If you're trying to refresh a tired old patio, choosing between these two new looks may be harder than the project itself, which is easy enough for dedicated DIYers of all skill levels!
Photo: istockphoto.com
As the weather warms up, patios take center stage for entertaining. But alfresco meals with friends and family lose a little of their luster when your patio is showing its age with cracks, spalling, or discoloration. You can certainly tear out and replace a damaged patio, but it's a time-consuming and costly project. Fortunately, that's not your only option. In fact, two accessible, DIY-friendly approaches to refreshing a tired patio offer different but equally delightful results. The hardest part may be deciding which to choose!
Where can I find a MacDraw-like program for Windows, preferably shareware or low cost? Way back in the 1980's, I used to be able to use MacDraw to create decent drawings. I could choose shapes (circles, rectangles, lines, and so forth) from the palette, put them onto the canvas, resize them, color them, and so forth. Third-party software applications available included MacDraw, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as Aldus PageMaker. Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (originally by Forethought ) were actually developed and released first for the Macintosh, and similarly Microsoft Word 1 for Macintosh was the first time a GUI version of that software.
Here's a quick review of these two patio restoration projects to help you determine which would work best for your situation. Rest assured that either approach will restore, or even upgrade, a worn-out concrete patio, and with barbecue season right around the corner, there couldn't be a better time to get started.
Photo: quikrete.com
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Pitting and Spalling Concrete? Resurface for a Brand-New Look
You can't turn back time on spalling or cracks, but you can cover them up with the right concrete repair products. For example, a layer of Quikrete's Re-Cap Concrete Resurfacer will give your patio a smooth and wear-resistant finish with the look of freshly poured concrete, but with a shorter working and wait time. You can complete the entire application process easily in less than an hour and have your patio party-ready by the next day! Unlike regular concrete, Re-Cap requires no special curing measures, so the new surface is ready to walk on in just eight hours.
Sold as a dry cement product, Re-Cap Concrete Resurfacer contains polymers and modifiers that give it its superior adhesion. When thoroughly mixed with water using a drill and a paddle bit, a single 40-pound bag from your local home improvement store will cover approximately 90 square feet to a ⅛-inch thickness.
There are two steps in making over an old patio with Re-Cap: the repair and the renewal. First, diligently clean the damaged patio with a pressure washer, remove all of the loose or flaking concrete, and fill all cracks using Re-Cap Resurfacer that's been mixed with water to a trowel-able consistency. Once the patch repairs are completely dry, saturate the patio with water and then remove any standing water. Spread Re-Cap evenly over the surface with a long-handled trowel. Before the mixture dries completely, apply a broomed texture to the surface using a push broom or squeegee. The texture will serve as a non-slip surface for the finished patio. Check out this Quikrete video to see how simple it can be!
Photo: pavestone.com
Looking for a Design Upgrade? Overlay with Pavers
Maybe you're ready for a change from your brushed concrete patio. If you'd like a different look, consider laying a set of pavers over the old patio. Pavestone, a Quikrete company, manufactures more than a dozen styles of thin textured pavers—including flagstone-inspired Milano Pavers—designed to go directly on top. Often referred to as remodeling pavers, the multi-piece Milano system is a fast, easy and affordable way to give a concrete patio new life.
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To prep your patio for the pavers of your choice, first spread a layer of Quikrete's PowerLoc Jointing Sand over the concrete slab with a utility broom and then smooth it into all cracks and indentations in order to form a level layer of sand. (PowerLoc sand contains polymers that harden after contact with water, so once the installation is complete, you'll need to hose down the patio to help lock the pavers in place.) Lay the pavers one by one over the sand and tap them into place with a rubber mallet. A table saw or demo saw fitted with a diamond blade can be used to cut pavers to fit, if necessary. Glue the outermost row (called a 'soldier course') down to the concrete patio with Quikrete's Construction Adhesive. This high-performance adhesive secures the soldier course, which in turn prevents the pavers on the inside rows from shifting.
Finishing your paver overlay is simple: Just sprinkle more PowerLoc sand over the surface and broom it evenly into the joints between the pavers. This locks the pavers in place and gives them a grouted look. That's all there is to turning an old patio into an attractive entertaining space that will be the envy of the neighborhood! Don't believe us? The Pavestone team captured just how simple the project is in this instructional video. With a little inspiration, the right supplies, and some helping hands, your new patio will be ready for the summer season in no time.
This content is paid advertising created in partnership with Quikrete. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.
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Intaglio 3.0 is a new-ish native Mac OS X drawing, illustration and technical drawing application made just for the Mac by Purgatory Design, of Durango, Colorado. The company has been developing software under contract for others and for itself since 1984.
