New answers tagged concrete
3
It is possible to remove those forms. We did plenty of that when I worked for my dad. Usually contractors want to keep and re-use the form panels because they are expensive. There are only two real drawbacks to leaving the panels on the foundation:
You will not be able to coat the exterior of the foundation wall with any waterproofing. Usually something ...
1
Certainly a fresh coat of paint costs little in money, time, and effort for the difference it makes as an impression on your potential buyers (do the floor too for best impact.) I've done this, and heard from the realtor afterwards...
If you choose a light color (or white, my personal preference) it's much brighter, dust from raw concrete is reduced or ...
0
Would installing a pressure treated 2x4 across the door frame solve
this problem? Or is that a short term solution as it would rot out
from the water/moisture that gathers in the stairwell?
Yes it would, you may have to do some creative cutting to get it fit well. It is treated so although water may gather there it will not be a short term solution and will ...
3
Check with a termite control company and/or the state agency that studies termite control. Also check with your homeowner's insurance company. Having all that buried wood would invite termites.
6
Sounds like a hack-job approach to me.
That wall could be built from concrete blocks (aka CMUs or concrete masonry units), with bond-block rows and reinforcing steel, and grouted full, making it effectively solid, without abandoning forms in place - or rather, the forms would be the block wall.
Of course, poured concrete contractors and masons are not ...
4
What's not standard practice is for a wall to be poured so near another parallel foundation. That's a somewhat unique situation to begin with. Normally the floor system for an addition would rest on the original foundation unless there was a problem with the original. (I've since learned that the existing is a slab foundation. Obviously the new wall is ...
0
You are overthinking. Concrete holds up huge buildings, your cup of tea or your wife's bottom will be just fine sat on any old mix you throw together. Just don't go thinner than 2". 3-4" is better.
1
Yes, you can only use such products to a certain depth. This is due to shrinkage and lack of aggregate, which means that thicker applications become rather weak.
More importantly, though, is that those products are not intended as a finished flooring surface. They're soft and chalky when cured, and you're supposed to put actual flooring over the top. It will ...
2
I have used cardboard and styrofoam around pipes this helps in several ways and I would recommend at a minimum some heavy paper stock or cardboard and grease to allow for movement in desert or high temp zones. Just guessing based on the photo. No high water issues it is best to allow movement.
1
To answer your question, the bottom of your footing needs to be a minimum of 12” below finish grade, where you live. However, I feel you don’t understand the complexity of this project so I’m going to layout a few issues you’ll need to resolve.
First, this wall will weigh about 4,800 lbs. (plus weight of your stone veneer) so if it falls over it’s a ...
3
I would absolutely be cutting concrete. You have an ideal opportunity to do so since you're overlaying the floor anyway. You don't want to deal with clogs later due to pipe reduction from an extension, and you want the stability a proper flange provides.
Rent or borrow a diamond saw, cut out a 24" square, and fix this up right with a full-size pipe. ...
1
you want a toilet flange extension, this is a standard plumbing part.
This is an example of an extension that seals to the I.D. of the existing waste pipe and gives you bolt-up capability at a new higher floor level. Not a product endorsement...
0
This can be a tough one to answer, I don’t like to pour next to block walls after seeing pours crack the walls.
always settling is kind of true as you add it compacts more but you want some voids in the gravel for water to flow.
For me I would rather have to flip some pavers than take a chance of the angled pad cracking your wall as it settles.
I used to ...
1
Your math looks right on. I couldn't verify the concrete but it looked pretty similar to other stuff I've used.
The 12" Sonotube seems small for a 6x6 post. Their site recommends three time the post width so that would mean an 18" Sonotube. you might want to look into that. that means you have to do your calculations for concrete over again.. lol
3
Backer Rod
Sikaflex Self-Leveling Sealant
Done. Perfect.
I am in no way affiliated with this company; I am just a fan of it.
https://retail.usa.sika.com/en/products/sealants/self-leveling/sikaflexr-self-leveling-sealant-0
5
I don't understand why they were cut so sharp and deep
For UTILITY not aesthetics.
Sharp: That's how a segmented diamond blade cuts concrete. It's just the nature of the tool being used.
Wide: The segmented diamond blade has a kerf size, apparently this one was about 1/4 inch.
Deep: They wanted to make sure the stress cracks were controlled instead of being ...
1
The answer is no. To be considered a finished basement there must be a wall covering around the "finished" part of the basement. If it were just concrete, well that is an unfinished basement.
I have seen a lot of goofy things done including adding a 1/2" of plaster to all of the outer walls, putting drywall on basically shims, adding faux ...
7
So the question is it a live joint? A live joint is one where the ground is actually moving, and you can tell by careful examination of the bottom of the control joint. If there is no crack in the bottom of the control joint it is not live and can be filled with either mortar or caulk. if there is a crack in the bottom it is easier to assume that there is ...
1
Finish it anyway you want. Attaching fasteners to the wall for hanging TV's pullup bars, vaults for your gold bullion collection won't be a problem. You may want to paint the wall. Black maybe
18
You could have caulked them a month after the slab was poured. You can caulk them now. Or vacuum/scrape them out and caulk them now.
Saw-Cut control joints (as opposed to "tool-formed while the concrete was wet" control joints) are inherently sharp. They are less expensive than formed joints. They need to be deep enough to accomplish the goal of ...
