Outdoor Furniture, Outdoor Patio and Outdoor Gardens

Frequently Asked Questions

1. QUESTION:
   I want to stain/glaze my cement floors . Help .?
   I am buying a house with hideous and smelly rugs , I want to tear them up . Under the rugs is cement , is that the same thing as concrete ?? I love the look of the stained and glazed concrete floors . Any good advice on how to do this ? I just want it all one color , simple . The designs I have found online when doing a search have been way over the top , taping off patterns , faux stone look or they are doing an outdoor area . I just want to stain it and make it shine . Do I just wash the floor , paint it with a stain ( if so what kind ) and then use a high gloss glaze ? I am so excited about this project !

   • ANSWER:
     Clean the floor. Then pour some water on it. If water soaks in then so will stain. Apply the stain with a weed pump sprayer. Work stain in with a broom. Then neutralize the floor, seal it then apply a couple coats of wax. Check you tube for how to videos.

2. QUESTION:
   Fleas in a bag going into storage?
   I had a flea infestation about a month ago. I used Spectricide to kill them in the house, and used Advantage on my dog, which has done wonders. I am moving this weekend and I rolled and bagged the area rug from my bedroom a few weeks ago. Today I notice there are hundreds of fleas inside the bag with the rug. I know there were probably eggs and they hatched. The rug is going into outdoor storage for the next 3 months, will this suffice in killing them off? Or should I put a flea collar in the bag with them? Or does anyone have other ideas?
   Thanks!

   • ANSWER:
     Honestly if you can see fleas in there I would get rid of the rug and not run the possibility of them returning in your new household. Also ensure that your dog is kept up to date with his flea prevention treatments so you don't have the same problems again.

3. QUESTION:
   Why are people so disrespectful?
   My roomates (my sister and two other people whom she has been "friends" with for at least two years) are VERY disrespectufl of my things. I basically furnished the whole house, except for their bedrooms- two couches, a coffee table, a breakfast nook table, major kitchen appliances, bathroom rugs/mats, outdoor furniture etc. They all never do there dishes after they eat, the dishes sit in the sink for a week, and they constantly leave the door wide open. We just moved to Tahoe- the Angora area where the fire was last summer. I'm not worried about being robbed but we do live in the middle of a forest; animals do have a big possibility of coming in if they smelled the greasy food they always cook. I don't know how to get across to them that they are disrespectufl of my things and it's not cool. I have no problem with them using my belongings but they way they treat the house I do- they came from Chico,Ca, party town USA, and they are in a stupid mentality of being able to party etc.....
   Few more tidbits- I was gone from 7 to 1030pm tonight. I came home, porch lights were off so it was pitch black. I left the lights when I left so I could see where I was walking. BUT the big thing here is the door was wide open. Everyone was gone and I have no idea how long the door was open. I just find it disrespectful since they don't care about my belongings in the common areas and yet have the nerve to put a door lock on their bedroom door- a door lock where you need a key to open it from the outside. As for the dish thing- we have a dishwasher and I don't understand people who let grease and scum dry on plates. I just don't get it. I have learned my lesson to not live with 22 year olds again though- after the year is up, my a-s-s is back to the bay where I belong!
   Lol where do I get one of those springs for the door? We already have a good door on the house but I'm curious if one can just buy one at the store. And as for packing my stuff up- I seriously have! They would shiza their pants if I left and they had nothing to use but their tvs in the living room and paper plates to eat off of. But I'm on a years lease and we have been here for one month. 11 months and counting, which is kinda sad ha!
   It's not about who puts the most money into the house. I was caring enough to say to people "hey you guys don't have much, I have everything so I would love to share with you all." The more I think about it, I wasn't really looking for a specific answer- thanks to everyone though. If I don't move and things get worse, I'll just get a storage unit and put somethings in there and tell them to buy their own couches. O and the people want to make payments on the Uhaul costs when I forked over 00 after we were moved- goes to show people really be cheap and expect things to be given to them. And ya, they must have been nasty brats as children; my sister was just babied and had things handed to her. I worked for my belongings and appreciate the things I can afford. Anyway enough for now. It's time to put this out of my head and go relax =) Happy monday people

   • ANSWER:
     Because they have been raised by incompetent parents.

