Home repair: Puddles in garage can be eliminated
Q. My family has a beautiful home that we love, except for one thing. The concrete in the garage was poorly done and is uneven. Living in western Pennsylvania in the winter time, we get plenty of snow. When we bring the cars into the garage with snow on them, the melting snow puddles in the low spots of the garage floor, along with the salt from the roads, instead of running into the floor drain. The water and salt eat the concrete and it ruins anything on the floor. I’ve been unsuccessfully looking for years to find a solution short of having the entire floor torn out and repoured. Any ideas?
A. You may want to have an experienced masonry or concrete contractor etch the low spots on the slab and apply a vinyl-reinforced mix to fill them and direct the water to the floor drain. If you opt to do the job yourself, Top ‘N Bond is one such product, but it is sold regionally. Other brands are available in other areas. Home Depot carries Sika Clean & Etch and Bonding Adhesive, which you can use to prepare for the application of a cement topping. A construction-supply firm is also likely to have its own favorite repair materials.
Once this is done successfully, you may want to seal the entire concrete floor with an appropriate sealant. Some concrete or masonry sealants are not available in a number of states because of the solvent in them. So the industry is moving toward water-based sealants that have proved to be very effective and more environmentally acceptable. Euclid Chemical makes Baracade WB 244, a siloxane/silane-based blend that provides deep penetration and good surface repellency. There are others, such as Sika Clear Sealer, which Home Depot also carries. Masonry-supply houses in your area also carry other brands.
The garage floor will need to be thoroughly clean and dry before any repairs are attempted. You can clean it with a product called TSP-PF, following directions on the container. You will find the Sika products mentioned above in the masonry section of Home Depot and not with other caulking products.
Q. In 2010, we had a 24-gauge standing seam roof put on our house, as well as steel gutters and downspouts. The roof is steep enough for the snow to slide off. However, they installed the gutters high enough that the snow has to build up before it slides off, and when it does, it bends the gutters. I called this to their attention right after they finished their installation, but they just ignored my concern. Please send instructions on how the gutters should have been installed to avoid this.
A. The gutters should have been installed so that their outside edge was slightly below the sliding plane of the snow. You can either have your gutters relocated lower or you can cover the gutters with off-the-shelf metal drip edge for the winter. This is feasible if your house is only one story and the gutters are easy to reach. You would have to cut notches in the drop leg of the drip edge to insert it over the gutter fasteners and slide its flat part under the bottom or next course of shingles, just enough not to be dislodged by sliding snow. Remove the drip edge in the spring. I have used this method successfully on several jobs, not only to keep the snow from knocking down the gutters, but also to keep the gutters from filling with ice, which is even more damaging.
Q. Two years ago I had new gutters installed on my house. Last year the ice buildup in the gutters actually caused a bulge in the front gutter. Do heating cables work? I have seen them on the roof above the gutters, but do they also lie in the gutters and downspouts? Which works the best? I am also considering a leaf guard, the type that fills the gutter with a porous material. Cleaning the gutters several times a year is dangerous, and at 84 years of age, I’m not so spry anymore. Which cable is best and will it work with a leaf guard? I would like to be ready for next winter.
A. Electric roof cables are expensive to buy and operate, and they should be installed by a licensed electrician. They will need an outside plug that is protected from the weather and, unless you have a specialist install a very expensive control system, you will have to monitor them, turning them on only when the snow starts falling and keeping them on as long as there is melting snow on your roof.
They should be installed in a large “V” pattern over the roof shingles from the eaves up, with the bottom loop dropping over the eaves a couple of inches. They should also be run into the gutters and downspouts. They are only marginally successful, and I have photos of these cables torn off the roof by ice. If you opt to use them, be sure they are UL listed.
Filling the gutters with a porous leaf guard is not likely to help much, as the melted snow is likely to freeze once in the gutters and prevent additional water from reaching the channel kept open by the heat cable lying at the bottom of the gutters.
A better solution is to prevent ice dams from forming in the first place by finding out why they occur. The attic may need more insulation; bathroom and kitchen fans should be vented outside; all possible convective paths from the conditioned spaces below the attic need to be sealed; any chimney running through the attic may need to be insulated.
