Tuesday, May 29, 2012

"put your money where your mouth is"

okay - there is enough crap lying around  the manor that i have scavenged from other people`s trash. time to roll up my sleeves and do something with it all, eh?

HAD to throw in that canadian expression ;-)

seriously though, the point of scavenging is to get something you can use or materials for something you can build and use. so here we are - doing both, there's a bonus!

this is the NW corner of the manor - i had planned to put an outdoor kitchen here, but there is sun only in the late afternoon.. we want to wash dishes in the early part of  the day, so this is no good. and it won't be just dishes - we will wash vegetables, tools , etc. so it's really an outdoor wash area we are building here..

notice the rhubarb in pots - my mom rescued them from the  rock garden last year - we will transplant them this week.


so lets get gonzo.. a good circular saw is a must, cordless drill too! and some screws and extension cord running from the basement..


here is an awesome re-use. i did a lot of wiring last fall/winter and went through this spool of 14-2 wire. turns out the empty spool is the best extension cord storage ever - super thin and light metal is perfect - free, yo!!


got this sink in someones large garbage pick a couple of weeks back - free, again!!


this i got last fall from the trash behind Home Hardware - it is the bottom for a shower stall that i guess failed QA or something, who cares? CAN YOU SAY FREE!!! ;-))


odd pieces of pressure treated lumber that were  also in the Home Hardware trash - they can't sell them, but i can use them, yup, free...


i got a bunch if thin shims @ Landry (local hardware store) a while back. they are used to space pressure treated lumber. the legs on these types of plastic sinks tend to be loose and wiggle - to secure them solidly,  i just jammed these shims in between the inserted legs and the plastic slots for the legs and then snapped them off - this ISN'T being scored on presentation .. take a guess... rhymes with bee!


measure lumber & cut accordingly...


use as many 2nd hand/stray screws as you can. i used deck screws for this and had to use a few new ones - ouch... 25 cents  :-( 


oh yeah, there was the electricity for the saw and drill...  another 25 cents - getting ugly here... okay, back to the base... pretty simple, you can see how it's made, it's uh... a bunch of used 2 x s, har har!

 (i got skimpy on the legs and used REALLY crappy scraps... i'll save the pressure treated stuff for something else ;-))


now the clever bit... the fiberglass resin on the bottom of the shower stall is hard as a rock and a bit contoured, so i got a tire sidewall (i have a "collection" of about 200 of these from tire gardening) to dampen the seating of the shower stall base and provide some grip.

i knew this would work out big-time. i have found a number of uses for the sidewalls i cut out, i will post about that later... if you tire garden - you wind up with a LOT of sidewalls - lol!

yup, gratuit!!


here is the final product - and i cheated...the stand on the left in this picture was a quick and dirty i built last year for our rain barrel. the rain barrels are going to be used differently this year and i have some gutter work to do before i set them up, it was built out of CRAP wood a small pallet and nails - all free!


here is the final setup out near the garden and hose for spraying and trenches for draining. we will be able to move it at any time and once a permanent location is determined, i will add a faucet and drain pipes - for now - perfect!!! place to put stuff, place to wash stuff, place to rinse and dry stuff - all on the major cheap AND reducing, reusing and recycling!


all in all - this "project" took 1 hour and cost 50 cents (cdn$). it illustrates nicely the benefits to successful scavenging - cheap, easy and functional. we now have a big cleaning area for the summer which will serve us well!

7:30 @ night - this is what it looks like from the front of the house - the pic doesn't do the lushness justice!!



BONUS!!  kymber planted these radishes 3 days days ago - already big and healthy - YAY! helps to have such a green thumb as the planting queen, thanks to her, we'll be eating real well this year!!


cheers all!