4. QUESTION:
   Is my 4 month old puppy marking his territory already?
   I have a 4 month old toy puppy who has been very good in the housetraining department. He knows his outdoor areas to eliminate and comes running right after he does his business for a treat. He had a few occassional accidents in the house earlier but up until the last couple days hardly at all. We keep an eye on him in the house, he is in his crate when we are gone or at night to sleep, never an accident there.

   But recently we discovered two little pee accidents in different rooms and then last night the moment I seemed to turn my head he poo'd right on the rug. Could not believe it, caught him right after and picked him up and took him outside.

   Could he be marking his territory already @ 4 months. What could we doing wrong?

   • ANSWER:
     No, territory marking will start at the earliest when the dog hits its teens, starting at 6-7 months old.

     He's still so young and it's not unusual for housebreaking success to go up and down here and then as the puppy's bladder develops or if you change his feeding schedule or if he's stressed or tired or excited. If he's exactly 16 weeks old: many puppies go through a "terrible twos" phase at this age, which usually lasts 7-10 days, so if he has the right age, this could also be what you're noticing.

     If you notice very frequent urination, he might have a urinary tract infection and will need to be put on antibiotics by the vet.

     Sounds like he's almost housebroken already, so just keep up the training and he'll get there.

5. QUESTION:
   How to litter box a obstinate 8 week old Kitten.?
   We took in 3 outdoor kittens from a friend over a month ago. Where they were living is pretty much not a good area for them to start with and it was draining the mom's life by nursing them. She was pretty much emaciated from the nursing. We could only do so much and took in the 3 that we did. Two we gave to a pet store to adopt out and we kept one for ourselves.

   We're having problems with her going in the litter box. She will go inside of one, but it's about 20% that she doesn't. She has diarrhea and was treated by our vet for hook worms and coccidia as were the other 2 kittens and our 2 adult cats. The vet office told us it can take up to 2 weeks for the diarrhea to clear up.

   We live in an apartment and do our best to keep it clean since it's our security deposit that will be lost for any stains on the rugs. I have already shampooed the rugs once and there are still spots from where this little one goes.

   What can I do to get her going 100% in the litter box? We have two litter boxes, one in our computer room and one in the living room. so they are spread out pretty evenly in the apartment. They are cleaned out twice daily and changed once weekly.

   We're not sure what else we can do. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
   A little more detail to go along with the above. When we see her going on the rug we pick her up and put her in the litter box and praise her, or if she goes into the litter box on her own we praise her.
   All she generally gets is dry food actually. We may give her a little wet food once in the morning and that is one can split between three cats and the can is on the smaller side.
   Our vet advised that we put her on dry food to help with the stools.

   Thanks all for the advice we will take it all under advisement and go from there.
   I also want to add that we only have 3 cats now. As mentioned we gave two of the kittens to a pet store to adopt out.

   So we have 2 adults and one kitten.
   Whoever is giving the thumbs down, please stop. None of these answers is bad and contain good information.

   • ANSWER:

6. QUESTION:
   What is appropriate for wedding registries? We are registering at Wal-Mart and Target.?
   My fiancee and I are only registering at Wal-Mart and Target as we and most of our guests live in rural areas. We know we should register for things like dishes and bedding, but about cleaning things like a vacum or a Swifter Sweper? Can we register for some furniture like a bookshelf or small tables? What about electronics like smoke detectors, house phones, answering machine, or a stero that we have been eyeing up that costs under 75 bucks. What about outdoor things? Or decortative things like rugs, pillows, bathroom knick-knacks or a small fountain? Are spectality things okay like a pizza maker or a cotton candy maker? What about one of those machines that look like move theater popcorn that make popcorn? We have been dreaming of one of those soda coolers that look and work like a real soda machine for years. Or what about stuff for our Wii? Like a rechargable battery stand or even Rockband? Or our cat? We'd really like a self cleaning litterbox.

   Please help! Thank you!
   Jen, Thanks that was a good point. I forgot to mention that I have already registered for many price ranges, including over 50 items that cost less than 5 dollars.
   Nanner and Daniel - You had a lot of the same stuff? Wow, that is weird. Yeah, I like the self cleaning litterbox idea. I think it would be more useful than a crystal punch bowl or something like that.
   April, thanks for asking. No, I thought I had found a dress but it didn't work out the way I wanted to. It's been very hard. It was kind of upsetting, I think I'm going to take a break on looking.
   Wow, thanks for all the great answers and advice. I couldn't pick a best answer, so I am putting it to vote.

