Against the backdrop of a huge number of varieties of garden strawberries, the ampelous variety stands out. This strawberry with pink, very decorative flowers, uncharacteristic for the plant, is easily recognized by the mother plants that simultaneously bear fruit and the rosettes extending from them. After familiarizing yourself with its care, studying the growing rules and looking at the photos, you can safely begin planting this unusual berry crop.
Features of ampelous strawberries
If an ordinary strawberry bears fruit once a season, and a remontant one twice, then we can say about an ampelous strawberry that it is capable of bearing fruit throughout the year.
Thanks to the work of breeders, ampelous strawberries grow earlier than peduncles are formed and are laid on them. flower buds and, accordingly, an additional harvest ripens. Then the mustache itself continues to form the next ones. As a result, you can continuously harvest from one bush.
In addition, this variety has excellent decorative qualities and can serve as a wonderful decoration for a balcony, veranda, etc.
Advice. For growing indoors, it is better to select day-neutral varieties that have a very long fruiting period.
In some sources you can find it under the name “curly”, but this is not entirely correct. Strawberries cannot by their nature wrap around anything. Some gardeners, for decorative purposes, simply tie mustaches with rosettes to a support. At the same time, it seems that the strawberries themselves “climb” up.
If you plant several bushes in a flowerpot or hanging pot, the rosettes will flow very beautifully from the mother plant, creating cascades of leaves, flowers and berries.
When considering the fruiting of ampelous varieties, we can definitely say that this is a remontant variety. On the bush you can see buds, flowers and berries at the same time. Thanks to this, in appropriate conditions, you can observe flowering and pick berries almost all year round. Popular varieties:
- Homemade delicacy;
- Temptation;
- Tarpan;
- Elan;
- Novel;
- Balcony stream;
- Balcony charm.
Almost all of them are hybrids that are adapted to growing in any conditions, are resistant to some diseases and produce a decent harvest. I would especially like to mention the Tuscany variety. Despite its recent appearance, it has already gained worldwide recognition. Richly different pink flowers and quite large aromatic berries.
Growing options
If you show your imagination and put in just a little effort, the bushes of ampelous strawberries can become a wonderful decoration for your plot.
- Growing in pots and flowerpots. In this case, you can use any containers for planting. For normal plant development, their depth must be at least 30 cm. A mandatory requirement is holes for water drainage and a drainage layer. Seedlings intended for planting should be sprinkled with soil and kept in a dark, cool place for two weeks. Plants should not be planted too tightly or too deep in the pot.
Advice. Self-grown in hanging planter A lush strawberry bush can be a wonderful gift for a beginning gardener.
- Growing on a trellis. Can be used as a grid metal mesh, wicker fence, etc. Bushes are planted in the soil 30 cm apart. The growing mustache is tied up along the bars.
Advice. The height of the trellis should be selected no more than 1 m. This way the plants will be able to completely cover it with fruiting and flowering bushes at the same time.
- Planting in the form of a pyramid. For such a planting you will need 3-4 boxes 30 cm high, without a bottom, different sizes. The largest one is placed on the ground in the garden and covered with fertile soil. A second, smaller one is placed on top and also filled with earth. The smallest one is placed at the top. Soil is also poured into it. It turns out to be a cascade of boxes into which seedlings are planted. After growth, this structure looks like a green pyramid covered with flowers and berries.
- Vertical beds. This method is used for growing hanging strawberries in greenhouses. They are made from wide plastic pipes (diameter about 110 cm). Holes are cut into them at a certain interval, into which, after filling the pipe with nutrient soil, seedlings are planted.
How to plant seedlings
Planting hanging varieties is not particularly different from planting other types of strawberries.
- The bottom of the pot or groove in the garden bed is lined with drainage material.
- The top is covered with nutritious soil consisting of turf soil, humus, manure and peat.
- Waters well. After the soil settles, soil is added.
- Planting holes are made.
- One plant is distributed into each hole.
- The roots are pressed with wet soil so that the core remains at the top.
Advice. In order for the seedlings to take root faster, it is advisable to dip each rhizome in a clay mash.
