Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [concrete-block]

116 questions
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Is this basement footer going to cause issues?

I'm having an addition put on my house with a full basement. The contractor poured the footer and is getting ready to do the foundation walls. He marked the lines for the walls, and I couldn't help but notice that one corner is cutting it very close…
djs
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How do I properly renovate the concrete floor of my balcony?

I live in an apartment that can be characterized as an old soviet-era, 5-story, multi-apartment, concrete block-based building. That means, everything was built by "stroybat" a soviet-time army battalion, whose main purpose was to construct…
Deele
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Can I install windows into a concrete rough opening without wood buck?

I recently cut two holes in my foundation and installed new windows. I lined my hole with 2x8 PT wood bucks that I attached to the masonry with Tapcon screws. Then I attached my window nailing flange to the wood buck. All seemed to work fine. Now I…
tbc
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How do you secure electrical outlets in a concrete block wall?

I have an old home that has several outlets in the exterior wall. These outlets are not secured to the block, they just dangle in the opening and are only secure (or appear to be firmly in place) due to the tightness of the cover plate. Are there…
Richard Raustad
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What is cinderblock?

I live in the UK and have never heard of cinderblock, what is it?
Walker
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How to put a clean hole in concrete block?

I am building a brick wall from concrete blocks. Note that these concrete blocks just provide a facade, don't hold any weight except an additional layer of same bricks above them. The blocks are 4" high, I want to run a 2" pipe through the middle.…
Village
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How should I build an exterior door landing pad?

I've got a building with several exterior doors (all opening inward). The slab and walk-up is about 18+" from the ground. Code requires that I have a 36"x36" landing pad outside each exterior door. What's the best way to build this? Should I…
S.ov
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How to attach a TV mount to a resilient channel wall?

first SE post! MY QUESTION: How do I safely attach an articulating mount (tilt/pan) for a 75" LCD TV to a "sound deadening" wall that uses resilient channels? Thanks to the miracle of the StackExchange Home Improvement answer to someone else's…
IWantMyMTV
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What is the cheapest way to brighten a basement workshop?

I have a bare concrete block unfinished basement. I have zero moisture problems (it's a 2007 construction with exterior waterproofing applied to the concrete along with a buried perimeter drain). The point is, I am not concerned with adding…
mwolfe02
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Should a 3'-4' retaining wall have interlocking blocks?

I'm building a 3'-4' retaining wall in my backyard and I'm in the process of choosing block. One of the blocks I like isn't engineered with any kind of lip or interlocking feature. Is this necessary for a wall that size? Or is this type of block…
lecrank
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Can I skim coat a painted interior concrete block wall? If so, with what & how?

Can I skim coat a painted interior concrete block wall? If so: What can I use to prepare the wall? What material should I use (joint compound, plaster, other)? All DIY so simpler the better.
Jagra
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How should I encapsulate a basement wall with chipping paint on a porous surface?

I have a basement wall with several layers of chipping paint. I can't say officially, but I'm pretty certain the bottom layer (dark green in the photos) is lead-based, while the upper layers are not. The other issues: the wall is not uniform…
Aaron Beals
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Repair cracks in concrete block wall that's no longer moving

I'm fixing up my detached garage built in the early 1900's. At some point there was some movement in the walls (not the slab, the walls are built next to the slab). There doesn't seem to be any more movement; however, there are cracks left between…
john
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How can I remove a parking block from my garage?

So, builders have this thing, for some reason, of installing cement parking blocks a few feet in front of the hot water heater in the garage. I've lived at plenty of places without those and managed to not drive through the water heater into the…
Raystafarian
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How wide does a 6x6 concrete post footing needs to be?

Need to attach 6x6x8 posts for a free-standing pergola - I'll use Strong-Tie anchors attached to the concrete footing. The hole for the footing will reach well below the freezing line, but how wide should it be? EDIT Found these construction…
funtastic
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