| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
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| mortar has washed out on brick wall | 11/20/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: My neighbor was showing me on the west exterior wall of our brick home that the mortar has "washed" ...
A: I would pull out loose mortar a small section at a time and retuck with a just add water profinish ...
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| repairing damaged brick wall | 11/16/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: My mother has a small and very old brick home. When it was made it was made extremely well. She ...
A: You can remove and replace bricks a few at a time starting at the bottom of the affected area. Using ...
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| mortar yields per bag 1/8"-1/4" thick | 11/15/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I've got a stemwall foundation I want to stucco and the amount of area to stucco is about 550 SQ.Ft. ...
A: I use a mortar mix and add sand to do a scratch coat. I then use surface bond cement for a final ...
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| INSTALLING GRANITE TILES TO AN OLD BRICK FIREPLACE SURROUND | 11/14/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: We have an old brick fireplace that has been painted and on top of that it has primer. We originally ...
A: A scratch coat is a thin layer of tile thinset applied with a straight edge tile to smooth out an ...
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| brick mortar | 11/12/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I purchased reclaimed brick that I will put down as an outdoor path in the spring. The brick has a ...
A: Usually we clean brick with diluted hydrochloric acid and an acid brush. This is dangerous work but ...
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| Stone Veneer Installation Over Brick | 11/10/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have a traditional brick fireplace and I would like to install a cultured stone veneer over the ...
A: If the brick has a rough feel and is unpainted, you can scratch coat right over it with mortar and ...
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| Laying stone over stamped concrete | 11/3/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: We have a very large wrap around porch that is stamped concrete. I want to install stone, but am ...
A: You can. Grinding concrete is dangerous, dusty and hard work so be prepared before you start. I know ...
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| Tiling wooden stairs and porch | 11/3/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have 10 steps leading up to a porch at my front door. The space underneath both is living space. ...
A: I would use thinset under the durarock/permabase, to slope it. Use a few different size notched ...
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| Tiling wooden stairs and porch | 11/3/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have 10 steps leading up to a porch at my front door. The space underneath both is living space. ...
A: I would use durarock or permabase on top of a weatherproof barrier. Attach using exterior rated ...
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| Installation of wrought iron railings | 11/2/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Dan, We recently replaced our brick steps with bluestone treads. As part of the installation our ...
A: You can carefully use a hammerdrill to drill right into the stone. I would pour water on the drill ...
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| limestone stair treads | 10/9/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I need to replace a 2 inch limestone stair tread. I was wondering what type of mortar mix i needed ...
A: If it is a very small piece, exterior powergrip works very well. For a larger piece you can use ...
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| stone over concrete porch? | 10/5/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Our ca 1917 house has a poured concrete porch with wrought iron posts (replacing the craftsman style ...
A: A stone veneer would be easier to put on the sides of the porch. You can use brick mortar to attach ...
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| counter flashing on chimney | 10/3/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Does my counter-flashing need to be secured with mortar into my chimney, or is Vulcan sealant okay? ...
A: I have used roof sealant in the past with fine results. It comes in white, black and brown and has a ...
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| Stone Veneer | 9/27/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: This is a 2 parter, but deals with the same project. I am going to cover some recently repaired ...
A: Second, bonding agent is need if the concrete is sealed, painted or extremely smooth (basement ...
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| Fixing joints in granite foundation | 9/27/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: My new house has a granite foundation. For the time being I can only focus on the interior walls and ...
A: Profinish premix is a pretty good mix for that. It cleans off easier and is harder to mix wrong but ...
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| Soft Interior Brick | 9/26/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I purchased a 130 year old three story brick building. Some of the interior brick has become ...
A: If you replace the interior brick it should be a much harder brick than on the outside. This house ...
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| mortar repair | 9/21/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I want to repair some missing and loose mortar joints on an old house. The house is built with ...
A: It is a labor intensive job no matter what but I have a few things that could help. A air hammer ...
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| Mortar | 9/16/2009 | Bill-C |
Q: I live in Michigan and am building a new home. It was bricked in Nov. and Dec. last year surrounded ...
A: Raymond, If you can under your contract with the builder , have them return and dismantle and ...
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| Thinset for brick veneer | 9/15/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Is it possible to use thinset mortar for setting brick (half thickness bricks) and then using ...
A: A good amount of stone mason actually add some exterior grade thinset to mortar before to help ...
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| laying brick over concrete | 9/13/2009 | Bill-C |
Q: We have created a brick path leading up to our concrete steps and small porch. We would like the ...
