Home and garden projects
#481
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: Oz -> UK -> San Diego
Posts: 9,912
Re: Home and garden projects
It's an unglazed ceramic pot that is open at the top. You plant it in the ground, leaving the open top uncovered. You fill it with water then place a lid of some (any) kind on top. The plant/s nearby will take the water they need from the soil, which will have its moisture replaced via the water in the olla that permeates the pot walls. You top the water level up when needed, wich could be every few days or once a week or even less often.
It's supposed to reduce water consumption by approximately 80%.
More details: Ollas: Unglazed Clay Pots for Garden Irrigation - The Permaculture Research Institute
#482
Re: Home and garden projects
Thanks for the response! We were told by a contractor that the difference between shakes and shingles for walls is slight these days... that shakes used to be hand-split (?) whereas shingles were machine-made--but now both are machine-milled.
I guess we need to research shingle types. But around here (New England coast) there seem to be only a few types of cedar shingles used for cladding outside walls, both for painted or unpainted....
I guess we need to research shingle types. But around here (New England coast) there seem to be only a few types of cedar shingles used for cladding outside walls, both for painted or unpainted....
#483
Account Closed
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 0
Re: Home and garden projects
This weekends "let's have a lazy 2 days at home" plan has developed into turning the spare bedroom closet into a book nook with a hidden storage area.
Well at least we worked inside with the a/c blowing
Well at least we worked inside with the a/c blowing
#484
Re: Home and garden projects
It's an unglazed ceramic pot that is open at the top. You plant it in the ground, leaving the open top uncovered. You fill it with water then place a lid of some (any) kind on top. The plant/s nearby will take the water they need from the soil, which will have its moisture replaced via the water in the olla that permeates the pot walls. You top the water level up when needed, wich could be every few days or once a week or even less often.
It's supposed to reduce water consumption by approximately 80%.
More details: Ollas: Unglazed Clay Pots for Garden Irrigation - The Permaculture Research Institute
It's supposed to reduce water consumption by approximately 80%.
More details: Ollas: Unglazed Clay Pots for Garden Irrigation - The Permaculture Research Institute
#485
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: Oz -> UK -> San Diego
Posts: 9,912
#486
Re: Home and garden projects
The ollas can be bought in San Diego, but I have made my own for 10% the cost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLxakM0KA-M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLxakM0KA-M
#487
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: Oz -> UK -> San Diego
Posts: 9,912
Re: Home and garden projects
That sounds like something my husband would do. I tell him we'd have more cash and more time if we were renting, as he wouldn't look around the house every few days and decide to change the light switches/outlet plates/fans/trim/blinds/windows/TV mount/ etc
#489
Re: Home and garden projects
So I was on my way home last night, mulling over whether I should put the new baffles in the dryer, take my chainsaw to the remains of the pear tree, work on moving the TV to the bonus room, or one of several other projects, when my phone rang.
It was Mrs P, calling to tell me that a pipe connected to the water heater was leaking. She had turned off the water supply. ..... OK, so then I knew what I'd be doing that evening.
It turned out that the wall of the ¾" pex supply pipe into the water heater had developed a pinhole, so I cut off the damaged end section, removed the connection fitting from the top of the water heater (which was less than the usual 18" length), and replaced it with a short iron "nipple" and an 18" flexible supply pipe.
It was all fixed and better than new before bedtime.
As far as I can tell the pipe had been crushed and very nearly split through (the split is on the inside) before the pipe had been installed, and it just took until yesterday to start leaking.
Also, while looking at the connections of the cold supply pipe (the one I had to fix), and the hot outlet pipe, I noticed that the hot water is coming out of the port on the water heater marked "COLD", and the cold supply line is feeding the port marked "HOT". Another tell-tale sign of a problem is that the valve which is usually plumbed to enable the supply into the water heater to be shut off is actually in the pipe taking hot water from the heater.
Anyway, this means that cold water is filling the top of the tank and the hot water is being drawn from near the bottom of the tank! (The cold port in water heaters is connected to a pipe that goes down inside nearly to the bottom of the tank to deliver the cold water to where the heater/burner is located) .... So having fixed one small plumbing crisis, I now have another project, swapping the hot and cold connections, to add to my list of things to do in my "spare time".
It was Mrs P, calling to tell me that a pipe connected to the water heater was leaking. She had turned off the water supply. ..... OK, so then I knew what I'd be doing that evening.
It turned out that the wall of the ¾" pex supply pipe into the water heater had developed a pinhole, so I cut off the damaged end section, removed the connection fitting from the top of the water heater (which was less than the usual 18" length), and replaced it with a short iron "nipple" and an 18" flexible supply pipe.
It was all fixed and better than new before bedtime.
As far as I can tell the pipe had been crushed and very nearly split through (the split is on the inside) before the pipe had been installed, and it just took until yesterday to start leaking.
Also, while looking at the connections of the cold supply pipe (the one I had to fix), and the hot outlet pipe, I noticed that the hot water is coming out of the port on the water heater marked "COLD", and the cold supply line is feeding the port marked "HOT". Another tell-tale sign of a problem is that the valve which is usually plumbed to enable the supply into the water heater to be shut off is actually in the pipe taking hot water from the heater.
Anyway, this means that cold water is filling the top of the tank and the hot water is being drawn from near the bottom of the tank! (The cold port in water heaters is connected to a pipe that goes down inside nearly to the bottom of the tank to deliver the cold water to where the heater/burner is located) .... So having fixed one small plumbing crisis, I now have another project, swapping the hot and cold connections, to add to my list of things to do in my "spare time".
Last edited by Pulaski; Aug 3rd 2016 at 6:16 pm.
#490
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 140
Re: Home and garden projects
Also, while looking at the connections of the cold supply pipe (the one I had to fix), and the hot outlet pipe, I noticed that the hot water is coming out of the port on the water heater marked "COLD", and the cold supply line is feeding the port marked "HOT". Another tell-tale sign of a problem is that the valve which is usually plumbed to enable the supply into the water heater to be shut off is actually in the pipe taking hot water from the heater.
Anyway, this means that cold water is filling the top of the tank and the hot water is being drawn from near the bottom of the tank! (The cold port in water heaters is connected to a pipe that goes down inside nearly to the bottom of the tank to deliver the cold water to where the heater/burner is located) .... So having fixed one small plumbing crisis, I now have another project, swapping the hot and cold connections, to add to my list of things to do in my "spare time".
Anyway, this means that cold water is filling the top of the tank and the hot water is being drawn from near the bottom of the tank! (The cold port in water heaters is connected to a pipe that goes down inside nearly to the bottom of the tank to deliver the cold water to where the heater/burner is located) .... So having fixed one small plumbing crisis, I now have another project, swapping the hot and cold connections, to add to my list of things to do in my "spare time".
Carl.
#491
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 14,577
Re: Home and garden projects
Anyone ever replaced the control panel on an oven?
I have an old Jenn-air wall oven that has a broken button for turning up the heat.
Looks like I can just unscrew the current panel and replace it. But is it common to do this yourself?
I have an old Jenn-air wall oven that has a broken button for turning up the heat.
Looks like I can just unscrew the current panel and replace it. But is it common to do this yourself?
#492
Re: Home and garden projects
I would imagine that such repairs are usually done by the owner, because paying a appliance repair technician to do the job would make it cost prohibitive.
#493
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 14,577
#495
Re: Home and garden projects