Gardening notes, home improvement projects, and technical work by Zach Sobell.https://sobellium.com/en-ushttps://sobellium.com/professional/publications/https://sobellium.com/professional/publications/Peer-reviewed articles and patents in thin film deposition and superhard materials, each linked to the source.Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTpublicationspatentsaldmaterials sciencehttps://sobellium.com/projects/why-this-site-is-static/https://sobellium.com/projects/why-this-site-is-static/The reasoning behind building on Astro and hosting on Cloudflare instead of running a CMS.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTastrocloudflarewebhttps://sobellium.com/home-improvement/ring-doorbell-replacement/https://sobellium.com/home-improvement/ring-doorbell-replacement/Swapping a Ring doorbell for a dumb button, a Shelly relay, and a Home Assistant notification — one half of a two-part replacement.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTdoorbellelectricalshellyhome assistant12v dchttps://sobellium.com/gardening/hydroponic-peppers/https://sobellium.com/gardening/hydroponic-peppers/Hungarian Rounds in coco, drain to waste, in a tent that runs itself between weekly nutrient mixes.Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThydroponicspeppersindoorcocohome assistantautomationhttps://sobellium.com/home-improvement/house-networking/https://sobellium.com/home-improvement/house-networking/Some UniFi cameras turned into pulling cable through ceilings, floors and walls — most of which I had never done before.Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTnetworkingunifipoeethernetstructured wiringhttps://sobellium.com/gardening/raised-bed-garden/https://sobellium.com/gardening/raised-bed-garden/A bed full of plants against a south-facing wall, and how each of them handled the first season.Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTraised bedsnative plantsxericseason noteshttps://sobellium.com/gardening/raised-bed-soil-rebuild/https://sobellium.com/gardening/raised-bed-soil-rebuild/Twenty feet of powdery, hydrophobic potting mix, dug out by hand and replaced with a well-draining mineral mix built for native plants.Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTraised bedssoilexpanded shalenative plantshttps://sobellium.com/home-improvement/bathroom-wall-build/https://sobellium.com/home-improvement/bathroom-wall-build/A few feet of wall, a corner, and a door — so the bathroom could actually close.Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTframingdrywallbathroomdoorshttps://sobellium.com/home-improvement/basement-floor-redo/https://sobellium.com/home-improvement/basement-floor-redo/Three rooms and a hallway of LVP over a bare slab, including a threshold I had to build myself.Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTbasementflooringlvpbaseboards