Ric's newest Project

The concrete slab has a slight slope to the brick center so the water will drain into the center just enough to keep (we hope) it from pooling on the GH floor. There is a slope from the upper area where the Arbor is to the Greenhouse. We do live on a hill and the whole yard has a rather gentle slope to it. I tend to think of my yard as flat but it really isn't and when you build something of length you can really see the difference. Not like you are walking up a hill but over the approx 24ft from Arbor to the GH it is significant. The brick apron in front of the GH is set a few inches lower to help keep the rain from running down the walk and into the GH and he raised the whole foundation up to put it higher than ground level to keep the runoff out.

AND---I KNOW Ric wrote that last post!

The engineer mind at work!!! I am familiar with that kind of thinking...
My EX was a Civil Engineer with the Corps of Engineers.
Came up through the Ranks over the years....

Matter of fact--he was the CHIEF of the Corps of Engineers in Baltimore
for 15 years....had a BIG office in the Federal Building on the 14th floor on Lombard Street.

My husband----all that high-up! I could never really grasp it....
When I went to see him--I was in total awe. Wads this REALLY my husband???

No more comments re all that. To me--he was just a human being.....
But--I SOOO respected him---until.............................

Gita

Your project is really coming alone and how exciting to have a hubby who is so talented.

thanks for sharing your gh adventure with us.

Jan

Sorry Gita, That was me Holly. Ric usually signs his posts so you can tell us apart. LOL

Jan, It really is nice he has built almost everything here. Including a good bit of the house. Our son's are a great help as well. Both handy, strong and they live close by. Makes it nice for Ric to have a helping hand with some of these projects. I will be posting more pics of the GH as it develops.
Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

can't wait to see the gh go up. I love watching everyone's projects, just wonder that your son's can help out as well. Right nice family affair you have.

Jan

Hi Holly & Ric. I just found this thread, so am just seeing the pictures of the arbor for the first time. Pretty cool, and I think Ric's idea of runner beans is perfect with the proximity to the vegetable garden. Also, your GH project is coming along nicely!

My GH project is moving along too. This weekend, we got the bulkhead and cabinets out where the cut thru to the kitchen goes. I removed all of the mouldings and drywall. It has been a while since I had to deal with the ickiness of drywall dust - in my hair, in my eyes, up my nose, all over my clothes - UGH!!! I started on the 2x4 bulkhead framing, but I was already exhausted and my muscles started to really shake when using the saws-all. Mike and his boss got here just as I was about to give up and made short work of the rest of it. It is amazing how much easier it is for strong men, whether young or old :-), than it is for me. I wish I had half their strength!!! The handyman contractors were here earlier today and removed the exterior wall, and now the GH contractor is here this afternoon getting started. Shouldn't be long now!

Oh Terri, It all sounds like you are really moving ahead fast. Can't wait to see it all. Ric has most of the brick walkway in all but the brick. About 10 more days and we can stain the concrete then the GH will go up. The runner beans look good growing on the Arbor. They are starting to flower.

Ric finished the brick walkway this morning before the rain moved in. Really looks great now that it is finished. 9 more days till we can start the staining process on the concrete floor. Then the walls start going up.

The path looks so nice - ties everything together. The combination of the brick with the greens of the vegetables is classic - kind of reminds me of the kitchen gardens I've seen in Williamsburg.

I can't wait to see it, and see your new addition Terri.

teri thats exciting!

Well we are finally finished with the floor, and very pleased with it. The stain we used was a semi transparent that should have been a multi hued dark green. Didn't look at all like the pic. Of course if we had older grayer concrete it might have but on our new white concrete slab it looked like a pretty solid blue green. Would have been great for a pool but it wasn't at all what I wanted and I hated the way it looked with the red brick walk and center. So Ric went back over it with a spray bottle of a nice brown and it is just perfect for what we wanted. Got a bit darker changed the color quite a bit and added dimension and pattern to the floor. Really complements the red brick. Very pleased with the out come. So we are ready to put up the GH as soon as Ric is well enough to work on it. With his broken ribs and our travel schedule I don't know how soon he will be working on it.

Here is a pic of the walkway and arbor. He has some pretty Glads lining the walk and it all looks so nice.

Looks great!!

It was meant to happen that way. It looks GREAT!!!

Hoping your 'Superman' feels better soon.

Aw heck, Take it easy and do the job in the fall when it cools off.

Holly and Ric--looking through that arbor made me feel like I was entering a fairytale land....
SO very pretty!!!

What is the first thing you will grow/keep in your new GH? Gita

The spring seedlings and get an early start to my tropicals next year. Don't expect to heat it this winter.

I'm with Gita on the beauty of the arbor/walk way. You all should be mighty proud of your handy work.

