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New greenhouse flooring suggestions

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by cathy, Sep 24, 2014.

  1. Sep 24, 2014 #1
    cathy

    cathy Member

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    I am getting ready to fill up to the level of the opening. Barrels will be inside to store rain water and as a heat sink.
    Do i put sand in first and then layer of crushed limestone? I had gravel in the first GH and it is unstable. I will put recycled rubber floor mats to walk on. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. IMG_0598.JPG
     
  2. Sep 26, 2014 #2
    Tom-DE

    Tom-DE Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    Can't wait to see the whole thing. Good luck.

    Love your dog. It looks very much like my dog but mine is a lhasa apso.
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2014
  3. Sep 27, 2014 #3
    Rvorchids

    Rvorchids Eric Sauer, Dayton Ohio

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    Cathy,

    It is always best to add a larger stone on the bottom to allow for drainage. If you use a crushed product without the fines or dust, it will compact and provide a very stable surface. This is have pavement is built. If you put sand on the bottom, it could eventually plug up and hold water like a bathtub.
     
  4. Sep 27, 2014 #4
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    You also might want to wrap the drain pipe in a landscape type fabric and then put crushed drain rock down. I've done that with a french drain and it has worked for years.
     
  5. Sep 29, 2014 #5
    cathy

    cathy Member

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    Thanks Marni, I have installed french drains inside and out wrapped in fabric. And to Eric in Ohio, there is no slab on the bottom so all water will go right down and through the soil below. So no bathtub here.
     
  6. Sep 29, 2014 #6
    Rvorchids

    Rvorchids Eric Sauer, Dayton Ohio

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    Cathy, be careful with the sand. Even though there is no slab, sand can plug with old potting media, dirt, etc and can seal like a bathtub. It may take a long time, but better not to put it down there just in case.
     
  7. Sep 29, 2014 #7
    cathy

    cathy Member

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    The sand is on the bottom, gravel shifts. then the top 6" will be crushed limestone. what about that?
     
  8. Sep 29, 2014 #8
    Wade

    Wade New Member

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    I am currently building a greenhouse. I lined the bottom with a good quality landscape cloth and then added 2B limestone. I am also trying an experiment in running 4" flexible drain pipe back and forth under the gravel. This will be connected to circulation fans at the peak of the greenhouse which will turn on at 75F to push warm air into the gravel. The first picture shows the perforated drain pipe with the landscape fabric. The second is the partially completed greenhouse.

    Greenhouse Construction 003 (800X600).jpg Greenhouse Construction 005 (800X600).jpg
     
    Marni and Daethen like this.
  9. Oct 10, 2014 #9
    Dave The Scientist

    Dave The Scientist Active Member

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    Very neat geothermal cooling idea, Wade. Keep us updated on how it works out.
     
  10. Oct 10, 2014 #10
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    I hate to be a wet blanket Wade, but air-to-plastic-to rocks and back is going to be a slow, poor thermal transfer, and I fear the contact area would have to be a great deal more than what you've shown.

    About the best idea for something like that I've ever seen was in an AOS Bulletin MANY years ago - some guy (in Michigan or Minnesota, I think) dug a 6' deep trench and laid in unglazed sewer pipe before refilling it. One end was in the greenhouse, and the other coming up the the surface, with a screen and air filter, a few hundred feet away. An exhaust fan in the greenhouse pulled the humid summer air below ground, where some of the humidity condensed and made its way into the soil, and then drew the cooled, 65° air into the greenhouse. In winter, pulling the cold, dry air below ground added moisture from the soil, and heated it to 65°, precluding the need for any other heating!
     
  11. Dec 5, 2014 #11
    Wade

    Wade New Member

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    The pipe has slits in it and the warm air is forced through the gravel... I really don't know how much this is helping. The gravel seems to dry more quickly which may indicate that air is moving through it. Any suggestions of how to determine if and how much this is helping please chime in.