DIY Projects

Functional DIY Projects

Black 250 micron plastic sheet is a tough, very durable product that has a multitude of uses and costs very little. Mica stores sell it by the metre, and it’s a very useful item to have in your workshop… even with a small roll, you can accomplish wonders.

Here are some of them – and you can come up with even more uses.

Materials:

Black 250 micron plastic sheet

  1. In this case the terracotta tray has developed a hairline crack so it will not store water that drains out of the pot. A sheet of plastic is slipped under the pot and trimmed as shown and will ensure water that drains out is not lost but can be reabsorbed as the soil in the pot dries out. It’s not pretty, but will suffice until you can buy a new tray.
  2. Here it has been used to line a plant trough. It is held in place along the top with staples. Eventually they will rust away, but that doesn’t matter… their only purpose at the moment is to keep the plastic in place while soil is added. Ensure that you make drainage holes in the plastic at suitable spots. If you do not, the plants will eventually drown as the water level in the soil rises.
  3. Protect those strawberries … cut a disc of plastic as shown – about 250mmØ should be sufficient, with a central hole of about 60mmØ for the stems. Also make a cut to the perimeter.
  4. The disk is slipped under the plant foliage and fruit and lies against the soil. That means the strawberries don’t get soil on them and are ready to eat fresh from the plant.
  5. Unless you want your workbench to become part of your project, laying a piece of the plastic on the workbench will stop the project becoming glued to it due to glue oozing out of the joins.
  6. Likewise, when you have a project involving two identical pieces, you would usually make one piece and then use it as a template for the second. Plastic placed between the two at points where joins are glued will ensure that they can be separated once the glue has cured.
  7. Tie me down… this plastic sheeting when cut into long strips of whatever length you require will provide you with plant ties at an absolutely miniscule cost.
  8. Here one has been used to secure a tomato plant to its stake. The plastic stretches and doesn’t strangle the plant above the tie point.
  9. For those occasions when you want even more support… where the plant is very fleshy and soft and a narrow tie might cut into it, you can make the middle of the tie far wider, to spread the pressure over a far wider area. Taper it as shown so that the tension is spread, and keep the ends narrow enough to achieve a good knot.
  10. Okay, a lemon tree doesn’t need this sort of tie, but it’s just to show you how the pressure of the tie is spread.
  11. Keep it clean! We all wear old clothes when we paint, but why not make yourself a poncho for even better protection. Cut a rectangle of plastic sheet about 2-3m long and about 600-700mm wide and fold it in half, then cut a semicircle out of the middle about 220mm or so wide and about 110mm deep. This will make a circular cut out with a diameter of 220mm or so.
  12. Pardon the back of the head, but believe me, the front is far, far worse – but this picture shows you how the poncho affords great protection. As a bonus, if you need a piece of raingear for that odd job in the garden in the rain… Poncho’s your pal.
  13. Keep the draught out, keep the water out… you can make a sausage for a door to keep a draught out or – in extreme cases – keep water out… cut a piece of the sheet about 1200mm long and about 400mm wide.
  14. If you do not have duct tape handy cut the sheet wider so that you can overlap the sides by a couple of layers at least. Tie off one end by folding it over and securing it with a few turns of strong string and fill the resulting sausage with some sand. You don’t need to overdo it… just enough to give the sausage some weight.
  15. Then tie off the top end.
  16. Ideally duct tape is your best choice, as here, but the job’s done… and your home’s entrance is less draughty… or depending on the weather, a lot drier than it might have been.   

Project guide

Skill level: 1

Estimated time: minutes.

Cost: R20 or so

Assistant: No

Tools required:

Utility knife or scissors

Panel:

These materials are available at Selected Mica Stores. To find your closest Mica and whether or not they stock the items required, please go to www.mica.co.za, find your store and call them. If your local Mica does not stock exactly what you need they will be able to order it for you or suggest an alternative product or a reputable source.