I built this vertical planter for succulents using scrap materials I had laying around and mostly succulents cuttings from our yard and friends in the neighborhood.

Due to the drought conditions here in California I decided to install a rainwater collection system to capture rain water from our roof. Here are the primary components that I ended up installing: 1. 1000 gallon plastic water tank. They…

We decided to purchase a mature tree for the centerpiece to our front yard landscaping project. Here are the steps we took 1. Locate a tree that appeals to your taste; mature olive trees are plentiful in old orchards all over California,…

We’ve been in our Atrium Eichler for 4 years now and after watching heating bill spike up during the cold months each year, we decided to see what would happen if we covered our Atrium this year. We found this…

I built this chicken coop for Tammy for mothers day. I had no idea what I had signed myself up for as it turned out. I spent close to 100 hours building this on weekends, evenings, and days off from…

In our quest to constantly improve our property, and my personal fantasy to create a magical space for my kids, I built a modern-looking clubhouse in our backyard. During my research, I found these sources for purchasing pre-fab models modern…

We have been composting all of our kitchen scraps soiled paper etc. for a quite a while now, but we failed to rat-proof our compost bin when we first built it. As you can imagine this resulted in a very…

.. or ‘bamboom’ as my 2 year old calls it. I recently installed a 30 foot long bamboo hedge as a privacy screen along the fence that borders a street (we have a corner lot). I did a lot of…

Here’s a quick and dirty how to article for an inexpensive way to create original looking Eichler ceiling pendant globes. 1. Purchase the FADO pendant downlight from Ikea ($30): http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50378900 2. Purchase a simple lamp canopy like this one ($0.95):…

With all the recent rain, we discovered that there are some drainage issues on our property, so we’ve decided to do something about it. This website has lots of good info about designing a drainage system and we’re following most of…

I shot this video to document the electrical wiring, data cable, plumbing, and interconnected/hardwired smoke alarms before the foam insulation and dry wall were installed. I highly recommend it as it’s nice to have something to refer back to before I…

The large round disc behind the front door handle (escutcheon plate) that is a hallmark of the Eichler entryway is difficult if not impossible to locate for retail purchase (someone please prove me wrong) – however there is one person,…

I ran Belden 7878s ‘banana peel’ structured cable comprised of 2 coax, 2 cat5, and one fiber optic line. I ran ‘home run’ lines to every room in the house (including the laundry and garage since I had extra cable). I bought…

If you ever open up your walls like we did, one of the things to consider is adding/upgrading seismic anchor bolts – these basically serve to secure your home to the slab that it sits on in case the ground…

Since we were re-roofing, we figured it was a good time to add these UL, water/IC-rated recessed light cans over our shower and bathtub. Steps I took: 1. Cut a hole in the ceiling slightly larger than the light can…

The building inspector required us to add vent fans in our bathroom ceilings (thank god) so I decided to make them recessed instead of having a box hanging down from the ceiling as I’ve seen in other Eichlers. Steps I…

We wanted to install a gas range in our new island cabinet that was custom built to the same size and location of the original Eichler island. Be aware that this approach assumes that you have already abandoned the radiant…