Recent content by BridgeMan

A very quick search brought up a retail price of just under 140 bucks for the valve. Your repair outfit won't be paying anything close to that, probably less than $100. If you pay the $550, you're a far richer man than most of us. Not a bad profit ($450) for less than an hour's worth of...

As a disinterested third party, who has bought and sold numerous houses in the last (almost) 50 years, I think the difference between a rotten crumbly basement floor and one that consists of new concrete could be a determining factor in how long you sit on the place once you've placed it on the...

Concrete block would have been a poor choice for a cistern, as it's too porous and would allow (lots of) water to seep through it. Before sealing it up, however, it wouldn't hurt to poke around on the bottom floor to make sure it doesn't have some water valves or sewer line cleanouts--either or...

Since you haven't had any responses in almost 2 weeks, I'll make a few comments: "Soft and crumbly concrete" would not make for good bond with any kind of overlay. You should give serious thought to just removing and replacing all of the concrete with new concrete. Sure, it's a big job, being...

I'm no expert either, but a concern I have is with the blocks and mortar joints absorbing rain water, which when heated by a hot fire, could create enough steam pressure to blow things apart. Major efforts should be taken to keep water away from concrete blocks and mortar joints.

The nature of the stemwall crack, being much wider at the top than the bottom, would indicate that the wall to the left of the crack is rotating downward. Further investigation should be done to determine why it's happening, and then proceed with a structural repair if warranted. While...

Long runs of dryer vent pipe can be helped along by installing an in-line fan, made for that purpose. My buddy's new house had a 20'+ run of vent, and the building department made him buy and install such a fan. They can be pricey, and his switched on whenever the dryer was used.

You're confusing "digressing" with "anti-government ranting." How you justify working that into a concrete driveway scaling thread is quite a stretch. And besides--what happened to the truce?

If you're serious, I'll check her schedule. But a warning--she insists on flying first class, so be prepared to pay for a pricey ticket. And just a cheap room for $300 or so ought to be adequate.

Your link essentially described scaling as I did. And the OP's pix clearly show good examples of scaling. Not spalling. But it still needs to be determined: Is she skinny, thin, or svelte?

Having made a living in structural evaluation, and inspecting many thousands of deteriorated concrete surfaces, starting in 1967, I've relied on the definition of scaling provided by the Federal Highway Administration's Bridge Inspector's Training Manual: Scaling: The gradual deterioration of...

The photos indicate the concrete is experiencing scaling, not spalling. The former is usually limited to the surface, while spalling goes much deeper and eventually results in complete deterioration. The OP's scaling looks to be the result of too much chert in the mix, an aggregate which...

Keep in mind that repairing the obviously bad columns now does nothing for all of the others that will some day also require repairs or complete replacement. Corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel in a salt-water environment is an ongoing problem, and spending $10k per column if the damage is...

Most caulking compounds are junk, and not at all appropriate for repairing concrete cracks. Even if the cracks are routed out and blown clean, the caulking will usually not stay adhered to the base concrete for more than a year or two. And it will always look like dog dung. The OP's cracks...

And having no safety railing around the perimeter, it would be wise to not let Granny (or any aging friend/visitor/relative) out there very long, unattended. It's an accident waiting to happen. I'm speaking from experience. My 80-year-old mother stepped off my back patio (9" above the...