24 comments:

  1. Outstanding, eh. how do you find time to do all of this?? kymber has you running all the time, she is a slave driver. lol.
    between you and MDR, who can keep up??

    hugs to you both.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. this one wasn't that bad rob - a little over an hour. now the huggie culture is another matter ;-))

      no need to keep up, we are still catching up - at some point there will be a LOT more sun and fun.

      cheers back to you buddy!

      Delete
  2. I feel knackered just reading this post! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. like i told rob - this wasn't that bad of a project, there are more tiring jobs - try watching kymber plant 500 seeds one by one - ouch!

      thanks for stopping by!!

      Delete
  3. Great work. Really, you should take some time and hit the water. The fish wait...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank stephen!

      i usually get up early enough to go fishing for a couple of hours, weather permitting. kinda like having dessert first - so it's pretty easy to be motivated to get to work afterwards!

      Delete
  4. Looks brilliant! Stephen is right, cool water waiteth for no man LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks dani - cool water is a bit of and understatement, the river is freeeeezing!!!

      the trout love cold water - that's why there are so many of them!

      cheers!

      Delete
  5. Nicely done.

    Note, when the extension cord is going to be used with a really heavy continuous load, unroll it all the way. Otherwise, you run the risk of turning the thing into a coil and also degrading the insulation with heat buildup.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks mrs s.!

      i always unroll the cord before i use it - periodically i untwist it too to keep the wire straight. not many people know to do that - good on you!

      Delete
  6. It is good to see some saw dust flying my friend.
    Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks mdr - i will dedicate my next chainsaw-friendly post to you for the sawdust effect ;-)))

      Delete
  7. no such thing as junk. Just stuff you haven't figured out a use for yet.

    the rat

    will welcome you at my blog on my next post. thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that's what i keep telling kymber!! say it enough times and if works and then you can keep piles of stuff laying around the yard ;-))

      thanks rat - much obliged!!

      Delete
  8. The best part was the upside down picture had me turning my head thinking something was wrong with my brain.

    I love radishes, can't wait until mine bust up. Perfect use for the new fast food style wash area you made!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HAHAHAHA!

      i had the sink upside down to jam the shims in, but rotated the picture to show the finished product - lol!

      you nailed it, not gonna be a better place to hose dirty veg down!

      cheers!

      Delete
  9. Hey Jambaloney - You know you are having just so many MacGiver moments there at the Manor. Looks great - cheap and functional !

    The planting queen's on a roll - good eating this year ! She'll make darn sure of that ! xoxo to her please !


    And to add - the evening pic is certainly most beautiful - just stunning !

    Have fun and enjoy my friend ... Helga :))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it is all of those things - every day here seems to have a MacGiver moment - i post the ones that work out ;-))

      she sure is on a roll - gonna eat well for certain!

      it was a fantastic evening - as it cooled down a bit, everything smelled freasher than you can imagine!

      always a pleasure helga !

      Delete
  10. Love it! We have lots of stuff just waiting to be reinvented. You never know what you might need or create.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. glad you like it - as the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention - i am just fortunate to have a lot of necessity at my doorstep ;-))

      cheers!

      Delete
  11. Jam, I am so glad that Home Hardware throws things out. Our hardware stores just deeply discount them, and I have to buy. The only thing I once got were a bunch of nearly dead hanging plants. I hit them with miracle grow and lots of water, and then had luxuriant plants to hang from the porch for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i think it is more a small town thing, i never saw a junk pile like that in the city, with it's dumpers and all.

      in ottawa i used to rescue house plants form peoples garbage and bring them back to life. we had over 100 house plants back there, half of them rescues - good for you!

      sorry you don't have the scavenging opportunities i seem to have - you sound like you want the thrill big-time!

      cheers!

      Delete
  12. ..its free yo! hehe..nice work. As you know I love repurposing things..and when it is free there is no chance to waste..plus failed projects burn so nice on a bonfire! hehe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks pal!

      i figured you would like it - indeed, no chance for waste.

      don't know what all that plastic would smell like lit up though lol!

      cheers!

      Delete