HELP!! I'm trying to figure out whether to paint or stain our exterior cinderblock walls. I don"t want to use a block filler (has fiber and very difficult to use)as I am not looking to cover the texture of this 4x16 block. All of the masons I've talked to around here suggest elastomeric paint. The block has cured and I'm ready to take next step. Looks like some great concrete stains out there (ex. H&C concrete stain for CMU, etc.) No peeling, chipping, appeals to me as I have over 400 linear feet! I [B]DO[/B] want uniformity. The wall is filled with concrete every 4 feet. I've heard there may be uniformity issues. PLEASE HELP!!!! I'm ready to get this project done!

Hi all. I'm in a (poor) part of Orange County, California. My house was built in the 1960's. We opened up a wall to change out a couple of windows and found some structural issues. The footing which runs from the garage to the back of the house is cracked fairly severely. It is in the footing right at a T intersection of the back wall of the garage (gable end), side of the garage and beginning of the house. It is cracked clear through to the outside wall. [ATTACH]34554[/ATTACH][ATTACH]34555[/ATTACH] I can't afford to hire a foundation repair company or a structural engineer (minimum $500 for a site visit), nor a contractor to put it all together again. The crack is most likely from a lack of proper drainage from the side of the house. There are 1/2" cracks in the garage slab with the front of the garage sinking about 3/4". The sill plate running perpendicular to the cracked foundation is overhanging the concrete edge by almost 1". The builder laid the sill plate right along a snapped red chalk line, so the sill plate was built too close to the edge of the slab. The anchor is actually partially exposed. The top of the perpendicular wall is canted in about 3/4", having pulled away from the top plate of the bedroom outside wall. I did not expect to find this problem, but since I have, this is what I plan to do. Epoxy #5 rebar into the footing at a right angle to each other both on the inside and outside at 18" depth and 12" depth. Aditionally I will insert #5 rebar from one side of the crack to the other. I will tie the rebar together and pour a new footing 2' x 2' on the inside of the crack and the outside. [ATTACH]34560[/ATTACH] To fill the actual gap, and encase the new rebar, would normal concrete be okay? Is there an epoxy filler for a 3" gap? Am I off my rocker? Thanks!