Reid O'landers

For some reason I really want a little pond in my yard, it would be pretty small, maybe 10'x6'ish?
I really dont want something that I need to bother filtering etc, am willing to do aeration like with a solar aerator.

Would be great to have something like a few fish or attract amphibians but am not sure about how that would work if I also use the pond for irrigation?

I kind of wanted to use it to hold water from roof runoff, maybe "fertilize" the water with fish but then want to use that water for irrigating my garden. Would the regular draining (not all the way of course) and refilling of the pond be too much disturbance to realistically have fish?

I was alternatively thinking about a duck or two but again, how to get clean water into it and get "fertilized" water out of it? I am hoping for a setup that, say as it rains, empties the fertilied water into maybe a secondary pond and the primary pond simultaneously fills with "clean" rain water... obviously I have no idea what I am talking about but am really hoping for some ideas!

Hi, I just found this sub-forum so thought I'd re-post a question with some more specifics and different questions as this seemed pretty relevant.

So I have to confess, this is a "fun project" to work on in my spare time so the part about work, while not totally irrelevant is less of an issue for me - so the excavate then cover is not really interesting to me. As i mentioned in the previous post, while I am willing to spend some money for safety I'd prefer not to spend a ton of money.

One of the main things I am interested is how to properly support the tunnel. I am quite fine, prefer actually to error on the side of overkill but only to a point (that is, 6" of cement rather than 4" but not .25 meter thick kind of erroring), but so far I have been able to find scant little information that gives detail for a handmade tunnel (lots for subways etc but ... yeah, a bit larger scale than I had in mind). I have dug down about 9ft/3meters and am well below the subsoil and clay and now down into a "different" clay, not sure what to call it. From what I have read a circular or semi-circular/arch would be stronger, but not sure if that applies to this soil - and if i did an arch I am not sure how it should be supported (a box I can visualize, an arch less so). Any useful thoughts would be appreciated, especially if you know of resources that cover step by step aspects of supporting small/hand dug scale tunnels in "soft" ground!

I am actually considering getting a civil engineer or something? to take a look and give a general idea and some pointers on what is needed (eg would 2x4 boxing every foot or so be ok, does have to be flush with the ground its supporting allowing me to later fill the space with something like cement? or would that space pose more of a danger?, etc); speaking of which, how does one actually go about finding an engineer to do this and what would such a consultation cost? Anyone in the US have suggestions on the "finding a civil engineer" part?

Thanks. Yeah, I have lots more reading to do.

Am actually still on the fence about it as buying a metal CEB (even manual) machine is a bit much for me.

As for climate, I am in the southeast US where its pretty humid so I'd think I'd need to have some sort of protection for it.

Thank you! I honestly hadnt thought of places being remodeled, might try calling some contractors to see if they can point me to some things they are working. I hadnt thought about shower doors either, that is a GREAT idea! Regarding the smaller panels... I totally never thought about that as a means to reduce damage if something gets thrown at them, nice!

Will keep you all posted, and thanks again! (I really love this community!)

Hi, I wanted to build a mini "greenhouse" (for my methane digester) and getting my hands on untreated lumber is pretty easy - dumpster diving in the subdivisions that keep popping up around here :( - but have not been able to figure out where to source some panels so some sun can get in there!

I guess since its for a methane digester it doesnt need light so I could just paint it black (not sure about that - that is would the lack of light take away from heating the digester itself?) but I'd prefer to make something that I could use as an actual greenhouse should I fancy it later.

I was thinking maybe windows from the local restore but whoa, not cheap at all. Was almost going to buy from a box store but was also pretty expensive - plus I am SURE something that might otherwise be thrown away could be repurposed, just hope I am missing something.

One caveat, I am not a fan of plastic film stuff, I could probably find some easier but ... it just annoys me (reminds me of plastic bag liter).

Any ideas really welcome!!!

John C Daley wrote:With the proper soil selection that is not rocket science you do not need to add cement or lime to the soil

ok, so you are saying if I select the right soil I wouldnt have to worry about "water over time wrecks them over time"?

most of my cement with CEB questions are aimed at either CEBs that would be directly exposed to weather or bare ground so I am a bit confused?

Thanks!!!

John C Daley wrote:some follow up questions:
CEB for retaining walls - NO WATER OVER TIME WRECKS THEM
- How about SCEBs? TOO MANY ACRONYMS I DONT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE
[/u]

Sorry, SCEB, stabilized compressed earth brick, CEB with concrete added.

Thank you, Again!
some follow up questions:
CEB for retaining walls - NO WATER OVER TIME WRECKS THEM
- How about SCEBs?

CEB machines (buying vs making) - BECAUSE OF LOADS INVOLVED YOU NEED A PRPOER PRESS IN STEEL
- I havent really seen many sub-$500 devices apart from a DIY one which I think was almost $300?. Are you (or anyone else?) aware of any Steel CEB presses that are available or can be shipped to the Americas?


CEB and contact with the ground - DURING MAKING THEY CAN GO ON THE GROUND AND SYSTEMS WITH LAYERS OF WOOD SLATS OR PALLETS WORK WELL
- How about permanently? like (as you replied to it so know of it) an arch for a tunnel? It would be in direct contact with soil, but not directly in contact with the weather (if not CEB then how about SCEB?

So for the proper mixing of CEB I need to find a CEB wizard, am thinking those are pretty rare in my area (anyone versed in the way of CEB making in the US Carolinas?). Would a video of my soil help? like showing how it drains, how brittle it is when formed, how stable it seems when trying to dig it out?

Thanks!!!

Hi I have quite a few home projects where I'd like to use brick, however bricks cost quite a bit and as these are home projects (do as i have time) I am not in a rush and am looking to save some money (am willing to spend *some* money if needed though).

So some of the things I had in mind, and questions about are:
CEB for retaining walls - I would like to make some retaining walls, they would be a maximum of 4ft but its unclear to me if CEB would be strong enough (I think so) and would be able to withstand the elements? (less sure)
CEB drying - most of what I read seems to indicate that CEB needs a long time to dry slowly, but I was looking at the opensource ecology site and noticed they were making and laying CEB, that is, taking them right off the machine and laying them?
CEB with cement added? - It seems that adding a bit of portland cement (10%?), stabilized compressed earth bricks, helps increase the strength and durability, so if I made SCEB would that stand wear and tear if i used them for a floor and protect against weather more?
CEB and contact with the ground - Can I put CEB or SCEB directly on the ground or would that contact weaken them?
CEB machines (buying vs making) - I was thinking about trying to make the wooden press but have seen a few none-absurdly-priced (sub $1k) manual machines on places like Alibaba, anyone else had experience with those or know of others (sub $500 would be about worth it for me i think?)
Clay + sand or sandy clay? - some of the readings sound like people just take a handful of dirt from wherever, dampen it, compress it and viola! done! Others seem to have PhDs in materials science, soil science, and physics when talking about mixing stuff. I need to post a video of the "sub-clay" (yeah, am not a geologist) we have here (like what you hit if you dig about 5-7ft down), its an orangly yellow and below the normal clay. This sub-clay drains much faster than regular clay, and when i make mud then dry it its quite a bit more brittle than "regular clay", its like "sand clay" - I have no idea but as many places i read seem to say one should have about 50% clay and sand mixed in there with... other stuff? I was wondering if, based on my vague/non-scientific description, what I have might work for CEB or SCEB without any amendments?

Thank you!

#1 Thank you for the "sounds like fun" part, I dont necessarily expect everyone to agree on what constitutes fun but I love this community - the idea that a bit of "work" can actually be fun seems to be totally normal here

#2 Thank you for the link!