Thursday, May 1, 2014

Blue Ginger

Some time ago a friend, Joy, gave me a Blue Ginger plant.  It is quite beautiful and that is coming from a person who normally considers plants that can’t be eaten as useless.  Info here.

Today our green waste heap was collected by our local council.  I had earlier cut down a tree which was rubbing against a fibro fence creating an annoying noise for our neighbors.  My chainsaw was blunt and so I had to do a fair bit of hand sawing which resulted in some stress to my right shoulder which was badly damaged in 2001 when I fell five metres from a ladder.  My GP suggests that it is not too serious and has prescribed Panadol Osteo which hasn’t eased the pain much as yet.

Another job was a rusted out downspout from a gutter on my workshop.   The gutter had collected years of leaves and blocked a steel downspout causing the corrosion.  I tried to get a roof plumber, but decided to do the job myself.  The price of galvanised steel downspout and elbows etc was going to be around $140 so I went plastic, costing around $50.  The good thing about plastic is that it all fits together perfectly and will certainly see me out.  It stands out in white, but this job is at the rear of the workshop in amongst a jungle of plants and cannot be easily seen.
 
                    Plastic downspout and what is left of the spindly tall tree

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The leaves collecting in the gutters can be a very messy to clean up, especially if they're wet or starting to decompose. Not only are they tedious to get rid of, but they cause corrosion to metal gutters when left unattended for long periods of time. While plastic gutters aren't prone to rust, they can still overflow when clogged by said leaves. A good solution is to install leaf guards to prevent those leaves from getting into your gutters. By removing the chances of leaves getting in your gutters, you also remove the possibility of various critters living up there and adding to the problem later on. Take care!

Evan Ford @ Easy Fall Guttering

Unknown said...

Plastic seems to be the best option for this either way, since the old one was prone to corrosion. And since it’s out of the way, it’s not prone to getting hit by anything and breaking, which is the down part of choosing plastic over galvanized steel. That being said, it’s a good thing that you were able to install it yourself. That certainly saved you the labor cost of getting a roof plumber. Anyway, thanks for sharing!


Meghan Bowers @ Gutter Dome