How to care
Planted seedlings need frequent moistening. It should be watered a little at a time 2 times a day. After 2 weeks, watering is reduced - once every 3 days will be enough. The first flower stalks are removed. This way the plant will devote all its strength to the development of the root system, which will make the plant strong.
There should be no more than 5 mustaches on each bush. All excess is pinched off. Fertilizing is carried out regularly with mineral fertilizers.
Transplantation of ampelous strawberries must be carried out every 3-4 years. In the spring, the antennae are plucked off from the most strong bushes and transplanted to a new bed or into a new container. In the case of a flower bed, you can completely replace the soil and plants.
You cannot leave containers with strawberries outside during the winter. All of them need to be brought into a warm room. If this is not possible, the container is buried in the ground and covered with covering material.
For beds protruding above ground level, special frames are built, the surface of which is covered with roofing felt, lutrasil, etc., and then sprinkled with something insulating, for example, sawdust, straw or hay.
Ampel strawberry - amazing plant, which can become a real decoration for the balcony, personal plot or rooms. And all this in combination with a long period of enjoying aromatic and tasty berries.
Features of planting ampelous strawberries: video
In summer, along with beautiful sunny weather and bright colors From plants we also get the need to shower more often than usual. In addition to this, on fresh air Swimming under streams of fresh water is a real pleasure, especially if you live in an apartment and go out into nature. On cold days, when the water does not heat up enough from the sun, you can use a heated shower.
As always, the most ingenious thing is simple. In our case, making a summer shower with your own hands is very simple; however, there are many options for implementing the idea.
Options for a summer shower for a summer residence
Let's start with the materials. It is possible to assemble a frame from any beams, whether it is a metal profile pipe or wooden beams. The walls can be made from a wide range of materials, here are examples: covered with wood, profiled sheets of metal. The best quality and price match if the summer shower is made of polycarbonate, but you can even use opaque oilcloth or tarpaulin stretched over the frame.
OPTION #1
A shower made of bricks or building blocks will be more expensive, but also more reliable. The structure can be made combined and a toilet can be built next to it, as can be seen in the photo. The masonry can be lined with any material available for this purpose.
OPTION #2
To assemble a shower from a profile pipe, welding is most often used, but if you do not have the opportunity to use it, then the beams can be fastened together using holes and bolts. To make the corners rigid, attach a gusset plate or diagonal strip of metal to them. Such frames look good covered with tarpaulin or oilcloth, as can be seen in the photo.
Also, corrugated sheeting can be easily attached to the same metal base, which will add reliability to the structure in many ways.
OPTION #3
In construction hypermarkets you can find ready-made showers for street conditions. But there is an opportunity to save money and make a summer shower with your own hands. The general concept has already been described above - the frame is made of corrugated pipe, and the casing is made of polycarbonate. Original examples look at the photos.
Such designs are designed to be used storage tank summer shower, heating will be carried out due to the flat shape of the container.
OPTION #4
One more interesting solution there will be a combination. For example, three walls can be made of hard material, covered with wood or a sheet of metal, or polycarbonate, and the fourth wall can be a screen made of opaque film. Unfortunately, it is not possible to immerse a water tank on such a design, and therefore water can be supplied from the home water supply.
This can simplify the task of providing water for the shower and heating it. Thus, you can make a shower with heated water with your own hands from a home water heater or boiler.
OPTION #5
A shower similar to the previous one can be made by attaching it to the house, or rather to its wall. Cover the wall with a material that will prevent water from penetrating the wall and extend the pipe for the watering can to a height of approximately 230 centimeters. In this case, the frame is not needed at all, but if the open option is not suitable, then you can make a screen or curtain that will move along a curved pipe. The floor can be laid with tiles or other comfortable material, after draining.
OPTION #6
If possible, you can lay out shower enclosures made of natural stone. This solution will fit perfectly into landscape design the entire area. In the version in the photo, water is supplied from the home water supply, since the presence of a barrel can disrupt the aesthetics of the structure. The stone was laid without mortar, because its flat shape allows the entire structure to stand securely.