An energy audit is the best way to find out what is needed. Check with your power company to see if it provides such audits or whom it would recommend.
In the long run, not only will any improvements made to eliminate ice dams make you more comfortable and save money on your heating bills, but they also may cost less than keeping heat cables on all winter, as is possible depending on your climate.
Q. I am planning to have a fence installed around my yard and am looking for contractors to do the job. One issue is that the backyard gets wet and spongy after the winter snow melt. Sometimes the ground can stay wet through June or into the summer. It is a mainly clay soil. I’ve mentioned this to various contractors because I wondered if the frost heaves and soft, wet ground would affect the fence posts.
One contractor said he would put extra concrete in the ground to stabilize it, and another said he would not use concrete in that area of the yard with the posts. Another issue is that we live in a strong wind area, and I think I would like the fence very stable to withstand the force of the wind. Do you have an opinion on stabilizing a fence in wet ground with a constant high wind?
A. What did the other contractor say he would use? I agree that concrete is very likely to heave with the kind of soil you describe, and I would avoid using it.
Here are my suggestions. To stabilize the fence against the wind, use pressure-treated posts if installing a wood fence, and go as deep as 3 feet. Use two pieces of 2-inch by 12-inch pressure-treated wood at least 1 foot long and install them crosswise to the posts, one on each side and parallel to the run of the fence. Screw the 2-by-12s to the posts using two rows of four stainless steel screws that are at least 3 inches long, or with through-bolts, so that their tops are about 1 foot below the finish grade. This process will obviously require the digging of much larger holes than normally would be used.
To control frost heave, place 1-inch-thick rigid XPS (extruded polystyrene insulation: green, blue or pink; not white EPS) against the 2x12 boards as protection against “bear-hugging.” Backfill the holes with coarse masonry sand, a dry mix of coarse sand and aggregate (used in concrete mix) or bank-run gravel for a minimum of 4 inches on all sides, preferably more, and tamp it down with a two-by-four or equivalent in 6-inch lifts (layers) to within a couple of inches of the grade. Complete the backfill with native soil mounded to slope away from each post to keep water from pooling against the posts and penetrating deeply.
If you are having a vinyl fence installed, I suggest you use the same method, but the installer should fasten the 2-by-12s to the vinyl posts with stainless steel through-bolts instead of stainless steel screws. To provide additional protection against frost heave, bury 1- or 2-inch-thick XPS around each post, forming a collar 2 feet all around and installed with a slight slope 6 inches below grade.
Any fence installer is going to tell you that it is a lot of extra work and expense, and unnecessary, but ask if they will guarantee in writing that their method will accomplish what you want. Be sure the installer has been around for a long time, otherwise its guarantee may be worthless.
Q. I have a redwood bench made of 2-inch stock about 10 feet long. It has been outside for about 25 years, but not exposed to the weather. I would like to restore the color to it if I can. It has never had any finish on it. Have you any suggestions?
A. Try Oxy-Boost from Pacific Sands Inc. You can order it at www.ecogeeks.com. Follow directions and it should bring back the original bright color.
Update: I have good news for all of you who have asked me where to get the caulking I always recommend for any indoor or outdoor projects: Sikaflex-1a polyurethane compound.I have just spent some time at Home Depot going over the large selection of Sika Corp. products that the chain carries in its masonry products aisle. It does not carry Sikaflex-1a but does sell Sika Construction Sealant, which looks quite the same to me. Home Depot also carries these other Sika products: Mortar Fix, Concrete Fix, Construction Adhesive, Anchoring Adhesive, Self-Leveling Sealant and Mix Go Repair Mortar. Also of interest is Sika Concrete Clean Etch and Bonding Adhesive for low spots and any other repairs in which a cement coating needs to be applied. Home Depot also carries Sika Clear Sealer for coating concrete to protect it from winter damage. Although all these fine Sika products are available at A.H. Harris stores throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic coast, Home Depot is probably an easier place for most of you to get them.Ÿ Henri de Marne was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via email at henridemarne@gmavt.net. His book, #147;About the House,#148; is available at www.upperaccess.com and in bookstores.$PHOTOCREDIT_ON$© 2011, United Feature Syndicate Inc.$PHOTOCREDIT_OFF$