Questions tagged [outdoor]
For questions generally relating to exterior spaces of property, including yard maintenance, pest and weed control, exterior home maintenance, etc. Questions which deal mainly with gardening and aesthetic landscaping will be migrated to the Gardening and Landscaping SE.
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what size 2 by lumber should I use to support a swing?
I want to hang a swing in my yard and none of the trees have a suitable branch. I want to run a doubled up PT 2x8 between 2 trees spanning just shy of 10 feet. Will this be strong enough? Should I ...
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ground level deck drainage suggestions?
I am Looking for ideas to keep water from pooling under a new ground-level deck.
The frame in the photo was dug 8-10inches below the ground. I'm using composite decking so I need minimum 6 inches ...
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Type of glue for sealing cable entries
I am looking for the name of a type of glue (I think brand recommendations are not permitted, so not that) which will seal an electrical connector to the socket it is plugged into in a reversible and ...
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What type of outdoor breaker/disconnect for two buildings?
I am going to be building a larger garage. I am looking to put a 200amp service in the building. I had the power company come out and check my feeder lines and confirm that I had sufficient service ...
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Painting Pressure Treated Wood | Outdoor Steps Application
I am needing to rebuild some stairs (3 steps), and the previous owner has a great colour scheme going on the house, and I want to maintain that. Now, my wife and I like to do builds/projects that are ...
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Wiring for Outdoor Garage Lights
I installed two outdoor garage lights using 14/2 MC Armorlite Cable. The lights are only 8.8 watts and have day/night sensors. I connected the wiring to a garage door opener dedicated 20 amp circuit ...
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Slope has gobbled up the retaining walls
A few tiered retaining walls were built on a slope on my property about 70 years ago. By now they have been completely consumed by the slope as you can see on the picture below where, in the white ...
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What conduit and wire for an outdoor outlet directly to outdoor breaker panel?
I would like to add an outdoor receptacle directly to my outdoor breaker panel for some simple string lights. The idea would be to install new breaker, run flexible conduit from knockout on bottom of ...
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How should I accommodate thinner replacement deck boards?
I have a deck on the house that is currently nominal 2x4 of various species. (the previous owners had no taste). I want to replace the surface with Ipe wood. It comes as nominal 5/4 x 6 which is a ...
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Vegetable Garden Fence Design with 2x2 Posts
Let's start with the tl;dr: I'm starting a new vegetable garden and need to put up a fence around it. 16'x12', constructed of wood and metal poultry netting. My goals are to ensure that:
Squirrels, ...
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Which side of wood deck boards should face up?
We're making a roof terrace using wood deck boards. The two sides of the deck board differ, with small/large grooves. Which side should face up, is this purely an aesthetic choice or is there ...
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Replacement outdoor GFCI has also stopped working
I moved into a house with an outside GFCI receptacle. The outlet didn't seem to work and the reset button had no effect. No other outlets around or outside the house appeared to be tripped.
I pulled ...
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Prevent sun shade pole from rotating in base
I have bought a centre pole sun shade (a Doppler Sunliner) for my balcony, along with a hollow base filled with water for it to stand in, which works fine. But as soon as there is a tiny bit of wind, ...
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Why does my shed door expand/shrink?
I built a shed door last summer and have had a few problems with it since.
Using pressure treated outdoor timber I made a fairly simple shed door. I wood glued the long planks together and then used ...
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Stumps haul out
I have a mound in front of my house with two stumps in it (shown below). I have a quote for the excavation of the mound which includes the removal of dirt.
The difference between hauling the ...
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How to attach single step for deck where deck rim joist is not low enough to overlap step rim board
Similar to this question. I am trying to attach a single step to a deck located adjacent to a patio, a setup which looks like this:
I'm trying to figure out how to secure the step effectively. Here ...
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Concrete Apartment Balcony Repair
There seems to be two layers on top of the concrete:
the thicker, white-ish layer next to concrete
the gray, textured layer on top
I'd like to fix this up, but have no idea where to start. Would ...
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What (cheap) material could I use for a squirrel baffle atop a bird feeder?
We have a bird feeder in our wooded yard, hanging down from a tree branch, its top covered with a 'squirrel baffle' of about two feet diameter.
We also have gazillions of squirrels that love to eat ...
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Need to know the extra boxes connected to exterior outlet
So I have an exterior outlet that seems to be up to code. But I want to move the outlet 4’ so that I can put pavers in this area.
Before I do I need to know if these two boxes can be moved.
The ...
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Is it possible to restore teak furniture that has been stained dark to original finish?
I have some teak furniture that was stained a dark finish years ago by mistake. I am wondering if its possible to sand the furniture back to the original finish or sand blast? Would it work and then ...
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How can I use door opening to open separate flap with levers?
I am searching for a mechanical solution for my gate with lever and counterweights.
The space under my gate is too large when closed and my dogs can escape under. However the door opens up on an ...
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Identifying this part used in awnings?
I’ve seen this used in many awnings, but I don’t know what they’re called.
So a few questions:
What’s the name of this part?
Can they be bought separately or are they only sold in kits?
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Problem with outdoor gfi to switch to outdoor pond pump
I usually understand how to do this but I am truly stumped.
There was a single GFI protected already in place and I wanted to run a switched 2 gang outlet from the box on my deck.
After turning power ...
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How to deal with backyard flooding?
So I am finally tired of walking through puddles to get to my garage. I am doing research to find out the best way to deal with my backyard flooding problem. I am in a townhouse with a small backyard ...
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How do I replace a porch light that’s mounted to a surface-mounted junction box?
