I recently replaced a kitchen sink for my clients that was so ugly, it broke my camera.

Well, that's not true, but it was​ ugly, and I did forget to take a picture of it. However, I got a picture of the hole it left behind.

Since I don't have a picture, I'll just explain that it was one of those old fake farmhouse sinks with lots of cracks and stains in the porcelain. It was making this nice clean kitchen look worn out.

So we added some easy "kitchen appeal" with this shiny new stainless steel sink:

As you can see, they've got stainless hardware and appliances, so this will be a perfect match. I've got a stainless sink in my own kitchen, and I must say that it holds up well to heavy use.

I also replaced this cracked bathroom pedestal sink. Only the bowl was cracked, so I was able to save time and money by leaving the pedestal in place.

Your intrepid local handyman has found another mystery:

Why are these deck boards rotting?

They're treated lumber, so they should be in good shape, but my clients tell me that they often get rotten wood in this same spot. They've had the boards replaced before, but this time the rot even extended into some of the framing supports.

After digging into the matter (as it were) I discovered that they usually keep planters on this spot. Normally even the planters shouldn't be a problem, but I suspect that there's a chemical reaction happening between the plant fertilizer that leaches onto the treated lumber.

​Well, that's enough "science" for the day. Let's do some real work.

This looks bad, but it could have been worse. Most of the framing is actually in good shape, and we can even keep a few of the deck boards. I cut into it and pried out the rotten stuff, then replaced it with new wood. A bit hard on the back but not time-consuming.

Now we'll let the new wood cure and then call in the deck refinishers.

Need minor deck repairs? If you're in Asheville or Weaverville, give me a call. I'll be glad to help.

Last week I worked on a concrete floor that was having a few minor paint adhesion problems.

Just kidding about the "minor" part... most of the paint on the floor was peeling off in big sheets.

It seems that there was a moisture problem in the room which has since cleared up. No one reported any flooding, and the water was already gone when I did my weekly inspection. I don't know the source of the moisture, but I suspect it came in under the entrance door as a result of drainage problems caused by the construction going on next door.

After scraping up all the loose paint, I primed the surface with "Peel Bond". I mentioned this stuff in a previous post about fixing a peeling concrete ceiling. It's made for problem areas where paint won't adhere. This foyer gets some foot traffic, so this should be an excellent test of Peel Bond's durability.

After letting the Peel Bond dry over night, I came back and top coated the floor the next morning. Cutting in and rolling out really takes the least amount of time. Most of the work was in the prep.

I'll be interested to see how the Peel Bond holds up to foot traffic. It's held up so far on the ceilings I used it on, so I'm very optimistic about it.

This is one of those posts with a satisfying "1-2-3" demonstration.

One of my clients had an electrician replace a recessed "can" light in her ceiling with an outlet box for a track light fixture. Unfortunately the can light left a big hole in her ceiling, so she had me come over and patch it.

You can see the steps pretty clearly. First I cut a wooden piece to support the area, which will give that part of the ceiling more stability.

Next I added a small patch of Sheetrock, then covered it with a wider patch of reinforced mesh with metal screen. These are ready made patches with a sticky back. According to the manufacturer they don't actually need the wooden support, but I went ahead and added it anyway for extra durability.

Last but not least, I added two coats of quick-dry sheet rock mud, lightly sanded, primed  and then repainted the ceiling. I could have painted just the area around the hole, but we didn't have the matching paint. Without matching paint , the patch would have been visible.

This looks like a quick job, but in reality it took most of a day because of the ceiling repaint. Here's a peek behind the scenes... as you can see, I try to be meticulous about putting drop cloths on everything. Spending a little extra effort here prevents a lot of headaches down the road!

If you need minor wall or ceiling repair on your Asheville or Weaverville home, please get in touch. I'll be glad to help.