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#26
03/21/2007, 08:08 AM
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Well I am behind on posting so I will try to catch up. We broke ground this weekend, and have been working on the site all week. I might have to slow down a bit, with all of the temp changes (+- 30-40 degrees from day to day lately) I am starting to not feel so well.
I am almost to the point where I wanted to be going into the weekend so i might just finish that up and take the last two days off to rest up. If you go to the website www.reef-farm.net you can see all of the updates. We got the holes dug and some of the posts are set, but the rock is going to be the hold up at the moment... More to come |
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#27
03/21/2007, 05:32 PM
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Awesome Raaden! Congrats on finally digging dirt. I just checked out the site.
My brother in law rented one of those augers for his new fence. He promptly buried the bit on the second hole and it wouldnt budge. I got some wrenches and luckily the hydraulic fittings were the same size. Swapped the hoses to reverse the bit and we got it out  Why they dont make the bit reversible with a 3 way shuttle valve is beyond me....You know, I was thinking about something. Should you lay down a vapor barrier inside the GH before filling it with gravel? Overlap the vapor barrier into a floor drain line to remove the water from spills, etc. It seems that the large surface area of the earth underneath would sweat and cause a LOT of undue condensation to deal with. I know in a survival situation you can actually get water this way. This may be old news, but it just crossed my mind. Did Rick Rottet use a vapor barrier? Treeman? On a side note, Does anybody know what ever happened to Scubadude here on RC?
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"Not cheap, but silent and absofrickenlutely no bubbles" "Be sure and wear a speedo lest tangs nest in your britches" |
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#28
03/21/2007, 07:35 PM
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H2O, I know what you mean, I got mine stuck quite a few times as the clay was a bit moist from the rain a few days ago. The digger I got had a reverse on it, and boy did it prove useful.
The vapor barrier is a question I have just been thinking about. More for the grass blocking, and to hopefully keep ants out. The only thing I think would miss is some of the heat from the ground coming in during the winter. What I am planning on doing is to put down some of that lawn plant blocking film, and some of that heavy black plastic. I am considering tar paper, but I am not sure if that is a good idea or not. I don't remember Rick doing that, I think he just put the rock in on the ground. I haven't seen scubadude on here at all lately... |
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#29
03/21/2007, 09:07 PM
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"The only thing I think would miss is some of the heat from the ground coming in during the winter"
Hmmm. I wonder though, if that heat coming in as water vapor would simply turn to condensation on the film then run right off. I'll ask Rick if he's heard recommendations one way or the other.
__________________
"Not cheap, but silent and absofrickenlutely no bubbles" "Be sure and wear a speedo lest tangs nest in your britches" |
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#30
03/25/2007, 08:35 PM
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H20, I think you are right, and I have decided to go with a 6 mil plastic on the ground under the rocks. The moisture might help a bit but I think the amount of evap from the tanks in the winter will mask most of it. I will be laying out the plastic this week and I hope to not tear it up too much when the rock is delivered but if it does oh well.
This weekend went pretty well, I recruited some more help from a neighbor, and finished all of the anchor posts and test fit one of the spans so I could get an idea of what sort of room there would be once it is all up. Along with a couple of his ideas I have saved myslef a ton of work, and (with a little help from the weather) should be back on schedule by the end of next week. Here is a pic with the span in place.  There is about 4' of height 6" in from the ends. This is better than I had hoped and should allow me to get the extra set of tanks I wanted in. Now I can dedicate a tank to attachment and keep the flow real low in there as well as use more shade. From the way it looks I should be able to get all of the equipment and storage in the middle of the GH and use the long walls for rows of tanks. This should make either 20 or 24 tanks depending on how much room there is once I start setting them up. If this week goes well and the weather holds up I should be able to get everything up to the covering and equipment mounting done by next Sunday. If thats the case it would be great and would mean that I am still on track to get some tanks filled by the middle of April. |
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#32
03/29/2007, 10:07 AM
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Just a quick note on something I thought of last night.....
