me, even if it does requires TLC from time to time.

Both cat and dog agree the new deck is better!

Resources
To come soon.

Products, Materials and Tools I Used (in progress)
Drop Cloth
Water Hose
BEHR Premium Stain & Finish Stripper No. 64
For stripping: Googles, Rubber gloves, Stiff brush with handle, Paint tray
Husky 2600 PSI, Gas Pressure Washer
Hammer
Grip Rite Stainless Steel Wood Screws
DeWalt 1/2 In. Compact 18 V Compact Drill
RIDGID 6 In.VS Dual Orbit-random Sander
DeWalt 5 In. Heavy Duty Random Orbit Sander
60 grit sandpaper for sanders
Leaf blower - Toro Electric Ultra Blower
Sikkens Rubbol Solid DEK
Brushes, Paint trays
Beer, and inspirational music

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to repair a sliding screen door

2009-04-03T19:47:00.022-04:00

This article will show you how to replace the screen in a sliding screen door.

When the dog, kids, and others, try to walk through the screen door, here's what happens.

I'm not sure the cost to replace the whole door, as ours not only needed a new screen, but it had a bent frame as well from people going through it. Hey it happens to the best of us. Sure is startling too!

Step 1: Remove the sliding screen door

Most screen doors are removed by loosening the screws that adjust the height of the rollers on the bottom edge of the sliding screen door. Your adjustment screw might be in another close by location. Basically you loosen the screws (2 rollers on the bottom), and then you should be able to grab the screen door by the sides and lift up and then lift the bottom off of the track the bottom rollers are on. You may have to loosen the top rollers too.

Step 2: Place the screen door on a flat surface work surface and remove the handle.

Unscrew the 2 screws holding the sides of the handle together.

Push down on the inside part of the handle with the slider tab. The slider tab should pop off.

Remove the metal latch by sliding it out of the frame.

Step 3: Removing the screen and screen spline from the frame channel

Holding the screen in place is what's called a "spline". It's stuck down in a channel in the door frame and holds the screen in place. Use a screwdriver, awl, or nail to work a free end of the spline out of the spline channel.

Once you get an end free, go around the door frame pulling up the old spline. You can reuse the spline with your new screen if it's in good condition, but spline is cheap so it might be better to get new spline.

Step 4: Measure for your replacement sliding door screen

Measure both height and wide from the outer edges of the metal door frame. You'll need to buy a roll of replacement screen that is at least that size.

Step 5: Buy the replacement screen, new spline and other materials

Here's what you'll need from left to right: Paper towel (to clean the spline channel), Rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol (to clean the spline channel), a roll of replacement screen door screen, new spline (match your size or if your not sure by two sizes, and return the wrong one), a splining tool, an utility knife or razor blades, a screwdriver, scissors, a measuring tape, and duct tape or other tough tape.

The replacement screen and spline can be found at your hardware store, or home improvement store. Bring your screen measurements, and your old spline. On the spline package (upper right) they might have a "actual size" graphic that you can match your old spline to. If you are going to install a thicker screen, as I am (see below), you will have to use a spline that is one size smaller than your original thickness.

On right is a sample of the original screen. I've purchased a "pet proof" new screen, that as you can see is much thicker than the original. The package says it's 7 times stronger than typical screen. We have a dog and young kids, so I thought this might be a good replacement screen. It is much tougher, but the down-side is that it's also quite a bit darker and more noticeable. Also, If someone were to walk through the screen door, I'm thinking that rather than the screen ripping, the sliding door frame, or rollers will most likely take the brunt of the force. We'll see.

Step 6: Fix other issues with the sliding screen door

Now is a good time to replace or repair the screen door rollers. Mine were in fairly good shape, but this one was a bit rusted up, so I saturated it in a good dosing of WD-40 to loosen up the rust. You can also remove the rollers (each roller is different in it's removal) to really clean them up. Home improvement stores carry some of the major door name rollers, but they didn't have my version, otherwise I would have replaced this one. If you need to replace your rollers or the door latch for patio doors or sliding screen doors, Prime-Line seems to have many replacement parts.

A few healthy squirts and this roller was back in action. If all you want to do is lubricate the rollers and you don't need to remove rust, then it is recommended to use a silicon spray lub. rather than WD-40 as it doesn't attract and hold dust and dirt, which rollers done like. I didn't have any on hand, so I used WD-40 only (not as good).

Most likely if your screen door has been walked into a few time, it will also have some frame damage, like I had around the latch. With a flat screwdriver and a pair of pliers, I was able to straighten out most of the damage.

Step 7: Cleaning the spline channel and laying out the new screen.

You'll need a flat work surface, like this sheet of plywood on sawhorses, or you can work on floor area.

Clean out the channel where the spline goes, with denatured alcohol, or use rubbing alcohol (that's all I had, and I think it's a similar substitute to denatured alcohol).

Roll out the new screen and cut it to about the outer size of the sliding door frame. Be careful not to cut too much off. When you put the spline back in channel it will suck in quite a bit of the screen. I got close to cutting too much off (shown above).

A few articles I read before doing this job suggested using clamps to keep the screen in place, but the roll of replacement screen said to use "sturdy tape". I used duct tape dotted around the perimeter. I wasn't sure how tight I should have it, and perhaps it will differ for your screen as I was using a very tough screen material, but I found it best to just lay it and tape it, with little to no tension on it at this point. The screen will get much tighter when you put the spline back in the channel. I also thought the material would be difficult to work with to avoid uneven tension, pulls, sags, ect., but I found it to be very forgiving and it just seemed to go well into place all the way around the first time.

Step 8: Rolling in the new spline, with a spline tool

Here's a close up of the end you'll use, it has a concave channel on the white roller, that you'll use to roll in the spline. This is a must have tool for the job, and it cost under $3 at the hardware.

I'm rolling in the new spline here. I'm also removing the tape before I get to it to relieve uneven tension right at the tape. My other hand was shooting the photo here, but with your other hand you can hold the edge of the screen and ensure a nice even fit. You'll find you'll have to do a few runs around the entire channel to really snug in the spine to the channel.

When you gone all the way around, you can cut the remaining spline of with a utility knife.

It's difficult to push the corners in with the splining tool. I gentle convinced the spline down in these areas with a flat head screwdriver.

The screen is in place, nice and tight and everything looks great! But wait, I've made the mistake that I'm sure most rookies (like me) do. I put so much tension on the screen, that I've actually bowed the side of the sliding screen door frame in. It's hard to see in the photo, but I've put the measuring tape next to it, to show you have bow it got. It's easy to make this mistake, as quite a bit of screen material goes into the channel when you put in the spline, which really tightens up the screen. It's easy enough to fix though. I removed the spine from that side and a bit on the top and bottom, released the tension, and rolled it in again. This time the frame didn't have tension on it, and the screen was also nice and snug.

Step 9: Trimming off the extra screen

I tried to trim the extra off with a utility knife, without much luck with this thick screen I was using, but found it much easier to use a new razor blade. But be very careful, see my mistake below!

Just as I was rounding the last corner, and was ready to be done with this project, I went too fast and cut into a bit of the screen with the razor blade!!! Take your time... A little bit of super glue and everything was patched.

Step 10: Reinstall the sliding screen door latch.

But the metal slider back in, then but the two sides back in place, then you'll notice with the tap piece you have to move the metal slider around a bit so that the tap can slide into a channel. Hard to explain, but you'll get it.

Replace the latch screws once it's all assembled and your are done!

Step 11: Installing the sliding screen door back into place
I couldn't shoot this and do it at the same time, but it goes back in just like you took it out. Put the top roller back onto their track, press up and you might need a flat head screwdriver to push the bottom wheels up and onto their bottom track. The last step is to adjust the roller adjustment screws until the door glides well in it's track and is firmly in place as well. If you want to lubricate the rollers and track, use a silicon spray, as it doesn't attract and hold dust and dirt. I used WD-40 (not recommended), as it was all I had.

