Drip wall

Epiphile · #1 04-12-2010, 08:06 PM

I made one.

It's made from acrylic, with a sheet of Ecoweb suction cupped to the frame. A pump runs from a reservior in the bottom (which ended up holding about 3 gallons- not bad) to a rain bar across the top above the Ecoweb.

All the plants are ones that I picked up from Ecuagenera when they came to town. Here's hoping that I can keep them alive long enough to enjoy the humidity of summer in Toronto.

Epiphile · #2 04-12-2010, 08:10 PM

Oh, and if anyone has any ideas (and I know I should have thought of this sooner) of how I might best mount this onto a 100 year-old plaster and lath wall, I'd love to get some thoughts on that. It's 30lbs at most, about two and a half feet tall.

beckdg · #3 04-12-2010, 09:47 PM

just plants? would it need to be removable? what are we talking here? i'm assuming the wall would have to be waterproofed so the wooden slats that hold the plaster in place don't go crazy with mold behind the wall. i'm thinking you're talking an inside wall of an apartment?

you could take a small piece of pond liner and sew it to the ecoweb, then cut it to size leaving a 3-4" flap extra on the top. put a thin piece of trim board behind it and fold it over so the flap disappears over and behind it. put that up against the wall, lift the ecoweb sewn end and rest it on your head while you nail the trim and extra flap of rubber to the wall.

of course i'm assuming you want to save the wall. at that point you could easily silicone the rest to the wall and the silicone will hold it in place since it will have a propensity to lean towards the wall anyway and the weight will be suspended. in most cases silicone on a plaster wall won't do any damage a little paint won't cure. anything more and spackle should fix it...

assuming you'll have a reservoir underneath it you might not want it against the wall at that point anyway.

rabble, rabble, rabble... what are you thinking?

Epiphile · #4 04-12-2010, 10:03 PM

Oh, it's backed in acrylic, so the moisture isn't an issue. The whole thing's mounted in an acrylic box/frame-type thing. Here's a better picture of the whole thing- I should have been more clear:

The whole thing's about four inches deep (minus the plants). I'm thinking that I'd like to drill a couple holes in the back and just put hardware in to hang it off some decent screws (if I can find a pair of studs anywhere in these bloody walls) and seal the holes on the inside with something- more acrylic and Weld-on, maybe?

Any ideas?

eddyplaner · #5 04-12-2010, 10:08 PM

Hi Aaron

I'm not too sure of this Ecoweb? For my understanding is this a fern bark slab?

Epiphile · #6 04-12-2010, 10:11 PM

Hi Eddy,

It's actually a synthetic material popular with orchid growers- it's a lot like tree fern in some ways. Here's a link to a couple (barely) different types:

EcoWeb Hydroponics
Epiweb

eddyplaner · #7 04-12-2010, 10:21 PM

Hi Aaron

Wow ! another man-made material for orchids to creep up and do away any tea water.

Good luck to your flora..hehehe!

beckdg · #8 04-12-2010, 10:22 PM

why not just make a simple shelf? you could make one with the acrylic. some mdf painted gloss black would look good too.

if you didn't want to do that then, yeah you could add a couple tabs to the thing. small ones just above the screw holes with all angles pointing forward would keep the water moving away from the wall. you wouldn't even have to cover the screw holes most likely... just up to them. if you can cut 1/8-1/4" slivers with a straight edge at one end and at least a 45* angle at the other end, connect them to the face and top piece and then set them into place it should work out well. i would make the face pieces at least 3/4" wide so water doesn't eventually flow in there.

Epiphile · #9 04-12-2010, 10:32 PM

You're right that a shelf would be the most painless way. Doing it out of acrylic's a good idea, too. I just really liked the idea of having a seamless, floating-type thing on the wall. Also, while the thing's not exactly top-heavy, it's really not very deep, and there are often tipsy people about my house... it just makes me a bit nervous. If I got the shelf to match (unfortunately the only black acrylic they had at the place was this really glossy stuff) and some low-profile hardware maybe it could turn out alright. Maybe if I built up a little edge on the shelf so that the thing sort of sits in it? I guess I could do the same thing at the top, really, and just sort of brace it in lke that. Hm... lots to think about now.

And thanks, Eddy- I'm going to need all the luck I can get with these ones, I think.

beckdg · #10 04-13-2010, 12:23 AM

look up invisible book shelf. i think you could easily do something like that. i don't know how you have the thing set up but a little silicone could be used as a suction cup to hold the top to the shelf with hidden hardware behind it. you'd just have to make sure the pattern you apply it in is one that overlaps and makes pockets, then press it into place.

basically you'd make like an aquarium... 4 sides and a bottom. this way your bottom would be your face/front. the front and back would be top and bottom leaving the open top to go against the wall and your "L" brackets will be upside down bolted flush on the top (where the bolt heads will be covered by the fountain) and the nuts and possibly washers inside. cut notches in the top where the brackets will come out so you can mount the whole thing flush to the wall. now that you have that whole assembly put together you'll screw it into the wall, apply the silicone in overlapping "S" patterns to make your suction cup pockets and put the fountain on top pressing firmly down on it and up on the shelf itself. putting a couple soft rags and some clamps on it overnight at least would be a good idea also.

i think it would look sharp, seamless and give you at least very close to the look you're going for.