I did a post back in December on my own blog about a friend of mine, Tom, who put together a smokeless wood burner/boiler system to heat his home and two outside greenhouses during the winter months. 

I know it’s summer, and right now it’s enough to think about staying cool, much less warm… but the time to prepare for winter is now. 

Here’s the first of several videos in the post, but feel free to take a look at all of them – link

Check out more of the Post/Videos on Tom’s Wood burner/boiler system. 

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Around the house we are renting, there is a stonework path.. rather what is left of a stonework path.

Because of the slope of the yard, a stonewall was also built so as to divide up the yard and give more flat yard space.  Great idea actually.  I just wish it had been done with something other than Sandstone.

Check out some of the images of what is left of my sandstone path, and the work awaiting me one fine summer evening yanking these things out of the ground.  I will leave the wall.  I may be able to salvage the wall.

Please, please, don’t use sandstone in your yard as a path.  Here are the results of that unfortunate decision.

I may be able to salvage the stone wall for now.

Sandstone cracks.

I am afraid what else is buried here that the grass has grown over.

You can see on the edge of this one where the lawnmower blades have caught it and chipped away the corner.

These things are pretty slippery in the rain too.  The idea of a path is that you should be able to walk on it in the rain.  In the rain, I choose to walk on the grass because it’s a much softer landing if I slip and fall. 

Try mowing around this every time you mow!

images by William Lehman – decloned 

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This other faucet will mainly be used for refilling a fish tank or hooking a garden hose up for quick jobs such as bathing the dog  outside so it needs a shut-off but does not need to be anything extra special.

Budget: under $10
Tools: pliers, plumbers tape
Time Frame: 15 minutes

First off, my washer hookups reside in the kitchen, so this is the faucet I am going to use.  Now I just have to split the cold water side into two faucets with individual shut-offs.  Remember, we are renting a house (albeit from relatives), so I don’t want to get into too much plumbing work, just basic stuff.

Basically, I just need a brass Y adapter - 1 female to two males 3/4" to make this work.

So, I take my trip to the local Home Depot and pick-up the following.

I lost my receipt already.  I am bad about things like that. But the Y adapter was around $4 and the tape was just over $1.  This means I may be under budget, but I forgot the cardinal rule and took my wife along to Home Depot… she has two boxes of CFL bulbs in the cart.  (Why did she have to get a cart when we came in?)  Each box of CFL bulbs is 5.88

Over budget but it really is my wife’s fault.  (grumble grumble)

I removed the cold water hose from the faucet and cleaned up the threads just a bit to make sure I get a good clean surface to work with.

Using the plumbers tape I made it look… pretty?  No, that’s not right.  Well, I put it on.

Next up is the Y adapter/fixture.  I love working with new parts by the way.  Especially brass, because you don’t have to worry about rust, etc…

Here is my new fixture screwed on and not leaking.  I turn the water on at this point to make sure my seals are holding and the shut-offs are not letting any water through when in the off position.

Now, I just wrap more plumbers tape around the threads and hook my washer back up to the left side.  I’ll use the other side as my utility faucet to attach the hose to.

There you have it!  Extra nozzle for use with the garden hose to do odd jobs and the washer hooked up too.  Now I just leave the one on for the washer and turn the other one on as I need it.

I was under budget for this project (at least before the light bulbs) and it only took about 10 minutes of work.  Now… to clean the dog.

All images are used by permission from me, myself and I.  - decloned

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Immunities include a delicious, hot breakfast selection; an indoor pool and hot tub, Internet services, cable, three stories of clean, spacious and comfortable rooms and a warm and welcoming staff.

Guests are only minutes away from the State capitol, the best of Lincoln’s museums and the storied Memorial Stadium

Check out the newvictoriansuites.com

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I have a simple answer to that question. DON’T install hardwood into your bathroom. That truly is the silliest thing I have ever seen people do. Your asking for an insurance claim or to lose all the money you invested in the project in the first place.

A bathroom is the worst place ever to put wood on the floors. That is the room where the most water hits the floor from getting out of the tub, or from your toilet tank sweating. My tip for this is simply don’t do it. Your asking for trouble!

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