Also now is a good time to clean up the tracks for the sliding screen and the sliding door. Again, denatured alcohol, or rubbing alcohol is a good choice for this. Paraffin wax can be used on the sliding door track as well as a good lubricant.

Back in place, and ready for another summer of abuse!

Resources
Popular Mechanics: Repairing A Screen Door Is Easier Than You Think
Prime-Line: Removing Sliding Screen Door Rollers
Prime-Line: Replacement rollers and latches for patio doors and screen doors

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
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My Other Articles

Replacing Broken Window Glass

2009-02-22T07:27:00.025-05:00

This article will show you how to replace broken window glass in a old wood single pane window. It does not cover metal or vinyl framed windows or double pane windows.

Step 1: Removing the Broken Glass
You can either remove the glass with the window sash in place, or remove the sash then removed the broken glass. Wear heavy gloves and use crisscross duct tape over the broken pane. Remove some of the old putty holding the glass in with a screwdriver, chisel, or putty knife. Remove the broken glass. If it needs to be broken up more, cover with an old towel, and break with a few taps of a hammer. Wrap the broken glass in cardboard, or newspaper and duct tape closed. This is to prevent cuts to your garbage collectors, or anyone else reaching in the garbage. Vacuum up small shards with a shop vac.

Here's one of my attic windows that had a broken pane. I removed the glass before bringing it to the workshop, but don't have photos of that. (Note: You can click on photos to enlarge them.)

Step 2: Work Surface, Tools, and Materials

I've got a good level spot to work here on my workbench, but you could also saw horses, or saw horses with plywood on top, and clamps to secure the frame.

Here are the tools and materials you will need:
1. New glass (cost for my piece: $12.00)
2. Glazier's points (cost for small box: $1.00)
3. Needle nose pliers
4. Screwdriver
5. Putty knife
6. Sanding block
7. Exterior grade caulk, or window putty (cost: $3.00–$4.00)
8. Caulk gun (cost: $4.5o and up), or just use a small tube of caulk (no gun needed)
9. Optional: heat gun, wire brush (not shown)

Step 3: Buying the Replacement Glass
You can get new glass by Googling "Glass and your Town, State", or go to a Home Improvement store, both will cut the glass for you. Measure the width and height of the replacement glass needed, and subtract 1/8" from both dimensions. This allows you to install the new glass without cracking it, and allows for glass expansion when hot. I took my whole window sash to my local glass shop and let them measure and cut the glass for me. If your not up for this project, you can leave the sash with them, or of course you can always call a glass repair shop to make a house call for the whole project. For large pieces of glass you may want to bring a blanket to wrap it in during transport, and you may need a helper.

Step 4: Removing the Glazier's Points

Look closely at the sash and you will see metal points that were holding the old glass in. These are called "glazier's points". Usually there are a few per side, and if you don't take them out before you put in your new glass, you will crack the new glass.

To remove the glazier's points, use needle nose pliers and pull straight out. You can either keep these to reuse, or use new and easier to install points (shown below).

Step 5: Preparing the Sash for New Glass

Next, use a putty knife, screwdriver, and utility knife to remove the old window glazing/putty. You want to remove as much of it as possible so that your new glass will fit without breaking. Try to make the surface (shown in photo above) smooth, as the glass needs to be well seated on that surface. You can use a heat gun to loosen up stubborn glazing, but be careful not to scorch the wood, or start a fire!

You can also use a wire brush or a sanding bock (shown above) to help remove old window glazing.

Step 6: Seating the Glass
Blow the dust and debris from the sash, and put down a thin layer of caulk on the surface the new glass will rest on (this step not shown). Gently insert the new glass. Do not let it drop into the sash.

Step 7: Installing Replacement Glazier's Points

You can reuse your old points, or for about a buck you can get a small box of new glazier's points that have "ears" that you can push on with a putty knife or screwdriver. The trick to inserting these without cracking the glass is to angle the points up slightly while pushing down slightly on the point with the screwdriver. If you push straight in or slightly down, you could hit wood fiber that might steer the point downwards, and thus crack the glass.

To get the points all the way in, it helps to push against a back stop like I have on my workbench, and it helps to wiggle the points left and right as you ease them into the sash. Place the points 4" from all corners and then a minimum of 8" apart on all sides.

You want the points to be inserted all the way, so they can be fully concealed with caulk. They should also make contact with the glass to hold it well in place. Gentle contact with the glass is all you need. Later, the caulk will hold the glass firmly in place.

Step 8: Applying a Bead of Window Caulk

Next apply a bead of caulk to the sash and window junction. It's better to use a bit too much caulk than too little. You'll remove the excess caulk later. Use any exterior grade window caulk. I'm using a silicone/acrylic mix which is cheaper than 100% silicone, but you could use 100% silicone too. Many "how to replace broken window glass" articles on the web use glazing compound/putty instead of caulk, but my expert glass guy at my local glass shop said, "those are the days of the past, we use caulk now".

If this is your first time using caulk, you'll also need a caulk gun. They range in price from $4.00 and up. You get what you pay for. I'd recommend getting a slightly higher grade for the do-it-yourselfer. Put the tube in the caulk gun and then cut the nozzle off with a utility knife at about 45 degrees. Then stick a long nail or wire down the nozzle opening to break the seal inside the tube.

Step 9: Smoothing out the Caulk

Use a putty knife, on an angle like this, from one corner to then next, in one smooth stroke. If the angle is too much, you'll hit and expose the glazier's points, if the angle is too little you'll see the caulk from the other side of the window.

Step 10: Removing Excess Caulk from the Sash and New Window Glass

Here's the finished window flipped over to show you how you will see the caulk on the other side (the inside view when installed) of the sash. When viewed straight on rather than at an angle (as shown in the photo above), you won't see the caulk.

Immediately after you spread out the caulk, you can use your putty knife to remove any excess caulk that got on the sash surface. Then let the caulk set over night, or until firm before removing the excess caulk from the glass.

I've waited for the caulk to set over night, and I'm now using a razor blade to remove the excess caulk from the glass. If you don't let it harden before you scape it off, you'll create a mess of your neatly caulked joint.

Step 11: Finishing Touches

You can paint the caulk and/or window if you like, using the caulk manufacturer's recommended wait time before painting. For this window I left it as is, as it's an old attic window which I plan on replacing in the new future. Clean off the new window pane with Windex and paper towel. Replace your window sash in the window frame and you are done!

Tips and Replacement Glass from
Interstate Glass & Mirror

Resources
RonHazelton.com: How to Replace Broken Window Glass
AceHardware.com: Replacing Broken Window Glass
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My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

Energy Efficient Pet Door

2009-02-16T17:42:00.027-05:00

After trying to build my own energy efficient, weatherized pet door (see my article here on how to build a pet door), I got fairly far along on a prototype, but then got a chance to try an energy efficient pet door from Freedom Pet Pass. By the way, I have no affiliation with this company and no reason for bias either way on my thoughts about this door.

Here it is, The Freedom Pet Pass Door! Note: click on photos to see them larger.

In fact, Brian from Freedom Pet Pass, made a comment at the bottom of my article titled "How to Build a Pet Door", and mentioned that he had approached the leaky pet door problem about 5 years ago, which lead to the development of the Freedom Pet Pass Dog Door. We then had a chat on the phone and shared our interest in energy efficiency, and the need for high quality, draft free, pet doors.

Pet doors are often overlooked in air-sealing a house, but yet they can be a major contributor to air leaking into your house. If you live in cold climate, your going to want to insulate the area where your foundation meets your first floor. I have an article about that here, along with an explanation of "the stack effect" and how leaks lower on a house are subject to inward, cold air pressure, resulting from hot air leaving the top areas of your house.

