Newness #1: sprinklers and more home improvements
Okay, the DIY part isn't new but particular projects are. And sprinklers, I really knew nothing about. But after a little internet research and a little help from my neighbor Alan, I figured out what I needed, bought supplies with Mom's help, and started digging. Moving the compost wasn't awesome, digging in general is pain but luckily I had memorial day weekend with an extra day off.
After digging, and cutting, sanding and gluing the pipes, I laid them in the ditch, which ended up being too shallow. The risers I'd bought were too tall so cutting them down helped. And after the glue had dried, when I turned the water valve back on, ta-da! Sprinklers on! So I buried them, put back the grass...
Taking my neighbor Alan's advice, I lined the sprinklers along the deck with landscaping tarp so it wouldn't grow weeds and hauled over his extra river rock to cover it. Looks nice!
Then the hardest part: connecting the back sprinklers to the sprinkler timer. This part, for some reason, no one I'd talked to knew how to do. I was hoping that the pipe I tapped into for the back sprinklers would be the same pipe that was connected to the control valve that was wired to the timer. Not so. When the main water valve was on, the back sprinklers were just always going. So my choices were always have the back sprinklers on and the front sprinklers continue to work on the timer, or just manually control the on/off of the water, or figure out how to wire it. Luckily my new neighbor asked about it at one of the home improvement stores and brought me back a helpful pamphlet. Then I also went to the plumbing store and grilled one of the guys there. Hey, a little eye-contact and "I have no idea what I'm doing and no big strong man to give me advice" gets ya answers (oh yeh, and that's their job too). Turns out I needed to buy a control valve for the back, cut into the pipe I'd tapped, find the extra wires that were connected to the timer (they ended up being in just a bundle that was outside the house just hanging out loose), and wire it all up.
Here's the funniest part of all this to me: I mentioned this sprinkler project to a lot of people, partially because I was nervous about it and was hoping I'd eventually talk to someone who would give me some good advice. Best advice I got: let the glue fully dry or else it bursts. I'd heard that putting in sprinklers wasn't a big deal. So why did I keep getting this question: "and you're doing this by yourself?" Ummmm, yes! Obviously. Is there some issue with that? Do you doubt my abilities? Stand back, dude, just watch me.
Now I'm feeling pretty cocky about my DIY projects. If I can do that, hey I could probably figure out just about anything... with enough time, money and struggle ;)
That quote of $500 to have a contractor vent my over-the-range microwave (it currently just blows out the front vent so if I or my housemates are burning anything it just blows smoke back into the house and helps set off the fire alarm)... pretty sure I'll eventually do that myself.
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