CAthy, I'm happy as long as the tank heater is keeping up, I HATE chopping ice from the tank. Actually, chopping it isn't the bad part, it's dipping the ice chunks out with a hay fork, I always get wet, and it's cold. Ugh. Hate that..... Wind chill factors of 20 to 30 below zero ought to tell me, I've made a wooden cover for the stock tank with a hole just big enough for the animals to put their heads through, I'm hoping it helps, at least enough to keep the tank unfrozen. We set a bale this afternoon, a big round bale will last 3-4 days, so hopefully it'll last until Wednesday morning, when it breaks a little and will be back up to a high of 17, and no below zero temps. I can do everything else manually, but the tractor doesn't always want to start when it's that cold and I need the tractor to move those big bales. As for school, they will probably not have school Monday or Tuesday, we have so many rural students that ride busses and it's just not safe to have small children out in that weather. When it hits zero they are not allowed to go outside for recess and when it's colder, they eventually give up and close school. Annie

Hi Michael! (Thought you'd "semi-retired" from the forum!) I'll have to respectfully disagree, to a degree, with the statement of primer protecting for 5 months. Per the link below... Sure, the primer will protect the wood...briefly...but after a winters'-worth of cold, ice, dirt, & grit, it's gonna be too dried-out to recover much "grip". Even if sanded... Plus...the difficulties of resanding, cleaning when they're on the house. Just MY thoughts anyway...;-) Faron Here is a link that might be useful: PQI info on priming...

Would this one be okay too? This Nashua 330X looks like exactly what I needed in the first place: http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/5b/5b7c8439-7e00-406f-9cf1-7f4ca3cf06f5.pdf I guess I will need to clean-off my existing one that is falling apart before applying this one, and not doing it over the remains of the old, which is deteriorating?

Are there any recommendations when picking patio fans and heaters that are installed on patio covers? I want a fan that will be able to quietly blow a cooling breeze and keep any mosquitoes that may come out a dusk away. My portable, pyramid-type patio heater doesn't provide enough heat to be useful. The flame seems more ornamental than a good source of outdoor hear. For heat, I would like to get some kind of radiant heater so I will be able to feel enough heat where I sit even if there are cool winds blowing. A contractor said it's possible to run a gas line to the patio so I could get a natural gas heater. Or else I could get a full electric heater that would be an easier install or propane, but deal with refilling tanks. I'm not trying to heat my entire patio area. I just need to keep the small area where I would sit down comfortably warm so I can sit down outside and get fresh air in 50 degree or even a bit colder weather without needing a heavy jacket. Is gas or electric better?