Found 20 results for the keyword(s) ‘Landscaping’

• Article

  Trench Drains in a driveway

  When a driveway slopes down into the house, you need to intercept any and all water flow and carry it away before it gets to the garage. If you don't do this, you will find the concrete pad in the driveway getting into moisture and frost problems, the door freezing to the floor, and the like.You...
• Article

  TIP -- Using left over concrete.

  Pouring concrete and have a bit left over? Or do you have half a sack of concrete mix leftover that will probably go hard through humidity before you get around to using it?Getting rid of this stuff can be a problem, so turn it into part of your landscaping.Judy suggests simply taking a large bu...
• Article

  A trench to divert water inside the basement.

  Brian from Cornwall, Ontario just bought a house and when it rains heavily, it flows in the basement. Someone recommended that he dig a trench inside the basement to drain the water away.First of all, see if simply landscaping sloping away from the house, and rain gutters and downspouts away fro...
• Article

  Mark your post hole digger for depth.

  Sam from Kamloops, BC suggests putting depth markings on the arms of the post hole digger so you know how deep you are as you dig.
• Article

  Patching the crack between the sidewalk and the house.

  Debbie from East York, Ontario has a problem with a basement leak that apparently is caused by a crack between the sidewalk and the wall. Her contractor patched it last year, but it leaked again.If there is any movement of the sidewalk, from frost or just swelling and or shrinking clay, then no ...
• Article

  Bad erosion in the back yard.

  Peter wrote: I recently moved into a new house, and the builder put in a drainage swale at the bottom of my backyard. Since I am at the end of my street, whenever it rains I get all the runoff through my backyard to the street. The drainage swale runs across my back fence as you can see in th...
• Article

  Making curved walkways with rectangular pavers.

  Tom wants to know how to make a curved walkway with rectangular pavers.You can simply fan out rectangular blocks, filling in the space with sand. The catch is that you cannot leave too large a space. The shorter the blocks, the easier it is to make the curve because larger blocks create larger s...
• Article

  WHAT FACTORS CAN MAKE BETTER BASEMENTS?

  The three fundamental cures for basement problems are: removing the water from the outside, using granular back fill or a drainage layer against the foundation wall and insulating on the outside of the basement. Any one could stop or prevent a problem, all three of them together is the bes...
• Article

  WHAT FACTORS CAN MAKE BASEMENT PROBLEMS WORSE?

  Any of the following five factors can make matters worse:-- Thermally conductive soils: Dense soils that hold water fairly well, in contact with the basement wall are asking for trouble. Clay soils are even worse in that they allow migration upward of water through capillary action, the prim...
• Article

  Trees causing problems with wires around the house.

  We took our TV cameras out to look at some tree limbs that should be trimmed back to protect telephone, cable or electrical wires from extra stress with the weight of winter snow and ice.With or without tree problems, you should take a look outside at all the wires attached to your house. Eac...