Once hole for your bulkhead has been successfully dug out and portion of foundation that needs to be cut is exposed you need to clearly layout your cut lines with a measuring tape, a bright yellow lumber crayon and a 4' level as instructed on spec sheet. Now it is time to call a professional concrete cutter and find out what their pricing and availability is (cost is usually $425+/- to cut and drop piece). They will charge you approximately an additional $100 to jack hammer piece into manageable pieces and up to $500 to remove piece from site. In order to avoid break up an disposal charges, simply have your excavation contractor dig a "grave" for concrete at bottom of your excavation. This way you can just bury it and save yourself some time, money and hassles. Explain to concrete cutter that you need a standard doorway for a bulkhead. Ask them how much they charge and when they can schedule your job. Ask them for a morning appointment. You are going to have to coordinate concrete cutting and bulkhead installation so that as soon as concrete cutter is done bulkhead is immediately installed. So you can now schedule your bulkhead delivery and installation for about 12 noon. Most pre-cast concrete product manufacturers will do installation for you at no additional cost or it is included in price.

I recommend calling each of your sub-contractors a day prior to their arrival just to verify that there are no scheduling conflicts. This will minimize amount of problems that will occur and give you plenty of time to reschedule each subcontractor if one of them runs into a problem.

As soon as your bulkhead and metal bulkhead cover have been successfully installed you will need to "back fill" or replace dirt that was removed from hole. This can be done by hand with a shovel by an experienced "do it yourselfer" or you can make arrangements to have your excavation contractor return once installation is complete and do backfilling for you. It is always a good idea to allow this dirt to settle before adding your topsoil or planting any grass or flowers. The ground around bulkhead should be settled pretty good after several heavy rain showers.

Well, good luck and if you choose to tackle this project congratulations. For more information on this subject just do a search for "pre-cast," "concrete cutting" or "bulkhead." As always please feel free to check out our website at www.affordableconcretecutting.com

(c) Copyright 2005 Affordable Concrete Cutting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Damp patches on wall or floor outside a shower cubicle can be attributed to one of above causes, leaking waste or supply pipes, or occasionally by excessive sealant inside cubicle, causing water to well-up in side frame itself.

So what are solutions?

The solution will depend on severity of problem – and keep in mind that much of damage may be hidden.

Ensure that shower tray or bath is securely anchored in place and does not move when someone stands in it. If you have access to underside check any supply and waste pipes for leaks.

Cut away old sealant with a sharp blade and replace with a high quality sanitary grade silicone sealant containing a fungicide. Try and avoid cheap sealant that has less fungicide and a lower silicone content.

Treat mouldy grout with a surface cleaner, initially, to see how deep rooted problem is. If problem returns, then you might need to think about raking out old grout and applying new.

Alternatively you could do away with grout altogether and install shower wall panels in place of ceramic wall tiles.

Each shower wall panel slots into next one using a tongue and groove system, eliminating need for grout. These panels are totally waterproof and can be fitted to any surface – including existing tiles.