Great idea. too to see how the winter goes before entrusting your plants to same. What sort of thermometers/controls will you install? The greenhouses I caretook one winter had remote sensors so I could get a reading without going out there (3 to 5 sensors per house, high low and each end) and I've always loved the maximum/minimum readings. too. I've forgotten if you said your slab is insulated?

Sorry if I'm a little cart before the horse!

And, Ric, do take care...them cracked ribs can take their own sweet time to heal.

Judy

Thanks everyone,
Coleup, Yes the slab is insulated to help hold the heat and the dark color should help with solar gain. Eventually we will have it wired and heated with some kind of alarm set up. I'm really looking forward to next spring when I should be able to get an early start on the caladiums and EE's. I am sure I will have it filled pretty fast. Should be a lot of fun.

Holly

When I was working for a grower (Not the big one --but a smaller, independent one) this is what they did to
germinate caladiums and AV's.

They had a very thick felt material (maybe felt rug padding??) of some kind covering the tables but hanging all the way to the ground.
On top of the tables they would have pots of AV's growing. They would flood the tables and the AV's could absorb the water
that was soaked into the felt from the bottoms of the pots.
Underneath the tables, they would have Caladiuns germinating in small pots. It was real toasty under there...

now--something in this scenario had to be heated--either the tables or the floor....I just know remember them telling me
that Caladiums germinated best when they were in a 80* to 90* environment.
I am sure you can fill in the blanks--maybe research Caladium germination a bit?

Gita

It does take heat to push those caladiums. They seem to take forever to get started but then it gets warm and they really start to grow.

The GH is growing pretty nicely. Ric has been working on it and it is just wonderful. He did a lot of research and has been beefing it up with some nice little extras that will make it stronger and nicer. I will have to get him to sit down and post all about the things he has done. But here is the progress so far.

Looking great! How's Ric feeling?

Still tired and pretty sore. He was doing better until a few days ago. The ribs had just stopped moving and were starting to knit when I thoughtlessly sent our GS to wake him up. Poor JR only wanted to hug his Poppy awake. So the ribs went back to the snap, crackle & pop state again. He is taking it slow but yesterday he did a lot of stretching. Today Jamie came and helped put up the roof frame. They got a lot done but I think it was a bit much for Ric working like that two days in a row.
I brought some of the panels up to the house and started taping the ends with alumium tape. Helps keep the bugs and moisture out of the air channels between the layers of the panels.

The progress looks great!! Sorry that Ric is still hurting. It's difficult for a guy like him to take the time to rest and heal.

He is doing much better now. Has the whole frame up and some of the extra supports that he is adding for snow weight. He put the doors together and the panels in the roof that open. I think he wants to have all the glazing on before we leave for vacation.
Roses I need to get a few pics of the blushing susie vine you gave me. This one has grown bigger and better than all the other plants.

Ric finished the GH a few days ago, right before the storm. There is still a lot to do down there heat, electric, benches fans and such will all come later but the structure is finished and it looks great. ,

Here is the crew. Ric did most of the work himself but Jamie and Josh came and helped here and there.

It looks AWESOME! Great job, Ric. So glad you didn't have more wind from our friend, Irene.

It held up really well to the wind we did have. Ric had been talking about wiring the roof vents down but then decided not to bother. Then in the middle of the night when things got really bad out there he went down and wired them shut. LOL
I keep finding him just sitting down there in the GH.

Uh oh, I see man cave coming. Quick stake out your claim. Just kidding! I would be sitting in there, too, just taking in what a great job, I did. Hee hee

Woo hoo!!! Great job!!!!!!!!!

LOL You are right about that. Ric's uncle owned a commercial GH and Ric spent a lot of time working there when he was younger. I expect he will spend a good bit of time in there.

Ric,

had to dig up your "Project" Post to see if you may want to offer any ideas or help to this person
with building a Green House.

I was just "cuising" and came across this.....Gita


http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1242728/

And I've been "saving" this thread for you. too.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1046477/

It is about a simple waste vegetable oil heater for a greenhouse!

Thanks Gita and Coleup.
We still haven't quite decided how to heat the GH Ric has some ideas but we are still looking at other options. Something like that heater sounds pretty interesting.

Thanks Gita, I did respond and sent them a link to an excellent blog about HFGH kit construction. Coleup those little heaters would be ideal for no electric bottom heat. Thanks. Ric

Ok Gita, I posted a whole new thread over in the greenhouse forum in an effort to help anyone just starting a project. Boy do I love this 5 image option, I believe it will improve traffic over here. Ric
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1243490/

Just bumping this up. Since the swap I have finished fencing the backyard to Alfie proof it. All that remains to do is cut the posts on the greenhouse side and add a cap board, and I want to build birdhouses for the posts on the pasture side. Ric
We did enlarge the one gate to accommodate getting the garden cart into the garden area behind the yew topiary.