OPTION #7
A budget option for a summer shower is to use materials from tree branches. The frame can be made from thick and even branches, and the walls from bending vines or long branches.
This option is not only quite cheap, but also looks original. Due to the fragility of the frame, water is supplied from the water supply.
Ready-made blocks and prices
Factory-made outdoor shower cabins have quite a variety. First of all, they can be made in different colors, since the colors of polycarbonate and corrugated sheets can be different. The lining can also be made of synthetic fabrics, for example, film or tarpaulin. You will also find two configurations: with and without a changing room.
On average, prices for cabins packed in an awning are 15 thousand rubles. The package includes a tank with a capacity of 200 liters. If you also want a locker room, then the amount will be approximately 18 thousand or more.
The same options, but with polycarbonate walls and a heated tank, will cost 20 and 25 thousand rubles, respectively.
Of course, these prices are approximate and you can find out the exact figures in your local construction stores.
What do you need to build an outdoor shower with your own hands?
Earlier we already talked about the materials from which a shower stall can be made; the frame is best made from corrugated pipe; the covering has a wide range of materials to choose from: profile flooring, polycarbonate, awning and even oilcloth. When choosing a material, consider the tools that you have for installation.
Also consider the durability of the materials. For example, polycarbonate will retain its properties longer compared to wood, but it reacts poorly to high temperatures and more difficult to assemble.
Preparation plan
- Drawing and plan. On average, an outdoor shower stall measures 1000*1000*2200 millimeters. These dimensions allow the average person to feel comfortable inside. At the request of the owner, the width and length can be greater, but in no case less. Reducing the parameters will create difficulties in accepting the procedure. And this height is due to the fact that part of the watering can will be taken away from the ceiling and the tray.
In addition, the drawing will be useful if you decide to include a locker room or other extensions in the building. This calculation will help you avoid additional costs and be completely ready for construction.
- Choice of material for the frame. It is recommended to use metal: corner or profile pipe. For the frame you will need a corner 50 by 50 millimeters or a corrugated pipe 40 by 20 millimeters. Calculate the footage of the blanks based on the dimensions of the shower: height, perimeter and length. Also consider the dimensions of the tank when designing the dimensions of the frame. The structure must be strong enough to withstand the weight of a full container. In addition, such material will last much longer than any wood. Maintenance is minimal - tint on time to avoid rotting.
If the choice falls on wood, then in order for it to fulfill its role for a long time, it must be treated with special moisture-resistant agents, and then painted or varnished. The part of the tree that will be in the ground must be covered with bitumen or resin.
- Material for cladding. The list to choose from is very large, but the most practical and popular are brick, corrugated board or polycarbonate. All of these types differ in the way they are assembled and how they need to be maintained: for brickwork: you will need mortar, after which it would be useful to cover it with inside varnish; It will be enough to attach the corrugated sheet to the bolts, having previously drilled the holes; polycarbonate is also bolted, but it will require washers.
- Water source. Equip your shower with a capacity that is sufficient for use by everyone living on the site. On average, one person requires 20-30 liters of water (fortunately, there is a huge selection in stores). Since the weather can bring surprises, heating will not be superfluous. Can equip your tank electrically heated using heating element. If it is possible, run a water supply from the house to the shower, this will allow you to use water heated by a boiler or gas water heater.
- Roof. An important part, since while you are swimming, there will be a rather heavy load on top. To avoid injury, the material must be rigid. It is better to use slate or corrugated sheets as a roof. Polycarbonate will simply burst under a heavy load.
- Drain. It is better to drain approximately two meters from the structure. This will help avoid bad odors. Convenient parameters for a pit would be 500 millimeters in diameter and 1000-1500 in depth. The walls and drainage are filled with concrete using formwork.
- Tools and consumables. At a minimum you will need: a hammer, a saw and a hacksaw, a grinder, a drill. For fastening metal frame Welding is good, but you will need electrodes for it. You will also need to acquire nails, bolts and drills with a diameter corresponding to the bolts.
You will also need a watering can, a mixer, if a supply is provided hot water, adapters, nozzles, pipes and hoses for water supply.