I insulated my basement rim joists, but there it was, staring me in the face, a old leaky cat door. That old door was so leaky it was like having a permanent hole to the outside, leaking all day long. That's how I got where I am now with my interest in energy efficient, air sealed, draft proof, insulated cat/pet doors.

What follows is a complete review, and my installation steps (your steps will vary) of the Freedom Pass Pet Door, in one of my basement windows (two panes down from my home made prototype).

If you missed my "How to Build a Pet Door" article, this basically is where I stopped in construction. It's a great prototype, but... my design called for one in-door and one out-door. While cheap, workable, and improvable, I've not had time yet to build the out-door yet! Freedom Pass Pet Door to the rescue!

Freedom Pass Pet Door

This is the side that faces out to the elements. The first thing you notice is the high degree of craftsmanship. I've been to all the local big-box pet stores and home depot to see their offerings, and those trips are what inspired me to make my own cat door. What's out there is so crummy either in construction, or it's ability to weather seal, that you wonder if the manufacturer gave it much thought at all.

Times are a changing, and with heating prices fluxuating, and the renewed interest in "Green" living, manufacturers had better raise to current consumer demands. This door on the other hand, clearly had two objectives in mind, bullet-proof construction, with real draft stopping ability.

Here's the other side, that I realize I shot upside down, but it gives you a good look at the sturdy construction of the flap screw anchors. The hole there is used in their locking version, and does not compromise air-sealing in the non-locking version.

Here's a close up of the top. Again, it's clear this thing is tough, and designed with great attention to detail.

Here's a shot of the bottom featuring a rugged hard plastic "chew guard" over the bottom of the exterior flap. The design and engineering fits in the family of high end, tight design, the kind of design that makes you think of BMWs, or other precision engineering. This door has it's roots in function rather than form, but when function is done well, beautiful form will follow.

And here's the guts of the operation, multiple air sealing magnetic strips. The gap between the lower left magnets is intentional, as it is a weep hole to let moisture out between flaps.

And here is the magnet system seen from the other side. You can see there is a complete seal all the way around, which is something I don't think I saw on other products. That concept was also part of my initial design for my home made door, but I wasn't quite able to figure out magnets that would attract one another, and "other issues".

My Installation of the Freedom Pass Pet Door (your installation will vary depending on whether you are installing a door mounted version, a wall mounted version, etc.)

Here I've removed the window pane, and have started to chip away at the very stubborn old window glazing.

Using a screwdriver, a putty knife, a utility knife and sandpaper, I was able to remove most of the glazing.

I've always have trouble with measuring tapes, so instead, I taped together two paint stirrers and marked the width needed at the bottom and top of the pane. The cat door frame was too wide for my needs, but the height was perfect.

My window frames are old and the top width needed to be about 1/8" skinnier than at the bottom.

I'm transferring my measurements onto the cat door frame.

Using a t-square, I'm marking the sides to saw off.

And now it's operation time, all clamped and ready to cut.

The frame material is some sort of plastic composite and is easily cut with a jigsaw. That's another nice feature about this door, you can easily trim it to fit your needs.

Here I'm applying a bead of exterior grade window and door caulk to the exterior of the window frame.

I've put the pet door out the frame and then drawn it tight up against the outside of the window frame. The caulk squeezed nicely into all voids, and with my finger, to smooth it out, I was able to make a neat airtight bead. If I had a dog I would do more to hold the door in place, but I believe the caulk will be all I need for our gentle cat. I've not caulked the outside yet, but I will.

And now the royal subject has arrived. She has studied the new developments and is questioning why I keep messing with her cat portals.

And after I show her how it works, whammo, she's in! And... I don't think she's figured this out yet, but this door goes out too! What an improvement over my design! haha

For those that are wondering, the basement window is not a huge leap to the ground. The basement stairs make the distance short, and there's a hard to see, but wide ledge, just below the window. Also, the door to the basement stairs has a simple interior grade cat door.

More to come on this pet door's energy efficiency and it's draft stopping abilities. Stay tuned!

Note
The flap shown here is clear and is in development now, but not currently on the market. The available flap material is an abrasive resistant, highly flexible, thermal canvas coated, marine grade material, designed for extreme weather.

Resources
Freedom Pet Pass: Energy Efficient Pet Doors
______________________________________________________________

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to Clean Refrigerator Coils

2009-02-16T09:23:00.022-05:00

If you have a coils under your refrigerator, or on the back, it's a good idea to clean them periodically. To do this, you can use a long skinny attachment on your vacuum, and if you have one, use a refrigerator coil cleaning brush. The brush is really the only good way to get back between the coils. The vacuum alone doesn't get far enough back.

My 1997 Kenmore refrigerator manual, under "Energy Saving Ideas" says, " Periodic cleaning of the condenser will help the refrigerator run more efficiently."

And it Says, "Condenser Coils (Fan-cooled models only)
No need to clean unless operating refrigerator under particularly dusty or greasy conditions, or if there is significant pet traffic in your home"

And it Says "Condenser Coils (Air-cooled models only)
Use the dusting tool attachment on your vacuum to remove dust build-up on the condenser coils (black tubes and wires) attached to the back of air-cooled refrigerators only."

I actually cleaned the coils with a vacuum only, a few months back, but now that I have the official refrigerator cleaning brush, I thought I'd clean the coils again and ad a quick write-up.

_________________________________________________________________

How to Clean Refrigerator Coils

Step 1: Turn off the power to the fridge by unplugging it or turning off the circuit breaker to it, if it is hardwired. Then remove the "toe grille".

I have a "toe grille" on the bottom of my fridge. To remove it, mine just pulls off. I think most like this do.

Here are the coils before cleaning. The coils dissipate heat to cool your refrigerator. The cleaner they are, the easier it is for them to do their job.

Here's my new refrigerator coil cleaning brush. I bought it from AM Conservation Group, online for $5.99. They claim that refrigerators account for up to 8% of your electric bill and that regular cleaning of dusty refrigerator coils can improve refrigerator efficiency up to 30%. I don't know that I believe that, but it can't hurt to try it.

Step 2: Brush and Vacuum

It's a dusty job, so use a vacuum along side of the cleaning brush to keep the dust down. It's also useful for cleaning the brush off as you go.

Step 3: Replace the Toe Grille (clean it first) then Restore Power to the Fridge. Done!
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Other Tips for Refrigerator Energy Efficiency:
1. Check to see if it makes sense to replace your older, less efficient refrigerator, with a newer energy efficient one. Visit this link to calculate your current energy usage and what a new one would use.
2. Place the ridge in an area of the room away from direct sunlight, heating ducts, ranges, ovens, dishwashers and other heat producing appliances. If you can't do that, install an added layer of rigid foam insulation between the two appliances.
3. Level the fridge so the door closes tightly
4. Test the seal by running a piece of paper around the seal, should hold the paper in place
5. Use the manufacturers recommended temperatures
6. Do not overcrowd the refrigerator or block the cold air vents inside
7. Cover foods and wipe containers dry before storing to cuts down on moisture build-up
8. Remove as many items as needed at one time, and close the door as soon as possible.
9. Keep the freezer full. Fill plastic bottles with water if needed.

Resources
Energy Star: Information on Energy Efficient Refrigerators and Freezers
Energy Star: Refrigerator Energy Usage Calculator
Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings: Book on Amazon
The Family Handyman: Keep Your Refrigerator Humming: Refrigerator Maintenance

Products
AM Conservation Group: Refrigerator Coil Cleaning Brush
AceHardware.com: Refrigerator Coil Brush

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to Build a Stone Patio

2009-02-03T05:41:00.058-05:00

Installing Stone Patio
With so many articles out there on "How to Build a Stone Patio" it will be a wonder if you find this article. But I hope you do, because from my pre-project research for "flagstone patio design", "flag stone patio designs", "landscape patio design", and other searches, I don't think I fully understood the scope of this project. Hopefully this article will help you understand the process of building a stone patio more clearly than what I found from the basic tutorials on the web.