You were talking about the actual useable space afforded by the "higher than expected sidewalls". You will still end out with a couple of feet that are not useable because of the height. This space is really nice for plumbing and other conduit, but what if you could add some passive heating to this area. I'm picturing simple 2-foot tall lengths cheap plywood (ripped from 4x8 sheets) that run the entire length of the southern facing sidewall, panted black. Over the entire length of the house, this has got to produce a little additional heat. The plywood could be covered with a reflactive material like mylar in the summer months to provide the opposit effect. |
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#33
03/30/2007, 02:52 PM
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hammy (sorry, had to do it
 ),That is not a bad idea. I considered using clearish white barrels in the summer and darker barrels in the winter to achieve the same affect, but it wouldn't hurt to give that a try as well. The only thing I can think of is: during the winter the temps inside with the sun out are expected to be pretty good, it is once the sun goes down that it becomes an issue. This leads me to believe that I need something that can absorb the heat when the sun is out and then give it back off when the sun goes down. maybe make plywood boxes painted black with wax or something in them. hmmm will have to think on this I am also thinking of using insulation rolls in the bottom couple of feet between the posts and covering to keep some heat in during the winter. |
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#34
03/30/2007, 10:16 PM
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Heck, fill them with dirt or sand.
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#36
03/31/2007, 10:54 PM
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redox, Sonja, Greg, and Hamburglar
You guys (and gal) are the sh@t. Thank you so much for the help. We got the whole top done, (minus the side purlins) as well as making the 2x12's work. I'm too tired for the pics tonight but I will get them up tomorrow. alright one quick teaser  The thing is really starting to look like a GH |
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#38
04/03/2007, 01:24 PM
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Thanx again to all for the help
Quote:
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#40
04/03/2007, 01:48 PM
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Once again the update is a couple of days behind (I figure it is better for the updates to be running behind vs. the greenhouse
 ), but I promise it is worth it. I meant to get this up Sunday but was so tired I barely did anything but run out and get the supplies I need for the upcoming week. Then yesterday I had to get all of the gaps filled in with temporary boards so that I can get the rock in tomorrow.  As you can see from the picture above the structure is pretty much complete and just sitting there begging to be covered in plastic. You would probably do the same if you were left out in a field with all your bones showing  . Hopefully that will get taken care of this weekend (hoping I can get my crew back for one more week) and then the next week I will work on getting the equipment in place.  Saturday was quite a day, and we got so much done that Sunday when I woke up I just sat in bed an reminisced about all the stuff we did (that and I was so sore I could barely get up). We got all the ribs in place, the baseboards set, the top ridge pole locked down, and came up with some good ideas for how to get the plastic done this coming Saturday. If all works out well this coming weekend the only part that still concerns me is getting the utilities in. When I was laying out the plan I made a list of things that I thought could be trouble points. They were: getting the order in and delivered (based on my experience in the fall), getting the ground prepped for construction (we have a lot of big rock in the area), getting the strcuture lined up and raised sturdily, and getting the utilities in and ready for startup. I didn't put the plastic on the list as I think that is just a manpower issue and as long as I can get the help I need it should work out well. Everything from the list has gone great and I don't have any reason to think the utilities will be an issue as I have talked to a couple of people that should be able to handle most of it. |
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#41
04/03/2007, 08:36 PM
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I spy the Hamburglar in that bottom pic! I'm still good for Saturday if you are ready for plastic then.
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#42
04/04/2007, 02:28 AM
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Well DOne Raaden - The dream is getting closed to a reailty - Do you think you will have stock in B4 Steve?
