Types of Softwoods in Woodworking
Softwoods are divided fairly arbitrarily into two groups. The first group is commonly called redwood, pine, red deal or yellow deal. There is actually no such thing as a deal tree; deal originally meant a piece of sawn wood 9 inches wide, not more than 3 inches thick and at least 6 feet long. Red deal comes from the Scotch Pine, yellow deal from the Yellow Pine. The second group is called whitewood or white deal (Norway spruce – the traditional Christmas tree).
Both generally have a very pale color and weak grain pattern, and these properties are more pronounced in timber grown recently, with the accent on fast-growing species. You can see this clearly by comparing a plank of recently-cut softwood with the timber used in, say, a Victorian house, which will have a deeper color and a closer, more noticeable grain.
Softwood is comparatively strong in the direction of the grain, weak across it. It is easy to saw, plane, chisel and sand, and holds screws well (nails can cause the wood to split along the grain). The wood is fairly porous, and is generally not durable enough to be used out of doors unless protected by paint, varnish or preservative Western Red Cedar is the one commonly-available exception to this rule, its red color weathering to a pleasant grey if exposed to wind, rain and sunlight Most softwoods are easy to treat with preservatives, however, since their porous nature means that the preservative penetrates deep into the wood to protect it by keeping rot and wood-boring insects at bay.
Posted in DIY Home Improvement | 
Accent, Chisel, Grain Pattern, Nails, Nbsp, Norway Spruce, Noticeable Grain, Pale Color, Porous Nature, Preservatives, Scotch Pine, Screws, Second Group, Softwoods, Sunlight, Traditional Christmas Tree, Varnish, Weathering, Wood Boring Insects, Woodworking | 
Leave a commentCLAY TILE ROOF REPAIR
Clay tile roof is one of the most beautiful roofs. It is long lasting, durable and resistant to climate conditions. And its characteristic red color gives your home charming Mediterranean look. Although this type of roof is very strong, sometimes you just have to do clay tile roof repair. The reason for leakage can be broken tiles but more often the reason is damaged metal flashing or fasteners. If you are an experienced do-it-yourselfer you can do the repair; otherwise it is better to call well trained roofing contractor and have him do the job.
Before you start with repair, there are few things you should keep in mind. First of all, do not lean the ladders directly against the tile roof; clay tiles break easily. Also, avoid walking on the roof for the same reason.
Clay tile roof repair begins with removing the tile that is placed above the broken one. Use piece of wood to lift up the tile but do it very carefully; you do not want to damage more tiles. When you lift the tile, you can reach the roofing nail and remove it with pry bar. You have to break the damaged tile; use the chisel and hammer to do that. Remove the broken pieces and attach the tile clip to the roof on one end and to the replacement tile at the other end. Slide new tile in place.
If the clay tiles are not secured with nails but with mortar, you will have to crack the mortar first. Remove the cap tiles and soak the tiles few hours in the water. Mix a mortar; use one part of cement and three parts of the sand. Add some water to get stiff mixture. Using trowel spread some mortar on the tile and put it in place. Remove the excess of the mortar.
You might have troubles trying to find matching tile. If you know the type or the manufacturer, that can help you to buy the right kind. If you can’t find the exact match, you can use the tiles from the back of the roof or some other less obvious spot.
If the tile is not broken but only cracked, you can fix it easily. Just put some tile roof sealer into the crack and when it hardens the crack is sealed. You can find roof sealers in different colors; choose the one that matches the color of your clay tiles.