Here is a "close to final" after photo of our stone patio build. The stone is natural, irregular bluestone, which is considered a type of flagstone, that has been "tumbled" with water so that the edges are rounded and have a worn look, much nicer on the feet, than catching a sharp edge. Keep in mind that irregular natural stone will have more tendency to catch your patio chair feet when moving around in your chair, and will be less forgiving for high heels, than using a stone that is cut, smooth, shapes. (Click photos to enlarge them)

Here is the before photo. We had a pea stone pit.

Actually, I always said, "if I ever write an article about how to build a patio, I'm going to start by asking the reader why the hell they want to build a patio themselves?" And then I was going to say, "okay, you want to build a patio, okay, you are an idiot!".

BUT... Now that it's been a few seasons since the building work is behind me, I love the patio. I'm proud of it, and happy that I did the work myself. So if you are a glutton for punishment and you don't mind busting your butt for 10 days, then go for it! You'll be very happen when your done!

Step 1. Measure and Create a Plan for your Patio Design

From your flagstone patio design plan, you will be able to determine the square footage of your patio, and thus will be able to calculate the amount of materials you will need (see foundation diagram below to calculate patio depth). I did this for my patio on the computer using drawing programs, but graph paper will work nicely too. If you want to get fancy you can also try Google Sketchup, which allows you to draw in 3D and offers a free download version for PC and Mac.

Note: During your planning phase, it's very important to have local utility companies check to see that there aren't underground power lines, communication cables, gas lines, and water lines in the area you plan to excavate. Google "before you dig and your state" to see what programs you can call for locating utilities in your area. If you don't, you risk: Death, injury to you or others, disruption of services, and other bad things.

Step 2. How to Determine Sub-slab Patio Foundation Depth and Materials for Your Region
Every book you read, internet article, friend, etc. will tell you something different. Run down to your local landscaping, stone, masonry dealer and ask them if they install patios. If they do, ask them what they recommend for stone patio sub-slab foundation depths and materials. There's no set answer to this, as every region has it's own climate and thus it's own physical abuse the patio must endure. Here in Northern New England it was recommended that I build a 12" gravel foundation (this is a aggregate mix of crushed rock that includes, varied sizes and, "fines", fine rock dust and particles. If you didn't have this mix of material it would not be compatible), with 1.5" of sand on top, with the patio stones on top of that, and then to fill the gaps between stones with stone dust. We have serious winter frost heaving issues here, that's why the foundation is so deep.

Dry Set Flagstone Patio Base Cross Section Diagram

My patio rendering diagram shows a cross section of all materials used in a "dry laid", or "dry set", bluestone patio base (meaning the sub-slab is not concrete or mortar). Other flag stone patio designs are set on concrete slabs, but are not within the scope of this article.

Step 3: How to Estimate Costs for your Stone Patio Design
Now that you've asked the local experts about the sub-slab foundation depth and materials, and you know the square footage of your plan, then you can calculate the materials price list for your patio. To calculate materials: (patio length ft). x (patio width ft.) x (depth of material layer ft.) = cubic feet of that material needed. Stone dealers work in "cubic yards" and want you to order that way. To calculate cubic yards: (cubic feet of material needed) / (27) and then round up to the next cubic yard.

Example
For a 20 feet long by 20 feet wide patio with a 6 inch deep layer of gravel: (20' x 20' x .5' = 200 cubic feet. 200 / 27 = 7.4 cubic yards. Then round up to 8 cubic yards of gravel.

Alternatively you can have your stone dealer do the math from your measurements. Remember too when you order your materials they will measure and load them on their truck uncompacted. So order more, as you will be compacting your materials. I couldn't find any good math on calculating this in, but it seemed to be true in my case, as I ran short on all materials. Ask your stone dealer about this. They may have a good answer.

Add to that price, landscaping fabric, which should go between the sub soil and your foundation, and landscaping fabric staples to hold the fabric up on the sides before the hole is filled.

And...
You'll need to rent a vibratory plate compactor, and perhaps a small walk behind Bobcat or a standard Bobcat, or if your not into running heavy equipment, high someone to excavate for you. If you are only building a small patio, or if the foundation doesn't need to be too deep, have at it, with a shovel. I could never have completed our patio without the rental of the walk behind Bobcat (needed to move in tight spaces), to first excavate the gravel and soil, and secondly to bring gravel back into the hole. We ending up renting the Bobcat for I believe 4 days, at $140 a day. The plate compactor will run you about $65 per day. We needed the compactor for 4 days as well... The scope of your project will dictate machine needs.

And...
You'll also need to calculate in tool purchases. Photos and caption are coming.

Stone Patio Sticker Shock
You might have it at this point. I did, and asked my materials supplier what it might cost to have them build it. They said, "figure your material cost, then double it, then add yet another half".

Step 4: Ordering and Delivery of Stone Patio Materials
Keep in mind that stone dealers charge not only for materials, but also for delivery. The closer you are to them, the cheaper the delivery price, so find someone local. The gravel will be one truck, the sand other and the stone dust another, as they can't mix them in the dump truck. The stones themselves will come on a flatbed truck, on pallets, and will be placed on your site by a fancy forklift.

If you are not sure on exactly how much material you need, err on the side of more, rather than less. If you have a place to keep the extra materials, you'll find they come in handy for other projects later. I also use the extra stone dust I had to replenish it between stones as needed. If you end up with lots of extra, you can place a sign at the end of your driveway offering "free materials". Much worse is having work stop because you didn't order enough gravel. I did that.

You'll also need to determine where you want the materials dumped. They'll be coming with dump trucks, so they'll need access. You'll want the materials near the patio build site as well.

Step 5. How to Stake-out the Patio Perimeter

You'll need 2" x 2" stakes with pointy ends (cut them on 2 sides to form a point, if you only cut them on one side, they will move off center when you drive them) that you can drive deep enough into the ground that they'll be truly solid, as they will take a beating during the build. Determine your corner points, and then use a sledge hammer to drive the stakes into the ground about 10" beyond your corner points. You put the stakes farther out (if you have room) so that you can dig and work near the stakes without disturbing them. You'll have to fill that area with foundation gravel, so don't go too far out.

Tie "Mason's String" (neon colored string, that doesn't stretch or sag), tightly between the stakes. Use a "Line Level" hung on the strings to determine level and also to determine slope of the patio for drainage (1/4" per foot). The line level will have that pitch marked on it.

Dig out the foundation area to the depth you need (foundation, plus sand, plus rock thickness). Do not disturb the sub soil surface below. If you do, you'll need to compact that down too. If you don't, that looser soil will later settle and your patio will sink in those spots.

(Note: Decide what you are going to do with the excavated soil. You'll have quite a pile of soil to deal this. I was lucky enough to have access to the woods where I made pile should I need it later. You might consider using it to raise areas of your property. Keep in mind only the top portion will be good grass growing topsoil, and it will be hard to keep seperated, so consider it fill, that you later cover with a layer of good growing top soil.)

With a black permanent marker, mark the levels for the "top of the stones", "top of the sand", top of the gravel" on each stake. You will later use the mason's string at those marks to determine material height for each layer.

Step 6. Put Down Landscaping Fabric

After moving your strings down to see that your hole is deep enough, move the strings back up, or remove them and add landscaping fabric. I'd go up the sides too (you can use special landscaping fabric staples to hold it in place on the side, which really helps on windy days). The fabric keeps sub-soil from migrating up into your foundation, and keeps the foundation gravel from migrating down. Cut the fabric to go around the stakes as necessary.

Step 7. Add Intermediate Stakes and Then Gravel

Depending on the size and design of your stone patio, you may need to add more stakes. Mark these stakes from the mason strings already in place with a black marker, then add mason string across the middle of your patio layout in both directions.

