Greenhouse: Does anyone have a Conservatory???, 0 by HollyAnnS

HollyAnnS wrote:
WNYwilleB, Interesting I never thought about appraisals or building permits for that matter. Out here building permits are an iffy issue depending on what your doing. Ours will be on a south facing wall also and we were just talking about how high to go. If we tuck in under the roof line we are limited to about 10ft high with a drop to 8ft. We will need to discuss how high I would like to really go and what kind of plants are most important to me. I really want a tropical garden and with the space I'll be using I know I can't grow the really big ones. Yes I'd love a banana tree but would a dwarf variety be good enough? I really what a tree fern so how much space will I need for that and I want a small pond so there will be room needed for that as well. I already know that I could fill up this greenhouse in no time flat and be looking around for more space. Research and planing will be our winter project. Ric's uncle owned some commercial greenhouses and he worked there with his uncle about 35 years ago. So he knows the basics but there have been many changes since them. He originally wanted to heat the greenhouse with a small coal stove, many very old greenhouses were heated that way long ago. But I've read the coal gases can be bad for some plants and then there is the dirt associated with a coal stove. Our house is both active and passive solar. But we also use a wood/coal stove. On a sunny winter day we quite often have doors and windows cracked open. I will probably put in a single door to the greenhouse, I'd love French doors but I have very little wall space on the south side wall because of all the glass on that wall.
Yes, did you notice that I can run on a bit myself and I love reading a good Novel, don't think you have to limit yourself. Thank you for posting your picture looks like you have a wonderful conservatory (OH, I mean Greenhouse). LOL I would love to see inside if you care to post some more pics.
Here is an old picture of some of my house plants and you can see some of my existing solar glass wall, and it will give you an idea when I say I have very little wall space on my south wall. That floor is an insulated concrete slab that collects heat all day.