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  • COMMAIK
    • Contact Form
    • Imprint
    • Privacy
  • The Villa
    • The top floor
    • The upper floor
    • The first floor
    • The cellar
    • The garden
  • Stories from the construction
    • irrigation
    • Photovoltaics
    • Pool and terrace
    • SmartHome
    • The planning
    • The demolition
    • The installation
    • Machinery
    • Restoration and working techniques
    • This and that
  • Videos
    • Build & Renovate
    • Irrigation
    • Carport
    • Gabions
    • Garden
    • Garden kitchen
    • Pool
    • Smart Home
    • Drying
    • Tutorials
  • TESTED & RATED
    • Heating solutions & energy
    • Outdoor & Garten
    • Pool & garden kitchen
    • Security & Smart Home
    • Tools & DIY
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  • Building a BPC and WPC terrace on a slope – My new pool terrace with recycled boards

    A backyard features a rectangular swimming pool surrounded by a wooden deck, a small covered terrace with a bar, a palm tree, garden beds, a lawn, a greenhouse, and a white house with stone siding. www.commaik.de

    BPC decking, slope, pool construction and substructure – in this post I show how I built my new pool deck with recycled BPC boards, solid larch beams and aluminum profiles. The pool is located on a slope, which places special demands on stability, gradient and load-bearing capacity. I share my experiences with BPC and WPC, explain the differences in installation and show what really matters when it comes to a durable, resilient decking construction. If you want to build a patio yourself, you’ll find lots of practical tips and insights here.

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    A smart irrigation controller displaying “Hydrawise” is shown with an arrow pointing to a sprinkler watering a lush green lawn in the backyard. www.commaik.de

    Installing and programming the Hunter Hydrawise irrigation computer – step by step

    24. August 2025
    A small backyard swimming pool with clear blue water is surrounded by patio stones. The covered outdoor seating area, topped with solar panels, offers a perfect spot for winterizing the pool. A palm plant sits in the foreground. www.commaik.de

    Winterizing the pool – putting pool technology into operation and adjusting water values

    29. January 2024
    A Lymow One Plus robotic lawnmower with tank-like tracks sits on green grass, slightly dirty from use, in an outdoor area. www.commaik.de

    Lymow One Plus in test: RTK robot mower for large areas & difficult terrain

    29. March 2026
  • Pool heating with ribbed pipe systems – Build your own solar heating for the pool

    Black pipes on a rooftop pool heating system in the foreground, with a backyard swimming pool, lawn, stone wall, blue shed, and covered seating area in the background on a sunny day. www.commaik.de

    Pool heating, solar absorber, Ripp pipe system and the efficient use of solar energy – in this article I document the complete conversion of my old EPDM pool heating system into a modern Dolphi-Ripp solar heating system. After more than ten years of practical experience with EPDM mats, I will show you why the change was necessary, which system is convincing today and how the new solar-based pool heating is proving itself in everyday life. Step by step, I describe the planning, installation and initial results – including technical details, comparisons and practical tips for installing a solar absorber on the roof.

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    A patch of grass with a hole dug in the soil, exposing underground cables for a robot lawn mower. Nearby are an orange cable locator tool, wires, a white hose, and two blue wire connectors. www.commaik.de

    Robot lawn mower – Find and repair a broken control cable easily

    19. January 2024
    A Hunter sprinkler sprays water across a sunlit green lawn, providing efficient lawn irrigation with trees and a building in the background on a bright, clear day. www.commaik.de

    6 Hunter pop-up sprinklers for optimum lawn irrigation in the test

    21. May 2025
    A red and black portable parking heater is displayed on a table with its components, including hoses, wires, a remote, clamps, a silver exhaust pipe, a vent, and a small black bottle in a wooden workshop setting. www.commaik.de

    Diesel parking heater for animal house, workshop and camper: My test of the Vevor 8kW heater

    3. January 2025
  • Laying pool edging stones and building your own pool terrace for the perfect pool surround

    A rectangular outdoor swimming pool with clear blue water is surrounded by gray tiled paving and pool edge stones. There is a small palm tree, green grass, and hedges in the background. Some tiling work appears unfinished on one side. www.commaik.de

    When building the pool, the correct laying of the pool edge stones and the construction of a beautiful and functional pool terrace played an important role. In this article, I describe how I selected the materials, prepared the substrate, cut and glued the stones. I also show how I laid the terrace loosely and built a platform as a transition to the garden terrace. Building a pool has been one of my biggest DIY projects. In this article, I would like to tell you about my experiences with laying pool edging stones and building the pool terrace.