Start bringing in your compatible gravel in 2"-3" layers. Spread it around with a metal rake (not the leaf rake type) and use a plate compactor (rental) to compact the gravel. You should make multiple passes in various directions back and forth, round and round, to really get the gravel compacted. If you skimp, your patio will sink in spots later.

Have a partner mist water from a hose before and during compacting. This helps with dust, keeps the compactor moving forward, and helps with the compacting process. Too much water and you'll get mud, and a stuck compactor. If you try to compact more than 2-3" of gravel at a time, the compactor will not be able to do a good job. It's very time consuming to compact each layer, but absolutely necessary. Move your strings up as you add more layers of gravel to check for fill height. You should also check for level with a long 2x4, or a couple of 2x4 screwed together. You can place a long bubble level on top of your 2x4. It's a good idea to let it rain a few times before you set your stone. This really helps to let the base settle, removing any air pockets. Or you can soak the base down a few times with a hose, just avoid a direct stream to the base. The official term for this technique is hydrocompaction.

In my case I was working in a confined space. I removed a few fence sections for access.

Here you can see stakes in place and excavation in progress. The area to the right will become a garden. You may have to use more stakes and strings than my diagram shows depending on the complexity of your job. Here you can see I have a few lines running, and a few stakes in the middle to check how far I've excavated.

We rented this walk behind Bobcat that was essential for this project. I had thought at one time to dig it out by hand, and later laughed as I realized that would not have been possible. The Bobcat was also a great help in getting gravel into the hole. I think we rented the Bobcat for 4 days at about $140? a day? I'd never run one, and made some mistakes in the first hour, but by the end, I was showing off my skills. They are fun, but make no mistake, these are very powerful machines and you must keep your wits about you. It would be easy to back up over yourself.

After adding 5 or so layers of gravel and moving the strings up each time to check for level, we took a break and laid a few stones out to dream about how the finished patio might look.

I believe this is the sand layer. I'm checking for level with a few 2x4s put together to for a long straight edge. You can use a level on top of the 2x4s too.

In the background you can see the delivery of two and a half pallets of tumbled irregular bluestone. Around this stage we took off a few weeks, which was a good thing, as it rained a few times which really helps to settle the base and remove any remaining air pockets that didn't get compacted.

Here you can also see the plumping (white hooped pipe) and electrical that I ran under the patio while it was open. My plan was to have an outdoor kitchen in that area. I used Pex Tubing for the cold only water supply, which runs through my basement sill and taps into my domestic cold water pipes.

When I first jumped into this project, I didn't realize some of the bumps in the road I would encounter. After figuring out a reasonable slope for runoff, it turned out that the patio side by the fence/driveway would have to be much lower than before, when gavel was there. I had to build a cement retaining wall to hold up the now much higher driveway.

I don't have photos of it, but on the other side of the patio, the same problem came, but in opposite. I had to add an extra step to our stone stairs leading to the back yard, as the correct level and slope made the patio stones about a step higher than our existing top step.

Also note the left side of the photo, which is the driveway, as you start to layout stones, you will want to get stones off the pallets, so that you can see what sizes and shapes you have to work with. The stones and dirt was everywhere. It seemed we had way too many stones, and it also seemed the driveway would never be the same again. Both turned out to be wrong. We ended up short on stones, and the driveway cleaned up just fine, after lots of shoveling, sweeping and hosing.

Step 8: Laying Out the Natural Stones

What a joy it is to be done with the foundation and on to the fun part... puzzling in the irregular natural stones. Rats@! It's not really fun at all. I thought this would go quickly and we'd see the natural stone patio take shape before our eyes... Not true. This is may be the hardest part of the whole patio project. Imagine getting a large pile of rocks, each one weighing "a lot", and you are too complete a puzzle with a 1/4" space between puzzle pieces... only the puzzle manufacturer took no interest in giving you pieces that actually fit together! Holey Moley! I started on a section, than would get to a road block, then start another section, and have to take it all up, repeat.

I didn't know if I should start from the center or from the edges. I choose the edges, as that's what you do with puzzles. Wrong! This didn't work well I didn't like that all the pieces on the sides were square. I was creating a border I never intended. So I took those all up and did a few Googlings that relieved nothing on "how to place irregular natural stones in a patio". I then started in the middle and things got a bit better, but not much.

If I placed five pieces, I'd feel great satisfaction, and sit back to admire my work. But if you stop, the patio is not getting done... This is VERY slow and challenging work. The guys at the stone shop told me I should shoot for 1/4" inch between stones. I'm not sure what planet that they came from and I very good at Tetris, but this was mission, almost, impossible.

After a few full days of toiling and trying to keep quality control to a maximum, my wife came out and placed a whole section fairly quickly that didn't meet my spacing standards. But she had a section done, so I left them! After seeing that performance, I too started to cut some corners. Sometimes a stone fits and sometimes it doesn't and sometimes you have to remove 5 perfectly placed stones because you are stuck. You remove them and try something else.

Somehow, in the end they all fit! I know I could have cut the stones, but that would have left straight cuts that would not have looked right.

Here's a shot the new garden space that echos what was on the right side of the steps.

Here I have all the remaining puzzle pieces spread out to look at. You see a space and you think things like, "it's kinda like Nevada, but wider" and then you go in search of that stone... Good luck! I now have huge appreciation for anyone that does stone masonry work. It really is an artform, and I think that is why I couldn't find much on the art of laying irregular stone on the web. It's a Zen thing. You have to be one with the stones.

And can you believe it! All the stones have been used. Somehow I did get a package of stones that all go together. Actually I ran short and had to purchase individual stones for the remaining spots around the edges. Some of these edge stones didn't fit perfectly, so I used a diamond blade in my circular saw to cut the edges. It's very dusty and stone bits fly around, so wear a dust mask and goggles when you cut stone.

After all of the natural stones had been laid, I nestled them in with a few loving blows from a dead blow hammer. Do this with a level in hand to convince any high points to lower. Other places you may need to raise a bit with sand.

After that I added stone dust to the patio and spread it around to go in, and under, the voids between stones with a broom. You should also gentle spray water over the patio to encourage the stone dust to find a compacted home, but be very careful not to apply a stream directly to the gaps, or else the stone dust and sand will start coming up, and it ruins the stone dust only color when sand is mixed in. If you want mosses or other vegetation to grow between the rocks, use topsoil instead of stone dust.

You can also top off the gaps with a final 1/4" layer of Polymeric Sand. It has polymers which when wet, forms hard, similar to grout. I planned on doing this, but Googling reveal difficulty in working with it. Basically some found that if you had any polymeric sand dust on your stones, it would become hard and stick to the stone tops. I've not tried it, but I may try a section. It would be nice to finish off what I have there now, which is stone dust, that tends to spread around on the surface a bit.

As the patio on the driveway side was now much lower. I had to build a step down to the patio from the driveway.

Here's my little helper.

A few more views of the almost finished flagstone stone patio. I have plans to possibly add some semi cement like sand between the stones, but I'm okay with the look for now. More on this later.

So far the patio has been through 2 winters and nothing has budged.

Why Building Our Flagstone Patio Might be More Difficult than Building Your Patio.
1. We had to lay a very deep foundation, as the freezing and thawing of New England is not easy on patios.
2. We choose to use irregular stone for our patio. If you want to make it much easier, choose a square or rectangle cut stone, to avoid the puzzle piecing needed with irregular shapes.
3. We built our patio in a predefined space, which presented unforeseen snafus.
3. Every project has it's unforeseen snafus, and you may have less than we did. But you'll have yours for sure.

