Decked Out

By adding a flush mount attachment it is possible to prevent overdriving nails and banging up the surface of your boards. Many people find themselves pre-drilling their nail holes with particular brands and this can obviously slow down a project. Considering the benefits and the low maintenance costs (most brands have pretty good track records for durability).

In the world of Fiber Cement application most installers have added pneumatic nailers to their ever growing list of power tools. They speed up the installation process, making money for professionals. The question is whether purchasing one makes sense for the DIY.

In terms of improving efficiency, a reputable source figured that the nail gun fired 10-14 nails in the time it takes to hand drive one 2 ½ inch nail. That is roughly a 600% gain in efficiency. The numbers prove to be effective for a contractor and obviously similar efficiency gains transfer over to the DIY. Therefore we just need to address the financial advantages. In other words, is it worth spending the money on a gun if you’re doing a one time installation of 2000 sq ft. It will cost $780 for mid range equipment brand new. My local tool rental shop will provide the same equipment; a compressor, a hose and a gun for $45 a day.

Maybe that is the best comparison. There is little debate over whether the nail gun improves efficiency; it is just a matter of how much you want to spend in addition to the material cost. In my mind, $45/ day is well worth your time. In fact I think it is a great deal. If you don’t have a line up of projects that would validate purchasing a nail gun, then consider renting one for your next siding project.

Tyler Fox

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The focus of decks tends to be deck boards, the railings that are needed on virtually every deck are often relegated to an afterthought.  The reality is that railings are the most customizable and visible part of your deck.  Railings also play a huge role in the safety of your deck.

So what is involved when looking at railings?  There are a variety of choices available in materials alone:

- Aluminum

- Composite

- Wood (Cedar, hardwood, pressure-treated)

- Vinyl

Just to name a few.  Like decking, there are pros and cons to each.  Vinyl, composite and aluminum represent low to no maintenance and long term lifespans.  Natural wood looks and feels great, but needs periodic maintenance. Each material also varies with cost, strength and aesthetic value.

Often customers are looking to coordinate their railing materials with their deck materials.  However, this is not always the case.  We have some outstanding looking decks with materials mixed and matched: Aluminum on cedar, vinyl on composite and steel on hardwood (ipe).

Next post I’ll talk about some of the labour saving you can get with different rail packages.

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Hi All, So straight walls and 90 degree corners are a piece of cake……right? Once you’ve master the skills of being able to install this stone and have it come out straight you can move on to something a little different. Lots of people are stumped when you run into situations where you don’t have 90 degree corners.

Sometimes it’s bay windows on the house or even if it is on a custom fireplace. Basically you have 3 choices. 1) You can just butt the stones together and you will get a vertical gap where the stones meet. 2) You can grout the line, but when you do this on stack stone it will look a little different because they aren’t meant to be grouted 3) Last but not least, miter cut the stones carefully and butt them together. This is in my opinion the best way because if you cut the angle correctly the joints will blend well.

Check out this thread from ContractorTalk.com, one of the mason guys on there helped a contractor solve his problem of having to do a fireplace with Cultured Stone but with non-standard angles. I’d like to hear if anyone has better suggestions. It’s like therapy, sometimes it’s good to talk about it.

Cheers,

Dave

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