Concrete and Masonry Newsletters and How Tos

Concrete it is Hard to Beat

rusty — Mon, 24 May 2010 08:55:47 +0000

Concrete: It’s Hard To Beat

Hard Is Only The Half Of It
If you are in a hurry click here for an instant estimate!
Stamped Ashler Bond Stamped Concrete

Like many other aspects of construction, concrete objects are accompanied by many myths. I would first like to dispel some of those in order to help you understand the basics of concrete, expansion, contraction, grading and finishing.

Deeper -or- Thicker Is Not Necessarily Better
Not necessarily true! If you need a 4" slab for a patio, 6" will not gain you anything; unless your future plans call for some heavy equipment or traffic, all you have done is spend more money. Even having deep areas within your slab can be problematic years down the road. Concrete will move with time, it will expand and contract with temperature changes, move upwards as tree roots grow beneath it, and if the soil beneath the slab freezes. Consequently,a quality craftsman will foresee this movement and make allowances with expansion and crack "control joints".

Control joints simply put a slightly weakened point in the concrete so movement is "controlled in a more attractive straight line rather than running wildly across the slab. However, if there is a deep area over the "control joint", the concrete movement may find relief in an unpredicted area, causing unsightly cracks.
A Good Slab Is Not Always "Level"
Most external concrete allows for drainage. The typical formula for drainage is 1/8" per foot, and of course it will be draining away from existing structures or toward drains. There is a saying: quot;You can’t stack water.", and of course you can not, but concrete’s flatness is relative. Just because it looks flat, does not mean it isn’t wavy enough to pond water.

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Concrete Forms Question

rusty — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:43:43 +0000

How long do you leave the forms on after the pour?
Do you spray the concrete with water twice a day for a week or do you cover it for a week?
I thank you in advance for your help.
Henry

When to remove forms? The pros do it the same day!!

Hi Henry,

As the Groovy Concrete says you can carefully remove the forms the same day, but if you are not in a hurry, take your time and wait as long as you can.

As to keeping it wet, you are better off with a good curing compound sprayed on just as you finish troweling or brooming – or stamping – see your local dealers or ask your concrete company. There are hundreds on the market.

Yours,
Rusty

More Info on Do It Yourself Stamped Concrete

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Retaining Wall Question

rusty — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:02:10 +0000

Rusty –
I purchased your multitorial a few days ago in preparation for the building of a block wall. Your multitorial is about retaining walls and I am building a fence wall around my lot but I figured you would have some good info. It had a lot of valuable information for me, it was fun read and well put together. But, it didn’t address all my questions. I hope you can give me a bit more advice.

I bought a foreclosure house north Phoenix and figured at the price, I couldn’t go wrong because it had block walls. From talking with the neighbors (and working on it), I discovered that it had been neglected for many years and abused for several. Putting it back in shape has been a labor of love.

Chain link to replace with patio wall

The house was built in ‘78 with a 150’ chain link fence around 2 sides of the lot that I will be replacing. Most of the neighbors have since replaced their fencing with block wall – 4×8x16 blocks in 12’ panels with H-block columns between panels. I’m sure you have the same type of walls in Tucson.

Replacing Chain Link With a Patio Wall

Questions:
1. Footings. My neighbor’s wall is 10 courses high. I plan to match it. Since the load normal to the wall is limited to wind pressure (substantially less than earth loads), I didn’t think the calculations you provided would apply. It seems to me that reinforced H-block columns can support the normal load; footings just need be strong enough to support the weight of the wall without cracking. As best as I can tell, my neighbor’s wall has a 8” wide by 12″ deep footing. My plan was to use a 12”x12″ footing (with one ½” embedded rebar) but leave the current fence post footings in place (they are 24” deep) and pour concrete around them to include them in the wall footing. Would this be sufficient or do I risk failure in a decade? (The soil is the typical dense sand/clay mix, well drained, minimal organic material). The neighbor has xeriscape with a thin layer of crushed stone. I will likely have the same.)

2. Mortar. I didn’t see a lesson on how much mortar would be needed for setting brick or block. Here’s what I figured. The blocks interlock horizontally so only a bed joint is needed for each block but I’ll wet set the first course as you recommended. So, 3/8” thick joint by 3” wide (the blocks have a hollow center) by 16” long = 18 cu inches of mortar per block. I calculated about 1400 blocks in the wall which is 25,200 cu in = 14.5 cu ft ~= 0.5 cu yards. Mortar is 3:1 sand vs cement; I will need about 0.43 yards of dry sand which is about 860 lbs. If I buy half a ton, I’ll be fine. How many 75 lb bags of mortar cement will I need? (Is the density of cement the same as sand?)

