Painting Cement

Just outside both sets of my patio doors there are two slabs of cement (and also the floor in my outdoor storage room). They had become weather worn over the past 14 years. I purchased a garage floor kit (made by Rustoleum) at Lowe's and painted all of the cement areas 9 years ago. We had a rough winter (had to use some salt on the cement) and it was time to do it again.

There are two cans in the kit--one with the paint (half full) and the other is a can of epoxy. After you've cleaned, swept, and dried the cement, open the can of epoxy and pour it into the can of paint--stir well according to the time on the directions. It takes quite a bit of stirring before it's ready. After stirring, let it sit for 30 minutes, then stir again. From that point you have two hours to use the paint. Do small sections at a time and then sprinkle the colored flakes (included in the kit) over the painted areas. Allow it at least 24 hours before light walking on the surface.

I did this same thing about 9 years ago. It lasted quite awhile before having to do it again.

Clean Snow From Spouting/Gutters

We had three really heavy snows this year (not normal for our area). After the first heavy snow, I heard dripping in the kitchen. I looked around and saw water slowly dripping from the heating vent. After looking around a bit online, I figured the front spouting must be clogged with snow/ice. Sure enough, it was solid ice in the spouting. I used a small trowel to chip away and remove the ice, then poured just a little table salt where the gutter meets the downspout (since I couldn't get in there to remove the ice). A few seconds later, I heard ice fall down and water start running as it should.

If you're going to get a heavy snow, get out there during (not after) and start getting the snow/ice out of the downspouts and gutters. Water will find a place to go (like backing up under the shingles and into your house). You can avoid the mess that I dealt with.