0
When called upon to fill holes in concrete ceilings when the ceiling fans were being removed, and the lag shields holding it up, I've always used a Sakrete type material but without the stones in it. Make sure the holes are dust free and wet them down a bit. Mix up your cement a little thicker than normal and start packing it into the holes. Have a dowel rod ...
0
I would add tape over the hole being filled with “mud” all Sheetrock is is paper mud paper the strongest repair you can get is to fill the hole let dry, sand and fill the hole again, put some mud on the surface and a piece of tape larger than the hole. Sand and skim coat. Prime and paint and it will be as strong as any patch can be.
2
Use a resin or hard setting product and make sure the holes are dust free.
Worked well for me, either reusing those holes or having to drill a new hole part through the wall of the repair.
1
Consider installing a pressure-treated 2x8 base plate onto the floor slab, underneath the stringers. That's roughly how you'd build a new staircase by today's standards.
Notch the bottom of the stringers so the new base plate will fit. This will be the trickiest part since you can't disassemble the staircase.
Slide the base plate into place. It should be ...
1
Looking at Mattias' article on woodgears.ca, I think you can hang the uprights from the overhead floor joists and cut them off above the floor.
The 2x4s coming down the wall provide a method to affix the shelving unit to the wall, not provide support from the floor. Some of the other contributors have "half-height" shelves pictured that only come ...
0
Screw into the floor with galvanized brackets. Attach the 2x4 to the brackets with a gap. Prefably install a rubber flashing product to the bottom of the 2x4 and then use like a polyrurathane adhesive to further prevent wicking
2
You still need to follow the instructions for the SLC - most (IIRC) say 30 days minimum cure (for the underlying concrete.)
Be sure to keep it damp so it can actually cure. If it dries out, it stops curing, and that's a very likely thing with a thin pour over an existing slab that will want to suck water out of it.
0
There are two major issues with “large (or small) rock foundations”: 1) set all the footings down at the same level, and 2) set the bottom of the foundation below the frost line.
Assuming the soil has about the same bearing capacity throughout the building area at each depth below the building. You want all your footings at the same depth so that you do not ...
1
If it take more than one to fill the hole, you don't have "very large rocks" for New England.
Plenty of old barns and other buildings are sitting on large rocks (4 feet or more in at least one direction) that were rolled into holes to provide a solid, dry, non-rotting foundation hundreds of years ago, for hundreds of years.
You appear to be talking ...
1
Concrete appears solid, but it is very porous. Likely, the epoxy got down into the pores of the concrete. Ways to get it off economically include taking an angle grinder wth a diamond tip and grinding it down properly (because sand paper is not enough to get through concrete), or simply painting over it with drylok or something similar. Really, any paint ...
0
I have seen decks built as you described, with the posts in concrete. Very recently I saw where concrete was poured in the bottom of the hole for a footer, and then the post was put on top of that with just dirt around it. This was to code and approved by an inspector. Post in the ground 20-30 years. I have built 3 decks recently and have put the posts on ...
1
I like to put bring the footers 6-8 inches above grade. I go on the higher side if its on a slope. Much more than that and you are buying a lot of concrete.
1
Option one - toss enough mortar or hydrualic cement in the hole to fill up the core. Tedious, and annoying, but it works.
However, option 2 also works and takes a lot less material. Cut 4 strips of wire mesh or stiff screen about as wide as the widest part of the hole but longer than the hole. Tie long wires to the middle of these in pairs, arranged so that ...
0
Good answers above, but have you considered self leveling compound? That would get things pretty close to flat.
(And if you do go with the concrete grinding, do yourself a favor and get a dust management shroud and a capable vacuum. They make a huge difference.)
0
One half millimeter seems really small, and well within many of the requirements for flatness from the flooring suppliers. I do not do conversion on the fly very well, but most flooring makers want a floor flat enough so that if you use a good straight edge, any where from 8 to 10 feet long and if you balance the straight edge over a presumed high spot, the ...
0
I would use an angle grinder with a concrete surfacing disk.
These have carbide or diamond embedded blocks and will really clean up high points in a floor. Any bumps will affect the floor and the area around it.
2
You may have to adjust your ideas of what's needed to get this done.
You make sawcuts and drill holes as close as you can to the place you need to open, but it may well not be practical or possible to limit that to the particular room you want to work in, especially since you appear to be planning to run the pipe inside framing with drywall you don't want to ...
0
If you have to do this by digging down under the concrete, here's an outline of how I would go about it:
Consider renting a motorized earth auger to drill the actual hole. Unless the hole to be dug is very shallow this can be a big labor saver. Otherwise, you will probably need a post-hole digger. Either way the tool to be used will determine how big of a ...
1
There's no reason to think that won't work. Urethane can be used over almost any stable, non-soluble surface. I'm a bit concerned that your surface slurry resulted in a chalky finish that might tend to lift when you apply the urethane, but the first coat should seal it in.
2
Basically not without chiseling (or drilling and chiseling) in to find rebar (and it would have to be a 20 foot chunk unless it was all tied properly for use as a ground even though you forgot that part at the time.) Covered by 2" concrete is not actually inaccessible, particularly if the concrete is relatively fresh/green. You can do that, and patch ...
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