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    An inflatable whirlpool filled with bubbling water with the bold lettering Whirlpool Sauna & Spa MSpa Alpine and a red border to emphasize the soothing whirlpool experience. www.commaik.de

    Inflatable whirlpool MSpa Alpine Tekapo – experience after 1 year

    7. November 2021
    3D floor plan of a rectangular room with grey walls, labeled dimensions, a curved front wall, built-in shelves on the left, and a person standing outside for scale. The approximately 6x4 meter room could easily fit a small indoor pool. www.commaik.de

    Plan your own pool and create a 3D floor plan

    25. May 2021
    An empty, bright blue swimming pool with a smooth pool liner, gray steps in one corner, and a circular drain on the wall. The outdoor pool is surrounded by unfinished ground and scattered greenery. www.commaik.de

    Laying, gluing and welding pool liners correctly

    10. February 2024
  • Build your own garden kitchen – worktop and jamb for the outdoor kitchen

    Partially completed garden kitchen with unfinished wooden cabinets, a dark worktop, an open window, and power tools on the counter. Trees and buildings can be seen outside. www.commaik.de

    After completing the electrics and water supply in my outdoor garden kitchen, it was now time to install the worktop. I wanted to build the work area of the outdoor kitchen in such a way that I would have individual zones to work in for the barbecue, the bar and also the washbasin area. In this post, I describe in a step-by-step guide how I used OSB boards and Fermacell boards to create a stable and moisture-resistant base for the vinyl tiles. These measures were necessary to make the worktop robust, scratch-resistant and easy to clean, so that it meets the requirements of an outdoor kitchen.

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    An empty, bright blue swimming pool with a smooth pool liner, gray steps in one corner, and a circular drain on the wall. The outdoor pool is surrounded by unfinished ground and scattered greenery. www.commaik.de

    Laying, gluing and welding pool liners correctly

    10. February 2024
    A hardy palm tree planted in a gravel bed stands in the foreground of a backyard with a blue swimming pool, blue shed, patio cover, and outdoor furniture in the background. www.commaik.de

    Hardy palms for the garden – these 5 species can withstand frost down to -15 °C

    30. March 2025
    An outdoor Rain Bird irrigation control box with wiring is surrounded by gravel, drip tube, and plants, indicating the installation or maintenance of a garden watering system. www.commaik.de

    DIY ornamental bed with automatic Rain Bird drip tube irrigation

    2. February 2024
  • Designing a smart and efficient garden kitchen – installing lights, sockets and water connections

    Modern garden kitchen with a wooden roof, barbecue grill, counters, and bar area illuminated by soft yellow and purple LED lights, set against a twilight sky for an inviting light-filled outdoor retreat. www.commaik.de

    The development of my garden kitchen has made significant progress, particularly in the areas of electrical installation, water installation and the integration of smart technologies for lighting and control. I’d like to give you some insight and practical tips on how I overcame these challenges, from carefully planning the lighting to installing smart sockets and light switches that enable flexible and efficient use.

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    A man in a black jacket stands next to a Hunter X-Core irrigation timer, pointing at it. The X-Core’s display reads 4:22 PM and features green buttons and a central dial with labeled settings in German. www.commaik.de

    Hunter X-Core control computer for garden irrigation program yourself

    29. January 2021
    A man stands next to a mounted parking heater system with large pipes, wires, and controls—perfect for any workshop. Large text above reads, Diesel Heizung für die Werkstatt (Diesel heater for the workshop). www.commaik.de

    Install 8kW diesel parking heater safely in the workshop & garage

    9. May 2025
    Screenshot of a solar panel monitoring app displaying the Statistik section. The background highlights blue solar panels, with the main heading reading Balcony Power System and a note showing it was last updated 5 minutes ago. www.commaik.de

    Balcony power station – Set up the Solarman app optimally

    29. October 2023
  • Renovating the garden terrace: switching from wood to WPC and aluminum profiles

    Close-up of a partially constructed wooden deck, ideal for a garden terrace renovation, with a drill, screws, hammer, and metal brackets on top of the decking boards; metal framing and groundwork visible underneath. www.commaik.de

    The renovation of our garden terrace has been in the pipeline for some time. The larch wood of the substructure could no longer withstand the loads and slowly disintegrated. So after ten years under the open sky, it was time to give our terrace a fresh update with WPC boards. In this article, we take you on a journey of renewal – from the initial idea to the finished result.

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    A smart irrigation controller displaying “Hydrawise” is shown with an arrow pointing to a sprinkler watering a lush green lawn in the backyard. www.commaik.de

    Installing and programming the Hunter Hydrawise irrigation computer – step by step

    24. August 2025
    A metal heating box with hoses attached sits open next to a building, revealing machinery and a plastic container inside; the box appears to be an outdoor equipment unit or possibly a parking heater. www.commaik.de

    Installing a mobile diesel parking heater in the garden shed

    15. January 2025
    A Lymow One robotic lawnmower with tank-like tracks sits on a well-manicured lawn, surrounded by green grass and some fuzzy bushes in the background. www.commaik.de

    Lymow One in test: Robot mower without boundary wire with RTK navigation and chain drive

    16. November 2025
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Autor & Blogger

In this construction diary, we share our experience in the renovation and modernization of our Art Nouveau villa and hope to give a few suggestions and tips to some of you.

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