NEWSLETTER from DaveOsborne.com | ||
![]() | “Building Confidence” | August 2008![]() |
Dan and I welcome you to another newsletter. We invite you to have a look at our website, with the many how to do it articles and new content added every month through these newsletters.
Well, the Fall weather is just around the corner and a lot of us are thinking about those renovations that need to be done. We are one of them. We will be building a bedroom with ensuite down in our basement. I'll take some pictures, as we progress, so you can have a good idea how to do something similar, yourself. More in next month's newsletter.
Here are the questions and answers for August:
Hi Dave. I am currently siding my house and would like to put cedar shingles in the gables. the problem is getting up there to work. i have a seven twelve pitch and 25 foot span. the base for the triangle is 14 ft above the ground. i know i could rent a pump platform but wondered if you know of a cheaper way to make a temp platform to do this job. also i have gables at the front of the house which require the same treatment. thanks Dave. Trevor
Hi Trevor,
Your best bet probably is scaffold frames and braces for 8' planks. You would need 12 frames and 18 braces, 3 frames high and 4 long. These are available at rental yards.
Dave
Dear Dave I happened to visit your website while I was searching for details on stairs. We are building a (2 storey with basement) house in Winnipeg, Canada. We are finishing our staircase with ceramic tiling. The tile installer asked us to install the stairs with open stringers. My doubt is what should be the depth of the tread for tile fininshing-standard or minimum. I found that the stairs leading to 2nd level from main floor has 8 3/4" depth and stairs to lower level has 8 1/2" depth. Somehow I feel that is insufficient tread depth with ceramic tile. I appreciate your help in this regard. Thank you Sowmya
Hi Sowmya,
According to the Building Code of Canada the maximum finished tread depth, including nosing, is 355 mm (14"). The minimum is 235 mm (9 1/4"). The maximum run is 14, the minimum is 8 1/4". The 1" nosing is the difference between the 8 1/4 run and the 9 1/4 tread. These terms are all explained in my Stairs articles.
The standard rise and run in a new house is 7 5/8" rise with a 10 1/2" run, not including nosing. Let me emphasize the new house. Older houses were built when codes were different, presenting problems with limited space to erect a modern or ideal set of stairs. The nosing for wood is 3/4 to 1", for ceramic it may be less depending on the type of nosing that is installed. As you can appreciate, the nosing takes the majority of weight from the tread so must be installed correctly. Discuss this with your tile guy to be sure he is qualified to do stairs and he will be installing an adequate and structurally strong nosing. An option with tile is to install a hardwood nosing with tile up to it.
Dave
Dear Dave I sincerely appreciate your quick response. Your advice is very helpful considering that we moved here to Winnipeg just 10 months ago from the UK. While choosing finishing materials for the staircase - I went for ceramic tile finish with stainles steel nosing. I went for this finish as I've seen same finished stairs in some show homes. I will surely contact the installer regarding the depth of nosing to make sure that the final finishing tread depth is not less than 9 1/4". Thank you once again Kind Regards Sowmya
Being a recent widow, I was very interested in laminating my own countertop. It's just painted now and I don't have the muscle to replace with a store bought top. My question...Do I have to lift the sink out in order to laminate? Or can you recommend a good paint for me to use to just repaint the existing top?
Sorry for your loss.
Yes, you need to lift the sink to laminate the top. I don't like to see laminate tops painted, but a good paint to use if there is not another option is a urethane paint, such as Flecto Varathane. This is a good hard finish as used on hardwood floors. Just make sure any gloss is removed from the surface with a light sanding.
Dave
Can you recommend a type of power saw that can cut into tight 90 degree corners? For example, I want to remove my wood flooring in a hallway by cutting into the outer perimeter of the floor, flush with the baseboard trim (I don't want to remove my baseboard, it's huge). This way I can drop in cement backer board for tiling and cover the seam with 1/4 round trim. I can't seem to find a saw that can do this. Thanks, Tim
Hi Tim,
I've been looking for something like this myself. What I use is a reciprocating saw, very carefully!! With a bit of practice it works. I noticed a chainsaw chain on a circular blade which fits onto an angle grinder. Thought to give it a try, but never got around to it. The recip saw works best with a 12" blade.
Dave
Hi Dave. Thanks for the reply. The only tool I can find that comes close to cutting into a tight 90 deg corner is the MultiMaster (by Fein) which ranges from $200 to $400 depending on if you want a case and how many attachments. I can get away with the Msx 636-2 model because it has a plunge cut blade. I just have to bring myself to pay $200 for something I'm only going to use once or twice. Maybe sell it on eBay when I'm done! Tim
Thanks, Tim,
Interesting tool. I read some of the comments from guys who bought this tool on Amazon.com. They seem to think it is a quality tool, but the price is too high. It will pay for itself after a few jobs, though.
Dave
Hi Dave, We are building a small "inlaw" apartment onto our house and have asked the builder to use pocket doors on each side of the bathroom. My father-in-law had them on his other home and liked them and the new apartment is very limited for space. The builder is dead set against it. He says they're expensive, and will probably give us trouble down the road that will result in tearing a wall out to do repairs. Any suggestions? Dave
Hi Dave,
I have installed pocket doors, one in my own home and never have had any problems with them. The door can be removed by removing stops and releasing it from the rollers on the track. The frame is actually part of the wall with the track attached to it. I've never experienced any problems with any of my installations. The door itself is the same as any other door, the frame and hardware is the only added cost. They are not my preferred door, but with limited space they are ideal especially for a small bathroom or closet. We have ours in a walk-in closet off our ensuite. One thing to watch is not screwing in a hanger or shelf into the wall and have the screw penetrate into the door.
Your builder has the right and should explain the pros and cons of your choices, but should also remember that he is working for you and should try to satisfy you to the best of his ability. I don't agree with why he is dead set against installing pocket doors.
Dave
With the coming of winter, a homeowner should prepare a To Do List. Here are some ideas:
I won't even mention what you should do in the garden at this time of year.
Fall is a busy time of year.
Thank you for your interest and support of our website. Send me an email if I can be of help with your projects.
Enjoy the colors of Autumn,
Dave
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