Installing Stone Patio Resources
Popular Mechanics: Build Your Own Natural Stone Patio
The Family Handyman: How to Build a Stone and Brick Patio: Plans and Instructions
The Family Handyman: Build a Flagstone and Stone Block Patio
Ask the Builder: Patios 101 (Patio repair, How to Build a Flagstone Patio, Patio Design, etc.)
This Old House: How to Lay a Stone Patio
Ron Hazelton: How to Build a Patio from Concrete Pavers
A-Stone, Inc.: How to Build a Dry Stone Patio

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
_____________________________________________________________
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Recessed Kitchen Lighting Design & Installation

2009-01-27T19:46:00.038-05:00

Our kitchen had the typical big center hanging light and a few recessed lights above the sink. I'd never really noticed, but the smarter one of us and my sister "the architect" mentioned a while ago, that we needed more lighting in the kitchen. After replacing the knob and tube in our 100 year old house, adding recessed kitchen lights seemed like a nice idea. After all, we had nothing aesthetic to show off from our knob and tube wiring investment.

Existing kitchen lighting (well I don't have a real before photo, but the new can lights are off, so this is what it was like). (Note: click photos to enlarge them)

Kitchen Lighting Design Research
I did some poking around the web and found that all lighting plans for kitchens should include the following "layers" of lighting. Layering the lighting creates appealing contrast of light, and creates a functional kitchen space.

Here are the generally recommended layers:
1. Task lighting: Used over sinks, stoves, and counter tops
2. General or ambient lighting: To brighten up the entire area
3. Display lighting: To light spaces like glass front cabinets
4. Decorative lighting: Wall sconces, and other lighting design elements

Our kitchen fell sort by every measure. Overall it was very dim, and had only one main light source which was a glaring, but attractive light fixture over our kitchen island/table (and 2 smaller recessed lights over the sink).

Our grand plan for later, is to add under counter lighting to achieve better task lighting, display lighting and decorative lighting are down on the list for now. We really wanted more ambient light to brighten up the kitchen. So we decided to install 4 recessed can lights.

Locating recessed lights in a kitchen

In order to locate the best placement of recessed lights, I first drew a quick sketch of our kitchen with all of it's dimensions.

I work with drawing programs at work, so It was quick for me to redraw my kitchen layout on the computer from my sketch. I included ceiling joists (tan stripes) that I had located with a stud finder to see where can could indeed go. They can't go where joist are. My to-scale drawing allowed me to play with placements that were fitting with the room walls and cabinets and existing hanging light. On the web, I found what appeares to be a general rule, that recessed lights should be positioned directly above the counter front edge. That seemed to close to the upper cabinets for me and thus I moved my lights more towards the center.

I transferred the measurements I had decided on, to the kitchen ceiling. I thought I'd mock up what 2 of the 4 lights might look like. I had 2 freestanding can lights that I taped to the ceiling to check the general plan. I specifically wanted to see if by moving the cans too far out from the counter edge, if I'd get shadows on the counters as we worked there. Seemed to be okay, so the plan was finalized.

Calling in the Experts
A quick phone call to my favorite electricians in Dover New Hampshire, (J & M Electrical) and the plan was set in motion. I was lucky enough to have the day off on installation day and they were kind enough to let me take a few pictures while they worked.

What follows is not intended as a step by step guide to install recessed lighting. Instead, it is an overview to show you generally what's involved. I'm fairly handy, and I briefly thought about giving this project a go myself, but after seeing the electricians work, and some of the challenges they faced, I knew I'd made the right decision by bringing in the experts.

If there's one thing you want to have done right, it's electrical work, both for your safety and for your house's. These guys know every trick of the trade, and unforeseen challenges that would have had me Googling for hours/days, they were able to come up with smart alternative solutions quickly and with confidence. Thanks guys, and J & M Electrical for yet another excellent job.

Here the guys are working from my "X-marks the spot" locations for the recessed lights, and marking around a template they cut, representing the hole needed to fit the recessed cans. My marks were mostly on target, but they really dialed them in for perfection. Also my well thought out plan (above) had one major error, my stud finder was finding strapping and not floor joists, which actually ran perpendicular to what I had thought. But, by dumb luck, the plan still worked and somehow I had missed the joist anyway, but not by much.

After feeling around with a wire from the center hole to determine if there was indeed enough clearance from joists, they traced the final hole locations and began cutting into the drywall.

As is typical of older homes, the drywall cutout revealed an older plaster ceiling above it.

Here they are cutting though the plaster ceiling and lath with a jab saw.

Next up is using fish tape to magically navigate 100 years of various remodeling projects, squirrel nests, lath, crumbling plaster and God only knows what else. You learn after watching these guys, that this is clearly an art form, that requires, a keen ear, hands of a surgeon, luck, prayer and many years of practice and patience.

Often two workers work together, fishing their tapes towards the others in hopes of snaring something and then gradually pulling, in hopes that the hooked ends will catch, forming a connection to then pull electrical wire with.

What really happens (from my observation) is that one guy is certain his tape is in the perfect location (perhaps he's in the basement) while the other guy is certain his tape is in the perfect location (perhaps he's upstairs). They can't see each other, so they yell things as politely as they can to one another, like "you need to go much further left!" What I believe they are actually both thinking is something much more like, "you are a complete moron! Where the hell is your tape, why can't you hook my perfectly positioned tape, I wish I could clone myself!" Ah, but it's good fun to be a bystander as temperatures rise.

After successful fishing, electrical wire is pulled and staged for final measuring and cutting.

After the wires are trimmed to size, the remodeling recessed can is wired up.

It's quite big, and the reason for this is a good one. The metal shield has a large diameter, which keeps the heat of the bulb from being too close to insulation that may be around a can in an existing home. I had originally requested 5" recessed cans, but it seems remodeling cans only come in the 6" size for the good reason mentioned above.

With a little convincing, the can fits snugly in it's hole, and then is held in place by clips and screws in the housing sides which clamp down on the ceiling from above.

After the can is in place, you have a choice of a variety of baffles/trims. The baffle is inserted into the can and is what you see inside the can from below. The trim is the ring part that is flush with the ceiling. I believe the baffle and trim are always one piece, as they were with ours. Baffle and trim options include various colors, shapes, sizes, textures, and finishes. Some, called eyeballs are adjustable/aimable. We opted for simple white baffles that had a "stepped" or ridge interior. My sister "the architect" suggest that these would reduce glare inside the can.

A final check for fit and finish, and this can is done.

While the work continues upstairs, this guy has been in the basement running new lines to power the cans and is also running new lines to the new 3-gang switch box in the kitchen wall from below (more fishing fun, with his partner upstairs!)

Fishing and pulling wires to the newly cut 3-gang box, which will replace the single 3-way existing switch.

New dimmer switches have been installed and the final screw is turned to complete the work. The front lights are controlled by the switch closest to the window, the middle switch controls the existing hanging light, while the left most switch controls the lights at the back of the kitchen.

Again here's the before, we'll what it was like before, ignore the new can lights that are off.

And here's the after. I have the recessed lights on full blast for contrast with the before shot, but the setting just lower than this is more appealing. Our next project will be to add under counter task lighting, which I plan on installing...

Here's the view looking up, which I think is quite a appealing in it's neat and formal design. Now if we just took all the junk off the fridge and minimize the counter clutter...

Resources
J & M Electrical, Dover, NH - Highly Recommended

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.
_____________________________________________________________
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Dryer Vent Sealed from Cold Air

2009-01-23T20:10:00.015-05:00

Replace Your Old Useless Dryer Flapper!
I couldn't figure out why our dryer was so cold in the winter, until I started to investigate the flapper on the outside of the house. It wasn't able to close because of lint caught around were the flapper should have sealed. Also the cheap metal flapper (you know the kind with the little hood and flap) was bent a bit, so even after cleaning the lint the flap never closed right.

To make matters worse the vent was on the windy side of the house. So cold winter air was coming in the vent, thought the dryer vent piping, into the dryer and making it like a big cold ice block right in our mudroom closet.

Sealed dryer vent, installed. It's kinda big, but you don't see it where I have it.

So I went to HD in hopes of finding what certainly would be an upgraded design and found nothing more there than the same old crappy tin ones, and most of them were already bent. The other choice was some miserable looking louvered thing made of plastic.

