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  • COMMAIK
    • Contact Form
    • Imprint
    • Privacy Policy
  • 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
  • Commaik Music
  • Privacy Policy
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  • Cleaning the patio with the T-Racer

    A wooden terrace deck is being cleaned with a yellow pressure washer, revealing a much cleaner surface compared to the still-dirty area. The washer and hoses are visible on the terrace. www.commaik.de

    Can a WPC terrace be cleaned with a high-pressure cleaner? What do I need to bear in mind? I looked into this question and cleaned my WPC terrace with the Kärcher T-Racer.

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    A lawn sprinkler provides gentle lawn irrigation over green grass in a backyard at sunset, with warm orange clouds overhead and a stone patio and wooden fencing in the background. www.commaik.de

    Planning and installing lawn irrigation 1 – Optimum sprinkler placement

    13. May 2020
    A close-up of gabion wire mesh panels forming a fence or retaining wall, with a black cable looped through the grid. Gravel and dirt are visible on the ground, and a white material lines the inside of the structure. www.commaik.de

    Securing a slope with gabions – fleece water conduits

    11. June 2020
    Partially built garden kitchen with light-colored gas concrete blocks, open walls and unfinished columns on a concrete foundation. Trees and a wire fence can be seen in the background. www.commaik.de

    Build your own garden kitchen – brick and glue walls with aerated concrete

    13. November 2021
  • A paving stone staircase is built into the slope leading to the parking lot

    A terraced outdoor area features brick stair steps leading to a paved landing, bordered by gabion walls filled with firewood. Stacks of construction materials and lush green plants are visible nearby. www.commaik.de

    The stairs for the slope in front of our house are finally being tackled. The path from the parking lots will be much shorter in the future with a staircase made of old town cobblestones, which I will build directly into the ground. But first I have to excavate the slope and lay concrete kerbs.

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    A sprinkler provides irrigation to a lush green lawn in front of a stone building with a barred window and garden tools hanging on the wall in the background. www.commaik.de

    Winterizing and frost-proofing the lawn irrigation system

    27. October 2019
    A gabion retaining wall made of wire baskets filled with stones provides effective slope stabilization on a gravel-covered courtyard. Trimmed shrubs and small plants thrive behind the wall, framed by a wooden fence in the background. www.commaik.de

    Removing and extending a gabion wall on a slope

    15. November 2020
    A large pile of broken concrete and rubble sits on the floor of an unfinished construction site, surrounded by concrete walls and building materials, hinting at future plans for a pool installation. www.commaik.de

    Converting the pool – demolishing the old retaining walls

    23. March 2021
  • Build your own parking lot with gabions and lawn grids

    A paved driveway with a grid of black plastic or rubber honeycomb cells installed next to a brick walkway, likely used for parking lot ground reinforcement or drainage. A wire mesh retaining wall is visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    In order to park the cars safely and securely, the next step was to build a parking lot in the garden. But what is the best method for this, especially on clay soil? In search of answers, I created a new parking space immediately after the paving stone path to the side entrance was built. My goal was to offer the office’s customers a convenient parking lot on the property. Although the parking area in front of the house was already in use, it consisted only of compacted loamy earth, which was very unpleasant in wet weather.

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    A close-up of gabion wire mesh panels forming a fence or retaining wall, with a black cable looped through the grid. Gravel and dirt are visible on the ground, and a white material lines the inside of the structure. www.commaik.de

    Securing a slope with gabions – fleece water conduits

    11. June 2020
    A construction site featuring gabions—wire mesh walls filled with rocks—a wooden plank supported by concrete blocks, an orange bucket, bricks, and a wheelbarrow with building materials nearby. www.commaik.de

    Securing slopes with gabions – installing stones correctly

    19. August 2020
    A gabion retaining wall made of wire baskets filled with stones provides effective slope stabilization on a gravel-covered courtyard. Trimmed shrubs and small plants thrive behind the wall, framed by a wooden fence in the background. www.commaik.de

    Removing and extending a gabion wall on a slope

    15. November 2020
  • Drainage of the house – installation of drainage and water pipes.

    Three drainage pipes—one black and two orange—are embedded in gravel and surrounded by soil in a trench, highlighting ongoing drainage or construction work. www.commaik.de

    Drainage from the house foundation with a drainage system became more and more important due to the heavy rain and continuous rain. Due to the slope of our property, the surface water always flowed to the house and seeped into the walls. A little later, the floors in the basement became wet and and in the lower basement the water was standing. I could not achieve much by drying the walls – before that, the cause of the dampness had to be eliminated. Drainage should remedy the situation.

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    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
    In a damp cellar, plastic containers are inserted into holes at the base of a brick wall to dry out the room. A red dehumidifier and various appliances can be seen in the background. www.commaik.de

    Draining the cellar – 1 year later

    31. December 2021
    A wooden terrace deck is being cleaned with a yellow pressure washer, revealing a much cleaner surface compared to the still-dirty area. The washer and hoses are visible on the terrace. www.commaik.de

    Cleaning the patio with the T-Racer

    26. April 2015
  • Cleaning WPC decking boards with high pressure

    A sunlit wooden deck with a hose and pressure washer on the floor, potted plants along the railing, and outdoor furniture with a white cloth in the background showcases durable WPC decking boards for a modern outdoor retreat. www.commaik.de

    Our WPC decking is now in its 3rd year and still looks great – and there are no haptic defects either. The floorboards are still splinter-free and undamaged. Only the green algae coating on the shady parts of the terrace was a nuisance during my tour in spring. Last spring, I had already sprayed the WPC decking with my Kärcher high-pressure cleaner and removed the dirt and algae deposits. It worked, but it left these ugly streaks on the wood.

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    Rebar grid and plumbing pipes set in a concrete foundation slab form, ready for pouring at a construction site, with a garden kitchen planned and grass lawn in the background. www.commaik.de

    Build your own concrete foundation for garden kitchen and garden shed

    5. August 2021
    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 with ribbed pipe systems – Build your own solar heating for the pool

    13. April 2025
    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 party room in the basement

    A stylish party room with black walls, a tan floor, and a wood-burning stove with firewood storage. A partial wooden divider with a large window opening separates the space from the cellar-style utility area in the background. www.commaik.de

    Due to the current mild winter, I’m torn as to whether I should start gardening or start building the party room in the house. My original plan was to work exclusively outside in summer and exclusively indoors in winter. However, the party room is firmly planned for this year as several events are planned. So I’m going to start converting the old cellar into a stylish and functional lounge.

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    Exposed wooden beams and metal pipes of a building under construction or renovation, with a partially demolished wall near the future terrace and scattered debris on the ground. Sunlight casts shadows across the scene. www.commaik.de

    Building a new pool – dismantling BPC decking and pool technology

    12. March 2021
    Close-up of two wire connectors and a cut green boundary wire on grass, with wire cutters and a plier nearby; white stones are visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    Repairing broken wires: Finding and repairing the boundary wire for robotic lawnmowers

    23. November 2024
    A fire barrel with flames rising from the top stands outdoors on dirt, with stacked firewood neatly arranged in the background. www.commaik.de

    Build your own smoke-free fire barrel: DIY instructions from a 200 L oil drum with secondary ventilation

    17. October 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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