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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
  • Imprint
  • Contact Form
  • Palm trees for the pool – vacation atmosphere in your own garden

    A backyard with a round above-ground pool surrounded by white gravel, green grass, a small plant, and palms. A blue shed and stone wall sit in the background, with chairs and a table on the patio area. www.commaik.de

    In today’s blog entry about palm trees by the pool, I would like to focus on the plant world in our garden and, in particular, our pool oasis. But do palm trees even grow in our latitudes? And what about in winter?

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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
    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
    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
  • A new HT drain is tied into the old clay pipe

    A close-up of a black plastic pipe connected to a rusted metal fitting, surrounded by wet, muddy soil and remnants of an old clay pipe—evidence of recent underground plumbing or pipe repair work. www.commaik.de

    Are the old clay pipes in the cellar becoming a problem? In the past few years, we have accomplished many things in the house. Initially, the work focused on repair and renovation, but later increasingly on the construction and expansion

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    Several green plants grow in a gravel garden with purple flower spikes. Some are surrounded by black landscaping fabric and gray rocks arranged in wire mesh grids, forming a modern raised bed. A stone wall completes the background. www.commaik.de

    Secure raised bed on a slope with gabions and honeycomb fleece

    2. August 2020
    A long gabion retaining wall made of wire cages filled with rocks stands beside a dirt path, showcasing the strength and durability of gabion construction. Some building materials and houses are visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    Securing a slope with gabions – 1. initial situation and preparation

    20. April 2020
    A modern, white carport is illuminated at night with bright electric lights. Behind it is a stone wall, and in the background a crescent moon hangs in the dark sky. Building materials and equipment can be seen in the surroundings. www.commaik.de

    Optimally illuminate carport with LED light – install camera and motion detector

    27. September 2020
  • 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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    Partially built outdoor wall of white concrete blocks with exposed electrics, a level tool, and a hammer on top—ideal for a future garden kitchen. A canopy and stacked firewood appear in the background. www.commaik.de

    Build your own garden kitchen – plan and install the electrics

    19. March 2024
    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
    A gabion filled with stones forms a small retaining wall next to an evergreen bush and concrete blocks in a sloping, leaf-covered garden. The sunlight casts soft shadows on the scene. www.commaik.de

    Build your own carport – safely stabilize slopes with gabions

    4. October 2020
  • 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 photo showing construction tools and materials: two yellow buckets with gravel, an orange bucket, a red pump sump for drainage, a circular saw blade, a power drill, and a spirit level, all placed on a rough concrete floor. www.commaik.de

    Drying basement – pump sump | build septic tank yourself

    10. January 2021
    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
    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
  • 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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    An irrigation control system with pipes, valves, and wires is installed beside a stone-filled trench near a raised bed in the garden. Purple flowers and soil are visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    Building a raised bed on a slope with gabions and automatic irrigation

    2. August 2020
    A long gabion retaining wall made of wire cages filled with rocks stands beside a dirt path, showcasing the strength and durability of gabion construction. Some building materials and houses are visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    Securing a slope with gabions – 1. initial situation and preparation

    20. April 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
  • 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 modern, white carport is illuminated at night with bright electric lights. Behind it is a stone wall, and in the background a crescent moon hangs in the dark sky. Building materials and equipment can be seen in the surroundings. www.commaik.de

    Optimally illuminate carport with LED light – install camera and motion detector

    27. September 2020
    A metal wire gabion cage is positioned on muddy ground next to soil, with black cylindrical planting trays and other gabions nearby, likely at a construction or landscaping site. www.commaik.de

    Securing slopes with gabions – building corners and curves

    19. August 2020
    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
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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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