Landscaping with Stones. Q: Do you recommend any particular mortar mix for use with flagstone paths? A: I don't often use mortar on a flagstone path. I like to use a thick stone, an inch and a half thick if you can find it, set on a crushed rock base. Large thick stones will stay in place without the need for mortar. When I need mortar between stones, or to edge the path, I use the same crushed rock, or breeze which is 3/8 minus with fines, in a 3 to 1 mix with portland cement.

I sweep in the mix dry and wet thru with a fine spray of water. Don't expect this mortar to last forever but is very easy to repair. I would sure recommend that you use a dry stacked retaining wall if you can as water accumulating behind the wall adds a lot of pressure that can be avoided if the wall can weep. If conditions demand a mortared wall consider a gravel drain behind the wall with weep holes.

A gravel drain also gives some protection against frost heaving. Good luck. Q: I'm planning on building a dry stacked stone retaining wall.

FAQ and Wiki Knowledgebase NEW: Our FAQ database contains answers* and DIY methods to frequently asked questions on Roofing, Venting, Waterproofing and Roofing Repairs. Search metadata Search full text of books Search TV captions Search archived web sites Advanced Search. Asphalt Kingdom has all the equipment and materials you need for your asphalt maintenance project. Learn how to keep your asphalt in good shape year-round. Ringtones Complete V2 5 Apkpure on this page. Search results for padstones 215x100x140 on Wickes.co.uk. Waterproofing Cinder Block Walls and CMU's What Makes Cinder Blocks Different? Concrete blocks and cinder blocks, as well as split face blocks and lightweight blocks.

The land is sloped, so the wall will be four feet high on one end, and six inches on the other, with a arch shape. Should I build a concrete retaining wall, behind the stone for support. A: No need to build a concrete wall behind the dry stack if you build the rock wall properly.

This glossary is provided as a general reference tool for learners to consult as regards technical terminology referred to in the SAHITA modules and also to.

A dry stack rock wall relies on gravity to hold up the bank so the rock has to weigh enough to counteract the force of the dirt pushing on it. The four foot end of the wall will need stones of considerable weight. A tight fitting wall with angular stone has the added advantage of friction working for it. Make sure that you start the wall below grade at least 6 inches to toe it into the slope. You can also reduce the pressure on the wall by sloping the face of the wall back into the bank a few degrees. Good compaction of the soil behind the wall is essential. Building a dry stack stone wall can be challenging the first time but well worth the effort.

Don't be afraid to disassemble and relay to get a better fit as you get better at it. Q: I want to build natural rock steps into a hillside on our lawn, but we have frost in the ground in winter here in New Brunswick, Canada. Do I need to put steel mesh underneath to keep the rocks from shifting or is there a better way to stabilize the steps? A: (Kelly) We have pretty cold winters here in the mountains of Colorado and the rock steps that I built into the hillside leading to our front door have not shifted. They are pretty hefty rocks (bigger that I can lift) and are just bedded in the sandy soil. It might be that the fact that the soil drains so wells eliminates the possibility of frost upheaval. If such upheaval is a problem (it might not be) then the use of sand to bed the rocks in might be a solution.

Q: I have collected lots of river rock, enough to make a low rock wall around a garden. There is a concrete footing . It's about 2' tall and I want to cover the outside and top. Do I simply ? I live in northern New Mexico, dry and dusty here. A: (Kelly) I would say that you have a couple of choices here: you can either do as you suggest and mortar the rock wall up against the old foundation, or you could probably simply dry stack (without mortar) the rocks. Since it will not be a bearing wall and is not all that high, I might suggest the later. You might gain some insight into creating this type of wall by reading one of the several books listed on the rock page.

Q: We have an existing flagstone patio, but the pebbles and sand that they used in between each stone is always everywhere. Can we pour cement in all the cracks right over the pebbles and sand? What other suggestions do you have that doesn't require us removing everything and starting over?

A: The easy fix to your problem is to dig out the pebbles and sand to a couple of inches deep. Mix what you have excavated 3 to 1 with portland cement dry and sweep back into the cracks. You can use new sand instead or crushed rock, 3/8 minus is best. I try to pick a color that contrasts the flagstone. After you have swept the dry mix into the cracks, use a fine spray of water to soak the mortar.

You will get some cement that wants to settle on the flags and stain them so start at one end with your spray and sweep the stones as you soak the mortar joints. This will give you a hard joint that will keep your flags clean but don't count on it lasting forever. Mix more dry mortar than you need and keep a bucket in the garage for easy repairs. Q: I'm building a dry stack stone retaining wall 7. After I have cut back the lawn to provide a 2 foot crushed stone base of 6 to 8 inches deep I plan to bury my first row of stones. Do I need to apply landscape cloth on the incline behind the retaining wall? Also do you advise backfilling with dirt or crushed stone?

Would either or both of these assist in the longevity of the retaining wall? A: I don't think you need to use a landscape cloth behind the wall unless you have a very sandy soil that will seep through the stone wall. A layer of crushed rock behind the wall will provide protection against frost and water pressure that can damage a dry stack wall. You can get away without either option if the conditions are right, but without knowing more than I do I would say skip the filter fabric and put a drain of crushed rock behind the wall 3 to 4 inches thick. Q: We recently had a large (1.

We are seeing a significant amount of . In some cases entire sheets 1/8.

Would a sealer stop this flaking? Do you have any other suggestions? A: No, a sealer will not stop the flaking. You obviously have a poor quality stone for a patio. I would hope that only a few of the stones will flake and soon the patio will stabilize. Picking the right stone is step number one of any patio job. If you had to pour concrete under the flags you probably are using a thin stone to begin with.

Here's hoping that some of the stone was inferior and the rest hold up. Q: We have some property on a lake in the Texas hill country. Pdf To Word Conversion Jobs In Bangalore For Graduates there.

The property is very steep and treacherous to navigate. We would like to cut/carve stone steps right out of the hillside rather than install stone steps. Is this possible and how do you go about finding someone who can do this?

A: It may be possible to cut steps out of the rock on your site. It's impossible to say without a closer examination than you can give me via email.

As far as someone to do the work, I sure don't know anyone in that part of the country. Q: How deep and wide do I dig a hole for 6- 8 ft retaining wall? A: Give me some information.

An 8 foot tall dry stack garden wall requires no hole per se, just start the stone a foot or so below grade. A mortared house wall that retains 8 ft. And that's just the start. What kind of stone will you use?

How big are the stones? Do you have water issues? Q: The rear corner of our house is within 2- 3 feet of a drainage ditch which separates our property from our neighbors. The bottom of the ditch is 5- 6 feet below the level of our house.

We have noticed erosion of soil along the edge of the property and realize that we need to build a retaining wall. Due to the closeness of the house to the ditch only limited excavation of soil behind the wall is possible.

The soil is clayey and we have annual rainfall in excess of 3 feet. Is dry wall stacking feasible for this situation? A: Sure a dry stack wall would work. Dry stacking is probably the best way to build a wall with so much water. It is really hard to comment on your situation without more information or a good look but it sounds like you might not need to excavate a wall at all. In similar situations I have laid small stones on the existing grade to solve an erosion problem.

I like to line the ditch like a dry creek bed with river rock about 3 to 6 inches deep. Using a filter fabric underneath would probably be advisable with so much rain. Next line the slope to the house with stones like cobbles, this is called rip rap.

How to Repair Garage Floor Cracks and Pitting. Learning how to repair a garage floor doesn’t have to be as scary as it sounds. You may be surprised to learn that many repairs can be done easily by yourself and for less expense than you think.

Typically with a garage floor there are three types of repairs that are the most common; surface cracks, pitting, and spalling. Pitting and spalling can be just as easy to repair as most cracks, it just takes a little more work. If you are applying a sealer, paint, or an epoxy system, then you will want to make sure your garage floor is repaired properly to make it is as blemish free as possible. If you are covering your floor with a tile or mat flooring then repairs may not be necessary unless you are trying to stop a continuing problem like pitting and spalling or you are worried about water penetration. Why garage floors crack. Garage floors crack – period.

Concrete is not a ductile material, meaning that it neither stretches nor bends without breaking. It does shrink and expand with temperature, however, and as a result it cracks. Most floors have contraction joints built into the slab that allow for this cracking. These are usually those deep grooves or saw cut joints that you see in the concrete that appear to divide a typical two- car garage into four separate slabs. These grooves create a weakened line in the concrete that encourages cracks to follow the groove instead of wondering across the surface. As well as contraction joints work though, you still can get cracks in other parts of the concrete due to the settling of the earth underneath the slab, curing issues, or other variables beyond your control.

The good news is that the majority of cracks are cosmetic and not structural in nature. This means that they can be repaired to accept most any garage flooring. Recommended crack repair products.