The race starts But me a ticket to the USA and I'll give you a hand. Andrew
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BallaBooyeaH - reefing in Ireland |
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#43
04/04/2007, 08:39 PM
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Today was quite the day as well. We got the gravel in and spread as well as put up the purlins. We also had our first 'casualty', we bent one of the ribs with the tractor trying to spread out the gravel, but it went mostly back in place and I think it will be fine. Pics tomorrow
Saturday looks like a go as long as Sonja and Greg are available. I still haven't heard from a few maybes, but I will see who else I can get tomorrow. We came up with a few ideas for running the plastic and even if the maybes are out we should be good. I should have 7 for sure and I think I can count on 1-2 maybes. I am pretty sure Steve will get stuff in his before I do. I am still many weeks away from having anything good in the GH. I am shooting for getting some rock curing by the end of the month, but that depends on how the vat building goes. I have some new leads on that front thanx to Hamburglar. More tomorrow |
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#44
04/04/2007, 08:52 PM
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Glad you got the gravel done, looking forward to the new pics. Greg & I both have come down with some kind of cold or flu virus, he's stayed home from work (and NOT worked from home) the past two days and he almost never does that. Hopefully we'll be over it by Saturday though, will let ya know.
-Sonja
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TANSTAAFL! |
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#45
04/05/2007, 02:56 AM
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Hey I started curing a little live rock over here in ireland. Here is 1000kg of fiji rock curing away.
 Let us know how your weekend gets on.
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BallaBooyeaH - reefing in Ireland |
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#46
04/05/2007, 09:56 AM
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Raaden, I also have a bunch or fully cured aragocrets frag rocks sitting around if you need some. My wife keeps asking me what I'm going to do with all of them. They were all cured for 3 months in fresh water.
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#47
04/05/2007, 03:18 PM
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Good looking stuff Balla,
Ham, when I get the vats in if you are still trying to get rid of the rubble I will be more than happy to take it off your hands. The gravel came in this week and thanx to the neighbors equipment and my blistered hands and aching back it has been spread and is looking good. I also decided to 'tighten' up the structure a bit by sinking some rebar on the framed ends and man did that make a difference. The thing is getting really solid and you can hardly move it by hand (although you can certainly bend the pipe with a front loader Is ok though it went almost back straight ). The plastic is next up and depending on the what the weather looks like for Saturday it may not happen this weekend after all. Weather.com is now calling for pretty heavy winds on Saturday and that would not be good for people holding a 40'x60' 'sail'. If it doesn't change by early tomorrow we will have to postpone the covering until next weekend. I will send out an email to those who are helping and let you know.  good pic of the first load of gravel (17 tons)  pic of one of the rebar locations (on the edge of the door opening), and the two most important tools of the day... Shovel and Mt. Dew. BTW that was one of the six bottles  Greenhouse as it stands now. |
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#48
04/05/2007, 03:34 PM
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is there any chance the vats/tanks will become unlevel with just gravel. i always thought you had to have a cocrete foundation
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#49
04/05/2007, 08:17 PM
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A concrete foundation would be ideal (but extremely expensive) and the type of gravel that I am using packs pretty tight once it has been wet a couple of times. I will also be using pavers where the feet of the stands go and that should hold them pretty tight as well. If that still won't give a strong base I will probably pour some concrete footers where the stands will sit and just dig out the gravel there.
The local weather people are calling for less wind than what weather.com is expecting, and with all the trees around it shouldn't be that bad onsite, so I am thinking that we will give it a go on Saturday. Everyone keep their fingers crossed and I will let you all know as things go forward. I also spoke with the head installer at the greenhouse company and he gave me some really good ideas for ways that we can do things to make it work. He said that he has four man crews out putting up much larger sheets of plastic in 20 mph winds, granted they do this all the time, but with the 8-10 people that I am expecting he thought we should be able to pull it off, or put it on as the case may be .
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#50
04/08/2007, 04:16 PM
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Things are looking good!! I am glad to see things are going good. As far as the gravel goes I would really wet it down and rent a compactor like they use for doing concret work. This will make it really compact and easy for you pavers. Cant wait to see more updates.
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Honey, can I have a bigger one please? This is the last time I will upsize, I promise! |
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