Sequence of operations
To assemble a shower stall you need:
- According to the drawing in the photo, we weld or assemble parts of the frame using bolts. When assembling, take into account the loss in length.
- We place the halves vertically and connect them using welding seams or the same bolts.
- We pour the concrete screed and make sure that the legs sink 10-15 centimeters into the screed. Using a level, make sure that the structure is level. For brick building concrete and screed are poured. For drainage, a plastic pipe is used, which must be placed in concrete during the pouring process.
- After the concrete has hardened, proceed to the cladding and installation of plumbing fixtures, accessories, as well as the final arrangement of the cabin.
Once the frame is assembled, all that remains is to cover it with the selected material. Consider the dimensions of the material based on the dimensions of the “skeleton”. It is better to arrange the drain using a pallet or, at the stage of concrete formation, make a current by placing it there plastic pipe, which will lead to the sewer pit.
The source of water can be either plastic tank on the roof of the cabin, and the supplied pipe from the home water supply.
As you can see, with just a little imagination you can build an outdoor shower, spending a minimum of money and getting maximum aesthetics and quality.
So, you’ve decided to build a wooden shower at your dacha with your own hands – where should you start? Of course, from choosing a location for the shower and designing it. The next stage will be.
After this, they proceed to the construction of walls. When this stage is over, you can start installing the floor, roof and installing the door. Well, now about each of these stages in more detail.
Choosing a place for a summer shower cabin made of wood with your own hands
Before you make a wooden shower with your own hands, you need to carefully choose a place for it. If the water in the shower tank is heated only from the sun, then the place for the country shower should be located only on the sunny side.
The water tank must be located under the influence sun rays as long as possible during the day, especially in the morning. In this case, the water will warm up to comfortable temperature. It is advisable that the sun also illuminates the shower stall. In addition, it should be located in such a way that it is not blown by winds.
Also, before making a shower out of wood, the place where it will be built must be equipped with a water supply and drainage system.
For normal operation summer shower requires high-quality drainage and quick disposal waste water. When located garden shower an elevated location naturally ensures good drainage of water. In the heat, the load on the summer shower increases significantly.
It is necessary to take into account the possibility of not only supplying clean water, but also installing a concrete receiving well for wastewater. To do this, you should equip drain hole a volume of about 2 m. If a summer shower requires a small flow of water, then you don’t have to make a drainage system. Water after swimming will be absorbed by itself, even if there is waterproof clay in the area under the soil layer.
If a family consists of 2-3 people, then several tens of liters will be enough for a shower warm water. For 4 people or more, the amount of water required for a shower increases to several hundred liters.
If you make your own wooden shower with additional heating, you need to place it away from a residential building.
When constructing, you should remember the nature and properties groundwater. If the garden has sandy soil, then in the depths it is usually underlain by clay rock. Then the used water from the shower can easily seep into the soil up to the clay layer, and then it will flow into the aquifer or local reservoir. In this case, there is a danger of wastewater getting into well water.
How to make a shower out of wood: design
Before you make a wooden shower, you need to draw up its design. To do this, you need to decide on the dimensions of the future structure. For good jet pressure, it is necessary to place the container with water at a height of 2.5 m. Great importance has the convenience of a cubicle so you can shower comfortably at any time. If the dimensions of the booth are at least 2 X 1.5 m, then inside it you can place a clothes hanger, a shelf for soap, etc.
When arranging a summer shower made of wood with your own hands, remember that the dimensions of the internal space in the stall must be at least 100 x 100 cm, so that you can freely raise your arms or bend over without bumping into the walls.
The cabin must have a shower compartment and a changing room protected from water, the width of which is usually at least 60 cm, therefore inner space cabins for a summer shower cannot be less than 160 X 100 cm. It is advisable to design a structure 190 X 140 cm. To these parameters you should add the wall thickness, resulting in 200 X 150 cm.
