Squaredealhandyman.com

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Maintenance

Posted by Brian L. on March 12, 2014 at 4:15 AM

Let me just say a few words about the maintenance of your new pergola, patio cover, deck or any other wood project that is to be outdoors. It WILL take a minimal amount of upkeep and maintenance to keep it looking new. I know, in this day and age everyone wants something that is 'maintenance free'. Well there is not anything in our lives that is truly maintenance free except maybe the moon and stars.

For example, how many of us would spend our hard earned money for a new car, just to bring it home, and say to yourself that you will never have to change the oil, tires, brake pads, etc. Would you truly expect to park it in your driveway and never have to wax it again for the rest of your life? Of course not!

Just like anything else, you want to keep it looking new and that will take a little bit of good old fashioned maintenance on your part. A coat of water sealer on your wood project will help protect it from the elements. Consider it like this, water sealer is to wood like wax is to a car. A good quality water sealer like Thompsons Water Seal, or Cabots water sealer will keep the wood shedding water like, well like.... water off a ducks back. Not only will it shed water, but they will also help portect against thoses UVA, UVB rays from the sun that want to break down wood and stains. I always like to apply water sealer once in the spring before it really heats up and once again in the fall before the winter weather sets in. A good quality water sealer can also protect your concrete by making sure that water does not get into the miniscule cracks and prevents water from freezing and then chipping your concrete finish. A word of caution though, when you seal concrete it does darken the color slightly and can make it a bit more slippery when snow, rain of ice is on it, so be careful if you have seniors who use your walkway. Test it on a small area first and yes, you can put it over stained wood. So protect your investment and keep it looking good!

Picking a stain color

Posted by Brian L. on August 18, 2011 at 1:55 AM

comments (39)

Picking the right color of stain can be one of the most important decisions you will make for your project. It can also be the most difficult with the many choices of color. Cabot stains has dozens and dozens of color choices and this can be a bit overwhelming to a customer. Most customers have a first instinct to match the color of their house or trim.

I recommend picking a color that will accenuate your home or compliment it. This will make it stand out instead of blending in. It will also make it appear bigger if it is a different color than the home. Taking a little extra time in picking the color of just the right stain will be a wise investment.

Staying on budget

Posted by Brian L. on September 20, 2010 at 4:10 PM

comments (43)

I stay on budget. PERIOD.

Lately there has been alot of discussion between my customers and I about the importance to stay on budget or rather the lack of concern for other builders to stay on budget.

Ever order a service or product and be given a "set price" only to find out that it will end up costing you more? I pride myself on staying within your budget and will tell you upfront what I can and cannot do. I always tell my customers that other guys know you are only going to build once, so they feel they must make as much money as they can off of you. This never made sense to me because they would make alot more money by having customers that are extremely satisfied and call you back for other projects. My business relies on repeat customers.

I never understood why contractors always overrun the budget on a job and used to think for years that they do not know what they are doing. But lately I have come to realize that they DO KNOW exactly what they are doing, in other words, it is intentional. They get the job part way done, where you already have a significant amount invested and then the price autoumatically gets bumped up. You feel like they are holding you hostage. Not a good feeling by any means.

As long as you are reasonable with the requests you make of your builder and give him a little room to work within a budget, then you will benefit in the end. Don't be afraid to ask about a "top end" price to get the job done and make sure you are in agreement with your builder on this.

Pergolas

Posted by Brian L. on September 24, 2009 at 4:35 PM

comments (75)

Recently I had a customer in Garden City ask about pergolas as window treatments. I had never heard of such a thing but was determined to to my best with a little research. What I came across was simply astounding!

Small window pergolas to not only shade your sunny windows but also function as a shelf for plants. What a fantastic idea. With the right plants they could provide some valuble shade and a great look to your home.

I plan on doing a lot of these in the future...

The size and closeness of the annual growth rings to the left is a great indicator that you might have a variety of redwood heartwood from the center of the tree. Since heartwood is very rarely cut and sold nowadays, it can give you an indication of the woods age. From a pinkish hue to a deeper red color, redwood can vary in color but some boards will also contain 'whitewood' as they were most probably curt from the outer part of the tree or a different species of redwood.

Wood can also wear unevenly on its surface from wind or water erosion. The raised parts of the board are actually a little tougher than the weaker parts that are usually between the annual growth rings. This phenomenon can also accidentally occur when folks use a pressure washer too close to the surface of the deck or project trying to remove old stain or paint. The weaker parts of the board will wear away faster and easier than other parts thus leading to a need to sand it smooth again. It is okay to use a pressure washer in a deck or wood project, you just have to be aware of how close is TOO close. It will vary so start out with the wand of the washer at a distance and then move closer and closer you notice it starting to do a little damage and then back off a bit. Easy does it in the beginning is good advice.

Using a board from the project as a sample board can give you a good indication of what the combination of stain and finishes you choose will look like on the actual wood after it has dried and cured.

Growth rings for each year the tree was living can be as wide apart as 3/8" depending on how the wood was cut all the way down to 1/16" wide or less for every year of growth. This 1 1/2" wide joist took 44 years of growth to produce just these rings. Redwood can grow to more than 15 feet in diameter!

In the old days before we had such access to a wide variety of screws for decks and outdoor projects the only thing available were nails. Although redwood is a very stable wood in dealing with expansion and contraction for wind and cold it must be sealed properly. Once a protective layers integrity is breached, any wood exposed to the elements, including UV light from the sun, wind, rain, heat or and cold temperatures, will decline much more rapidly. This loss of protective layer and expansion from heat and cold can expand and shrink much like a sponge will absorb water and then dry out again over time. This action will eventually, over time, move back and forth forcing the nails up and out of the wood that it was meant to hold down or fasten together. This picture is a good representation of that very movement over time. Untouched and left alone, you can see how far these nails moved up and out of the wood.

Sand until you remove all remnants of the old stain or paint. Remember, "paint peals and stain fades" is the main difference now that stain has come so far with technology pushing forward greatly over the last 20 years. Nails will have to be driven down again prior to the resealing or pulled and replaced with screws. Since redwood is a rather soft wood, pulling the nails can be problematic as you can damage the surface around it as you apply pressure to it. the need for a 'helper' board to spread out the pressure can help and save you from a further sanding.

Sometimes you have to be inventive in the moment to get the desired result.

Once the sanding is done you can begin to apply the stain. Remember, with stain, you get what you pay for. There is a time and place to cut costs and trim the budget of an overall project but for me, the choice of stain is not one of those places. You might regret choosing to pinch pennies on the stain. Choosing a very good quality stain like Cabot can save you alot of headaches in the future let alone alot of work in the future. The trick is to know where to cut cost. I have used Cabot brand stains for over 20 years and they have never let me down in quality. I am not endorsed by the stain company, I just like to make my work look as good as possible and yet stand the test of time. As I say to my customers, "My finished project IS my business card" as all of their relatives, friends, family and coworkers will be seeing it for the next 30 years. It is up to you to decide what your budget is and what you can afford. The money saved over replacing the deck with new wood will more than cover the upgrade to a good quality stain and Cabot stains are at the top of the heap.