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Found 92 results for the keyword(s) ‘Concrete’

• Article

  A new driveway oil stain remover that actually works.

  We have used a lot of concrete cleaners on this show, even recently compared water based to solvent based cleaners and found them rather equivalent.Here is a new one that is rather amazing. It is called Oil Lift. The difference with this one is that it is totally ecologically friendly, no harsh...
• Article

  What is that white stuff on my basement wall?

  Judy has a pretty messy basement wall and has had several expensive estimates for fixing it.It almost looks like a mould or a fungus growing out of it, starting at a definite line quite high up on the wall.When I looked through the window I could see that the white stuff was starting about a foot...
• Article

  Tips on cleaning paint and stuff off of concrete.

  On this TV segment we focused on testing if water based cleaners worked better than solvent based cleaners on concrete stones.When done thoroughly, they didn't make much difference. What does make a difference is waiting long enough for the chemical to work, and scrubbing or rinsing before it dr...
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  What to do about rotten 2x6's in a basement concrete floor?

  Martin went to renovate his basement and discovered that he had rotten out 2x6's right in his concrete basement floor. He thought that they simply left the forms for the footing in place when they poured the floor slab. This sounded a bit strange so I sent him the first graphic above that shows ...
• Article

  The tiles on my large concrete deck are buckling.

  Drew from Moffat, Ontario has a very large concrete deck 10 feet in the air, covered with ceramic tiles. For some strange raison, six of the tiles have buckled up, several years after they were glued in place.They have been there for several years, so it would not be caused by the deck shrinking...
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  Building an environmentally friendly solid concrete house.

  What is an Enviro Home? It is an energy efficient R-2000 house that in addition meets a series of environmental requirements that relate both to the process of construction as to the final quality of the house.One example of environmentally friendly construction practices is the re-use of wood. ...
• Article

  Can I put hardwood floors down on concrete?

  Dale asks about hardwood floors over concrete.If the concrete floor is above grade, like is common in a new condo, no problem.If the concrete is in a basement, below grade, then you have potential serious moisture problems, and hardwood really doesn't like excessive moisture.Generally it is not r...
• 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

  Roughing in the drain for a basement toilet.

  My renovating buddy Mike Holmes of Restovate in Toronto (before he went on TV) was into the creation of a new basement suite so I asked him to show us as he cut in for the rough plumbing for the toilet. So he jack hammered up the floor, then dug a bit more (as is common), then he discovered that...
• Article

  Insulating an old house and more.

  I don't often answer all the details of a long letter, especially not with the time constraints that we have on television. But Larry from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia wrote such a coherent detailed letter about the 80 years old very cold home that he just bought that I thought I would just wade in...