Found 23 results for the keyword ‘Joist’
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Tooling caulking & Straight line adhesive application
Tooling Caulking Brad, who works in the trade of caullking high rise buildings, sent in the tip of dipping a shaped piece of wood into Sunlight detergent before tooling the caulking. This gives the caulking the exact shape you want, but nothing sticks to the wooden tool. Note that his tool is n... -
Important precautions for installing large tiles
The world of tiles is changing rapidly. Twenty years ago we generally had a range of tile sizes from 1 ft x 1 ft down to tiny mosaic tiles. This made tiling relatively simple because slight changes in the flatness of the surface could be adjusted for at the next grout line. In fact that is... -
How can I prevent my tile grout from cracking?
Barry from Calgary, Alberta writes: "I have a problem with cracking grout on an aboveground installation. I suspect the cause is excessive deflection of the floor joists. I'm wondering if there's any additive that can be added to the grout that will prevent this from happening again when I re-gro... -
Attaching a deck to a house
The old days of stacking structure In the old days, before we had specialized hardware like joist hangers, we would always create beams, or low lying ledger boards and place the joists on top of them with some kind of toe-nail attachment. The arrival of joist hangers When joist hangers came in... -
Notches in Floor Joists
It is best not to cut holes in floor joists, but when you must there are some important rules to follow. Never cut into the top of the bottom of the joist. If you do the entire joist is now no stronger than the wood that is left. Always cut holes in the centre of the joist, closer to the suppor... -
Insulating a foundation with embedded floor joists
Certain parts of Canada, particularly in the Winnipeg region, have a traditional construction technique that presents serious challenges when you want to insulate a basement -- the ends of the joists are actually embedded in the concrete foundation wall. Chris, from Winnipeg, asked for some f... -
BASEMENT: INTERIOR OR EXTERIOR INSULATION?
It is always better to insulate on the outside of basements and crawl spaces, but usually more expensive and more trouble. Brick or field stone foundations must not be insulated on the inside for much more than one foot below ground level. The poor quality of the mortar in these foundations dete... -
Truss Up-Lift -- that changing crack between the wall and the ceiling
In all too many new houses, there is a seasonal problem where in the winter the ceiling actually lifts itself right off the wall in the centre of the house, and then settles down after the heating season. Even in some older houses this goes on every year. What causes this crack? Avoiding... -
My 20 x 20 ceiling is dipping down dangeriously.
One viewer who caught my camera in a renovation store asked what to do about the 20 x 20 ceiling in his condo that was dipping down in the centre. A serious visible dip must be caused by someone having removed a support wall from the original construction. Each floor is designed to remain flat a...
Techniques for Installing Drywall