The Wonders of PVC Pipe

My dad won the March reader challenge. . . of course, he had a leg up on everyone else since he was here in person to assess the situation.

During my parents' visit to Bolivia, my dad checked out the laundry area of my patio and came up with the following system. For about US$18 (see note below), he rigged up the following canopy to keep me out of the sun as I wash my laundry. Two PVC pipes connect into the planter on the 3rd story, and one PVC pipe acts as a brace that keeps the fabric in place. He also made a brace out of wood for the bottom, which rests on the sill of my utility tub and slides a foot or so in either direction to adjust to the sun's movement across the sky. It takes me about 3 minutes to put up and a minute to take down, so it is a relatively easy apparatus to handle . . . There are still some adjustments I have to work out, but I have been getting a lot of questions as to the result of the challenge and thought I would satisfy the curiosity of those who are still interested.




Note: ~$10 of this was for the shading fabric. I was originally going to use a sheet, but it proved to be too heavy. I decided to splurge and buy a fabric sold in Coch for shading gardens - this one offers 90% shade and allows the wind to pass through. I still need to wear a hat while I do laundry, but otherwise, I have not been sunburned. Hooray!! Thanks, Dad!