Your Home Improvements

My pool deck is in great shape as far as the condition of the concrete; no crumbling, missing pieces or damage. The color, however, is fading. We bought the house with the concrete having a color coating to it, but it’s not the actual concrete that was colored and then poured.

It’s getting pretty worn looking and we’d like to look in to getting it fixed, but have no idea where to begin and what type of contractor to reach out to.

We will consider doing it ourselves if you think that the ‘average Jo’ could do this type of work on their own home.

Based on my photos do you think this is a project that we should tackle?

If not, then can you recommend what type of contractor to call on for this? What should we ask of them and what type of warranty should we expect to receive on their work?

Thank you in advance for your help, we read your article weekly and truly enjoy it, and learn a lot from it.

– Richard C.

Richard,

I can recommend a concrete finisher to come in and dye the concrete and seal coat it.

I would recommend that you not tackle this on your own, as it can get out of control pretty easily and you’ll end up with a mess.

There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration when applying the dyes and the controlling of these products.

I strongly recommend you leave it to a professional. I’ll forward the name of a local company here in town, they’re reputable and have done work at my own home, for me.

Good luck .

Hi Robert,

I live in Saugus and am considering putting in a built-in fire pit for our backyard. Is this something that I need to pull a permit for?

What do I need to consider for resale issues, when installing such a thing? Are there rules for how far it needs to be from certain things?

Summer is here and we really want to get this project in and done, but we do want to consider the proper steps so that when we sell our home in the future, we won’t end up in a situation having not followed the proper steps or design.

Any help you could give would be wonderful, thank you.

– Armando L.

Armando,

You will need permits to run the gas line to the pit, from the meter.

As long as you are not burning wood logs and it’s just the gas flame and the glass beads, then there are no issues.

If you decide to go to a log burning pit then you’ll need to talk to the building department at the city of Santa Clarita, and probably check in with the local fire department due to the high risk brush areas we have.

Robert,

Thank you for this column. I have learned so much and have come to trust your opinion very much.

Our home is about 28 years old and we are considering remodeling the master bath area.

Can you recommend anything in particular for this upstairs bathroom that we need to do while we are in the process that will help prevent any future issues?

After this many years I’m sure things behind the walls and such aren’t in the best condition, but is this something that we need to worry about?

For now we are planning tile and fixtures for the shower, and counter and fixtures for the sink area but since you are so trusted we will change anything that you think we should, while we are at it.

– Jason K.

Jason,

This is contingent on your budget. The ideal situation is that if you’re doing a remodel, to do lock, stock and barrel.

Replace all the visible plumbing in the walls when you have them open, replace any rotted timbers as needed. Put in new fixtures, tubs, showers, lavs and toilets - and make it like new.

I would spend some of the funds in mid-range for fixtures as they will last you longer than the entry level fixtures that you can buy in the big box stores.

Always change out the supply lines, do not re-use old lines and angle stops as they will fail and can possibly cause leaks.

I would use ¼-inch turn shut offs and not the full turn. In an emergency you’ll be happy to have the ¼-inch turn shut offs.

If this is going to be an upstairs bathroom then I would put Bituthene (roll out rubber membrane) rubber membrane on the floor before you set the finish flooring to minimize potential leaks to the downstairs. -Good luck