3. Since the interlock blocks are too narrow to pour grout inside, I’m planning to embed “ladder wire” in the bed joints for strength. Should I reinforce each course or alternate courses?

4. Is a single ½” vertical rebar in the center of each H-Block sufficient or do I need two or 5/8”?

5. Weather: Here in Phoenix, we don’t need to worry about rain or frost but HEAT. I hope to start the wall in the next few weeks but know that since I’ll be working on it in the evenings after my day job, it may take several weeks to complete. Do I need to take any precautions to ensure the mortar sets properly?

I’ve included a few pictures of the current fence. It’s pretty pathetic.

Regards,
Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for letting me help.

1) 16×12 – remove existing concrete for a monolithic effect.
2) Very close on mortar. Ask your block company for their yield.
3) Ladder wire every other course
4) 5/8 dead center of hte grout cell.
5) DO not lay in temps over 105 – over 95 degrees DO NOT re-slake the mortar after it is 45 minutes old. DO NOT use mortar over 2 hours old ever and only re-slake (mix in water to a hardening mix) more than twice. Mortar is very critical in T&G block!

Good luck and happy building!

Love & Light,
Rusty

More info on… Block Patio Walls & Retaining Walls – Holding back the Earth

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Vertors – Setting Rebar The Easy Way!

rusty — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:39:57 +0000

Tying Rebar – It Just Got Easier

Vertor

One of the hardest jobs on a construction site is tying rebar. Setting rebar for concrete is gnarly and nasty work. The rebar is dirty with oils and sometimes a bit of rust. The rebar tie wire is oily and gets all over your clothes, hands or gloves. You spend the day constantly bent over, performing repetitious movements all day long, the same thing over and over again. Rebar tying is very exhausting and unrewarding work.

The rewards in most construction activities come in standing back after a long day and gazing upon the fruits of your labor, but when you tie rebar, you get to look at it for a few minutes but when you are finished it gets covered with concrete never to been seen again –well ‘er, uh, hopefully you won’t see it again provided you and the concrete pouring crew did their jobs correctly.

I have always loved masonry and concrete work. I enjoyed the planning, the conceptualizing, the drawing, the layout the setup and the pouring or laying, but as hard as I tried I could never make myself like tying rebar. Then to my great luck in 1999 I found a fabulous invention called Vertors. Vertors are plastic rebar chairs that suspend and support the rebar off of the ground – rebar does you no good if it is not in the middle of the footing or cavity and surrounded by concrete – but Vertors goes a step further, in that Vertors has a vertical support that holds the vertical rebar in position as well.

Holding the rebar in a vertical position is something that I have never seen in the hundreds of rebar chairs that I have used over the years – which is ironic since the hardest part of tying rebar is getting the rebar into a vertical position and making it stay that way as hundreds of pounds of concrete come sliding down the concrete shoot and slam into the rebar. There is a lot of force when liquid rock weighing in at around eighty pounds per cubic foot comes crashing into a rack of rebar tied together with a few loops of tie wire.

Vertors has solved the rebar-tying dilemma of holding vertical rebar in place and the concrete is poured. There is a plastic vertical rod and a plastic snap that holds the rebar in place.

Setting rebar in your footings is now as easy as one two three. Check out this video:

I know for a fact that Vertors will help your concrete footing pouring go quicker and easier! I have gone one step further in making this easier for you, by creating a Vertors calculator:

Stepping Stones & Cement Carving

rusty — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:59:38 +0000

DO IT YOURSELF STEPPING STONES

The first things you need are forms for your shapes, which are easy to make with scrap lumber. Simply screw (screws are better than nails for dismantling) sides the together in any shape you like – keep the shapes small so you can handle them easier for setting. The sides should be a minimum of 2″ deep. Place a piece of plywood (particle board, anything flat) on top of the sides and screw in place and flip over so the plywood is the bottom of your mold – the flat portion is down when poured, but it is the top of the stepping stone. The fun part about pouring your own stepping stones is the endless textures you can create in the top of your stepping stones by putting different patterns, textures and or shapes on the plywood before you pour.

