Home Repair and Paint Guide

... Pavers are great for building patios and sidewalks. ... Generally speaking, brick pavers are more robust and wear better than concrete types. ... This causes them to look old and faded. ... When ordering pavers, make sure they are rated for the weather extremes in your area. ... This transforms the soft clay into artificial stone. ... Pavers can be set in sand, sand and cement mix, or mortared directly to a concrete slab. ... The pavers can shift around, grass can grow between the cracks, etc. ... A sand/cement mix is not very difficult to handle. ... Using a cement slab for installation is a lot of work. ... It’s not necessary for a patio installation. ... Follow the manufacturer’s instructions if available. ... Take your time and as with all home improvement projects, planning is the key. ... Draw an outline of the area in the dirt with a stick and step back to see how it will look. ... If you need an extra set of hands, as a friend to help. ... This type of bribe usually works!. ... Pavers are great for building patios and sidewalks ...

... Concrete projects require a lot of work. ... For strength, rebar (reinforcing bar) and/or steel wire mesh has to be installed in the area before concrete is poured. ... But larger projects will require several helpers. ... You will either have to rent a concrete pump (expensive), motorized concrete vehicles (can be difficult to find), or wheelbarrows and a bunch of fast workers. ... A truck carrying several cubic yards of material can easily weigh as much as 30 tons. ... Pushing that thing around is hard work. ... You’ll be straining up the slope, or chasing the wheelbarrow down the slope. ... You can control how much concrete is poured in each section while you (and helpers if needed) move it around. ... Use a steel rod if necessary and flow the mix into every part of the area. ... Keep in mind that concrete trucks are allowed a limited time on the site. ... Once the concrete is dumped, it will have to be screed off. ... The screed is placed across the concrete (using the top of the forms if possible) to remove excess concrete ...

... Here’s a question that keeps popping up during home construction projects - “How do I calculate the amount of concrete needed to fill an area?” The answer is simple once you know a few basic terms. ... Concrete is ordered by the cubic yard, and is abbreviated to just “yard”. ... This forms the basic unit of measurement for ordering concrete. ... Start by calculating the square feet of surface area. ... That part is easy enough. ... But now we have to get those inches in there somewhere, and that’s the part that seems to confuse a lot of people. ... Since 1 foot = 12 inches, divide the thickness (in this case 4 inches) by 12. ... Now we have everything needed to complete the calculations. ... This is the total area expressed in cubic feet. ... Round this up to 6 cubic yards. ... In this case, that would be 6 x 1.10 = 6.6 yards. ... Since most areas to be filled with concrete have a few low spots, you will quite likely use the entire amount of material. ... Here’s a question that keeps popping up during home construction projects - “How do I calculate the amount of concrete needed to fill an area?” The answer is simple once you know a few basic terms ...