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Outside and Decks Outdoor Patio Q's and A's Repairs | Walkways | Building Patios | Gutters Can't find a solution to your problem? Post a question in our Forums. Repairs Repairing patio furniture My Dad, who likes to do everything himself, is repairing his patio furniture. He has taken off the vinyl basket weave strapping, sanded down the old paint, and repainted. He has ordered the new vinyl strapping. He knows the pattern of the basket weave, and he wanted me to see if anyone has a good suggestion as to how to keep the weave tight. Are there any hints for him to use during the re-weaving which will enable the strapping to stay nice and tight? I have found in the past that if I use a hair blow dryer to warm the vinyl as I weave and attach, it will shrink back to a snug fit. Sources for Vinyl Strapping My Dad is redoing his lawn furniture. He has taken off the old vinyl 1/2" strapping, and repainted the frames. He has ordered the strapping, and plans to put it back on in the same basketweave design. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the basketweave nice and tight? Sure would like some suggestions. Go to this website for strapping www.umbrellasusa.com Redoing patio furniture Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to keep vinyl webbing tight while re-weaving the basketweave design with all new vinyl webbing on outdoor furniture? I need to know how to keep it tight so it will not be too loose. The secret to tightening the strapping is that it is a thermo plastic. Two people are needed. Attach the strapping as tightly as you can, then weather "bake" the chair in a big oven, or uniformly heat the strapping with a shrink wrap heat gun.   Walkways Brick walk way I want to install a brick walk way, what are the steps that I should take to do this? I know the area that I want to put it in but I don't know what goes first, second or third. First remove the sod. Dig down a little into the dirt... and then fill the area with sand. The depth to which you dig down is determined by the final height you want minus 3 inches of sand and the thickness of your brick. Third, lay down a fine mesh plant barrier. I forget the name of this stuff, but they sell it for under walkways like this or under mulch to keep the grass from growing up through. Then put down your brick. You will need to consider how you will hold the brick in place. You can use pressure treated wood landscaping ties... or cement in the edge row of bricks or a cement curb/border. Or you can let the dirt/grass hold them in place if the bricks are set low enough and even with the grass along the length of the walkway. But if you will use the wood ties, then they will need to go in before the sand. Building Patios Building a patio using rock dust and flagstone Set up a grid of level string lines. Mark out the perimeter every two feet, add stakes and attach taught level string lines then brush/rake the dust up to the string lines. I am sure there maybe another way but this is the only way I know how to do this.

Watergarden patio

Need advice on how to build a patio around my soon to be completed watergarden. The bricks I am using are firebrick from an old glass production furnace. They are heavy and not uniform in shape Any help or ideas appreciated.

My first advice is to get a different brick most firebrick are made to withstand a high temperature but break down quickly when exposed to moisture. They will wick ground water and begin dusting and crumbling within just a few years. If you go ahead and use the firebrick lay them in a bed of sand rather then on concrete to make leveling easier. Sweep the joints full of sand water them to settle the sand and repeat until the joints stay full.

 

The proper Grade for a concrete patio

Can someone please tell me how to figure out the proper grade for a concrete patio...

A good rule of thumb is sloped 1/8 to 1/4 inch of slope per foot. If the patio is up against the house, then slope away from the house. If it is away from any structure the high point can be the center or any side considering which way you want the water to drain.

Gutters

Clearing a Patio Gutter

I have about a 30 foot long horizontal patio gutter that keeps getting clogged with leaves. Except for the two ends of the gutter, there is no opening large enough for me to use my hands, water hose, or blower hose to try to clear out the leaves. If I rent high-pressure water equipment, will that clear out the gutter if applied to one end? Any other ideas?

Yes that high pressure washer will work wonders, but it will be expensive just to clear the gutter, so line up a few other projects for it.

Other things to try? have you tried a pushing your garden hose up it with a spray nozzle on the end? (one of those straight jobs you rotate to turn on) You can push it up a ways and then turn on the water.. washing a bunch back out.. then push it in further and further...

 

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