I recently bought a house that has a porch light that doesn’t work. The porch light is mounted to a junction box that is installed surface-mounted to a vinyl mounting box. The junction box is loaded ...
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Chain specs for lifting stumps with farm jack?
A farm jack & chain can be used to lift out shrub stumps, it's just not obvious what length & strength of chain makes sense. I purchased a farm jack online and a 14 foot length of 3/8" grade ...
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Painting a wooden mailbox post
I need to repaint my wooden mailbox post.
When I first moved in to my house, the previous owner had let the paint all but come off. I sprayed it white, with Rust-Oleum spray paint, as that is what "...
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How to meet code when the outdoor light is separated from the electrical box by a wooden spacer
After new siding was installed on the house, there is a 1-1/2"-thick wooden spacer between the electrical box for an outside light and the location of the light. In my prior experience, the ...
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How to post mount flood light security lights
I am trying to add some light for security and visibility in our backyard that serves as a parking lot. The area where I'd like to install a light fixture is in the back corner of our yard opposite of ...
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How much cement and sand to buy for a garden edging project
I am planning to lay down edging around the lawn in my garden - leaving about 750 mm wide flower beds along the fence. All in all, I need to lay down about 23 meters of edging slabs - it will be ...
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What is this type of garden appliance power socket?
I've inherited a garden shredder with a missing power cable.
The missing cable plugs into this large 3-pin socket on the body of the shredder where the earth pin is female, and the other two are male....
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Best way to make wiring to outbuilding legal
I'm fixing some wiring in an older house and I believe the wiring to the outbuilding is not legal. I would like to correct it if possible, but will bring in a professional if necessary.
The current ...
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Can a doorbell transformer be installed outdoors in a protected location?
We have an outdoor electrical outlet w/ two knockouts. I was going to add the doorbell transformer in there but I couldn't find out if it is code to have the transformer in a dry outdoor place. It is ...
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Outdoor copper water pipe
My backyard has existing copper pipes outside that I want to reroute. To keep like with like, I'll just continue using copper. Are there any considerations or special types that I need to be aware ...
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Can you build a retaining wall vertically with no angle?
I am planning to redo our front steps in stone and my plan is to essentially have two stone walls on each side of the steps coming down from the entrance. For appearances it would be definitely ideal ...
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How to fix split open roof
Recent winds in the UK had blown the roof off my shed. It look like it has opened from the beam. I have claim insurance on it but for the time being I had put carpet on the roof but it keeps blowing ...
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Can I extend #12 wire with #14 wire for landscape lighting?
I am doing outdoor landscape lighting. I used the 12 gauge wire but have run short. can I extend it with 14 gauge wire? Need about 20 feet more for the led lights.
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Valve for outdoor spigot cannot identify
I cannot identify this Valve for an outdoor spigot I have the house was built in 1956 brick in and out so replacing entire spigot a real chore looking for valve replacement
Any help would be ...
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Door hinge alignment impacting full closure
I'm having problems with a set of outdoor BBQ area doors I've installed into a frame installed in a brick space. Basically, I have an opening constructed with two short brick walls as a space below ...
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Only apply primer to concrete roof?
Our building has decided to paint a 13-ft x 13-ft section of the roof that's leaking (just a few drops with lots of rain). This roof has a fence since it's an "outdoor" area that we all share, so it's ...
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How can I mount a mailbox on a stucco wall?
Been searching around and I have more questions than answers. I'm not sure what kind of stucco it is, but it is very smooth. The mailbox is a little heavier than you might expect (maybe 10-15 lbs).
...
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I have building that is on a 20 amp breaker along with outside lighting
I bought my house almost two years ago and there is a building off to the side that is on the same circuit as an older security light on the side of my house and the breaker is a 20 amp, the breaker ...
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How to separte door handle without visible screws?
I need to replace the door handle mechanism because it's stuck. In order to do that, I need to take apart the door handles but there are just two holes under each handle. It doesn't seem that the hole ...
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Run 50ft underground electrical: gauge and conduit?
I have a gfci outlet in my garage, only thing connected to a 20amp breaker (it’s about 20ft from the electrical box). I would like to add an outlet 50ft outside in my flower bed.
Two questions:
...
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How can I slope outdoor rounded steps?
I'm having a debate with my contractor about sloping our outdoor stairs. I hope to have 1% slope because we get a lot of rain. But because the steps are rounded, my contractor says the difficulties ...
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Outdoor outlet lost power
Christmas decoration lights were plugged into outlet while sprinklers were running. Came to find out lights were out, outlet had no power, and all other outdoor outlets around the house lost power. ...
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What is the best way to tidy outdoor items around block paving?
There are 3 aspects (circled in red) that I would like to tidy around some bricks and block paving. 2 cables coming out of brickwork into the block paving on both ends, and cuts around a drain. Are ...
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I have a garage heater but I don't want it to run at all if the temperature outside is above 45 degrees
I was thinking about putting two thermostats in series so that I could set the garage temp to ~65° but ONLY have it come on in the event that the outdoor temp falls below ~45°.
The garage does get a ...
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Add outlet to existing outdoor UF cable
I'm looking to add an outdoor outlet to the back of my house. There's an existing UF cable line that runs from the exterior basement wall to the exterior first floor wall, entering directly behind a ...
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Do I need mortar between 1x6 deck boards and cement board?
I have a screened and roofed porch/lanai. Original floor is pressure treated posts, beams, joists and 1x6 decking. Former owner decided they wanted tile. They screwed a plywood underpayment over the ...
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