So I searched the internet and believe I've found the only product that really addresses air coming in the dryer vent. It is of course shown in the photo above. My father in-law installed the vent, when I was at work, so I don't have the step by step installation photos, but he says installation was a breeze (no pun intended). Thanks Bill.

This is my rendering of the product, actual design may vary. Note: Click on diagram to enlarge.

Here's How it Works
Inside that top cylinder part is a upside down plastic cup shaped thing (with straight walls). When the hot air comes out the dryer vent, the cup rises up and the air escapes out around the bottom of the cylinder part. When the hot air stops coming out, the cup floats back down and creates a nice seal.

As for energy savings. This site has a energy audit that shows a $14.00 per year savings. Not bad for a product that costs only a little more.

I never had this problem with the old flapper, but this new design also keeps out birds, rodents, bugs and other critters.

Products
Buy on Amazon

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.

_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to Drywall a Ceiling

2009-01-20T05:20:00.025-05:00

We completed our ceiling drywall project about 4 years ago, so I'm not going to be able to recall important details that you should know before you begin. So instead, what follows is a basic step by step, intended to give you the basic idea of what is involved in drywalling a ceiling. This is not a comprehensive guide.

Ah, the joy of accomplishment. (Note: You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

I will say that prior to this job I had never hung any drywall or done any drywall taping, and considered it best left to those that knew what they were doing. For a brief moment in time though, I was one of those people, but only because of one great book...

My hat goes off, to Myron Ferguson, for his book "Drywall: Professional Techniques for Great Results". That book was my single source to "be in the know" and to complete the ceiling drywall project you see here. The other reason I'm not going to go into details here, is that Mr. Ferguson has already done so in his book a thousand times better than I could, in great detail and wonderfully explained for the beginner. Get the book and "be in the know", if only for one or two projects. Drywalling IS within the do it yourselfers grasp, but expect it to take you much, much, longer than an pro. In the end though, you'll have something to be proud of.

In fact, I show my ceiling off all the time, and my best response was from an electrician recently, who said, "really, you did this! It's excellent. I've seen professional jobs that didn't look this good. I can't see a single flaw, wow, I'm impressed". Ah yes. Thank you! Or should I say, Thanks Myron! And now it occurs to me I'm showing it off here too!

Here's the tile ceiling as we found it when we moved in. There weren't any structural problems with it, we just weren't tiled ceiling lovers, so we decided one day to pull off a tile to see what was under it.

One tile lead to another and after a few minutes I had exposed an old plaster ceiling above with lath used to mount the tile to the old plaster ceiling. I now had myself in unfamiliar territory. That's when I started to do some research and bought Myron's book. (Ignore the hole in the wall, that's another story.)

After reading the book, the then next thing I did was made sure the tiles didn't contain asbestos. Not having any way to ID the tiles, and not knowing if they were of asbestos vintage, I sent a chunk off to a lab to get professional results (negative, not asbestos, cool).

We ripped the rest of the tiles down, and knowing that the drywall would have to go under the crown moulding, we pulled that down too. After the first piece of moulding snapped in half, the decision was made to also replace the crown moulding as part of this job (well it would only take a few 45 degree cuts and some nails right?... lol, I learned better, and I'll tell you that story some day, when you are older).

Anyway, we got it all down, cover the floor and entry ways with plastic (to keep the dust and debris from spreading to the rest of the house), and headed off to get supplies. Read the book for answer for the correction type and thickness of drywall you'll need for your job. Also, larger pieces mean less seams to tape later, but also mean heavier/larger pieces to deal with.

You are going to need a "drywall panel lifter". We rented ours from HD. You can fashion 2x4s into "T" shapes instead to hold the drywall pieces up (see Myron's book), but for us, the panel lifter was the only way to go.

Section by section you'll be hoisting the drywall and using drywall screws to anchor it. I had lath already there, that just happened to be exact the right spacing, and was attached to the ceiling joists above.

You'll want to be sure to stagger the sections, so that the seams don't align, which could promote crack/seam lines later. Also the placement and distance apart of the drywall screws is very important. The book will tell you all you need to know. Also, shown above is a cutout for a light receptacle.

Any drywall job requires a lot of screw gunning, but when you are working over your shoulders you may end up looking like this once all the pieces are hoisted up, and the zillions of screws are in place. Speaking of the screws, it's important that you don't break the paper when you drive the screws, you want them to be seated below the drywall surface, but not so much that they break the paper. There are special adapter heads you can get for screw guns that back the gun off when the screw has reached the right depth.

Just as you think the hard work is done (the zillion screws), the real fun begins. There are various types of drywall tapes and adhesion methods (explained in the book), which you then cover with layers of joint compound (read in the book about which to use). The general idea is to start with a narrower covering over the tape, let it dry, sand flat, and then apply another wider strip of compound over it, sand, then do it again with a wider strip. For the screw heads you do the same, without tape.

The "mudding" sanding, "mudding" sanding, is what really separates the men from the professionals. You can read all you want about it, but you soon realize that it's an art form, and one that even if you were good at following direction, and have the hand of a master sculpture, you not going to be much good at.

You'll get the compound spread out just about perfectly and then there with be a little groove in the compound created by some little tiny hard bit of compound on your spreader, and so you'll go to fix it, and there you go, you made it worse, much worse! Ah, it's challenging, fun, heartbreaking, enlightening, humbling...

Oh did I mention you sand between each layer of mud? Sure you do, so I hope you didn't glob it on, cause you're just gonna have to sand it off. Lots, and lots and lots of sanding, and lots and lots and lots of checking with a straight edge for level. Oh, yes, and it's all above your head, so I hope you shoulders are up for the workout. And you'll need to wear the right mask and goggles (see book). Good dusty, sweaty, steamy fun.

I'm not sure how long it took me to do the taping/mudding/sanding. It's somewhere between a few long weekday nights to, too embarrassing to reveal.

Ahhhhh look it's done! I'm not sure who was happier, me, or her. Two things to note: 1. I'm not even sure this was the final photo of the mudding job, but it's close (see the beer on the chair? You're going to enjoy "Miller Time" after this job is done). You might even consider hanging the drywall and then having a pro. come to tape/mud/sand it. That, for us, was by far the longest part of the job. You can see in the upper right a few crown moulding samples being tested for size.

Before (this is daytime)

And here's the after picture. (Night, colors might be better in the day). In our previous place we were stuck on painting our walls sand color, (similar to the before shot above) so we thought we'd be daring and try something different. Next time we paint I think we'll go lighter again. We also put up new curtains, shades, and installed a overhead light. And we removed the built-ins on the left and the doorway back left.

Also just a reminder, you must get Myron's book (below) to do your drywalling project if you are new to it. No I don't sell for this guy. I'm not related to or know him, and no I don't receive kick backs. But I must say I feel like thanking him for his help on my drywalling the ceiling project. I've skipped many important details above, so please get his book.

In the end, the hard work was well worth it. Not everyone can stare at their ceiling and find great joy. We can! Have fun.

Resources
Myron Ferguson: Drywall: Professional Techniques for Great Results
DIYNetwork: Replacing Ceiling Tiles with Drywall
This Old House: Video showing hanging ceiling drywall and cutting hole for fixture
Easy2DYI: Quick Flash video overview of hanging drywall on a ceiling

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects.

_____________________________________________________________
My Other Articles

How to Check for a Leaky Toilet

2009-01-15T20:13:00.045-05:00

Did you know that a leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water every day?
(source: EPA WaterSense®)

Simulated leaking toilet, tested with blue dye tablets. (Note: click on photos to enlarge them)

Testing blue dye tablets to check for a leaky toilet
As part of my effort to make our house more "green" I thought I'd try a few products/methods of reducing the water we use per flush. I've written about that subject in an article here toilet tank water savers. When I ordered those products for AM Conservation Group, I also notice an interesting product. It's a toilet tablet that you drop into your tank to check for a leaky toilet. What follows is a review and testing of those toilet dye tablets. For those of you that just what the results, they are next, if you want to know how I came to these conclusions, you'll need to read the entire article. If you want to fix a leak between the toilet and floor then see Reader's Digest Article: How to repair a leaking toilet.

