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what What can I do about cracks in my concrete basement floor? They are about 2mm wide and haven’t gotten any worse in the decades we’ve been in the house.
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A Cracks like yours are stable and common in concrete basement floors, but there are reasons to fill them anyway. In addition to making you feel more comfortable, sealing can prevent the entry of radon gas and perhaps water leaks. The trick is to seal the cracks so the repair will last.
The approach I like best uses a full depth injection of liquid into the crack and a surface application of carbon fiber cloth on top. The best systems have more than enough injection pressure to fill a 2mm crack with epoxy or polyurethane foam to the full thickness of the floor or walls. The thing about concrete is that it can move, and even a little movement will reopen sealed cracks. This is where the carbon fiber fabric comes into play. Secured to the concrete face with liquid epoxy after filling, the result is stronger than the surrounding concrete and completely immune to cracking. I have used the DRICORE and Rhino injection and carbon fiber systems and they are amazing. Even if no injection was used, the carbon fiber still keeps things solid and sealed.
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Roof finish rescue
what What can I do to make my newly finished 15 year old deck look better than terrible? I had my son sand it down and repaint it and the result is smudged and ugly.
A In your photos I see that it has a colored translucent finish applied to a platform with patches of gray gradient area underneath. The only way your deck would look good right now is if the wood had been completely sanded down to a fresh surface before you finished it. Half sanding is your problem. If you want the wood grain to show through, pressure washing followed by the application of a deck polish removes as much gray as possible. Sand down to bare wood using nothing finer than an 80-grit abrasive, then pull out the brush. A lot of work, yes, but there is an easier alternative.
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Paint-like deck finishes are made for gray decks like yours, and while they don’t look exactly like paint, they are opaque. This type of product could be applied directly to what you have now with minimal preparation. It would look nice and neat, but you wouldn’t see the wood grain. Sand what you have now lightly with 80 grit abrasive on a random orbital sander to increase adhesion, clean the surface with a leaf blower, then apply a deck opaque stain.
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urban water well
what How can I drill a water well in my urban backyard? I would like to have the security of my own water supply in case the municipal water stops flowing one day.
A Although municipal water is not likely to stop flowing for long, if it does, your well would be the oasis in the middle of an urban desert. Any well drilling contractor can drill a well for you, as long as he can get his equipment to your backyard. You will also need to dig a trench from the well to your house, with a water pipe and electrical cables laid in the trench. Inside your basement you will also need a pressure tank to store the water, and a pipe and valve connection so that the water from your well can be directed to the pipes in your home. If things get bad enough that municipal water stops flowing, electricity will be cut off as well. If safety is your goal, consider installing a hand pump in your well. Watch me install one in my own well at baileylineroad.com/hand-pump-install.
Steve Maxwell finds that hand-pumped, chilled well water tastes better. Visit Steve online at BaileyLineRoad.com and sign up for his email newsletter on Saturday mornings.