Brilliant UFO abduction lamp.
Your blood puddle pillows are in.
Clean your dishwasher with Lemonade Kool-Aid.
Clever light bulb design.
Days Ago digital day counters are small gadgets that attach to your food containers via suction and magnets to keep a running count of how many days ago you put your leftovers in the fridge.
Scrabble furniture.
Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.
This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.
For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing
Puzzle carpet.
This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.
Super creative bathroom tiles.
Skinny house in Brazil.
Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger
WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.
Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.
Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.
Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.
Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.
Save the Internet.
Your blood puddle pillows are in.
Clean your dishwasher with Lemonade Kool-Aid.
Clever light bulb design.
Days Ago digital day counters are small gadgets that attach to your food containers via suction and magnets to keep a running count of how many days ago you put your leftovers in the fridge.
Scrabble furniture.
Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.
This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.
For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing
Puzzle carpet.
This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.
Super creative bathroom tiles.
Skinny house in Brazil.
Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger
WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.
Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.
Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.
Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.
Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.
Save the Internet.
Harmony Flush Activated Toilet Seat
Although not as advanced as the Japanese inspired Brondell Swash, the Harmony toilet seat seems like a pretty ingenious product. The seat makes use of a small connector that runs from the bottom of the toilet seat latching mechanism to a float that you place in the toilet tank. When the toilet is flushed, the float lowers with the water in the tank which triggers a lever on the connector under the seat, which in turn releases a latch that activates the seat closing action. The seat closes very slowly for, as the company refers to it, a pinch-free close.
The unit is currently only available in Home Depots of the American Midwest.
Also: Froogle Search gives a price of about $80.
Promo Video of the seat in action.
Link: Harmony Toilet Seat
The unit is currently only available in Home Depots of the American Midwest.
Also: Froogle Search gives a price of about $80.
Promo Video of the seat in action.
Link: Harmony Toilet Seat
Nice Handmade Wooden Baths by Driftwood
Driftwood produces these beautiful wooden baths that are handcrafted by experienced boat builders. From the site:Skills and materials honed and tested in the demanding boatbuilding industry mean you don't have to worry about your bath ever springing a leak. Indeed, keep the stopper firmly in and you could probably paddle your bath quite safely. And because our baths rely on marine technology they are designed for a far more ravaging environment then your bathroom.
Furthermore:
Each wall is built using a strip building technique where narrow wooden strips are locked one to the next using a boat building technique called cove and beading. This technique means the walls behave as single sheets of wood. Each strip is individually cut, placed and bent to perfectly shape and seal your bath. The floors of each bath are built from over 25mm (1 inch) of wood. This might sound excessive but it prevents any possibility of creep and sagging with age, ensuring your bath floor will always remain sound and true.
The baths must be quite a hit with people as the site is closed to new orders, according to a notice on the homepage. That or it just takes them years to build one.
Via Trendir
Tile Over Laminate Countertops with Tavy Thin Skin Underlay System
Generally speaking, installing ceramic tiles on an existing laminate countertop isn't possible as mortar doesn't adhere well to laminate surfaces. To get around this problem, installers remove the countertop and replace it with mortar-friendly plywood before any tile work is done. A product called "Tavy Thin Skin" promises to simplify and accelerate this process by eliminating the need to remove the countertop altogether. Tavy Thin Skin is a two part process. The first step involves applying a special glue that, unlike mortar, bonds strongly to the laminate countertop surface. This is followed by adhering a thin underlayment paper to the glue, readying the surface for mortar and tiling.
View the complete process with pics and video here.
Funny Toilet Disassembly Howto
Stephen Granade offers up this funny and thorough step by step guide on how to disassemble a toilet, which he
created for our collective benefit after discovering that many DIY sites on the net were a little lacking in some fairly important steps:
The Internet claimed that disassembling a toilet to check the flange or to replace the wax ring was easy. Invariably, the same sites that talked about how easy this task was would follow that up by saying, "A TOILET BREAKS EASILY BE CAREFUL!!!!" The sites also varied in how detailed their instructions were, in one case even going so far as to skip the whole "removing the tank" part. As a public service, I'm going to give you the definitive step-by-step guide to disassembling a toilet to repair it.
Also be sure not to miss the toilet diagram Stephen has created, which, although highly technical and beyond the comprehension of the layman, is a useful toilet anatomy nonetheless.
Link: How To Disassemble a Toilet In Many Easy Steps
The Internet claimed that disassembling a toilet to check the flange or to replace the wax ring was easy. Invariably, the same sites that talked about how easy this task was would follow that up by saying, "A TOILET BREAKS EASILY BE CAREFUL!!!!" The sites also varied in how detailed their instructions were, in one case even going so far as to skip the whole "removing the tank" part. As a public service, I'm going to give you the definitive step-by-step guide to disassembling a toilet to repair it.
Also be sure not to miss the toilet diagram Stephen has created, which, although highly technical and beyond the comprehension of the layman, is a useful toilet anatomy nonetheless.
