Alright, so let me tell you about this water broom thing I whipped up. My patio, man, it was getting to be a real pain. Leaves, dirt, you name it. Regular broom just stirred up dust, and the hose alone? Just made a muddy mess. I saw some of those fancy water brooms online, you know, the ones that hook up to a pressure washer, but geez, the price! And I didn't always want to drag out the whole pressure washer setup. So, I figured, how hard could it be to make something similar, but simpler?

Figuring Out the Bits and Bobs

First thing, I rummaged around my garage. You know how it is, got a bit of this, a bit of that. I was thinking, okay, a piece of pipe, right? PVC probably, 'cause it's easy to work with and I had some scraps. Then I'd need to get water into it and out of it, aiming down. So, I jotted down a quick list of what I thought I'd need.

• An old piece of PVC pipe, maybe three-quarters inch or one inch, whatever I could find.

• A couple of PVC end caps to seal the ends.

• A threaded PVC adapter so I could screw in a standard garden hose.

• For the jets... this was the tricky part. My first idea was just to drill small holes, but I also thought about maybe getting some tiny brass nozzles if the holes didn't work out.

• An old broom handle. No point buying a new one if I could recycle one from a worn-out broom.

• Some PVC primer and cement, of course. And my trusty pipe cutter and drill.

Putting It All Together (Or Trying To)

So, I found a decent length of PVC pipe, about two feet long, seemed like a good width. I cut it to size. Then, I carefully measured and marked spots for the water jets, spacing them maybe three inches apart. My initial plan was just to drill small, angled holes. So I did that, pointing them slightly forward and down. This took a bit of patience, trying to get the angle somewhat consistent.

Next, I cleaned the ends of the pipe and the inside of the end caps with PVC primer. Applied the cement and pushed on one end cap. On the other end, I attached the threaded adapter for the hose. Waited for the glue to set up good and proper. You don't want that stuff leaking.

Then came the handle. I took an old broom, unscrewed the head, and was left with a perfectly good wooden handle. How to attach the PVC pipe to it? My first thought was hose clamps. Seemed sturdy enough. I positioned the PVC pipe where the broom bristles would normally be and tightened a couple of clamps around the pipe and the handle. It looked a bit Frankenstein-ish, but it felt solid.

The Moment of Truth: Will It Spray or Just Dribble?

Okay, moment of truth. I dragged it out to the driveway, hooked up the garden hose, and turned on the tap slowly. Water started coming out of the holes... but it wasn't exactly what I'd call a "broom" effect. Some holes sprayed okay, others just sort of dribbled. And the force wasn't great. The plain drilled holes just weren't cutting it. The water spread out too much, not enough focused power.

Back to the workbench. I remembered those little brass misting nozzles I'd seen at the hardware store. Figured they might give a more concentrated jet. So, I went and picked up a pack. This meant I had to enlarge the holes in the PVC pipe slightly and then carefully thread the nozzles in. I used a bit of thread seal tape to make sure they were watertight. This took some fiddling, getting them all pointing the right way and making sure they were snug but not over-tightened to crack the PVC.

Second test. Hooked it up again. And bingo! This was much better. The nozzles created much more defined, stronger little jets of water. It wasn't like a pressure washer, mind you, but it was a whole lot better than before. I played around with the water pressure from the tap to find a good balance.

So, Did It Work Out?

After those adjustments, yeah, it actually worked pretty decently! It’s not going to strip paint or anything, but for sweeping away leaves, grass clippings, dust, and light mud from the patio, sidewalk, or driveway? It's a champ. It uses a bit more water than just sweeping, obviously, but it’s quicker and gets things cleaner, especially in the cracks and crevices. It’s way better than just using a hose nozzle by itself because it covers a wider area evenly.

The best part? I made it myself from stuff I mostly had lying around, plus a few bucks for the nozzles. There's a certain satisfaction in that. It’s not the prettiest tool in the shed, but it gets the job done. My neighbor even saw me using it and asked where I bought it! That felt pretty good, let me tell ya. It’s a simple thing, but sometimes those are the most useful.