Finishing an oak table requires diligence and patience, but the satisfaction of creating a beautiful piece of furniture is worth the effort. Oak furniture has a porous surface that may require the use of fillers to achieve a finish that feels smooth when you rub your hand across the grain. It’s a matter of personal preference as to whether you choose to leave the grain exposed, or to create a perfectly smooth finish.

Start by remembering the key to a smooth finish is to sand with increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, ensuing you stay with the natural grain in the wood. The finest grade of sandpaper should be as light as a 220-grit,and then make sure you wipe the surface with a damp cloth to remove every last trace of sanding dust as dust left in the furniture’s surface will mar the coats you will apply later.Wipe any remaining dust off the table with a rag dampened with paint thinner or mineral spirits, taking care not to soak the surface as this will darken the wood’s colour.Apply a wash coat of finish to the table before using the filling paste if you are leaving the table in its natural color (not stained)

First check the instructions and then mix the finish and thinner in equal quantities. Apply one coat of the thinned finish and allow to dry, but  do not sand as this seals the wood and prevents colour change when the filling paste was applied (as detailed earlier). Brush on a coat of grain filling paste if you desire a smooth mirror finish on the oak table.  Oak has an open grain that you can feel when you rub your hand over the surface of the wood and the grain must be filled before the piece is stained.

Brush on the filler paste with a stiff paintbrush or pour the filling paste onto a section of the table and spread with a plastic putty knife or use an expired credit card. The filling paste dries quickly, apply to small sections.

Work the filler paste into the grain of the wood and allow it to dry until it forms a haze and use a rough cloth (such as burlap) to wipe excess filler paste off the surface.Make sure you then wipe with the grain to take off any last traces of the filler. Allow the filler paste to dry overnight, and then inspect the surface with a bright light to find any remaining filler. Sand any filler paste that the light detects with 320-grit sandpaper, use a light touch on the sandpaper, and work with the grain of the wood. Apply stain in desired colour after the filler paste has dried. Wipe with the grain of the wood. Allow the stained surface to dry overnight before applying the clear finish to avoid bubbles in the finish coat of the solid oak furniture. Apply three to five coats of clear finish, allowing drying between coats. allow a few days for the clear finish to harden before subjecting the table to daily use.

Tiles have been used as an outdoor flooring material since ancient times . Originally blocks of natural stone were the only available materials, but these days modern manufactured materials and of course the ubiquitous concrete have become commonplace . Partly for cost considerations , clay fired bricks and pavers and ceramic tiles laid over a concrete base have tended to replace natural stone paversblocks or flagstones . And with a relatively low-cost and easy to install concrete base , it is of course possible to install a surface layer which is much thinner than   natural stone which would otherwise be needed to provide the required strength and durability.  

Although it’s possible to install an attractive natural stone surface by laying stone pavers over a a concrete base, this can involve considerable work , since not only are stone pavers relatively heavy, but installing tiles or pavers is something that requires skill and experience in order to achieve a professional result . So it is generally not a job undertaken by a homeowner unless it is a comparitively small area.

In recent years however, a cost-effective and convenient alternative has become available which enables even a homeowner without any particular do-it-yourself skills to install pavers or tiles over their exterior surfaces and virtually guarantees a professional finish without a lot of frustration or hard work .  Modular interlocking deck tiles, such as those available from HandyDeck, use conventional exterior surfacing materials, which can be slate, granite, sandstone, porcelain or even wood, but this surface layer is bonded or screwed to a specially designed polymer mesh base with connecting tabs on all four sides to lock each tile to the surrounding tiles.

This makes tile installation much easier as it not only guarantees gaps between the tiles remains constant, but there’s no need to use any adhesives or other fixing devices , as the tiles are simply placed on top of the existing hard surface such as concrete .  The weight of the tiles and friction between the plastic base and the substrate stop the tiles from moving, even if the area is sloping. Normally the tiles are laid on a concrete base but they can also be laid on a well compacted and level surface such as asphalt, gravel or even bare ground if appropriate preparation has taken place .

Interlocking deck tiles are particularly useful for apartment dwellers on both balconies and rooftops, since not only are they easy to carry up stairs or elevators, but there’s no messy installation involved apart from maybe the need to cut a few tiles to fit the area precisely. And for rooftops, in many cases, condo associations will not allow permanent materials to be used , so these decking tiles can provide a neat solution to this problem.

Another advantage of interlocking deck tiles is that the plastic base is designed to allow water to drain away freely underneath the tiles, which can therefore eliminate surface puddles of water, and reduce the potential for slipping on the surface.

So next time you are considering remodelling your patio, porch or other exterior areas , give some thought to the alternative of using interlocking deck tiles rather than convential tiling or paving materials.