A: You would fill the horizontal and vertical joints with sand and cement mortar. Depending on the ...
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| refacing as stone and glazed brick fireplace | 9/12/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have a tan glazed brick and stone fireplace which does not have an even surface. We would like to ...
A: You could strip the paint, scrape it or paint it over with a cement bonding agent and apply a strach ...
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| brick masonry | 9/12/2009 | Bill-C |
Q: i)In brick masonry structure why brick is laid by providing frog upper side? 2) Why the setting time ...
A: In answer to your question as follows 1 frogs are laid depending on the type of brick and frog. ...
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| shower floor | 9/12/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I replaced the floor in a existing shower. the wood was rotted under the concrete.It was replaced ...
A: A shower floor has wood, then a thick plastic membrane called shower liner, then a good layer of ...
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| sratch coat | 9/10/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: what type mortar to use on a block wall for sratch coat for stone? thank you
A: Usually, it is whatever mortar you are going to apply stone with. You can use a regular brick mix ...
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| mortor | 9/9/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: My husband put a small roof over our steps. It is held up with pillars made of stacked 2 x 6's. He ...
A: You need to wrap the posts tightly in tar paper then wrap in wire mesh or lath. You can then either ...
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| facing cement wall with river rock | 9/9/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: We are building a cabin in Southern Utah and it has a cement basement that sits into the side of the ...
A: You need to clean the surface and then you can use a brick mortar to attach the stone to the wall. ...
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| Waterproofing Exterior Painted Concrete | 9/3/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have a modular concrete dome building (panels with concrete exterior that have been joined ...
A: I can refer you to a couple of very good websites that should help you. http://www.monolithic.com/ ...
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| Pre mixed concrete | 9/2/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have a 40 lb bag of sakrete concrete and a 40 lb bag of quickrete concrete. Can these be mixed ...
A: To support a post or fill something in it should be fine but you may have trouble getting a good ...
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| foundation insulation/vapor barrier | 9/1/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: We live in a block house with a slab floor built in 1950 in NY. We just had a new foundation floor ...
A: Usually a plastic roll out vapor barrier is best below the plywood. Some are better than others it ...
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| re-point | 8/30/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I have a customer that had there chimney repointed about 8 years ago. The chimney was built around ...
A: If they used a just add water mix, the wrong type will fail over time. You could use a bonding agent ...
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| Stonepath Installation | 8/27/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: We are about to have a flagstone path installed in front of our house. We got bids from two ...
A: A flagstone patch should be fine on the dry bed just make sure they account for proper drainage ...
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| Stucco | 8/26/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I am doing some repairs to the exterior of my home specifically columns on my front porch that have ...
A: Usually they will use fill to build up the steps and only pour a couple of inches of concrete. That ...
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| Stucco | 8/26/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I am doing some repairs to the exterior of my home specifically columns on my front porch that have ...
A: You should use a mortar/base coat stucco first then when it dries go over with a finish coat stucco. ...
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| Re-set handrail | 8/23/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: I want to use mortar to reset a stainless steel handrail into a hole that was previously drilled ...
A: You can use a regular brick or stone just add water mix. I would stay away from Quikrete stone ...
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| concrete wall | 8/21/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: We have a concrete brick wall between us and our neighbor. It's about 8 inches thick and about 5-6 ...
A: Yes the wall can shift and settle over time. We have cinder block dividing walls to separate the ...
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| base layer for laying fieldstone flat rocks | 8/20/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: we are redoing part of a fieldstone "turn around area" because cars/dwelivery trucks coming off the ...
A: You should have a two to four inch compacted layer of gravel for hardness and drainage underneath ...
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| Fireplace - stone veneer | 8/9/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Can you give me some quick basics on installing stone veneer to a brick fireplace? I've read ...
A: Natural stone it much more difficult to install than stone veneer. You can use brick mortar to ...
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| sealer on concrete turns white | 8/5/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Hey Dan: I too am an all experts expert in the auto repair section under Pontiac repair. here is ...
A: First, I am sorry for the delay. When they switched to this system I cannot answer questions from my ...
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| repairing scratches on brick | 8/1/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Donavin, My husband scratched the brick on the front of our house when trying to get old paint off ...
A: You would have to paint everything for it to look right. If you tried to color match that brick and ...
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| repair brick and seal chimney | 7/25/2009 | Dan Donavin |
Q: Recently had bricks replaced on exterior chimney one of which has partially split. About 1/4 of the ...
A: You need to chip the brick out and all the mortar around it and place new mortar on the brick below ...
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