How to make the foundation of a wooden shower for a summer house with your own hands
To build a wooden summer shower with your own hands, you do not need a special foundation. The installation technology implies strict adherence to the strict verticality of the frame posts and a strong connection with the strapping. In this case, the supports should rest tightly on the pads. Compliance with these rules is mandatory, since a heavy tank of water will be installed at the top. After determining the dimensions, it is necessary to make a marking, marking a rectangle on the ground with dimensions of 170 x 110 cm or 190 x 140 cm. The height of a summer country shower can be 2.5-3 m. With a small support area, it will not be stable enough. To avoid the structure overturning, it is recommended to install a pile or. It is easy to erect, but it can reliably hold the shower under wind and other loads, since the 200-liter water tank has significant weight. As a material for the foundation, you can use metal pillars, metal or asbestos-cement pipes with a diameter of 90-100 mm and a length of 1.5-2 m. After this, four wells with a depth of 1-1.5 m must be drilled in the ground at the corners of the shower. insert pipes or pillars so that each of them rises above the ground level by at least 30-50 cm. Then, at the corners of the pillar foundation, you need to lay hewn timber with a cross-section of 100 X 100 mm.
When constructing a wooden summer shower for a dacha with your own hands, the ligation of the pillars can be done in the form of a closed strapping, starting from the top.
This foundation design is a rigid frame. It is more convenient to assemble it on the ground, and then fasten it with long bolts.
The strength of the structure is ensured by the coincidence of all axes. In addition, fastening must be done using long bolts. In this case, a water barrel with a volume of about 200 liters can be installed on the roof of the shower. A shower stall is considered the most stable if there are six foundation pillars under it. Under columnar foundation you should dig six holes measuring 20 X 20 or 30 X 30 cm and a depth of 40-50 cm. The dimensions and depth depend on the structure of the soil. The holes must be filled with cement-sand mortar mixed with pebbles or gravel.
The places for the shower frame are ready. The base of a wooden shower frame for a dacha with your own hands should be made waterproof, with a slope towards the drain, which is connected to the used water drainage system. Between the pits it is necessary to remove the top layer of soil to a depth of 20 cm, and along the edges of the resulting pit it is necessary to strengthen the formwork from boards or plywood.
The recess under the shower can be covered with roofing felt or PVC film, but it is better to concrete it, forming a kind of waterproof pan to prevent silting of the ground under the country shower. After this, the bottom of the hole needs to be filled with sand, spilled with water, compacted, and then filled with mortar so that the platform rises 10 cm above the ground and covers the space for the foundation.
From a pallet that has slight slope, the water will go into the drainage ditch, so the slope must also have a drainage gutter. The drainage of water from the summer shower must be organized into a special drainage ditch (septic tank) located on the site or outside it. Water must be drained through a pipe laid in a trench with a certain slope towards the drainage pit.
You can build a strip foundation up to 30 cm deep under a wooden shower with your own hands without a monolithic concrete platform. To give the future structure the correct geometric shape, it is necessary to check the equality of the diagonals of the foundation using a rope or thick fishing line. After this, you can proceed to digging a trench 30 cm X 30 cm. The foundation should be poured concrete mortar, prepared from 1 part cement, 3 parts clean sand and 5 parts fine crushed stone (5-20 mm).
Before preparing the solution, the sand must be thoroughly sifted. The solution must be poured into the dug trench. When it has completely hardened, use a level to check the horizontalness of the foundation.
If there are any unevenness, they must be leveled using cement-sand mortar. If you plan to constantly use the shower, then it is necessary to pour under the foundation concrete platform or lay it out of brick in the form of a rectangle. Concreting the foundation site should be done with a slope towards the sewer pipe, and a wooden grate should be placed on top.
How to make the walls of a wooden shower cabin for a summer house with your own hands
When building the walls of a wooden shower stall with your own hands, you should take into account that when high humidity the wood may begin to rot, so it should be treated by special means against rot. It also has a number of advantages: it is an environmentally friendly, visually attractive and quite durable material.
If it is not possible to make the entire cabin out of wood, then you can use wood to build load-bearing pillars. The remaining parts will be easier to attach to wooden posts than to metal pipes. The construction of shower stall walls should begin with the construction of a rigid frame.
