Fasteners for Deck Building!

Well, for most of us, we are currently in the prime of deck building season so that means we need to have a little talk. Sit down, this is something that you are not going to enjoy, but you need to hear it. Not all fasteners are created equal. I know, I know, sounds crazy but it's true, and I am glad you are hearing this from me, and not learning about it out on the street from god knows who. It's best you hear it from someone who has some experience with this and won't steer you wrong. OK the tough part is over now on to the specifics. There is a reason there are so many different types of nails and screws available. They are each made for a specific purpose and shouldn't be used outside of that application eg; drywall screws for drywall. Most of the time you can cross use screws for other purposes. The big exceptions are; obviously drywall screws, they are a coated screw which does not have a great deal of tensile strength, which is why you use so many per sheet of drywall. The main one we are talking about today however are deck/construction screws. Let me define the difference. Deck screws are either stainless steel ($$$) or a regular steel screw covered in an epoxy resin. This coating is very important as it protects the screw from corrosion. These screws usually come in a green, brown, grey or even black colored coating.

Construction screws are those yellow/gold screws that you can use for general purpose framing inside your home or any other project involving spruce or fir lumber. Please note the specifics of that last sentence. Spruce or Fir lumber only. Do not use those gold screws in pressure treated lumber that has been identified as ACQ treated lumber. The yellow gold coating is called a zinc dichromate treatment, and it resists corrosion from mild exposure to water and oxygen. The ACQ in treated lumber stands for Alkaline Copper Quaternary, and basically it means it has been treated with a copper solution which is on the basic end of the PH scale. Unfortunately the copper in the lumber reacts with the zinc dichromate in the screws and causes corrosion to begin to occur almost immediately. I can read your minds, "I have used those gold screws in my last deck and they are still there no problems!" right? Well folks waaaaaaay back in aught three (2003) we used a pressure treatment system which relied on Arsenic as the main preservative chemical, but well, nobody seemed to want arsenic in their wood so it got changed. Babies. No I kid. The arsenic was no good for either kids or pets, so the lumber industry actually changed the preservative over VOLUNTARILY! No protest, no mass lawsuits. They just decided it would be better to use a less harmful chemical.

Now please note that I did indeed say LESS harmful. This is still a preservative and by no means should you feel it is safe to chew on your deck or fence. So remember folks the best fasteners are either, Stainless steel, epoxy resin coated, or hot dipped galvanized. You can never go wrong with the holy trinity of fasteners.

Amen!

House Wraps

Just a quick heads up for all of you people who are building garages, or re-siding your homes. House wrap, or Tyvek, or Greenguard, or Typar, are all brand names for a similar product know as House wrap. It is a wonderful product which acts as an air barrier, preventing drafts in your walls, as well as preventing liquid water from penetrating. It is however permeable enough to allow water vapour to pass out of it, making it ideal to apply to the outside of your house before putting on whichever style of siding product you choose. It does have one major limitation to it and not many people seem to know about this, contractors included. House wrap deteriorates from exposure to UV radiation. This means that once you put it up on a building you have a limited amount of time that it can site exposed to sunlight before it no longer performs as expected and voiding the warranty on the product. Most house wraps have a 3 to 6 month limit on the length of time it can be exposed to UV radiation before voiding the warranty. If you are one of those people who, and we have all seen them as we drive around the city, have left your building wrap exposed over the winter, sorry, but you have just spent between 100 and 300 bucks for nothing. If you know that you will not be covering your house wrap within 60 days, DON'T PUT IT ON! I know, I know, 2 moths, that seems like forever. No problem, you say, I will have that banged off on the next weekend. I don't know where anyone else who might be reading this lives, but this is Winnipeg, weather is not our friend. In fact weather here is like that friend who is sometimes there, like when you have a party, but sometimes they are in a bad mood and ruin the party. Or when you are moving and they say they will show up, but they don't or worse, they bring a Civic and can only carry pillows! Seriously, make sure you can do it within 2 months. If you are unsure, leave the sheathing material, most commonly OSB exposed, it will weather better than the house wrap will.

Happy Building!

Faucet Repair

Well here is my first attempt at a Home repair post. Today's subject is going to be Faucet Repair! I know, boring right? Even simplistic. It surprises me though, how many people don't have any idea as to where to start. The first thing you want to do is identify the problem. Is the faucet leaking out of the handle? Dripping out of the Spigot? (that's the part where the water is supposed to come out of). Help us if it is spraying out of some other part of the faucet, the only fix is a full replacement. Once you have identified the problem area, believe it or not, the next thing to do is identify the BRAND of faucet you own. This is a very important step for two reasons. Number one is parts are brand specific. However the other will make you lucky home owners very happy. Most brands offer certain parts FREE under warranty replacement, however not all the brands offer free warranty parts right now. Many of the brands will mail you out the parts you need, while others leave a supply of the most commonly needed parts at your local home renovation store. For fastest service, stick to the biggest brands like Moen, or Delta, which can be found just about anywhere that sells plumbing fixtures. Brands like Price Pfister, Kohler and Hansgrohe, while still offering a fantastic product, need you to call in to the 1-800 number to get parts mailed directly to you. Some of the big box stores also sell a "house brand" that they will usually stock parts for as well.

Once you have identified your faucet, you can with confidence go into your local home repair shop, and tell the employee exactly what the problem is, and what kind of faucet you need a part for. The vast majority of problems wind up being that the cartridge inside the handle of the fixture which controls the flow of water is failing. Newer faucets use the cartridge style of control mechanism, which is a plastic cylinder which has rubber and ceramic discs to limit water movement. Older faucets us a full brass mechanism which uses rubber O rings and rubber flat washers. Another version uses the brass cartridges along with a zinc spring with a rubber "seat" which sits on top of the spring and pushes against the bottom of the cartridge. It has a very telling call sign of water dripping from the spigot no matter how tightly you close handle. The other way to see that the cartridge is failing is if the water leaks from the handle itself when you turn the water on and off. If water continues to leak from the handle when you stop moving it, it usually means that the cartridge is well worn. If you, or the home builder, or the previous owner has taken some precautionary steps, you will have an in line shut off valve below the faucet in the cabinet. If not find the main shut off valve near the water meter. Turn the water off. Find another faucet in a different bathroom and turn both the taps on. This alleviates the back pressure of water and lowers the water level inside the pipes under the faucet you are working on. Drain the faucet that needs the repair. There is generally a plastic cap on the top of the faucet handle which you can pop off using a small flat headed screwdriver. Under that cap is a small screw which usually needs a Phillips head screwdriver to remove. Make sure you hold onto the handle while taking the screw out to alleviate any torque on the cartridge or faucet body. Once the screw is out pull the handle off, this may take a little wiggle action if there is a large amount of calcium build up on the cartridge from hard water. Using a pair of pliers, or crescent wrench, loosen the cartridge from the body of the faucet. For single lever faucets, remove the retaining pin, then use pliers to pull the cartridge, or in Delta's case, the stainless steel ball they use for a valve.

Once the cartridge is out, you can either replace the O-rings or seat washer, or change out the entire cartridge for a new one. Quite often replacing the cartridge is the easiest option, as there are several dozen different sizes of O-rings and flat/bevelled seat washers. Replace the handle, the screw and the cap. Turn the water main on, shut off all faucets left on for pressure release, and check for leaks on the faucet you were working on. Try the faucet a few times to make sure everything is running smoothly. Now pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

That wasn't so hard was it? A big thanks to @teedub78, for being the inspiration for this posting. The next few will probably be shorter quick tips on different home repair situations and product information.

Any requests? Please let me know, on Twitter @kulukuku Email coming soon!

Happy Building!