   • ANSWER:
     Any and all of the things you mentioned are just fine! You've got a good, level-headed approach! Don't worry about putting a few (just a few) higher ticket items on there, because sometimes people go together to buy more expensive gifts.
     Nothing wrong with putting very practical things on there - people really appreciate giving those! But don't forget SOME decorative items like crystal serving pieces - you WILL use them in the future with company, no matter how much you think you won't now -- some things just come with being married for a while, entertaining styles change.
     BTW, the self-cleaning litterbox doesn't work really well, and is not worth the bother. It's noisy, jams, and requires just as much cleaning as a regular litterbox. (If it sounds too good to be true, it IS!) Better to go with a big covered pan and an excellent clumping litter!

7. QUESTION:
   Cat picking a new owner?
   Since I moved into this new house, a neighbour's cat (his name is Oscar) has been hanging around my house. At first it just started with him turning up in my back garden looking for attention every night about 7pm. In the summer I would sit on the back door step and sit and pet him for half an hour or so.

   Now it's a case of any time someone comes to the front door, the cat is there waiting to get inside (and if the door is opened he'll shoot in and find himself somewhere to sleep - generally my bed!)

   If we DON'T let this cat in, it's outside the windows of our living room glaring in at us and meowing as if to say "You cruel people, why aren't you letting me in?!". It deliberately waits for people to come visit us so that it can follow them to the front door and sneak in. It even follows the postman up to the door!

   When we let him in, He just makes itself comfortable or climbs all over me for attention until it curls up in my lap to sleep for a few hours.

   My mother says obviously Oscar is an outdoor cat, but if he was, why is it he is always whining to get inside another person's house when he has two perfectly good owners two doors away? The cat is well fed, clean and bright eyed so I don't think it's being mistreated. I do think, however, it doesn't want to be an outdoor cat (there's foxes in our area, not to mention it's very bad weather, always raining right now - sometimes I let the thing in and it's like a drowned rat).

   If I'm in the house it also tends to follow me from room to room until I've settled. Sometimes when I do it just sits on the rug and stares at me for ages (mum laughs and calls this "hero worship").

   I've never owned a cat before but it seems to me the cat thinks he lives here or something (everyone who comes to visit asks us when we got a cat as Oscar is there waiting to get in like he BELIEVES he lives there!). I don't know if it's really bad to keep letting him in or not, but I feel horrible that the neighbours would allow the cat to be out in the pouring freezing rain in November when the cat is SO well behaved and only wants to sit and be petted or sleep inside.

   I honestly don't mind the cat being here (he keeps me company when I'm home alone) but I do find it very odd as I always believed cats were incredibly independent and I don't know if I'm being "used" for the cat just to get a warm bed or if the cat is sick of his own house and wants a new one.

   • ANSWER:
     hey

     well first off its nice to see someone thats never had a cat be so nice to one, so thumbs up there

     well its could be a few things really. first off, cats will go where there is love and attention. as much as his owners feed him, pay for his vets bills etc they may not always have the time to spend with him daily to give him the attention he needs. secondly, cats are not stupid in the slightest. if they cant get in at home then they will go where it warm and cozy.

     i think the best thing that you could do would be to talk to the owner. maybe if they dont have time for the cat you could offer to have him or it might just make them aware of the problem which would then mean they could spend more time with him. they might not want him indoors because someone has an alergy in which case, if they did want you to have him at least they would still be able to see him.

     i know its a hard thing to know what to do for the best but your doing a good thing for the cat by giving him love and attention. i hope it all works out

8. QUESTION:
   house breaking chihuahua?
   I need help figuring out how to housebreak my 9 wk Chi pup using wee wee pads (He is not going to be going outdoors; he will be using wee wee pads. Please, it won't be helpful if you give me outdoor advice).

   I have a crate but the problem is he cries all night long, so I can't figure out which cries are "I need to pee, let me out", and which cries are "I want attention and play time".

   I now have an area blocked off under my table where he has a little bed on one side and the wee wee pads on the other. He DOES use the wee wee pads there but once he is out and about in the apartment, it's anyone's guess. Now I feed him and immediately place him in this area, and wait for him to pee before I let him out. Sometimes this means I have to sit and watch him for long periods of time until he finally does his business. Not fun for either of us. And, still, once he's out, he may suddenly do a little pee on the rug much faster than I can catch him -- i.e., he doesn't go back to the pee pad once out of the confined area.

   Thanks in advance.

   • ANSWER:

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