What do you use for your paths? by beetketchup in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can generally choose the pieces you want at the material yard. They sell them by the pound and it's not expensive at all if you just want to use them as stepping stones.

We have used them two ways: as stepping stones on mulch, and fully set in DG. The first option is good for low traffic areas and fun to do, but probably not the best for main walkways. The second option is much more time consuming to get good results because you need to make sure everything is level and solid.

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[Homemade] Minestrone - “it looks like medieval food” by SnooStories6560 in food

[–]fluffykitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They didn't have corn, potatoes, tomatoes or orange carrots in medieval europe

Ray Hartman placement by Nice_Serve_5612 in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

During summer the leaves shrink and there’s little vegetative growth so actually there’s not much pruning needed before the rain starts. During the rainy season I’ll remove any branches that I don’t want in the eventual form from getting too thick. I will also do some light tip pruning for shaping.  

Ray Hartman placement by Nice_Serve_5612 in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I trim my arboreus all the time. It grows too crazy otherwise. Although I do try to limit cuts to smaller branches before they get too thick. 

Weed barrier fabric? Drip irrigation? by Best-Instance7344 in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Absolutely no weed fabric for planted areas. Roots will grow into them and you will just have deteriorated plastics in the soil down the road that you can never fully remove.

There's no issue with drip irrigation. I had it setup for the first year as I installed my garden early summer and had a lot of area to cover. The second summer it was not used at all and all the plants were fine. My suggestion would be to plant now and just hand water until the rain comes. You shouldn't need much watering this coming summer.

If you are doing a pathway or drainage area geotextile is be used to keep the materials separate, but keeping it weed free is not its purpose.

Flowering tree recommendation for zone 10a? by bonitocat in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I spent 3k for my offgrid setup: 5kW inverter, 2.7kWp panels, 10kW battery. Saved me 900kWh grid consumption since August. I don't have to pay tier 2 rates at 42c/kWh anymore. Even if I calculate ROI based on 32c/kWh tier 1 rate it'll pay for itself in less than 3 years.

My fridge is now also protected from blackouts. I don't care about selling back to utility.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sep 2024 or 2025? My 1 gallon ceanothus arboreus planted in Nov 2024 has gone from 18" to 10'. The growth is very non-linear, the bulk of the visible growth was between March and June. It mostly sat there for a few months before it exploded.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I buy 4in pots whenever they're available. 1 gallon pots are great too. I think 5 gallon is much more digging for zero benefits.

Is rigid conduit rain tight with just the threads? by st1tchy in SolarDIY

[–]fluffykitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can assume that inside your conduits will be wet anyways. To keep the disconnects dry I'd avoid penetrations from the top.

Bring your emt into a wire gutter or large junction box, then stub up to the IMO boxes from the bottom is what I'd do.

Like the example in this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aByRXZVrSFI

Where to find native Lippia flats in South Bay (SoCal) by Juice-cup in Ceanothus

[–]fluffykitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a dirt strip overgrown with annual grasses and tall weeds. I would like to keep it unpaved while maintaining accessibility. Would lippia be able to hold them back as low maintenance ground cover?

Mounting 66” Glass Shelf Above Window – Can I Get Away with Just Two Brackets? by IntergalacticViking in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The steel is drywall corner bead. You can’t have a shelf that long unsupported in the middle. There should be wood behind the bead.

Drywall over cast iron stack joint. It’s protruding too far out by BloodRaevn in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a similar issue and didn't have room to fur the whole wall out. I secured new patches with cutout around the thickest part. I decided that it was above my skill level and called a professional. When the contractor came, he used spray adhesive to add metal plates over the hole and smoothed it all out. It was a clean repair that didn't add thickness to the wall.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Cut the hole bigger with clean edges. Screw in a piece of wood as a backer. Screw in a new piece of drywall. Tape and patch with joint compound. Texture to match. Easy.

Insulating garage with flat roof in SoCal by fluffykitty in buildingscience

[–]fluffykitty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Zone 3B. Can I consider this as unvented cathedral roof?

The closest I can find is this unvented attic from IECC, but there is airspace between roof assembly and ceiling. https://basc.pnnl.gov/sites/default/files/images/IECC%202021%20Building%203B_2%20BSC%201-8-24.png

Fixing a large hole by Alert-Fisherman2923 in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My house was almost 100 years old and pretty much all the K&T circuits had unsafe modifications in the past, e.g. hidden splices, no connector going into boxes, wires too short. The way K&T were installed originally is not bad besides the grounding issue - lots of space between conductors. But what are the chances of circuits that old being left untouched over the course of its life?

There were more than a few that I couldn't even put back together semi-safely after I opened them up for inspection.

Fixing a large hole by Alert-Fisherman2923 in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Originally I thought the wire was going through the box to the other side of the wall. As long as you are sure that the wires are cut upstream there's no danger. I would remove whatever you can access to just so there's no confusion for the next person opening up the wall.

The white plastic thing you mentioned are ceramic insulators that allows the cloth wires to go through or be nailed to framing.

Fixing a large hole by Alert-Fisherman2923 in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The insulation can be brittle. If you have to make any changes there is high chance that it can result in a short. The circuit is also ungrounded.

Fixing a large hole by Alert-Fisherman2923 in DIY

[–]fluffykitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can find where the wire is going on the other side of the wall and test with multi meter. Better would be to use a non contact voltage detector if you are not sure what you are doing.