Intaglio – MacDraw for Today
Intaglio, now at version 3, is essentially aimed at being a modern version of yesterday's famous MacDraw application. It can even utilize old classic Macintosh PICT files or images created with QuickDraw-based programs. These would include famous old Macintosh applications like ClarisDraw, MacDraw and older AppleWorks and ClarisWorks suites' drawings.
Lenticular effects 4 1 cracker. Intaglios carries the legacy of MacDraw into the modern world of OS X and the iPhone.
Sophisticated images like this can be produced with Intaglio 3.0 - Notice the transparencies.
Old timers will feel immediately at home with Intaglio, says the company. Yet Intaglio works with today's modern OS X core, utilizing Core Image and Quartz with full support for PDF, EPS, SVG, JPEG, PNG and TIFF file formats. Key technologies built into Intaglio include:
- Core Image Filters – for resolution independent special effects
- Scale Drawings with Dimensions – make floor plans and basic CAD layouts using Intaglio
- Sophisticated Text – Advanced text formating via Quartz
- Professional Pen Tool – High quality bezier curves and polygons
- Compound Paths with Booleans – Unite, Intersect, Substract and Exclude operations to combined paths
- Calligraphy Style Strokes
- Automatic and Manual Guides – Create grids and guide lines with 'smart snap'
- Full AppleScript Support – Scriptable and Recordable
- QuickDraw – Bridge gap between Mac OS 7, 8, 9 and today's Mac OS X world – continue to use old files from the past
- QuickTime and Image IO – Full QuickTime file import/export functionality – with automatic format support as OS X is advanced
- Spotlight – Attach meta data to individual documents for Spotlight searching
Other Notes About Intaglio
The latest version now supports full-screen slide shows and now can import ClarisDraw document slides. Also new in version 3.0 is the new Image IO from Apple with better support for CMYK and extended range images such as OpenEXR and Camera RAW.
Intaglio is a Mac Universal application. It runs with both Intel and PowerPC Macs and requires OS X 10.3.9 and QuickTime 7 for PowerPC and OS X 10.4.7 or later for Intel.
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Finishing your paver overlay is simple: Just sprinkle more PowerLoc sand over the surface and broom it evenly into the joints between the pavers. This locks the pavers in place and gives them a grouted look. That's all there is to turning an old patio into an attractive entertaining space that will be the envy of the neighborhood! Don't believe us? The Pavestone team captured just how simple the project is in this instructional video. With a little inspiration, the right supplies, and some helping hands, your new patio will be ready for the summer season in no time.
This content is paid advertising created in partnership with Quikrete. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.
Macdraw Replacement Cushions
Intaglio 3.0 is a new-ish native Mac OS X drawing, illustration and technical drawing application made just for the Mac by Purgatory Design, of Durango, Colorado. The company has been developing software under contract for others and for itself since 1984.
Intaglio – MacDraw for Today
Intaglio, now at version 3, is essentially aimed at being a modern version of yesterday's famous MacDraw application. It can even utilize old classic Macintosh PICT files or images created with QuickDraw-based programs. These would include famous old Macintosh applications like ClarisDraw, MacDraw and older AppleWorks and ClarisWorks suites' drawings.
Lenticular effects 4 1 cracker. Intaglios carries the legacy of MacDraw into the modern world of OS X and the iPhone.
Sophisticated images like this can be produced with Intaglio 3.0 - Notice the transparencies.
Old timers will feel immediately at home with Intaglio, says the company. Yet Intaglio works with today's modern OS X core, utilizing Core Image and Quartz with full support for PDF, EPS, SVG, JPEG, PNG and TIFF file formats. Key technologies built into Intaglio include:
- Core Image Filters – for resolution independent special effects
- Scale Drawings with Dimensions – make floor plans and basic CAD layouts using Intaglio
- Sophisticated Text – Advanced text formating via Quartz
- Professional Pen Tool – High quality bezier curves and polygons
- Compound Paths with Booleans – Unite, Intersect, Substract and Exclude operations to combined paths
- Calligraphy Style Strokes
- Automatic and Manual Guides – Create grids and guide lines with 'smart snap'
- Full AppleScript Support – Scriptable and Recordable
- QuickDraw – Bridge gap between Mac OS 7, 8, 9 and today's Mac OS X world – continue to use old files from the past
- QuickTime and Image IO – Full QuickTime file import/export functionality – with automatic format support as OS X is advanced
- Spotlight – Attach meta data to individual documents for Spotlight searching
Other Notes About Intaglio
The latest version now supports full-screen slide shows and now can import ClarisDraw document slides. Also new in version 3.0 is the new Image IO from Apple with better support for CMYK and extended range images such as OpenEXR and Camera RAW.
Intaglio is a Mac Universal application. It runs with both Intel and PowerPC Macs and requires OS X 10.3.9 and QuickTime 7 for PowerPC and OS X 10.4.7 or later for Intel.
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