Concrete is composed of cement, aggregate (including crushed rock and sand) and water. In homes, it's frequently seen in the foundation, driveway, sidewalk, patio, and stone walls. Note that bricks use mortar in the joints, not concrete.
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How do I make a fake rock finish for a water feature?
I would like to create basin for a water feature. It would look really cool if it can have a fake rock finish.
How would I go about creating it? What material would be recommended, I have seen a ...
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4answers
602 views
Will running a dehumidifier near new concrete cause it to cure poorly?
I have a new house with high humidity in the basement. Will running a dehumidifier constantly cause the new concrete to cure poorly?
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281 views
Would building a partial raised wall for a pond in this way be strong enough?
I just read your answers about "Building a raised wall for a pond." Although quite detailed, I am not very physics minded and hope someone will give me a thumbs up or down.
I have a pond that is ...
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332 views
leveling concrete floor
I have to level a concrete floor that is more than 2 inches out of level. Should I be using self leveler, or concrete? Is 2" too much for self leveler?
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493 views
“Draining” concrete blocks?
We've recently had exterior waterproofing applied our house. In the process, we removed an old cold room that was underneath our porch. They walled up the entrance to the old cold room, and then ...
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How do I seal a large gap between slabs to avoid freeze/thaw heaving?
I have a very large slab patio on the back of my home in Southern MN that has pulled away from the house about 6-8" due to freeze/thaw heaving. The previous owners have filled the gap with river ...
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Does 100 yr old concrete floor need replacing?
Our house was built in 1905 and the concrete floor is uneven and gets a lot of moisture at times. We replaced the gutters which helped a little. We'd like to finish the basement, maybe use stained ...
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1answer
512 views
What are my options for resurfacing or repainting my old concrete steps?
My front steps are very old. The paint was chipping off so I used a chemical paint stripper to remove it. I also used a pressure washer to get the rest of it off.
I would like to stain the steps ...
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622 views
How do I alter the shape of my existing concrete steps?
I have some concrete steps from my back door that I plan to cover with paver brick, so that they tie in aesthetically with my new paver patio. The existing steps are rectangular, but I want them to be ...
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204 views
How can I thicken Acid Stain myself?
I have been doing a lot of decorative concrete around my house, and I have yet to find a masking tape or caulking or anything that can hold the acid stain where I want it. I finally found something ...
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4answers
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Is it possible to patch concrete stairs?
At my church, there is an old set of stairs made of concrete. They've begun to crumble on the top to the point where the treads are no longer flat and smooth.
I've not seen any material that has ...
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How do I fix my crawlspace's mould problem given the floor is an improperly poured slab of concrete?
I have a 50 year old backsplit, with a minor mould problem in the crawlspace. There are a couple of wet spots that can be fixed with simple exterior grade changes, and one spot that will need to be ...
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What kind of paint should be used on an outdoor concrete walkway?
I have an outdoor walkway that was freshly painted just before I bought my house two years ago. Two winters have worn down the paint and now it needs another coat or the exposed concrete will crumble.
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Should I seal, waterproof a concrete basement floor before painting?
What is the best sealer/waterproofer to put on a basement floor that I just want to paint. New construction, no water problems, but washer & drier & water heater are in basement and add to ...
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295 views
Do I need to do more prep work on this cement floor before putting in new tile?
In my basement i have a poured concrete floor, and we're re-doing the bathroom down there. It used to have Vinyl flooring, and we ripped it all up. The top vinyl part came up easily, but it left a bit ...
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292 views
How can I hang a framed picture onto a wallpapered concrete wall without damaging the wall surface?
I have a framed picture about two feet by three feet in size that weighs about one pound (not a sheet of paper). I want to hang it onto a wall that is of full-blown hard concrete and covered with ...
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432 views
How do I handle a transition from concrete to dirt underneath a flagstone patio?
I had a pool installed a few years ago and the builder threw in a narrow concrete patio around it. See fuzzy picture below (sorry about that. Google earth must be a little tipsy tonight).
So now ...
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What is the best way to fill a hole in a concrete basement floor?
My basement floor has a hole cut where the water line enters the house. This hole is around 2ft square, and digging down a little I hit dirt and small roots. I'd like to seal this hole as I believe it ...
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965 views
How do I properly renovate the concrete floor of my balcony?
I live in an apartment that can be characterized as an old soviet-era, 5-story, multi-apartment, concrete block-based building. That means, everything was built by "stroybat" a soviet-time army ...
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236 views
Where can I buy a concrete gate post in the style of this 1930’s gate post?
We are about to get a wall rebuilt and it would be great if we could have gate posts that where in the same style as the rest of the road. As I don't know the same of the style I have nothing to ...
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371 views
How to repair cracks in concrete overhang over entrance
I have a slab of concrete over the front entrance of my house with some serious cracks in it. I don't actually know what the proper name for it is, which makes this difficult to Google - so I've ...
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1k views
How can I clean a very dirty concrete basement floor?
My basement floor has been made amazingly gross (thank you, cats) and I'd like to get it really clean. Is there an option other than scrubbing on hands and knees? Are there cleaning solutions that ...
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1answer
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How should I prepare an all-concrete warehouse space before building out?
I haven't put together my complete buildout plan yet, but I expect that most of the preparatory steps are the same regardless of where I'm going with it. The space is approx 100'x100'x16', and ...
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2answers
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How to find the concrete beam in a sandy block ceiling?
I want to hang a ceiling fan at my apartment, where the ceiling is made mostly of a sandy material. How do I find the concrete beam going through it, assuming I do not have access to the blueprints of ...
