Washingtonians

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
I should try those on the new pressure-treated treads of the front steps: they refused to stick to cedar for an entire winter. What I'd really like but cannot find locally is the recycled plastic/crushed reused concrete decking surface/ stair treads I saw on HGTV once. I've spent sufficient of my life scrubbing and skid-proofing steps, and I'd like to move on to other thankless pursuits.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
Not in my experience. Or untreated cedar, for that matter: cedar is too soft and porous for adhesives to make a good bond, and it's also extremely "wetable" in that the outer layer absorbs water and swells up. It would work on covered cedar stairs, I suspect, but not on any that take a lot of weather. One problem I have is that even though my entry faces north the lay of the land and the slope of my roof combine to form an eddy that gets the porch and steps wet when the SW wind is over about 15MPH (And rip the roof off the greenhouse in full gales, argh).

 

[cheryl98117]

Quote:
Not in my experience. Or untreated cedar, for that matter: cedar is too soft and porous for adhesives to make a good bond, and it's also extremely "wetable" in that the outer layer absorbs water and swells up. It would work on covered cedar stairs, I suspect, but not on any that take a lot of weather. One problem I have is that even though my entry faces north the lay of the land and the slope of my roof combine to form an eddy that gets the porch and steps wet when the SW wind is over about 15MPH (And rip the roof off the greenhouse in full gales, argh).

I just use 3-tab shingles on my steps. Then replace them every 3-4 years as needed. Works well for us here, but one set of steps hardly gets used by anyone but DD and the dogs, the other set is out of the weather. My main concern in the winter is build up of ice at the bottom of the steps... gets a good inch of ice when we get below freezing for more than a couple days.

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
I should try those on the new pressure-treated treads of the front steps: they refused to stick to cedar for an entire winter. What I'd really like but cannot find locally is the recycled plastic/crushed reused concrete decking surface/ stair treads I saw on HGTV once. I've spent sufficient of my life scrubbing and skid-proofing steps, and I'd like to move on to other thankless pursuits.

the recycled plastic 2x4s had a bad problem with warping and splitting -- those that had them, mostly had to remove all and go back to wood-based lumber

or remove and add flexible grommets at the attach points, attach with bolts rather than screws, and attach every six inches or so

so far the Trex (copyrighted) decking seems to be holding up under use ... but $$$

next summer when we re-treat the steps, after they dry out, I'm thinking of adding sand to the oil, or using a stain which might provide a higher coefficient of friction

I doubt that shingles would stick without being nailed, and I don't want to nail into cedar, too much of an entry for fungus and rot and carpenter ants

in the best of all possible worlds, we'd add the ADA-certified tile that we used in the shower ... even with liquid soap on it, you don't slip .... however there would need to be some waterproofing done underneath, as wet cedar without air passage, rots disastrously

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
I should try those on the new pressure-treated treads of the front steps: they refused to stick to cedar for an entire winter. What I'd really like but cannot find locally is the recycled plastic/crushed reused concrete decking surface/ stair treads I saw on HGTV once. I've spent sufficient of my life scrubbing and skid-proofing steps, and I'd like to move on to other thankless pursuits.

the recycled plastic 2x4s had a bad problem with warping and splitting -- those that had them, mostly had to remove all and go back to wood-based lumber

or remove and add flexible grommets at the attach points, attach with bolts rather than screws, and attach every six inches or so

so far the Trex (copyrighted) decking seems to be holding up under use ... but $$$

next summer when we re-treat the steps, after they dry out, I'm thinking of adding sand to the oil, or using a stain which might provide a higher coefficient of friction

I doubt that shingles would stick without being nailed, and I don't want to nail into cedar, too much of an entry for fungus and rot and carpenter ants

in the best of all possible worlds, we'd add the ADA-certified tile that we used in the shower ... even with liquid soap on it, you don't slip .... however there would need to be some waterproofing done underneath, as wet cedar without air passage, rots disastrously

I'm probably going to have to re-deck the front porch next year, and will probably use Trex for the main deck; I wish, since it's not beautiful in and of itself, it would either be paintable/stainable or come in a few colors other than rice, oatmeal, mouldy rice, mouldy oatmeal, and puke.

Given long enough PVC pipe and big enough clear tarp, there are days I would just build a hoop house from the front patio to the ridge of the barn roof. It would save the times the autumn leaves pile up on the roof and create a dam which sends water down through the hall bathroom fan, for one thing.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
I should try those on the new pressure-treated treads of the front steps: they refused to stick to cedar for an entire winter. What I'd really like but cannot find locally is the recycled plastic/crushed reused concrete decking surface/ stair treads I saw on HGTV once. I've spent sufficient of my life scrubbing and skid-proofing steps, and I'd like to move on to other thankless pursuits.

the recycled plastic 2x4s had a bad problem with warping and splitting -- those that had them, mostly had to remove all and go back to wood-based lumber

or remove and add flexible grommets at the attach points, attach with bolts rather than screws, and attach every six inches or so

so far the Trex (copyrighted) decking seems to be holding up under use ... but $$$

next summer when we re-treat the steps, after they dry out, I'm thinking of adding sand to the oil, or using a stain which might provide a higher coefficient of friction

I doubt that shingles would stick without being nailed, and I don't want to nail into cedar, too much of an entry for fungus and rot and carpenter ants

in the best of all possible worlds, we'd add the ADA-certified tile that we used in the shower ... even with liquid soap on it, you don't slip .... however there would need to be some waterproofing done underneath, as wet cedar without air passage, rots disastrously

This wasn't 2X4s, it was 2X8 "tongue and groove" that looked like car decking when installed- not real tongue and groove decking, though, the "tongue" was a separate vinyl tab that fed in after the deck was layed. It looked fussy and I made fun of it when they were installing it on one of the near-infomercial shows HGTV used to run, but after the fight I've had with steps the past few years, I'd like something sturdy, slip-proof, and biologically and chemically inactive.

 

[Totalcolour]

Just had a GREAT weekend!

Saturday Hubby butchered 5 bunnies for the freezer, and caught 5 big ducks ready to butcher on Sunday. We got a call from someone wanting 2 ducks (pets) so they came over and picked them out. Then Sunday morning we got calls from 2 other people who also came by for ducks. One lady bought 3 drakes and a duck. Then another man came by and wanted to buy ALL of our remaining ducks. Well, we only sold him 10 because we need some for the freezer, and some for breeding next spring.

But it was pretty good - 16 ducks sold.

One lady wanted chickens too, but I just couldn't part with any of them - the juvies are too young to tell how good they are, and the adults are simply too good for the stew pot (which is what she wanted).

We don't get to keep ALL the money though - some goes to the 2 goats we bought!

 

[RonB]

Quote:
well I hope you can get a few more good years out of Abby

. Kala was FIFTEEN in June her spine is showing . vet says thats kind of normal at that age. she has Arthritis in her knees, she will sometimes fall over coming up the two steps to the porch. or when she gos to lay down. but she doesn't complain. she still follows me back and forth to the coops and is just waiting for me to head for the car. Keep us posted on Abby

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
On a dry day (HA!) we have applied heavily, oil based paint, and sprinkle with sand, start at the top, (sitting) with a bucket of each, and work your way down.
I had to make big ramps for DH when he flew off a 2nd story building & ended up in a wheelchair for months, and that worked great (the paint & sand)
I got really large grit sand..worked great!!

Seems so long ago.........glad your DH is OK Candy!
(This pick taken out of a sliding glass door of the ramp being built and DH being the bossy boss that he is, had to be there to observe it all!)

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
COOL!!!!!!!!
At least they all showed up before you butchered!