Rob wrote:
Of course in that case it helps to
have a bit of insulation between your rock and the ground, otherwise
most of the heat goes the wrong way.... If you are installing a new
greenhouse, consider spending the extra 100 dollars or so to put a layer
of high density foam insulation under your greenhouse floor. Regardless
of what your flooring material is. I wish I had done that.


If I can ever get the morons at the building permit to pull their
heads out of their...um...well, you know...I am planning on putting the
styro around the foundation up top glazing level, about 4" above ground.
At that point, I think insulation under the floor might be a bad
idea...at least with the insulated foundation down past the permafrost
line, the ground beneath should be at about 50 degrees, right? Or at
least substantially warmer than the outside air. This should help with
the heating, n'est-ce pas? What do you think Rob?

The latest form the building code folks (who have never heard of
polycarb as a building material - how long's it been around? 30 yrs? 40?
- and can't get their stories straight from one person to the next, or
even from one phone call to the next)is that I can't have a gravel floor
in the attached GH as they are concerned about the moisture rising out
of the ground through a gravel floor and causing mold in the house -
despite the fact that it will still have its external coverings intact.
Had planned a moisture barrier on the house wall but was told not to
bother. Of course the ambient humidity in the GH in the summer will
probably be in the 90% or higher range. Just like the normal outside
humidity here.

And I can't have it but half the size I need because of some ratio about
open back yard space being at least 25% of the total lot size. So if you
have a 40-acre lot, and the house sits so you only have 10 acres behind
it, you can't build a 20 foot greenhouse??????????? Stupid or what? I
don't have a huge lot but the lot behind me is barely bigger than my
current back yard. Go figure.

So I have to apply for a variance (more money) and of course it takes
2-3 months for a hearing. So that means I just MIGHT get to start
building in late Dec/Jan. Oops! The ground'll be frozen then!

Wish I lived in a free country instead of a one resembling the communist
USSR. Seems in a country founded on property rights and liberty (not
'family values' [Whose family values? Mine? Yours?] as some say) we have
neither now.

Please pardon the rant, but the whole process has been very frustrating.