Q. I am looking for an easy solution to a problem regarding a slab of concrete that was recently poured. The size of the slab is 37 feet long by 3 feet wide and is butted up to my house. There are three spots that are pitched toward the house. Do you have a recommendation that would keep the water from running toward my house in those spots? I would hate to redo it if I don't have to.

A. Your problem probably was caused by rains that washed away the base or by the base not being correctly compacted in those areas. At any rate, there is no permanent fix other than to tear out and recompact and repour. Short term (and this could be forever if you are lucky), if it is just sinking an inch or two, treat the area to be filled in with bonding mix or acrylic fortifier, then build up with Quikrete Sand Topping Mix. You can feather the mix to about one-fourth inch, so you should be fine.

When the topping mix has set, seal the seam between the concrete and the house with a quality blacktop crack filler so it keeps water out and stops more base from being washed away. You might have to reseal the seam every couple of years.

Q. Can you please tell us the best way to sand a deck? We had a very bad experience with a contractor that used a pressure washer on a very high setting, thus furring the decking — not to mention the fact that he thought we wanted a "redwood" stain on our beautiful cedar deck.

We have waited two years for the awful stain color to fade (which it really hasn't) and want to refinish it this year using the trusty bio-wash and natural deck oil products that we've used in the past. We are concerned about the steps we should take to correct the furring. Do we simply get on our hands and knees with a low-grit sandpaper?

A. Most people use those big round buffers that you can rent at janitorial supply houses.