The Results:
1. The package says use one tablet. I suggest you get 2 packets per toilet and use four tablets. One doesn't make the water dark enough to identify smaller leaks. Also you can get them for $0.88, for 2 tablets, not much of an investment for what could save you much money.

2. I'd place these 4 tablets evenly spaced, close, and on all sides of the toilet flapper or flush valve (the mechanism that let's water down from the tank into the bowl). See how toilets work here. The reason for this is to make sure you get a thick cloud of concentrated blue dye around the flapper from all directions.

3. I wouldn't stir that water to spread the dye out, as that makes it diluted throughout all the water in the tank, thus making it lighter. Let it mellow out and drift in from all sides, in a thick blue cloud. I'd perhaps gently crunch up the tablets if they are not dissolving, with a paint stirrer or something, but I'd so without disturbing all the tank water. You want the dye really concentrated around the flapper.

4. Give it a good 30 minutes, rather than 10-20 as suggested, just to be sure.

5. Other websites suggest using 4 or so drops of food coloring. I've not tried this, but it might work just as well, again, you are going to need a dark cloud though, and I don't know if the food coloring would stain your toilet. I'm guessing 4 drops wouldn't tell you much. I'm guessing you'd have to add more like the whole little squeeze bottle, but again, I've not tried it.

6. Yet another way to test for water leaking from the tank into the toilet bowl, is to turn of the supply valve to the tank (knob on left side of toilet going to tank), mark the water level inside the tank with a pencil, then check the water level 30 minutes later. If you have a leak the water level will be lower of course.

7. If you have a leaky toilet, there are most likely other signs that will tell you that there's a leak, rather than having to use dye. You might hear trickling water noises (toilets shouldn't make noise when resting), you might see ripples in the bowl, you might have periodic phantom flushing, or gurgling. While the dye will help you check for a leaky toilet, I'm not sure that you wouldn't be aware of a leaky tank without dye testing. Sure is fun though.

8. If you have many toilets to test, such as in a commercial installation, these might be just the ticket. Drop 'em in and check your 20+ toilets later.

Whole House Leak Detection
I learn this alone the way in my internet surfing about leaky toilets. That if you look at your water meter, there is a tiny dial (on my it's at about 10:00 on a clock dial, between the center of the meter and edge of the meter). It's called a "leak detection gauge". If that thing is spinning at all, you have a leak inside or outside of your house. Here's are great article about "leak detection", that I found on the Nipomo, California Community Services District website. I tested this by setting our kitchen faucet dripping just a few mini drips, and sure enough the dial caught it. So if you want to do a whole house check for leaks. Check the leak detection dial. Also if you take note of the meter reading and then read it an hour later and it has changed, you have a leak. Besure of course that nothing is using water (ice maker in the fridge, washer, toilets, etc.) The link above will tell you more about testing for whether the leak inside or outside your home.

Leak detection gauge on my water meter.

Here's the product being tested and my experience with it.

Here's what you get, with 2 tablets inside. The directions say to drop in 1 tablet into the toilet tank and wait 10-20 minutes. If blue water appears in the bowl, you have a leaky toilet.

The tablets are blue and small.

Here's my bowl prior to adding the tablet.

A few seconds in, and you can see it starting to work it's magic.

Here's what the tank looked like after I waited a full 20 minutes, and the bowl looked just as it does in the first picture. So by their directions, I do not have a leak. But I wasn't satisfied with the dissolving of the tablet. You can see that much of the tablet is still in a clump, and what water is blue, is not very concentrated, particularly around the flapper, where you would have, and want to check for leaks.

So I helped the process a bit by stirring it with a paint stick to mix up the clump. Still no blue in the bowl, so, as I suspected I don't have any leaks. Never thought I did, I just wanted to see how the product worked.

But I was still a bit unsatisfied with the density of the dye, so I added the second tablet. Hey, I had a few to play with.

After the second tablet, I broke that one up too with the paint stick and gave it a stir. Looks fairly dark now. Still no blue in the bowl. Good!

Another check for a leaky toilet and luckily no sign of leaking. By the way, this is a Kohler toilet which I found there quite a lot of internet searches for "kohler toilet leaks from tank". In fact when I researched the types and number of searches being conducted for "leaky toilets", it turns out that search phrase "kohler toilet leaks from tank" is by far the most searched on phrase, followed by "kohler toilet leaks problems", related to this topic. My Kohler toilet is working perfectly though. To be fair to Kohler, perhaps the majority of toilets out there are Kohler, so that might be why this is a common search and not because Kohler toilets are any more leaky than any other toilets. I don't know.

But as this is a test, I thought, I'm going to get a bit of that blue water out of the top of the toilet tank with my drip counter, also from AM Conservation Group, and put it into the bowl to see what it would look like with a leak. Hard to see in the photo, but the beaker is to measure drips from a faucet. You are supposed to stick it under a leaking faucet for 5 seconds, pull it away, and then read the marks on the corresponding water line. I decided I'd fill the beaker to what is equivalent to 5 seconds of leaking at a level that's equal to 40 gallons a day, figuring that if my toilet was leaking that much a day, I'd want to know about it. By the way, the beaker's also indicates that would be equal to 14,580 gallons of leakage per year.

So I poured the blue tank water from the beaker into the bowl, and as you can see, there was no visible change. Now I'm starting to question whether the dye idea works at all.

So now I fill the whole beaker with with blue tank water, at a level equal to 5 seconds of leaking that would yield 200 gallons of leaking tank water per day, which translates to 72,900 gallons of leaking water per year.

I pour that full beaker into the bowl and sure enough, no visible change. Now I'm starting to think, "this is getting interesting". NOTE AFTER TESTING AND WRITING: But after thinking about it. I did stir up the tank water, which was not part of the directions. When I stirred the water, what I essentially did was dilute the dye color by mixing it with the whole water content in the tank. Prior to mixing I had a dark cloud of dye in the bottom of the bowl, where I think it's intended to be in concentrate, but my problem was that it wasn't around the flapper. That's why in my results section (above) I suggest not stirring, but using more tablets, near and around all sides of the toilet flapper. Also pouring the beaker water into the bowl made it mix with all of the bowl water, and is thus more diluted and hard to see. In my simulated leak below, I can see that the blue dye comes in more concentrated and not mixed with all of the bowl water, so perhaps, my pouring tests were flawed in execution.

So skipping ahead a few increments, I decide to fill a measuring a 2 cup measuring cup. Which is equal to 24 full beakers fulls, for a total of 4,800 gallons of water leaking per day, or 1,749,600 gallons leaking per year.

I poured the 2 cups of blue tank water into the bowl, and sure enough it was blue!

I've decided to simulate a real leaky toilet

So then what happens when you have a real leaking toilet? I folded up a short piece of foil insulation tape and stuck it under a section of the flapper, so that it couldn't make a tight seal. I tried to simulate a slow leak. It wasn't easy, as I either had too much flow into the bowl, or not enough. You can see above that I've got the metal tape under the flapper, and I've dropped in 2 tablets. You can also see a few ripples in the water in the bowl, from my simulated leak.

A few moments later, and there it was! Blue was coming into the bowl quite quickly.

And after a few minutes, the bowl was clearly blue. Success!

Products
AM Conservation Group: Leak Detection Dye Tablets

Resources
Denver Water Org.: Repair a Leaky Toilet
Toiletology.com: Testing for Leaky Toilets
Toiletology.com: Toilet Care and Repair Course
The Family Handyman: Replace The Toilet Fill Valve, Flush Valve or Flapper
Kohler: SaveWaterAmerica.com

My Standard Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2009, Dover Projects
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