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Many new homes are being built with gas fireplaces instead of the old stalwart wood fireplace. Many consumers who have owned their homes for several years are converting their wood fireplaces to gas as well. Why are they doing this?  They are making these conversions simply because of the ease of use and also the almost immediate comfort that a gas fireplace can provide. Instant on, instant heat and no mess along with not having to store wood for the fireplace are just a couple of the attractive benefits of a gas fireplace. Read more about this product »

Many home owners would love to have a new patio built for their homes complete with barbecue pit, walkways, flower gardens and more. Most settle for 2 foot basic square cement patio stones provided by the builder simply because of the cost. Contracting with a landscape company can cost thousands of dollars and most consumers just cannot afford it or they do not want to spend the money. There is another alternative and that is to do it yourself. The only real difficult parts of the job are making sure your patio is level and cutting the stones.

This particular post is going to focus on using a patio stone tub saw.  For more information about actually designing and building your patio, there are many web sites that will discuss the design and preparation of a backyard patio along with the construction and building of your patio. As long as you are not afraid of a little hard work, any home owner can build their own patio and save thousands of dollars in the process. As a rule of thumb, add to the cost of materials, the materials multiplied by 1.5 or 2 times to get an estimate of the cost of hiring a contractor to do the entire job. Back to using a patio stone tub saw.

Patio stone tub saws are actually quite easy to use as long as you practice safe working conditions and follow the instructions provided by your local rental company. We will discuss whether you should rent or purchase one of these machines a little later in this post.

The first thing you should know about patio stone tub saws is that they will cut through patio stones as much as 2.5 inches thick as if they were made of butter. Just push them through at a steady speed, listen to the sound of the motor and if it begins to slow down, then let up the pressure. You will quickly determine what the best speed of cutting is with these saws.

Set up is straight forward. Pick a location that is close to your work area, with access to power and a water hose. Another important consideration is that these machines will generate a lot of wet particulate which when it drys will coat everything with a fine white dust.  I installed a wood barrier around mine to limit the amount of spray and particulate from the stone cutter. This also makes cleanup much easier. Once you have hooked up the power and the water hose to the machine, complete several test cuts just to get a feel for the process of cutting patio stones. Always make sure the water is running to keep the blade wet and cool.

Safety Considerations

As with all home renovation projects and this includes patio stone tub saws, safety is paramount. These machines are pretty easy to use and safe as well, but there are a few things you should consider. First of all always connect the power chord with a heavy duty extension chord. If you do not have one, most equipment rental companies can provide one of these. Second the electrical outlet you use should have a ground fault breaker. You are wet, you will be standing in water sometimes and you want to make sure that there is little chance of receiving a shock.

Third, as we mentioned never operate the saw without water. The patio stone tub saw comes with a small water pump which pumps water out of the tub ( that’s why it is called a tub saw) through tubes to spray the water onto the saw blade. If it runs dry, you will generate lots of dust and the blade could over heat.

Eye protection is an absolute must. Wear goggles even if you wear glasses. The goggles will protect your glasses and more importantly will prevent particles from the tub saw getting into your eyes. Also wear sound protection for your ears. These tub saws are loud and the sound is quite ear piercing. If you do not wear ear protection at the very least you will not be able to hear properly for several days and the worst is that you could damage your ears permanently.

The last safety concern is always wear leather gloves. Water and the particulate from the stones you are cutting combine to form a paste which will rub your fingers raw. It can get quite painful if you are doing a lot of stone cutting. The gloves will get wet and it will be messy, but at least your hands will not be sore. Some people will also wear a rubber apron around them to protect their clothes and avoid getting soaked from the water spray. This is a great idea, makes the job a lot more comfortable, especially if it is cool. No one wants to be wet in cold weather.

Rent or Purchase a Patio Stone Tub Saw

Now back to renting or purchasing a patio stone tub saw.  I have rented one of these machines several times for a 24 hour period and found this to be the most economical for my purposes. I planned my rental around spending a day of stone cutting, so I had all of my stones placed and marked for cutting prior to picking up the saw, which made the process quite efficient. The cost in Canadian dollars was around $45 for the day, which is quite reasonable.

The rental company also rented a 1.5 horsepower patio stone tub saw to me.  This is quite important since a 1.5 horse power motor will draw just less than 15 amps so you won’t be tripping your circuit breaker very often. Three horse power tub saws can cut faster, however unless you have a 20 amp or 30 amp outlet, you will be tripping your circuit breaker all of the time. This is an important consideration if you plan to purchase a patio stone sub saw.

One last point, get to know the folks at the equipment rental company you use. They have lots of experience and will take the time to show you how to use these tub saws, some of the tricks and safety issues and will often throw in the heavy gauge extension chord you will probably need as well for free.

All of this Christmas shopping makes me think about the economy and about all of us human beings in our insatiable desire to purchase stuff. I see the pressure that Christmas shopping puts on families and I have to ask myself….will there be a day when shopping is not such an addictive pastime.

Sure, we have all been raised with the desire to have more, and it is difficult to see a future where that is not a reality. In the future we would hope that the endless consumption and accumulation of “stuff” would be over, and we would be happy just enjoying the holidays without the commercialization of it. But knowing the human mind and human ego a little bit better in my older age, I kind of have to doubt it.

For instance, I am typing today as I sit in a vehicle (product) talking into a microphone (product) which is attached to a digital voice recorder (product) and I am dictating this as I sit in front of a particular store called the Urban Barn. My wife is doing some shopping for Christmas, and she is very excited just like the other shoppers inside who are admiring the Christmas displays and all of the holiday decor and ornaments. The sign in front of me says, “By One and Get Two Free”. What a deal!

What a deal it is! Buy one product and get two free. How exciting this is (sarcasm intended). As I speak, my wife just ran out of the front door of the Urban Barn, and said, “I am going over to Ashley’s Furniture, so I will be back in a moment”.

She seems very excited about the prospects of finding a good deal on some kind of item at the next store. I see people scurrying around the snow-covered parking lot looking for Christmas deals and I can’t help but notice they seem to be in a panic.

And when Christmas is over and all of the decorations, ornaments, registries, wreaths, and plastic blowup Santa Clauses have been swept away from the department store shelves and the front lawns in the suburban neighborhoods, we will be in the same place we were last year on January 2nd. We will all be that much further in debt, and our bank accounts will be depleted, as we stress ourselves out in the new year trying to pay off what we spent in December.

I know that this is important to the economy, and one of the engines that keeps the whole cycle going, but it seems to me there is a problem when it comes to shopping for the sake of shopping.

I often look at the other religions that don’t celebrate Christmas, and I envy them for not being caught up in this vicious, but yet enjoyable tradition. Seasons greetings! It says on the side of the building as I sit in front of Ashley’s furniture. Little elves are painted on the windows of their store, along with snowflakes, and balls of holly. Just another way for this furniture store to show you they are celebrating the Christmas season. Most of the stores are doing the same thing.

The Christmas cycle of abuse has been going on for hundreds of years now, and like I said, I highly doubt that it’s going to be over soon. It would be nice, to maybe just disappear for the Christmas season and boycott it altogether. I have never done that, but someday maybe I will talk my wife into it. Read more about this product »