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493 views
How can I attach normal framed walls in between concrete columns?
I'd like to add partitions to this grid of columns. I want to make "normal" walls, framed with 2x4 and faced with plywood or drywall. My concern is how to attach the walls to the columns. Naively, I ...
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306 views
Is it ok to use pneumatic tools underwater
I have a concrete that is stuck underwater. The concrete piece is too heavy. I think that I could break it into small pieces with my pneumatic impact drill.
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Is it OK to pave without mixing?
Going upon the advice of a reputable builder, I used Quikrete fast-drying concrete for a small slab outside my house. Not load bearing.
His recommendation was to dry-pour the whole thing. Framed, ...
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Heat causing concrete to heave
I mostly hear about this happening for roads on very hot days, but I'm wondering what about the heat causes the concrete to heave? Is there any concerns for foundations/garage floors/drive way heaving ...
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697 views
methods of detecting a copper pipe in concrete floor
We believe that our copper water line is embedded in the concrete (and rebar) basement floor. We would like to excavate a hole to install a sump pump. We don't want to hit the copper line which we ...
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How to build up concrete slurry under a new bath
I'm replacing our bath. It is a standard built-in plastic bathtub, with a concrete slurry built up underneath it. I talked to a builder some time ago who explained that it was to support the weight of ...
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1answer
193 views
How to mitigate and/or repair concrete frets (slab edge wetting)
A building engineer made a report of problems with our property. One issue raised was "slab edge wetting" by which the building engineer meant that the concrete slab on which the house is built is ...
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2answers
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How should I install a hoist given that the walls and ceiling are made of concrete?
I have this hoist, of the engine-lifting variety, which is designed to be installed below a pipe or beam. I do not have any load bearing pipes or beams. What I have are a poured concrete ceiling (9" ...
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Are there any rules of thumb for whether a concrete pad needs metal re-inforcement and if so, how much?
I may be doing some concrete work soon around the house and I'm somewhat of a novice at it. One thing that I am unsure about is when I need to reinforce the concrete with re-bar or other metal ...
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New Concrete Patio Options
We would like to put in a new concrete patio. We are looking at a stamped concrete patio for durability and visual appeal. What other options are there? What are the pros and cons of the different ...
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What are my refinishing options for a concrete patio?
I have an external concrete patio, about 3 years old. I'm wondering if there are any finishing or refinishing options to make it look a little better than just boring 'ole concrete.
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Extending concrete Slab
I have a 10 x 10 slab (4 inches thick) that is already in my back yard in the corner. I bought a kit to build a 10 x 10 shed on it, and then realized that would put it right up to my fence. So my ...
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How can I improve the cold floor in my ground-floor unit?
My home is a ground-floor unit in a condominium. The floor is really quite cold and I'd like to do something about that. I saw in another question the suggestion to use Platon. Would I be able to put ...
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2answers
340 views
Repair Hole in Concrete Foundation
The previous owner of my house had a sprinkler system installed and had it run off the main water supply in the house instead of a separate meter. I had a new meter installed, so I do not have to pay ...
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1answer
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How hard is stamping concrete?
I want to put a 2' border around my driveway of colored and stamped concrete. I have gotten bids that almost $3,000. I have called the concrete company and asked how much 5 yards of colored concrete ...
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Building a raised wall for a pond
We are looking to build a small pond (9'x18'x6'), but we want the edge to be raised up about 8". I am thinking about using CMUs (Concrete Masonry Units) which are 8x8x16. The entire pond will be lined ...
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Removing blacktop/asphalt pad
I have what used to be a basketball court in my backyard. Its roughly 20x20 feet. I've already removed and sold the basketball hoop. On the end where the hoop was theres concrete piling sunk below the ...
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Best way to tear up half a concrete parking pad?
I have a concrete parking pad in my back yard (butts up to an alley) that is substantially larger than I need, and I'd like to reclaim some of that space for my yard. To that end I'd like to tear up ...
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640 views
Concrete slab at a brick wall
I want to build a concrete slab (upon which a deck will be build later) at the foot of a brick wall (by foot I don't mean the foundation foot, I just mean where the brick meets the grade level). I ...
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How do steel and enforced concrete posts compare?
From what I observe in my region posts in both municipal and private construction - mostly fence posts and lighting posts - are gradually replaced from enforced concrete to steel pipes.
Is it just my ...
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Removing stains from concrete
How can I remove stains from concrete (garage/driveway)? The stains are most likely either oil, gasoline, or transmission fluid.
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How do I hang shelves on poor quality brick/concrete walls?
I'm trying to install some shelves in my apartment (brick/concrete) but when I drill holes the walls almost seem like they're made of sand. I'm not able to securely fix the screws (I'm using wall ...
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386 views
Sealing a small crack in poured concrete foundation
I have a small crack in my foundation that started seeping water when there was ice on the ground. The water is flowing along the foundation under my fireplace bump out. The cause of the problem ...
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2answers
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How do I install drywall when the door is too close to a concrete wall?
I'm looking for suggestions to finish one of the walls in my basement. I've included the pictures of the wall below. As you can see the doors are right up against the wall on both sides. There's ...
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When would I use epoxy anchors?
Epoxy anchor is essentially a metal alloy rod set onto epoxy. A hole is drilled and cleaned, then epoxy is put into the hole and the rod is inserted into the hole and left until epoxy sets.
Using ...
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Can old concrete fragments be cleaned and used as crushed stone?
Suppose I need to replace old concrete on a driveway or in any similar scenario.
The usual way is to just gather all the old concrete and dispose it to a landfill, then buy cement, sand and crushed ...
