Cultured marble is a blend of polymers and stone dust fused together into molded pieces. It takes on the appearance of marble. It is less expensive than natural marble. It can be formed into things like bathtubs and vanity tops. It has the appearance of marble but also has more tensile strength. It does have the tendency to show wear and tear.

Concrete building blocks are made of cement. Solid cement blocks are heavy and expensive. They usually weigh 40 to 45 pounds each. They are larger than normal building bricks. The standard size is 8” depth by 8” width by 16” length. They are hard to work with and take a lot of time to install because of their weight and bulk. There are other cinder block types that are less heavy and easier to work with.

If you own a home whose stucco finish siding has been painted, there will probably come a point when you want to repaint, and have to remove the existing paint entirely. Previous owners may even have applied multiple layers of different colored paint, and when these start to peel, it can make repainting even more difficult. You might be wondering what you can do to get the new coat of paint to best adhere to the stucco. Obviously all existing paint should be stripped off.

Spalling is the deterioration of concrete by crumbling or flaking. The main cause of spalling is water. When brick is exposed to water consistently, some of the water is absorbed through the porous material of the brick. When this water freezes and thaws repeatedly, it causes the brick to fall apart.

Other sources of spalling are high pressure washing, water hitting the wall directly by driving rains, water from downspouts, gutters and roofs and water seeping up from the soil. Vapor air escaping through the wall from inside the building, chemical cleaning and non-breathable brick sealers are additional causes.

Most Common Cause

Tuckpointing fireplace masonry is an indoor job that might also require you to consider, if exposed and accessible, tuckpointing the chimney masonry above the fireplace and outside.

Tuckpointing fireplace masonry is important because, apart from keeping the masonry looking tidy and clean you need to reduce any risk of fumes from the fire escaping into your room, or indeed any uneven draughts developing in the fire itself.

Before you Start Tuckpointing