Aluminum foil scrunched and taped to the plywood will make a stone surfaced look. With a little bit of practice, you can scrunch and flatten until the impression in the cement looks just like a piece of flagstone or slate. The trick here is to flatten the wrinkles in the aluminum foil in such a pattern that they look like a layered piece of stone.

The mix here is a little richer than above 1:2½ (that would be one shovel of cement to 2 and one half shovels of sand) then add 1/8th cup of acrylic cement adhesive per shovel of cement; add a cement color (following the manufactures directions) that will be close to a native stone color you like. The consistency should be just barely thinner than peanut butter – mix for at least 5 minutes by hand, get the mix well blended and fluffy. If you have any kind of a vibrator (a massage vibrator works well) vibrate for several minutes immediately upon pouring – this will help the cement release air bubbles and receive the impression better. For a real looking stone color; place powdered cement color in an empty baby powder bottle and sprinkle on the surfaces of the aluminum foil – two or three compatible and very similar colors will give you a more natural look.

There are an endless amount of textures that can be used for transferring to the top of the stepping stones. I have carved names, flowers etc. using a Dremmel (a high-speed miniature drill shaped like a big pencil that you can buy different carving tips for). I have scattered rusted nuts, bolts and screws for an authentic western look. You can put different wood trims and shapes along the edge where the plywood and forms join to create a nice border (I recommend something to round or smooth the edges too keep them from coming to a point and breaking off easily – a nice thick bead of caulking will suffice).

Flowered textures are beautiful. I took rose petals and covered the bottom of the mold. When the cement dried the petals were stuck in the cement but they eventually wore away leaving the perfect impression of the petal and also a nice stained color that came from the natural dye in the flower.

CEMENT CARVING

Many years ago I was experimenting with small concrete and cement textures and designs. I carved cement sculptures by filling boxes of different sizes and shapes. I waited just long enough fro the cement to get firm (1-2 hours) then stripped off the card board and went to whittling, scraping and gouging using screwdrivers, joint strikers, spoons, forks you name it. I experimented with a wide array of tools and carving devices for different surface textures. I made an ET figure for my kids, a lamp base for my wife and several bookends that I gave away as presents. To do this all you need is an idea for something you want to make, a box just a little larger than you end shape, some cement and sand, a soft bristled brush, a sponge and a variety of carving instruments. The cement mixture is a 1:3 ratio sand to cement – if you want to add color: purchase some at your hardware store and follow the instructions as different colors have a different density, some are powdered and some are liquid.

As the cement hardens (you have to finish with in a couple of hours) the sponge or soft bristled brush dipped in water will give you different textures. The challenge I always liked about this craft was the time limit – unlike modeling clay, you aren’t going to come back tomorrow and finish.

More info on… All Multitorials: Compilation of all Multitorials and DVDs

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Planning Ahead – Getting Bids

rusty — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:53:57 +0000

<<<<<< GETTING THE RIGHT CONTRACTOR >>>>>>

PLANNING FOR A BID

Don’t leave yourself at the mercy of strangers when you are gathering bids for any kind of project around your house. It will behoove you to know what you want, where you want it and how big you want it to be. Buy some magazines and gather ideas – you can get back issues at used bookstores for pennies on the dollar. Educate yourself about the trade you are getting bids from. There are lots of great Internet sites that will gladly give you some free information about a specific trade (I have a links page on my site now that I will be updating every month). Inform yourself and make sure that the information you acquire is from a reliable source.

Concrete Conveyor Deployment

MEASURE FIRST

I get lots of calls for masonry and retaining walls from folks that want their “free estimate”, but they aren’t sure what, where or how big they want it. I get the sense that they want the free estimate to include design as well, which I do because I like to design and have a lot of experience at it – but a lot of the contractors I know have no real creative spirit when it comes to design; even though they could build the Taj Mahal if given the blue prints.

If you have no design, specific ideas or pictures: how do you compare estimates? Then, how do you know if the design will structurally and aesthetically line up with what you need, want and can afford? To avoid some of the confusion at least have your own dimensions (on walls longer than 50 feet, rounded up measurements are better that feet and inches precision). With your own dimensions and a picture of the style you like in your hand (copies for each bidder of course) you will come closer to comparing apples to apples instead of apples to oranges. If you know what you want, so will the bidder.

STRUCTURE?

