Search results

Hi, Jess. Sounds exciting! I love that style of greenhouse because it does well in the wind and you can add on to it easily. Do you have openings for air circulation? Birds get into mine sometimes and chomp small seedlings and pepper blossoms, so I've had to do double layers of chicken wire...

Oh, and I forgot to mention, carrying water sucks :) A pint's a pound the world around! Even 5 gallons is very heavy, especially when it's windy, cold, dark, raining, snowing, the ground is slippery. It's only heroic for about the first week :)

Sara, having clean, safe drinking water is really important. Water collected off composite shingles or tar paper (anything man made) on a roof is not clean, safe water. Chemicals are always leaching out of them, and should not be used to cook with or to drink. Keeping water clean in a tank...

The flashing is a good idea! Thanks! This is not my deck, but it's an example of what the hog wire looks like.

From what I'm understanding in reading about pies in a jar, it's a way to freeze it successfully, then thaw and use it as needed, also for easy transport on picnics, etc. If the crust is in the jar as well, it's not about preserving it in the traditional canned, nonrefrigerated sense, because...

I haven't done it yet :)

Tortoise! Congratulations! It's a wonderful adventure. All the work is worth it! Would love to see photos! I remember when we bought our place I couldn't wait to sign the papers. I was sitting at the table reaching for them so fast before anyone could walk into the room and say, "Uh...

I use old pallet wood for making doors to the greenhouse and garden gates, frames with chicken wire filled in. They aren't too heavy and aren't on the ground, so they don't rot too fast as long as I paint or stain them. There are also these bee/insect hotels that let the beneficial insects...

I've had good luck with boric acid powder (it's not borax) and sprinkling it along the edge of wherever their trail is, a small pile where they enter the wall. It does take a few days, but the last time I used it was a good year ago and they haven't been back. Baymule, oh my goodness! Yeah...

Keep in mind that any water coming off of a roof with composite, man-made shingles or tar paper/gravel has that stuff broken down in it, so that water is not drinkable, and should only be used on landscape, not vegetables. :)

I don't know how far away your shop is from your house, but just using it normally might be handy to heat a bagel or make a toasted cheese sandwich, cook a snack, instead of having to stop working on a project and lose your project mojo. On cold days when I'm outside working I know if I stop to...

I really like the look of rusted hog wire panels and some black metal upright poles I've got for around the edge of the deck, but I'm concerned that the rust will continually drip onto the wood and stain it. The deck is stained, but it's still vulnerable, it seems. I don't know if there's...

Hi, Lolli, Welcome to the forum. :) <<<"Lolli G, post: 374031, member: 6466"]Bonds and solar panels are like fish and dogs....not related.>>>> I live off the grid, too, for 15 years now, so I see what you are saying. Our systems are probably similar, a standalone setup as opposed to a...

Tortoise, yeah, maybe some thick black sewer pipe legs might work. I like the idea of having the inside of it open as well. K15n1, I did think of using those fake red bricks that are really concrete, hoping they would be porous enough to dry out underneath. I guess it's going to be a process...

As much as we all want to believe each of our places and our projects are special and that the rules won't apply to us, Mother Nature will have plenty to say about that. gd, your state is not the exception, and your deck is not the exception. Five years for wood is nothing. Let's talk again...

For anyone's future reference: 1. "deck parts that minimizes large wood-to-wood contact areas between pieces of lumber." http://canadianhomeworkshop.com/1153/outdoor-renovations/build-a-top-notch-deck/4 2. "the most common cause of deck failure, the rot migration between the joist and...

Well, gd, I guess I could have guessed you would reply like this. I don't suppose sarcasm is helpful, even if you are having good luck with wood on wood. Here at the coast the fog is in at least 50% of the year, wet, dripping fog that you use windshield wipers for. This closet is on the...

Well, because wood would have to be bigger than metal, it would trap moisture under it, and absorb water/moisture, have the potential to get moldy. Wood-to-wood contact on a deck is pretty much death to both pieces of wood. :-)

I am working on an outdoor 2' x 4' "broom closet" shed that will sit outside the back door for raincoats, muddy shoes, hardware stuff, etc. It will be sitting on a deck and I just realized I need to keep a lot of air circulation underneath it so it won't rot the deck. I figure there will be...

I have seen that, and as much as I love the aesthetics of it, I've read it weakens the cob. And my termites would dine on it almost instantly. I would love to include a few bottles, though, as art objects in any wall, which look really cool :)