Choosing a Chimney Cap

The neighborhood I grew up in was built in the 1950’s, so just about every house had a fireplace. I remember when my dad used to build fires and we would sit around watching The Walton’s or some other show and it would be merrily burning away. One of my favorite memories of growing up is when my mom and I would take long walks around our neighborhood. I can still remember that during the fall and winter, we would step outside and immediately smell the smoke from people using their fireplaces and see the smoke rising from their chimneys. To this day, whenever I smell that smell (say that fast three times), it brings back fond memories.

The one thing that I never really thought about was the fact that none of the chimneys in our neighborhood had a cap on them. Granted, I was a kid so why would I think about something like that? But, even as an adult, the thought just never entered my mind. I mean, who thinks about those things? Why would something like a chimney cap be important? Well, a few years ago, my mom and dad woke up and heard a loud quacking sound coming from their chimney. Naturally, they went outside and looked on their roof, fully expecting to see a duck perched on their chimney. However, when they looked up, they couldn’t see anything, yet the quacking continued. Next, my dad grabbed a ladder and a flashlight and ventured onto the roof. When he shined the flashlight into the chimney, there was the duck, stuck.

Looking Back: Part-3

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Retaining Wall Photos: The Final Pictures

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Retaining Wall Photos: 8/17

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Retaining Wall Photos: 8/10

Unfortunately, due to an exclusive agreement with Kindle, I have been asked to remove the contents of this page. However, all the information you will need to build your retaining wall, can be found in my book. I am very sorry of any inconvenience this may cause.

Problems Faced While Building a Retaining Wall

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Retaining Wall Construction Photos

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Finishing Your Retaining Wall

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Building Steps in Your Berm

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The Sprinkler Conspiracy

Although I haven't had a visit from the Men in Black, I have felt that something strange has been going on. You see, on Saturday I went to turn-on the sprinklers and when it hit the first station in the backyard, I noticed that the area by main line was gushing water. Okay, I changed the connection and everything was fine, right? Wrong! When the next station turned-on, I noticed the exact same thing was happening. Alright...I fixed that one as well. Today, When the last backyard station tuned-on, I noticed yet another break. So, what is the culprit behind these mysterious goings-on...a saddle tee. (A saddle tee, as shown in the picture below, is connected to the poly pipe and the screws or nuts are tightened down. You then take a reaming tool or just a drill and make a hole in the pipe. You can then add a riser and screw your sprinkler head onto that).



It was exactly ten years ago when I installed our backyard sprinkler system. Although in years past I had worked almost exclusively with PVC, I decided to go an easier route and use poly pipe. The connections were faster and it took next to no-time to lay the pipe. By using the saddle tees, I was able to be much more flexible in the positioning of my sprinkler heads and, I didn't have to cut-and-splice a compression tee in the line, which saved a great deal of time and aggravation.

Where is this all going? Well, I just wanted to advise any others out there that may have saddle tees that are getting-up there in age, to keep an eye out for this possible problem.

Now, I need to get cleaned-up just in case Agent Sculley decides to drop by.

Building Your Retaining Wall: Finishing the First Row

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Building the Retaining Wall Foundation

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The Arrival of the Stones

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Trenching the Tiers

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Constructing Tiers on a Berm: Phase Two...6/30

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Sod Removal for Tier Construction

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Berm Progress Report

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Projects Update

Even though I may not be exercising this week, I am still keeping active. I am currently in the process of removing all of the grass/weeds from our berm. This will allow me to be able to actually SEE what I am working with. I have also, after pricing the stones, have had to amend our project to only forty feet this year. I really wanted to be able to complete the entire project this year, but there is no way we can afford it.

Since I am only working on the berm for a couple of hours a day, I should be finished by the end of this week. Now, why am I only working a few hours a day? Well, besides being lazy, I do have other obligations that I have to attend to throughout the day. So, I figure if I can work two to three hours a day on this project, I am doing alright.

Next, I ordered the attic fan and it shipped today, so if it arrives by the weekend, I will be installing that and hopefully keeping the house a little cooler. Since this is the first attic fan I will have installed, I will be boring you with all the installation details. Actually, the installation is not what is really bothering me, it is trying to move around in the attic that will be the problem. All I have to say is that I am glad I lost so much weight; otherwise, there is no way I could probably be able to move around.

Well, I guess I have bored you enough, so I hope you all have a good week. Yes, that is Koko sitting on our washing machine and giving us the ole laser eyes.

Retaining Wall Supply List

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Planning Your Tiered Retaining Wall

This is the first in a long series of articles that will take you step-by-step through the phases of installing tiers in your existing berm.




Things You Will Need...

• Paper and pencil


• Tape measure


• Camera


• Calculator


• An old garden hose


• Spray paint

The first thing to do is to take a picture of your project. This has the benefit of acting as a reference during the construction and also serves as a great showpiece for you.

• Take a tape measure and measure the length of your project and mark it down on your paper


• Measure the width of your berm


• Decide how many tiers you will actually need and how far apart they will be placed


• Decide whether or not you will be putting steps in your berm


• Decide if you are going to be installing sprinklers or some other irrigation system


• If your wall is going to be higher than four feet, you will need to look into a geo-grid system to help strengthen your wall


• Find out if you need a building permit


• Decide if you are going to be installing any landscape lighting

• Sit down and make a list of all the materials you will need. This will include everything from the gravel to the actual retaining wall stones


• Once you have your list of supplies, it is time to actually mark the layout of your wall


• Take an old garden hose and run it along the length of the proposed wall. Place the hose in the shape you want your outer wall to be, ie. straight or with curves


• Once you are satisfied with the placement, take the spray paint and spray along the outer edge of the hose


• This will be your guideline throughout the project


• Next, you will need to calculate the number of retaining wall stones you will need

Be advised, the first layer in each tier will be underground and not visible, which means it will not add to the height of your wall.


I hope this helps you get started in the planning of your project. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know and I will do my best to help you.