For a slate frame you will need four cast iron pipes, but you can use any other available material. For pipes in a concrete or brick foundation, you should prepare holes, insert pipes there and concrete them for strength. When the cement mortar is completely dry, you need to proceed to installing slate sheets. For such a booth you will need three sheets of slate. They should be attached on three sides directly to the prepared frame.
There will be a door on the fourth side. The frame for the booth can be made of metal corners. Its two elements are the lower and upper “circles” made of metal corners. For them you can use corners 30 x 30 mm.
The third element of the frame is the connecting “circles”: pieces of metal reinforcement with a diameter of 12 mm and the required length. For greater structural strength, the lower “circle” of the frame should be concreted into the base. It is recommended to supplement the vertical reinforcement with several wooden blocks to make it easier to attach the material used to cover the cabin.
Do-it-yourself wooden shower posts are best sheathed on both sides with wooden clapboard. Such walls will reliably protect the building not only from cold, but also from heat. Since frame pillars are usually located at a distance of approximately 1 m, it is not necessary to erect an intermediate frame.
Horizontal strips can be attached directly to corner posts. For these purposes, slate, sheet asbestos cement or other materials should be used. Plastic and metal are allowed, but not recommended.
To install the simplest version of a summer shower cabin, you will need boards and bars to construct the room, as well as bricks and cement to lay the base.
After marking and preparing the base, the bars should be attached to the foundation using brackets and anchors, then sheathed with boards or clapboard. Along the perimeter, the bars must be tied in three places.
When building a shower cabin from wood with your own hands, it is recommended to choose a 100 x 100 mm beam for constructing the frame.
After laying the foundation and external piping, it is necessary to make a bandage inside the frame, which will serve as joists for the shower floor. Rigid elements (mitters) must be made between adjacent pillars, which must be installed in the thickness of the wall itself. Most often, the walls of a summer shower are arranged in the form of shields made of quarter-planed boards.
Towards the construction of the summer wooden shower must be approached thoroughly. To give the entire structure the necessary stability, it is necessary to concrete the bases of the beams or dig them into the ground. Before doing this, they should be tarred or coated. machine oil. In addition, they can be wrapped in roofing felt. This is done in order to prevent the wood from rotting in the ground. The supporting pillars on top should be connected to each other by a bandage made of the same timber. This will give strength to the entire structure, which can withstand weight up to 200 kg. After this, you can begin the bottom bandage, which will become the base for the shower floor.
The walls should be upholstered wooden planks, having previously treated them with drying oil, which will prevent rotting of the wood. It is recommended to insulate the walls using polystyrene foam or one of modern insulation materials made of foamed PVC.
In fact, in this article we will talk about two designs of a summer shower: with wooden frame and with metal. One was made by my father-in-law in the village. The second one is at our dacha.
How to make a summer shower from wood.
Materials: wooden beam 10 by 5, 5 by 4 and 4 by 2. Plastic siding (external) for sheathing, a good flat plastic tank of 170 l (special, shower), hose and a set of fittings for water supply. The water source is a well with a pump, and from it a hose for irrigation is led to the garden. The design was determined from the basic requirements for the shower, the availability of certain tools and the time for manufacturing.
And these were the requirements for the soul. Purely summer, for use from May to the end of August - beginning of September, while it is warm outside. Therefore, no water heating, other than the usual heating from the sun and insulation of the shower cabin, is not provided for in the design.
Tools - ordinary carpentry: saws, hammer, pliers, etc., as well as: electric chain Saw(what is called a “chainsaw”, but with an electric motor), an electric planer, a jigsaw (not useful), an electric drill (not useful), a screwdriver, a specially purchased hammer drill for attaching plastic siding (it didn’t work, I attached it with furniture nails, and the screwdriver was useful for drilling holes in the plastic so as not to crack). normal tools for metal work (the main one was a grinder) then there was no one. That's why we chose wood. Besides, my father-in-law likes it better, and you can always hammer in a nail, and in general, it’s somehow “warmer” than metal.
