cedar-decks / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

How to Build a Beautiful Cedar Deck that Last - Our Top Tips & Photos
Decks, porches and gazebos

Building a deck ? Our Top Tips to make your deck last longer

Deck building tips for a durable deck construction: Meeting setbacks and getting building permits in Canada & US Raised Deck frame specification - make sure the structure is strong enough Which raised deck foundations are best: cement pillars (Sonotubes), screw piles, floating deck blocks What's the best type of d...

How to restore a cedar wood deck easily
Decks, porches and gazebos

How to restore a cedar wood deck easily

Restoring a weathered cedar deck easily, step by step  Cedar decking boards turn gray in a few short years if untreated, and can make your deck look much older and closer to the end of its life than it actually is. There are easy tips for restoring an old deck and bringing back the original color of cedar decking. Deck...

Freshly Stained Cedar Wood Deck after Renovating old Decking to Look Like New
Decks, porches and gazebos

How to Stain or Paint Cedar Wood Decking when Renovating old Decks

How to stain or paint an old cedar deck to make it look new and last longer. Staining or painting an old weathered cedar deck can be quite different than staining a new one. First, pressure wash the deck to remove the old gray color and all the build up of grit and stains. Try to always blast the water with the directi...

Non-toxic food safe natural wood finishing oil for counters, floors, decks
Paints, finishes and natural coatings

Natural wood finishing oil is non toxic too

Livos is a Quebec manufacturer of natural wood finishing oils, and they are very transparent about the composition of their products which are mainly plants and some other natural materials. There are also no heavy metals used in the colouring pigments, so it is a completely sustainably-made and healthy product.  "In o...

Siding Choices - Board and batten siding
Exterior cladding

Choosing the right exterior siding for fitting, cost comparisons & appearance

Siding is important! There is no stage of home construction that you should rush through, but if there were, it shouldn't be siding. Whatever type of siding product you choose, purchase and installation is not cheap, so you don't want to do it again anytime soon. Your siding needs to protect your home from the weather,...

Frost Heave Prevention Helps Stop Frost Heaving Breaking up Home Foundations
New foundations and slab-on-grade

What causes Frost Heave? Preventing frost heaving is down to good foundation design

Frost protected foundations - essential in cold climates Protecting homes and buildings in cold climates from structural damage caused by frost heave is essential for durability. In most parts of Canada and the northern United States, the ground freezes during the winter months to a depth of several feet. Such ground f...

Metal roof with solar panels
Roof coverings

How to choose roofing materials

1. Asphalt shingles: Asphalt shingles © Ecohome We’ll start with shingles to get it out of the way, because choosing an eco-friendly, durable roof covering starts first with dismissing any idea of installing asphalt shingles. High-embodied energy, rarely if ever recycled, they deteriorate rapidly with UV rays, emit s...

Shou sugi ban carbonized wood siding
Exterior cladding

Shou sugi ban carbonized wood siding from Japan, what is it & how to make it?

What is Shou sugi ban siding? © Resawn Timber Co. Shou sugi ban is an ancient Japanese carbonized wood finish created by burning the surface of wood to preserve it. The final product is also known as Yakisugi (yaki means to cook/burn and sugi is the Japanese name for cedar), but shou-sugi-ban seems to have won as the...