Link: How To Disassemble a Toilet In Many Easy Steps
LED Faucet Light
In the future, people that don't place LEDs everywhere will be shunned by civilized society. Children will ask their parents to tell them what it was like having to live before LED toilet seats and blue LED faucet lights, like this one. This particular life-improving gadget attaches to your bathroom faucet with its included universal adapter and is activated as the water flows through. Once the LEDs are on, the water glows space-age blue. The unit happens to be watch-battery powered, but wouldn't it be cool if it were powered by generating electricity from the water passing through it - would that be even possible or is the gadget simply too small to contain something like that? Anyone know?
Dave, thanks for the tip.
Grohe Grohtherm Wireless Programmable Remote Controlled Shower
Some shower faucets seem so sensitive that even the slightest adjustment will put you at risk for a scalding, or a hypothermic coma, like the major motion picture starring Hollywood's Michael Douglas. Eliminate the risk with this sweet wireless, remote controlled, programmable, digital shower from Grohe.
The Grohtherm allows to you wake up in the morning, push a button on the remote and have the shower ready and waiting - at your predetermined temperature and flow rates, no less.
Via Gizmodo.
Kohler Bathroom Design Gallery
Kohler has a very nice bathroom gallery available for your viewing pleasure, and it's filled with some seriously nice bathrooms. The gallery is divided into three categories: contemporary, traditional and eclectic.
Of course if you were looking for something classy, like LED toilet seats, you'd want to go here.
Germ Eliminating Ultra Violet Toothbrush Sanitizer
Help stop the transmission of viruses and bacteria by killing them in one of their favorite hangouts - your toothbrush - by using this ultraviolet toothbrush sanitizer. This gadget cleans up to four toothbrushes at once and takes up about the same amount of space as a regular toothbrush holder (3.5 inches). From the site: VIOlight uses a germicidal UV bulb - the same technology used in hospitals - to kill germs. Sanitization is activated with a simple push of a button. A blue-violet glow on top of the VIOlight lets you know the sanitizer is working. The entire process takes only 10 minutes. When finished, the bulb automatically shuts off and your toothbrush is fresh, clean, and safely stored for the next time you brush!
A travel version is also available.
via popgadget
Good List of Bathroom Design Tips
If you plan on redesigning a bathroom, or are lucky enough to be able to design and build one from scratch, here are some tips on making the most out of the space you have available to you, including things like where to place the toilet, amount of space required for sinks, showers and baths, as well as storage and safety ideas.
Make Your Own Hands Free Bathroom
We have the technology:Enter the room to motion activated lights. Work your magic. Catch a squirt of soap from your touchless soap dispenser. Wash your hands under your hands free faucet. Finish up by drying your hands sans towel.
Leave.
Uber Sleek Italian Faucets
Newform-Italy makes some truly impressive, streamlined bathroom faucets. Most of their minimalist faucets are very thin and simple, which seems to lend them incredible beauty. Although the website is in link-unfriendly Flash, the faucet eye-candy they've chosen compensates nicely.
Brondell Swash 600 High Tech Toilet Seat
Meet Dave Samuel. The one time dot com entrepreneur was not content to simply relax on some Caribbean island after co-founding and subsequently selling internet radio company "Spinner" to AOL for $320 million. No, Samuel combined a fascination with high end electronic Japanese toilets with a mind for business to produce a start-up called Brondell. Samuel's goal is to bring Japanese toilet technology to America, and the Brondell Swash 600 is his first offering (along with the non-bum-drying Swash 400).The 600 offers a warm-air dryer, temperature-controlled heated seat, remote control, massage, dual nozzle action, and gentle close lid.
Concrete Countertop HowTos
Here is a nice howto on making your own concrete countertop from the diynetwork that covers template construction, mold making, pouring, and finishing up.Here's another very detailed tutorial from NaturalHandyman.com. Both are good, but the diynetwork breaks down the materials needed in a nicer format.
For some inspiration, take a look at Cheng Design to see some amazing examples of what's possible to accomplish with concrete.
Categories: concrete countertop kitchen bathroom diy howto unique renovations
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Ecoplay Reroutes Shower Water for Toilet Use
The Ecoplay system collects grey water from the shower and redirects it for use in flushing the toilet.
Benefits of the system, according to Ecoplay::* Saves water consumption by one third
* Highly energy-saving
* User-friendly in every way
* Minor extra costs compared to standard toilet units
Ecoplay estimates that the unit will pay for itself in 6 years. Perhaps if this catches on, Ecoplay will be able to afford to have people other than their children* drawing diagrams of the unit.
*Update: Looks like they've updated their site with really nice diagrams now.
via City Hippy
Big Home Depot Plumbing HowTo List
Fix a leak, remove a toilet, install a toilet, unclog this, repair that - it's all here in this nice chunk of illustrated how-tos on the Home Depot site. You will recognize the style if you've ever used one of their big orange DIY books. From the Depot's useful Know-How page.
Recent stuff from HouseHacker:
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