Materials. The basis of the frame, as is already clear, is a wooden beam 10 by 5. Fastening with notches, as expected. Additional jumpers for attaching the sheathing are made from 5 by 4 timber. Also, part of it and 4 by 2 timber were used for a very important detail - a wooden grate for the floor. Frame size - 1m by 1.20, height - 2.2m. Sheathing - plastic siding. The water tank is the main part, so they didn’t skimp on it; I bought the best thing I found - a flat plastic tank (made of food-grade plastic), 1 m by 1 m in size, thickness - about 15-20 cm (I didn’t measure it, it’s by eye). Volume - 170l (by the way, from here you can estimate the thickness - 17cm).
Foundation. First, we made a small foundation around the perimeter, right on the surface of the earth, using formwork from boards. Then they poured it in the middle so that the water did not accumulate in the middle, but flowed out. The foundation is ordinary, not designed for heavy weight: they threw in all sorts of construction debris, including metal debris, and filled it all with mortar.
Design. Frame made of timber 10x5, 2.2m x 1.2m x 1m. For greater rigidity and fastening of the siding, we add two horizontal 5x5 beams 1/3 from the top and bottom of the frame. The entrance is from the side of the wall, 1 m wide. We cover two walls (near the corner farthest from the entrance) with siding to the full height. To the right of the entrance there is one strip of siding to a height of 1.5 m, and we cover the remaining wall with siding of the same height so that there is a “window” through which the rest of the yard is visible. On top is a water tank. Water is supplied to it from the pump through a distribution valve system. Wherein:
- you can open/shut off the water supply both to the shower tank and to the container in the garden.
- The water is supplied from below, through the same pipe through which water flows out when using the shower. That is, the tank is neatly closed on top with a lid and there are no holes or protruding hose in it.
- you can easily disconnect the hose through which water is supplied to the shower from the system and use it instead of a shower (that is, water from the tank will flow not through the shower itself, but through this hose, which ends at floor level). This is very convenient, for example, for washing your feet if you don’t want to take a full shower.
So, let's start making a summer shower from wood.
Almost half the day was spent purchasing materials (see list above). Then we made the foundation with my father-in-law. I started showering at about 5 pm. Now, in order.
The cutting technique is shown in the following photographs:
Now there is another seemingly simple question that often causes difficulties.
How to correctly measure and mark parts, how to achieve “rectangularity” of rectangular frames, and, accordingly, “verticality” and “horizontalness” of the corresponding parts.
There are a few simple rules and techniques that will help achieve normal results.
- When measuring and marking parts, always choose one reference point and the same set of basic dimensions for similar parts. For example, if you need to make four identical vertical posts, and they must be connected to each other by transverse horizontal bars, then you need to determine what is the starting point and what are the basic dimensions? It is logical if the starting point for the rack is its lower cut, and the basic dimensions are: its length, the distance from the lower cut of the rack to the lower crossbar, and from the upper cut of the rack to the upper crossbar. But the distance between these crossbars will be a derivative, and not a basic size. As basic dimensions, it is best to choose those that are most important, as well as those that can be measured more easily and more accurately. In our case, the most important size- this is the length of the rack, and the easiest to measure are the shortest distances: from the ends of the rack to the crossbars. But if the racks were of different lengths, then as the third basic size we would have to take either the distance from the bottom cut of the rack to the top crossbar, or from the bottom crossbar to the top, but not the distance from the top cut to the top crossbar.
- Don't get carried away with unnecessary measurements and markings using measuring instruments. In the previous example with four posts of equal length, markings using a tape measure (ruler, etc.) need to be done for only one of them. And the rest must be marked exclusively using the markings on this first stand, applying it to the others in turn (or them to it, whichever is more convenient for you). This will be much more accurate than if you marked each rack separately using a measuring device.