Always use an epoxy, polyurethane, or polyurea based crack repair or crack filling compound that is sandable. These cure and harden at a strength greater than concrete and will prevent water intrusion as well. You can grind or sand them flush with the concrete and they will accept paint or an epoxy coating. Do not use inexpensive water based or latex based concrete crack filler and repair products. This is what most home improvement centers carry since they are cheap and easy to use. The problem with them is that they are not sandable, they will not accept paint, and they will shrink over time and pull away from the repair. Do not use a self leveling sealant either as these are designed mostly for sealing control joints in the concrete.

One such example of an epoxy based crack repair product that we know works very well is Simpson Strong- Tie Crack- Pak. It comes in a 9 oz. The 2- part epoxy is separated inside the container. The self mixing cartridge tip eliminates the need to mix the 2- parts together and makes application easy. Because it flows very easily, it’s a great choice for repairing garage floor cracks less than 1/8. For deep cracks or cracks larger than 1/8.

This will slow the flow of epoxy from going deep into the crack and using more than necessary. Another excellent crack repair product that we have experience with is PC- Concrete Epoxy Crack Repair. It is a thicker flowing epoxy that requires using a putty knife to work into the crack. It also works well for filling small holes and divots in the concrete. Like other cartridge epoxy repair products, it comes with a self mixing tip as well. What we like about PC- Concrete is that it fully cures in only 4 hours. This means that you can repair your cracks and grind them flush the same day.

A third product that we can recommend is Rust- Oleum’s Epoxy. Shield Concrete Patch. This is a 2- part epoxy as well that requires you to mix the separate Part- A and Part- B materials together on a piece of cardboard or wood. When mixing the two components together, be careful not to mix too much at any one time.

The epoxy does set fairly quick and you will only have a short time to use it. If your repairs are not all ready to be filled, you will run out of working time and the epoxy will become too thick to use. You can sometimes find it at most home improvement centers or you can purchase it here from Amazon. If you are repairing numerous cracks larger than 1/4.

This type of product is an excellent choice for deeper and larger width cracks that span a long length of the garage floor. These usually consist of a 1. Once you apply it to the crack it can be troweled smooth with a concrete float. One of our favorites that we recently reviewed is Xtreme Set 1. Legacy Industrial. You will not find product like this at a home improvement center either.

Instead, they are much more common in the professional floor coating industry and will need to be purchased online in most cases. You can find a good example of such kits from Legacy Industrial or this one from Epoxy.

Master. Repairing Cracks in Your Garage Floor. The first thing you need to do when making a crack repair is to chase the crack.

This is the process of using a hammer and cold chisel to break way any loose edges or material within the crack. The repair is only as strong as the material it adheres to.

If you don’t have a cold chisel, you can easily find them at your local home improvement center or purchase them online from Amazon. We prefer the ones with the hand guard. Chase the crack by placing your cold chisel at an angle that runs in line with the crack. This will remove any weak laitance and prep the surface for the repair material.

If you use a 2- part epoxy gel or 2- part epoxy sand slurry, work it good into the crack in order to push out any trapped air. Once it’s worked in, trowel it as smooth as you can before the material begins to set up. Watch for any low spots that may need additional repair material added. If you are using the Simpson Strong- Tie or similar product for larger cracks, it works best to fill 3/4 of the crack with silica sand first. Apply the Simpson Strong- Tie over the sand up to the top of the concrete.

Allow a couple minutes for it to soak in and then apply it again to fill in the low spots. Once you do that, apply more sand loosely over the repair and let it set for 2. After it has set, you can scrape off the top layer with a paint scraper or putty knife.

Once the repair has cured, you can grind it flush to create an even transition if you will be applying paint or an epoxy coating. This will prevent most repairs from telegraphing through the coating and you will not see them.

Contrary to some information out there, you do not need to chisel cracks to form an inverted or backward- angled cut. This is only required of large repairs that are made using concrete or a cement based patch. Since new concrete does not adhere well to previously cured concrete, the backward- angled cut helps to keep the material from lifting out. Epoxy, polyurethane, and polyurea crack repair products on the other hand form a tenacious bond to properly prepared concrete and do not need an inverted cut to stay in place. Another process which works well for chasing cracks is to use a small 4. The wheel is tapered to form a nice clean groove in the concrete. You can see how it works in the video below.

Chasing a crack with 4. This will prevent the repair material from seeping down deep into the concrete and settling.

It saves you from using excess material as well as creating low spots that need to be refilled. Repairing Spalled and Pitted Garage Floors. Pitting of a garage floor can be caused by improper finishing of the concrete or a bad mix. Which type you use depends on the extent of the repair. It requires a little more effort that repairing a crack, but it’s not that hard to do. After the surface has been prepared properly, you apply the mix over the pitted areas using a trowel.