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

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

    Building your own fire barrel is an exciting DIY project for the garden that not only provides warmth, but is also sustainable. An old 200-liter barrel or oil drum can be turned into an efficient and virtually smoke-free heat source with a little manual skill. I built my own fire barrel and tested different variants – from simple burnout to optimized secondary ventilation. In this article, I’ll show you step by step how I went about it and what to look out for when baking, drilling and choosing materials.

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    Close-up of a Rain Bird mechanical irrigation control box with exposed cables, pipes, valves and connections, surrounded by gravel. The sunlight illuminates the area and highlights the various electrical and sanitary components. www.commaik.de

    Lawn Irrigation – Connect 4 Rain Bird Valves to Hunter X-Core Computer

    31. January 2021
    Modern garden kitchen with a built-in grill, stovetop, drawers, and cabinets against a textured gray concrete look wall. Dark countertops and light concrete floors complete the style. A lantern and small appliances sit on the counter. www.commaik.de

    Designing a garden kitchen with a concrete look: Instructions for robust walls in the outdoor kitchen

    25. October 2024
    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
  • MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller Complete test: Fully automatic cleaning with AI and hot water

    Two cats stand near a MOVA Z60 Ultra roller robot vacuum, its charging station, and the MOVA Z60 product box, all placed on a wooden floor. www.commaik.de

    The MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller Complete is one of the most modern vacuum and mopping robots in its class. With 28,000 Pa suction power, a rotating mopping roller, intelligent obstacle detection and a self-cleaning base station, MOVA sets new standards in terms of convenience and efficiency. In my test, I used the Z60 Ultra Complete for several weeks in everyday use and analyzed how reliably it cleans floors, handles carpets and what advantages the automatic hot water cleaning actually brings.

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    Open trench in a paved area with exposed cables, pipes, and a water pipe in the garden, surrounded by loose soil, bricks, and paving stones—signs of ongoing underground utility or lawn irrigation work. www.commaik.de

    Laying the water pipe in the garden: tips for connecting the water supply to the garden irrigation system

    10. March 2025
    Graphic featuring multiple Reolink security cameras and a video recorder on a gray background, with “Reolink Firmware Update?!” highlighted in bold text at the center. www.commaik.de

    Update Reolink firmware quickly and safely: Step-by-step guide for cameras and NVRs

    7. February 2025
    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
  • Installing and programming the Hunter Hydrawise irrigation computer – step by step

    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

    Automatic garden watering with the Hunter Hydrawise controller brings more convenience, efficiency and control to my lawn, bed and hedge watering. In this article, I will show you the complete transition from the classic Hunter X-Core to the smart Hydrawise control system – including WLAN setup, zone programming, sensor integration and weather-based adjustment with Solar Sync and Predictive Watering. I describe how my existing system was expanded and modernized, which functions make the difference and what to look out for during installation. A field report with many technical details – from practice, for practice.

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    A modern backyard with a rectangular pool, surrounded by gray tiles. There’s a covered terrace with bar stools, a small palm tree, and a blue shed in the background. www.commaik.de

    Build your own pool terrace with stone slabs on a slope

    8. June 2025
    Partially constructed garden kitchen with unfinished concrete block walls, a wooden roof, and a grill inside. The structure sits in a backyard, surrounded by trees visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    Build your own garden kitchen – solid half-timbered roof with OSB and welded sheeting for the outdoor kitchen

    22. March 2024
    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

    Laying pool edging stones and building your own pool terrace for the perfect pool surround

    8. December 2024
  • Network wireless smoke detectors across several floors: How X-Sense Link+ protects your whole house!

    Various X-Sense smoke detector products, their packaging, mounting stickers, and a fire extinguisher are arranged on a wooden table with tools hanging on a pegboard in the background. www.commaik.de

    X-Sense wireless smoke detectors in the test: In my multi-storey old building with thick walls, it was clear that normal smoke alarms were not enough. I installed the X-Sense Link Plus system with wirelessly networked smoke detectors and CO detectors and put it through its paces. In this article, I show how smoke detectors with wireless technology perform in practice, how the setup works with and without an app and which variant is suitable for which application scenario. You’ll also find information on mandatory smoke alarms in Germany, the technology behind the devices and my detailed practical test with video.

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    A man points to security camera equipment, featuring a Reolink Altas PT Ultra camera, solar panel, and hub, with a backyard pool and patio area in the background. The Reolink logo is displayed on the left. www.commaik.de

    Reolink Altas PT Ultra: The powerful 4K battery-powered surveillance camera in a test

    13. October 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
    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
  • Build your own pool terrace with stone slabs on a slope

    A modern backyard with a rectangular pool, surrounded by gray tiles. There’s a covered terrace with bar stools, a small palm tree, and a blue shed in the background. www.commaik.de

    Building a poolside terrace on a slope is a real challenge – especially when there is hardly any space for a classic substructure. In this article, I show you how I created a stable, long-lasting plateau using formwork stones, gravel, chippings and patio slabs. I document the entire construction process in detail, from excavation to setting the formwork stones and laying the slabs – including all tips on material selection, height adjustment and joint filling. Ideal for anyone who wants to upgrade their pool area in the garden both functionally and visually.

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    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

    Laying pool edging stones and building your own pool terrace for the perfect pool surround

    8. December 2024
    Two robotic mowers, the TerraMow V600 and the V500, are sitting on the lawn; cameras are mounted on their sleek gray bodies and wheels. The word “TERRAMOW” is clearly visible on both of them. In the background, you can see a hedge and a building—the perfect setting for an outdoor test. www.commaik.de

    TerraMow V1000, V600, and Mini 500 Review: Robotic Lawn Mowers Without RTK and Lidar?

    20. August 2026
    A person stands on a rooftop with solar panels and a balcony power plant, pointing toward a graphic showing a Zendure SuperBase energy storage unit. A modern house and trees are visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    Optimize balcony power plant – New modules and 220V battery storage for maximum efficiency

    26. July 2024
  • Dreame A1 Pro in test – Cordless robotic lawnmower without boundary wire & RTK

    The dreame a1 pro, a modern robotic lawn mower with a sleek grey design, operates on a grassy lawn, with a building and potted plants visible in the background. www.commaik.de

    The Dreame A1 Pro robotic lawnmower is a wireless robotic lawnmower without a boundary wire, RTK or external antennae – and I was able to test it extensively for several weeks. In this article, I will show you how the Dreame A1 robotic lawnmower with LiDAR navigation, app control and intelligent obstacle detection works, where its strengths lie and where there is still room for improvement. All the technical data, my everyday experiences and a detailed comparison with other robotic lawnmowers – now in the full test report.

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    A 4K PTZ Reolink security camera monitors a man walking towards a large house at dusk. A digital overlay highlights the camera's facial recognition and zooms in on the man's face with a blue square frame. www.commaik.de

    The best Reolink 4k PTZ surveillance cameras in comparison: 823S2 vs 823S1 vs TrackMix vs TrackFlex in test

    27. February 2026
    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
    Built-in outdoor kitchen featuring a black gas grill with a sizzling sizzle zone in the center, a side burner on the left, and sleek metal drawers and cabinets below—all set in a stylish wooden and concrete counter. www.commaik.de

    Permanently installing the sizzle zone of the Napoleon gas barbecue in the outdoor garden kitchen

    30. April 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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