Multitorial Student Pouring Concrete

Maybe following the suggestions I just made wore you out – I mean hey it took all of 2 hours of your life to cover your investment thus far ) but if you are not to busy or tired, one more hour of preparation would insure bids that you can really compare. Lots of city and county building departments have pat structural details they will give you at the counter for free. Spend a few minutes at the building department (or call and see if you can get this stuff from their web site) and get some detail drawings of the structure you need. Make copies and attach them to your dimensions and pictures. If you found out that your project can be built like the photograph and the structural details will pass a permitted inspection all you have left are a few details and your bids should be true to form and comparable.

BE SPECIFIC

Your bidder needs to know the following things:

Who’s cleaning up the job?

Are you as a homeowner participating in any aspect of the preparation or clean up?

Who’s getting the permit?

When will the job start and when will it be completed? Be tolerant here; pressure will not bring in a quality job.

Are the materials grade A or seconds (some second grade materials will save you money and still work fine)?

Who’s responsible for left over materials or excavated dirt?

This isn’t a very big list, copy, print it, and use it as a guide for making an addendum to their proposal. Then attach it to the other items I mentioned above and you should be on your way to getting bids that are all within the ball park of each other.

LICENSED, BONDED AND INSURED

Here is where my philosophy may differ from the main stream a bit – or – maybe I am just being truthful. Everything I’ve read about hiring a contractor starts out by saying that you should make sure they are licensed, insured and bonded and this is safe advice. But is it always true? Undoubtedly there are people that have been stung by licensed as well as unlicensed contractors.

There are also situations where because of a breach in the contractors insurance agreement the insurance company won’t pay out without a legal battle. As far as bonding goes you will recoup at least some of your money or get the job finished by someone else. I cannot legally say to use an unlicensed contractor! I am not even remotely recommending that you do, I am simply acknowledging a simple fact: some of you will! Most subcontractors I know did some contracting without a license in the early stages of their career and did good work.

There are no guarantees! Even with a written guarantee you are not covered. What a license, insurance and bond say to me is that the contractor at least has intentions of staying in business. It says they invested the time, money and energy into making their company legitimate – and the license says that they at least had the rudimentary knowledge of their specific trade when they took the state test – whether or not they apply that knowledge is up to you to figure out. I don’t know about your state, but in Arizona, under my license I am only required to warrantee my work for two years in order to keep my license valid… that’s not very long juxtaposed a thirty year mortgage. I really believe the following paragraph is your best solution in getting your money’s worth – after you have completed the steps above.

Getting Good Estimates

INTUITION & INFERENCE

By now you have spent some time with each bidder and you have been exposed to their personality, enthusiasm, and hopefully some of their experience and knowledge. You have witnessed first hand some of their people skills.

Were you paying attention?

Was someone particularly curt, abrupt or even rude?

Or maybe not so obvious: were they in what seemed to YOU to be in too much of a hurry?

Did you feel important or somewhere up there on their priority list?

Did their dimensions come within 2% of yours?

Did they wipe their feet on the way into your house?

Did they inform you at all about how they were going to go about the building process?

Basically, did you feel comfortable with their ideas and knowledge?

I could go on and on about observation, but probably the biggest clue you will have is how you felt about them. I am not getting metaphysical on you here, I am just stating the obvious: I can’t count the times that someone that got burned, stiffed or received poor quality work said, in retrospect that they should have seen it coming. All too often someone will say: “I really liked the other guy, but this guy was so much cheaper!” (To which I always think: “Yeah, that’s what you thought!”)

Don’t let the bid prices override your guts or common sense; if you do you are asking to be among the many that regret their decision. Sure, you can ask for references and I recommend it, but not yet, why worry about calling all of those references from someone you won’t hire anyway?

PRICE JUSTIFICATIONS

Even after all of these bases are covered you may find discrepancies of 30-40% in your bids – this is very common. This in no way means that the high bidder is making too much money or even the most money. I also don’t mean that the low bidder is the one giving you everything you want for less money – sometimes one technique will bring a job in faster without sacrificing integrity, while another technique will sacrifice integrity.

Pond in Evening Light Good Masonry is not Cheap - Cheap Masonry is not Good

Ask the contractor to justify the bid – it won’t work to your advantage to divulge the other bids… but letting them know they are the highest or way up there will work to your advantage, if you ask them to explain why their price would need to be higher. Listen carefully, take notes if you like, if you are unclear about what they are saying they are going to do or why it will cost more that way, ask for elaboration until you understand – unless your guts have already told you to take them off the list.

