Needs staining.
The wood deck is one of the hallmarks of the do-it-yourself home improvement buff, but what happens if you come across a home that has a wood deck that needs to be repaired? You may know a lot about building decks, but in order to fix one up and bring it up to your standards of quality, you'll have to think about things in a different way. Here are just a few tips for fixing and sealing a wood deck.
Test out the old deck. If the old deck is rotted and unfit, you'll simply want to replace it. Only leave a deck mostly in tact if you know that it's strong enough to function fully after being repaired.
It gets worse before it gets better: If you've ever cleaned out your garage before, you know that sometimes, home improvement means that things will get worse before they get better. If you really want to do a number on your wood deck and bring it up to snuff, then start out with a "it gets worse before it gets better" mindset. Take out anything resembling a loose nail. Destroy wood that has rotted and throw it out. If there's a part of the deck that doesn't look like it will mesh with a repaired one, get rid of it.
Sure, it might feel like you're building a new deck from scratch after this. But the end result will look more uniform and new if you really do a number on the old deck.
Replace what you've taken out. If you did a number on your deck, then you have more than a few holes to plug. If this is the case, you'll want to simply replace the old parts that came out with new ones. Make sure that every piece of wood in the structure is strong so that the entire deck will function like a new deck. When in doubt, take out an entire board and simply replace it with a new one.
Seal the deck. Seal the deck at the same point in which you would seal a new one.
Make the deck look uniform. After you've sealed the deck, it's time to make the deck look as uniform as possible. You can do this by staining all of the wood a similar color. Be sure to ask someone in the know about wood staining before you try it out - you don't want to end up with a mismatched deck. You can think about painting a deck if the staining won't work.
Photo Credits: tuchodi
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Posted by Fix Handyman on December 29, 2009 in
Deck, Handyman, How to Fix
Water supply.
If you're not a home improvement professional or even a home improvement enthusiast, you might have noticed that many online articles telling you how to fix your plumbing problems will tell you to shut off your water supply first. This is obviously the correct way to go about fixing your plumbing, but what if you can't get past "step one" simply because you don't know how to shut off your water supply? Well, you've come to the right place. After reading this article, you should be equipped to find and shut off your water supply so that you remember it for next time.
Here are the basic steps:
- When in doubt, it's best to simply shut off the entire water supply to your home. This is actually relatively easy, and as long as you warn all of your family members that you'll be without water for a while, it should go relatively smoothly. To shut off your entire water supply, find your water meter - you can find a picture of one here. You should notice two valves at your water meter, one of which (the "supply side") comes to your house, supplying the water. Shut the valve off on this side by twisting the nozzle.
- Shutting off a "local" supply of water might be enough for simple tasks like fixing your toilet. In order to do this, you're going to have to find the individual valve feeding water to the appliance or fixture you're repairing. Locate the valve first - you should notice that it looks like the valves near your water main. If you're fixing a sink or a toilet, you probably won't have to look very far in order to shut off the local water supply. Twist the nozzle to shut the water off and you should be good to go.
- It's important to note quickly that shutting off the local valve in your shower or bath tub will be a little more difficult than shutting off a local valve for a sink or a toilet. You should be able to find a panel near your tub that will give you access to the valve, but when in doubt, you might want to simply shut off the water supply to your house.
That didn't take much, did it? Once you know how to shut off your water supply, you will find that most plumbing repair jobs are much easier.
Photo Credits: -{ Ariful H Bhuiyan }-
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Posted by Fix Handyman on October 13, 2009 in
home repair, water
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