Indy Total Construction

Basic masonry repairs include:

• Filling in dings in floors and driveways
• Replacing a block or brick
• Repointing mortar

To patch concrete first remove all loose material from the old concrete. Use a vacuum cleaner. Then scrub away any oil or grease with hot water and trisodium phosphate (TSP). Use a stiff brush. Protect your hands with rubber gloves.

After the concrete is clean, wet it. Fill in the patch. The best mix for patching concrete is one part Portland cement to three parts fine, clean sand. Add concrete glue to help feather out the edges of your patch and secure it to the old concrete. Leave a wet rag or gunny sack over the patch for a couple days.

Replace a broken or missing concrete block with the same mix. Chisel the old mortar away. Soak the new block in water for five minutes and wet the blocks around the hole. Trowel in mortar on all sides and set in the new block. You may have to take some mortar out little by little to make the block fit. Keep nudging the block with your trowel handle or a piece of wood. Don’t use a hammer.

Once the block is in place and aligned, tool the joint to match the rest of the wall. If the other joints are tuckpointed (grooved) make the new joint match. Wipe up any mortar spilled on the face of the block before it hardens.

Use a finishing tool to finish mortar joints after the mortar begins to harden.

When you replace a brick or block, trowel in mortar around the opening. Nudge the block in place with the handle of a trowel or a piece of wood.

To patch concrete, clean and wet the area. Fill in the area and feather the edges so the patch will stick.

Replacing a fired (red) brick is the same as a concrete block. But be very careful to match the color or your replacement will stand out..

Try not to spill mortar over the face of the brick. If you do, you can remove the stain with acid and a stiff brush. BE CAREFUL WHEN WORKING WITH ACID. Always add the acid to water. Adding water to acid can cause an explosion. Protect yourself with goggles and rubber gloves. Wear old clothing. Muriatic acid will remove clothes, eyes, and skin faster than it will remove the mortar stain.

Repointing is putting new mortar into joints when the old mortar is falling out. First clean out the crumbling mortar. You can make a tool for this by nailing through a block of wood until the point of the nail extends 1/2 inch. Slide this point along the joints and you won’t dig too deep. Then wet the bricks and flush out loose mortar with a good strong hose jet.

Mix no more mortar than you can use in one hour. If you are repointing a whole wall or chimney, use any color mortar. However, if you are patching only a section, take care to match the color of the old mortar. Don’t work with mortar when the temperature is below freezing.

You can make a tool to remove old mortar by driving a nail through a block of wood until it extends about 1/2 inch.

Applying the paint is the smallest part of a paint job. The real work is in preparing the surface and cleaning up afterward. Before you begin to paint:

• Wash the surface

• Remove any fixtures

• Fill depressions

• Sand smooth

• Prime the surface

First, protect furniture, floors, or shrubs with drop cloths. Knock loose dirt and paint off exterior walls with a high pressure hose. Remove all flaking paint with a scraper or a wire brush.

Interior walls that are already painted are usually washed with trisodium phosphate (TSP) and a stiff brush. TSP is a caustic powder that must be mixed with water (one tablespoonful to a gallon of water). Be sure to wear rubber gloves. TSP removes skin almost as fast as. it removes dirt and grease from old paint. Then rinse the walls with water and dry completely.

Fixtures are removed to make it easier to paint and to keep from getting paint on the fixtures. Remove switch plates only after the wall has been washed. After the switch plates are removed, you may find dirty rings on the wall. This should be carefully wiped off. Wring your sponge as dry as possible.

Most walls have cracks, nail holes, or dents. Fill them with wood putty,’ spackling compound, or another fill, depending on the material the wall is made of. Before applying spackle, wet the area. Build up the patch slightly above the wall. When it is dry, sand the patch until it is even with the rest of the wall. Old painted wood must be sanded smooth.

The final step, priming, prepares the surface for paint. Prime patches and seal wood knots with shellac or sealer. Use primer over new wood because new wood absorbs paint like a sponge.

Everything must be thoroughly dry before you begin to paint. There is a lot of work in preparing to paint.

Build up patches above the surface. Let them dry, and sand the patch flush with the surface.

Some older houses still heat water by running it through coils in an oil furnace. Some very modern homes use solar energy to heat the water. The most common water heaters are gas or electric.

Regardless of the type, all water heaters require some maintenance. A leaky water heater should be replaced by a new one. But other problems can be avoided or cured. They include:

• Build up of sediment in the heater

• Top fittings that leak

• Leaky pressure relief valves

Rust or other sediments can build up in the tank. You should drain the tank about once a year to remove them. Turn off the heat, and shut water entering the heater. Open any hot water faucet in the house to let in air so the tank will drain. Attach a water hose to the drain spout of the water heater. Wear gloves because the hose will be too hot to handle. Drain the water into a floor drain or a pail that is lower than the tank spout. When the heater is empty, run more water into it. Keep draining it until the water runs clear.

If the fittings at the top of the tank are made of different metals, electrolysis may cause them to start corroding. An insulated fitting should have been used. Sometimes the fittings can be replaced in time.

Pressure relief valves keep the tank from bursting. A leaking pressure valve may mean that the water pressure is too high. This happens when the water is too hot or when there is no regulator between the meter and the house. A leaking pressure relief valve may also be worn out and need replacing.

Gas and oil heaters have some particular problems. If the flame is not a blue color, call the gas or oil company to come and adjust it.

When the pilot light in a gas heater goes out, turn off the gas. Clean around the pilot light and burner with a stiff brush. Vacuum the exhaust vent and underside of the heater. To light the pilot again , set the dial to PILOT. Hold the dial or button down, and light the pilot. Keep holding it down until the pilot stays lit. Then turn the dial to ON and set the thermostat.

Water heaters can be made more efficient by wrapping them in a special thermal insulating blanket. You can also save hot water by making sure none of your faucets are leaking.

Open a hot water faucet to let air into the water heater. Drain and refill the tank. Continue until the water runs clear.

Pressure relief valves are spring valves that leak when there is too much pressure in the water heater. This usually happens when there is too much heat or the local water pressure is too high. The cure is to lower the water temperature or install a water pressure regulator between the meter and the house.

Occasionally the pilot light on the water heater goes out. Turn the control to OFF and wait five minutes for any free gas to escape. Then turn the dial to PILOT. Hold the red button down (or the dial if there is no button) and light the pilot. After about a minute the pilot will continue to burn when the button is released. Turn the dial to ON, and the heater should operate normally.