Cabinet

A while back, I bought a cabinet on Craigslist. $5. I liked it because it had the ball and claw feet that our pool table has. I had big plans for this little cabinet. Unfortunately, I realized the cabinet was not real wood so I wasn't going to be able to sand and refinish it. So I decided to paint it. The pool table is black and brown. There are areas that are distressed and the brown shows through. This is what I wanted to do with the cabinet. So....to Lowe's. I bought brown paint and black paint. Latex. First Mistake.

So, first I sanded. A lot. There were some areas that the particle board was chipped off and I was trying to sand them out. However, this did not really work. So, I got creative. I used the spackle that is made for nail holes. I put some into the crevices and let it dry, then I just sanded it out again to make it level. That part was kind of fun.

After that was dry and sanded, I was ready to paint. So, I painted the first brown layer. Second Mistake. I recommend starting with a primer. The paint did not stick to the particle board very well. (If you are aware of these things, please do not laugh at me).

After the first coat was dry, I did a second. Then I painted the first black coat. I did two. of the black too. The only difference is, I didn't pain the balls on the feet.

After all the paint had dried (over night). I decided to try to distress it. I found something that resembled sand paper and distressed a few areas. Mistake number...what is that? Three?  Because I used latex paint, when I tried to distress it, it took off the paint in peels. Not slightly distressed, but in peels. It worked okay on the edges and the corners but when I tried to do a spot on the top, it just came off in a square. Not a nice little scuffle mark, but a perfect square. Not really the look I was going for. So I repaired the missing spot (by painting it again) and just stuck with the corners. The reason it was a mistake to paint the first two coats of brown paint is, as mentioned above, ALL the paint came off. I could have saved time and just painted the black and distressed to the wood. Oh well. At least the balls are brown. ;)  Attached the doors and...done!

Leaking drip line

Of course, I walked out into my yard to admire some new plants I'd planted and realized that a good portion of my yard is wet. It's not supposed to be. My plants, sure. My grass, ok. But not my rocks. No good. So.... Gotta start the hunt for the elusive (duh duh duh!) Leak! :(

I walked the length of the chain link (where it was wet) and found an area that appeared more wet than the rest. I started digging. The problem with this method is the water starts to pool where you're digging so you can't really see much. However, it gives you one advantage: currents. I scooped the mud out of the way and waited for about 3 seconds for things to settle. Then I looked to see if the water was moving at all. It was so I followed where it looked like the water was moving FROM. When I found a place that looked like the water might be oozing from, I started to dig with my trusty spade. I dug with my hands too. A bit messy but I've heard mud is good for your skin so don't worry. It gives you the advantage of feeling the drip line (if you're in the right spot anyway).

After digging for a while and thinking I see a decent current, I turned off the sprinklers and went to bed. :) Best part of the whole project.

The next morning, after the puddle had evaporated/absorbed/whatever, I went out and looked at what I'd dug up. I didn't dig up anything. It was just a muddy pile. Nice. ::Sigh::

I decided to turn on the sprinklers just to see if I was close; if the current would be there again or if I'd dreamt it the day before. Once the line went on, I guess it had built up pressure because a big spray of water hit me right in the face! I was so excited to have found the leak, I ran right to Lowes to find the replacement part. Mud on my hands. Mud on my pants. My face dripping wet.



This is the drip line after I wiped all the mud off of it. The bare part is where the water was spraying out.



I walked right to the area that they sell the drip line equipment and found a piece (I think it's called a "coupler") used to attach two edges of cut line together. The problem is, I've had this issue before and I know for a fact I have to have one that has a blue tip on it. Just FYI, there are multiple different sizes of these things. At least three that I know of. One is 1/2", one is 5/8" and the other is 0.57" I know, STUPID! Anyway, they don't carry the 0.57" one at Lowes. So if your drip line has a blue stripe on it, you have to go to Home Depot. Anyway, I bought 3. Cause this WILL happen again!

This is the coupler with the blue tip.

Anyway, I got home and dug up more of the line so I could get all the way around it. I now needed to cut out the hole. What I did, is cut a slightly smaller section out of the line than the size of the coupler. If you don't cut out enough of the line and you try to put in the new coupler, you'll have too much line and it won't all fit.

To cut the line, I just actually used a pair of pruning shears. I cut out the section and attached each end of the remaining line to each end of the coupler. Sometimes it takes a bit of effort to get each end into the coupler, but it should fit. If it's too easy, you probably have one that's too big. If it just WILL NOT go in, you probably have one that's too small. If your line has a different color stripe on it, try to find a coupler with the same color ring.

This is the piece that I cut out. I'd say it is about 1 1/2 to 2"

Anyway, I attached the coupler, turned on the water, saw no leak, and DANCED LIKE A MANIAC! I just really love fixing things. :) WOOT!!!





All done! :)