New York Renovator

Is It Illegal to Collect Rainwater?

Posted on01. Jul, 2009 by Mrs. Mecomber.

Short answer: YES.
Long answer: Depends on what state you live, and depends on the outcome of new bills coming through the U.S. Congress, as they seem to making up new and stupid ones every day….
From what I have ascertained so far, it is illegal to collect rainwater in the following states:

Utah
Washington State
New Mexico
Colorado– although I [...]

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Parging The Foundation Walls

Posted on29. Jun, 2009 by Mrs. Mecomber.

I have been in the process— oh, for about THREE years now!! — of parging the foundation walls of my home. Most new homes since the 60s and 70s have concrete block or poured concrete foundations. But waaaay back in the olden days (as when my house was built), foundations were built from field stones [...]

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Winter Woes

Posted on12. Dec, 2007 by Mrs. Mecomber.

Grr. I don’t know what it is about winter. Our basement has been flooding again!
All summer long, the sump pump hardly went off, due to our severe shortage of rainfall. I have to say, I was so thankful for the dry summer. My basement was dry!
Now all of a sudden, ever since the first snowfall [...]

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It’s Done!

Posted on28. Jul, 2007 by Mrs. Mecomber.

Our drywell project is completed! We sweated it out on one of the hottest days of the summer to finish it. I’ll keep the narrative brief, with photos:
Below: Filling with rocks.

We elimated our “rock pile” with this project. Our rock pile was a collection of various rocks, bricks, broken asphalt, and broken cinder blocks, all [...]

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A Smashing Job

Posted on23. Jul, 2007 by Mrs. Mecomber.

Today we progressed more on our drywell project. The hardest of the project is behind us!
Last week, I bought a very large plastic garbage barrel (I could not find a regular rain barrel) and drilled a 4-inch hole in the bottom side.

The kids laid about a foot’s depth of rocks at the bottom of our [...]

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