- How to make a rectangular frame? If it is small (side length no more than 50 - 70 cm), and you have a square (preferably a carpenter's square), or, as a last resort, an ordinary school right-angled triangle, then you can use it. We made cuts on the parts to be joined (to make perpendicular cuts, a square is enough), connected, and set a right angle using this square (triangle). True, for greater accuracy, you can turn the square over and place one of the parts on the other side. And, if there are differences, take something in between. The differences can be either due to inaccuracy (non-perpendicularity) of the square itself (but this is rare), or due to the non-parallelism of the sides, or the curvature of the parts themselves being connected. But what if the frame size is large? Like in our summer shower - 2.2 m by 1.2 m? No square will help here, there will be no “rectangularity” with its help. In this case, you need to use the “diagonal method”. From school course It is well known in geometry that a quadrilateral with equal opposite sides will be either a parallelogram or its variation - a rectangle, if its angles are right. If rule No. 2 was used when marking the bars, then their lengths will be more or less the same (if they are also sawed off correctly). At the same time, a rectangle has one more remarkable quality - it has identical diagonals. But for a non-rectangular parallelogram they are different.
Moreover, even a very small deviation from right angle, gives significant difference in the size of its diagonals. This remarkable property has long been used by all joiners and carpenters. So, we make a frame, fastening the parts so that they can rotate relative to each other (in short, one nail for each connection).
Then we drive (but not completely) another nail into each part at the same distance from their ends, and as close to them as possible. We take a piece of cord (one that does not stretch), make a loop on one side, put it on one of the studs, and measure the distance to the stud, which is the first stud on the diagonal. Then, we put the loop on the adjacent stud, and measure the distance to the stud diagonally in the same way. If they are the same (+- 0.5% - 1% of the diagonal length), then we can assume that we have a normal rectangle with sufficient high accuracy, and you can fix it with additional nails. If the lengths of the diagonals differ quite strongly, then by slightly turning the sides of the frame in the direction from the longer diagonal to the shorter one, and measuring them again, we achieve their equality, and, accordingly, the “rectangularity” of our frame.
- If you follow all these rules, then “verticality” and “horizontalness” are obtained almost automatically. We can only add that they are controlled and set with the usual plumb line and level. By the way, I highly recommend having a normal, fairly long (at least 70 - 80 cm) and “not Chinese” level, with several tubes for checking horizontal, vertical, and 45 degree angles. Then all these problems can be easily solved. Why "not Chinese"? Chinese is also possible, if it is accurate. And this is easy to check. Place the level on any flat surface (a table in a store), mark the division where the edge of the drop is frozen (no matter which one, left or right). Then turn it 180% and look again. If the drop has not moved, then the level is accurate. By the way, it is not necessary that the surface be strictly horizontal. You also check the vertical accuracy. And if there is a tube for checking 45 degrees, then it can be checked in the same way on any inclined surface close to these 45 degrees (from 30 to 60 degrees). Well, let me add absolutely children's advice. The level is a fragile device, so it must be used and stored carefully. Give it a little hit or shake, and some tube may move, and then good-bye accuracy.
Well, let's move on. We marked and completed all the cuts. It is advisable to space the cuts in perpendicular planes vertically. But sometimes this doesn’t quite work out, and, as in our case, they partially overlap. Their shape turned out to be intricate.
Then, as stated at the beginning of the article, we assembled two frames and installed them next to the place final installation, secured the cross beams, covered it with siding, made additional oblique struts and installed a tank.
This is what happened as a result.
Now let's take a closer look at the water supply device.
As already mentioned, this system allows you to switch the water supply from the well between the shower tank and the garden. In addition, you can either pump water into the tank or drain it from it, both from the shower itself and through a hose, including back into the well or into the garden.
That is, any combination of water supply between the well, shower tank, shower and garden is possible.
The water supply modes are as follows:
- The left tap on the distributor is open, the right one is closed, the tap on the water supply hose near the tank is open, the tap on the shower is closed - we pump water into the tank when the pump is running, or, conversely, we drain it back into the well (well) when it is not working.
- The left tap on the distributor is closed, and the right one is open - we water the garden.
- Both taps on the distributor are closed, there is water in the tank, open the shower tap and use it for its intended purpose.
- The same thing, but we disconnect the water supply hose to the tank from the distributor (this is simple, since it uses a regular spring clamp, there are such on the market), and close the shower tap near the tank and open the tap on the hose. In this case, water flows down the hose. You can collect water in some container, wash your feet, etc.