MAKING YOUR DECISION

Now you have your prices. You have asked for justifications. You have read the proposals and a list of specifics are included in the descriptions of work to be done. Narrow it down to two or three and ask for references. Make the calls. Ask:

How long ago the work was completed?

Were the schedules met?

Was there a need for warranty – if so how was it handled?

Were they respectful?

Here is a good one: Did they give you references – if so do you still have the numbers?

References are an important part of the decision making criteria, but don’t let them override your common sense either: references can be manufactured; they can be jobs so fresh there is no way to tell if the work will last. And finally, every good contractor had a first customer and ultimately got the first few jobs based on trust and faith.

I have read many articles about the best way to keep from getting burned by contractors and many of them portray contractors as these potential snakes in the grass. If you don’t sort out the vipers you always get bit. I don’t think that is a very accurate picture… but maybe I am a bit biased – I mean hey who am I anyway, but a licensed contractor? However, having been behind the scenes with companies like: US Homes, Estes Homes, Presley Homes, Dale Web Companies, Toll Brothers etc. and even working with lots of small subcontractors and remodelers over the past three decades, I would have to say that the large percentage of contractors are very hardworking, conscientious and reputable.

Masonry Column with Glass Block

The big problem is always this: if you are the one that is ripped of, who cares how many other good contractors there are out there? It never helps to know this after the fact, so caution is advised and I truly believe that your best guidance in this matter is your own built in radar – pay attention to it! Ask all the questions you want and can think of, if you find resistance to answering your questions, remember this: Never hire someone that intimidates you or won’t answer your direct questions with a direct answer.

What prompted this newsletter was an email I got a couple weeks back that broke my heart. It was from a single mother that contracted to do a flagstone patio and the contractor disappeared with her money and never finished the job. She picked up Stone Patio Secrets Revealed form me and now she is going to take what’s left of the money and do it herself, which in and of itself is fine, but having to do that after you paid good money to have it done is insult to injury!

I truly wish she had read, Stone Patio Secrets Revealed before she got bids. I think all to often this scenario comes about quite innocently. Without the edification to converse in detail about the job, the bidding session consists mainly of:

An introduction.

Here is where I want it.

Some measurements are taken.

A price is given.

Good bye and adios.

However, if you have enough information in your mind and ready, you can converse about the job. You can carry on a longer conversation and get to know your bidders a little better. I am not simply trying to push my Multitorials here; I simply want to help you avoid the pain of it all! However, they will arm you with the info about how the job goes together before you get bids, not to mention you could use the detailed illustrations in the Multitorials for contractors to know how to bid on the structure.

Make Your Questions Cout

What I am trying to do is convince you to at least go to the library and fill in some of the blanks before you accept any bids. Some of your time is a small price to pay to cover the investment of your hard earned money – much less a double mortgage! Do some homework before you hire for “home work”! You will be way ahead of the game. Last but not least, I want to repeat: don’t let the price sway your common sense or gut feeling! Even a thousand dollars difference to get a good job only equates to $2.77 per month on a thirty year mortgage – that can be awfully good insurance!

Thanks for listening!

Love, Light & Happy Building!

Rusty Cline
President: Monument
Masonry, Inc.
Jorsty, Inc.

More info on… All Multitorials: Compilation of all Multitorials and DVDs

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Low Voltage Column Lighting

rusty — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:29:51 +0000

A little PVC some low voltage wiring, a low voltage yard light, a fireplace clean-out door, a shallow trench, glass block and a masonry column – Voila – A well lighted column!

There had been problems with folks missing the edge of the driveway at night and these columns and lights fixed the trick forever!

More info on… All Multitorials: Compilation of all Multitorials and DVDs

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Concrete Heaving News

rusty — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:13:43 +0000

I read your web site with great interest and would like your opinion on my situation.

I live in Lincoln, NE about 30 yards from a natural lake. I have a concrete patio (~650 sq. ft.) that we had an overlay done on it about 4 years ago. Through the freezing/thawing cycle, it has cracked and the contractor routed out the crack and then filled it with black caulk (really, really ugly) and, of course, it still cracks and heaves during the winter– coming back into “level” as spring comes.

I wonder about doing a flagstone overlay using the existing concrete patio as the base, laying a thin (?) layer of sand and then filling the “joints” with silica sand. I understand that we will still have freeze/thaw but would this not “float” and eliminate the ugly problem I now have?

The alternative is to remove all the concrete and start over…….which is way too expensive. The other alternative is to cover it with indoor/outdoor carpet.

What is you opinion of this situation and possible remedies?

Thank you for you time and attention.

Regards,
Don G

Hi Don,

Thanks for letting me help. Don’t throw good money after bad. You cannot stop the heaving. An overlay will do exactly what the underlay is doing, it is a law of physics. You could put memory foam and it would still eventually break. It is moving and cement cracks when it moves even a microscopic amount.

As you have found, repairing the cracks only draws attention to the crack – kind of like in life when you focus on the mistake, that is all you see and quite frequently the mistake gets bigger. Either live with it as is. Or tear it out and replace it taking into account your freeze thaw cycles by putting footings below the frost line.

You will have almost everyone that can sell you something convince you that their remedy will fix it, do not be taken in. It is quite simple: thermodynamics is almost as powerful as gravity or magnetism – there are no overlays or epoxies that can remedy your situation. Sorry.

Yours in Masonry,
Rusty
I believe that reality is a sublime comedy staged for my education and amusement,
and that there is a benevolent conspiracy to liberate me from my ignorace and help
transform me into the unique master piece that I was born to be! ~Rob Brezney~

More info on… All Multitorials: Compilation of all Multitorials and DVDs

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Glass Block FAQs

rusty — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:51:19 +0000

Every thing you wanted to know about glass block construction but were afraid to ask!

How easy is it to lay glass block?
I decided to write a Glass Block How To when I began to get so many emails asking me how to do glass block installations. The actual laying of the glass block is easy. They come with spacers nowadays that make the placing and keeping them straight in a glass block wall, glass block shower, or into a glass block window very easy! People are always asking: Can I use your instructions for learning how to install Pittsburgh Corning Glass Block? The answer is a an emphatic: YES! You can easily install Pittsburgh Corning Glass Block using our program. Pittsburgh Corning Glass Block are the same as any other glass block.

Are there complications in learning how to build with glass block?
If anything is complicated about glass block it is the planning and cleaning.

Knowing how many to lay in a day
Knowing how to grout the mortar joints
Knowing what, when and where for the reinforcing
Making sure your reinforcement is properly located and applied

These are the issues I address in the glass block Multitorial and glass block DVD. Once you understand the essential rudiments of laying glass block, I make laying glass block easy because all you have to worry about is placing them straight! I take the complications out of learning to lay glass block, by doing all of your math for you. Sizing of windows, calculating glass block, glass block mortar, glass block reinforcement needs! Just use the glass block calculators in the Multitorial: Glass Block Pro Tips & Tricks. And let your imagination run wild. Your only limits will be your imagination.

How to do a glass block window?
Building a window out of glass block is easy if the existing opening size is correct for the glass block plus mortar joints. There isn’t much tolerance for opening size discrepancy. When the opening is too small, you cannot fix the problem by cutting glass block. If you spread the mortar joints to accommodate an opening that is too large even a small amount per joint, you will not be able to depend on the spacer sizes to keep your wall straight, causing a good chance for a crooked or lumpy window. In the Multitorial: Glass Block Pro Tips & Tricks, I provide you with a calculator that will help you determine if the opening you are using will fit exactly with the glass block you are using. Then once we know the discrepancy, I recommend specific measures to enlarge or shrink the opening with as little effort as humanly possible.

How to build a glass block wall?
When building a freestanding wall out of glass block there are several factors to take into account: is it indoors or out (wind sheer is a huge force to be reckoned with). What forces will be up against the wall? Big dogs, rowdy kids? Party traffic? Carts or industrial equipment? These factors and others will determine not only the thickness of wall you need but when, where and how much reinforcing you will need in your wall. A freestanding glass block wall is easy to do with the proper information, spacers, bracing (if needed) and floor to wall and wall to wall reinforcing.

Should you consider a snap together glass block wall?
Stop considering now unless you are building a stage prop or something that you don’t want to last very long or look real. Silicone and rubberized joints do not look like a masonry wall. Silicone glass block walls will not stand the strain of a masonry wall. The rubberized snap together walls have the look of Lego building blocks and have no craftsman look to them at all. The same goes for pre-built glass block windows.

CD-ROM Works On Mac or Linux
(Mac download free extension to read IBM formatted CD-ROMs here!)

More info on... Glass Block Pro Tips & Tricks

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All Available Multitorials

rusty — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:32:04 +0000

All Multitorial Shopping Cart and Information Links are Here
If you plan on buying them all scroll down to the Compilation of all Multitorial special!

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