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Sinking the new greenhouse down

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by YEAHYEAH, Jun 30, 2010.

  1. Jun 30, 2010 #1
    YEAHYEAH

    YEAHYEAH Member

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    Ok, so I would like a little help on the cement, or cinder block foundation. I have built one green house about a year ago... and with the help of some of my fellow members of this site... it has worked perfectly. This time I am building a cold/cool green house... the other house is a Int/warm house, I thought that sinking it into the ground would not only help keep it cooler, but would help with stability.

    My question is this, I have a very high water table (dig a hole and it fills up with water, fast in the winter months)... and my home is next to a creek, so I am afraid that if I dig the green house down about 3-4 feet, it would fill up with water. Can I get away with a cinder block foundation cemented together and sealed, or would I need to poor a cement foundation and walls (like a pool). I think that some weeping through the cement/cinder blocks would be good for keeping the temp. down, but I think not having a "pool" like structure might leak to much water, and it would flood. I will be putting a sump pump system in no matter what foundation I choose to go with.

    Any help with this would be great.

    Thanks again, Adam
     
  2. Jun 30, 2010 #2
    Jon

    Jon Mmmm... bulbophyllum...

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    Contact a local builder
     
  3. Jun 30, 2010 #3
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Seems like a whole lot of extra work for little or no advantage. I could think of much better ways to spend time and money to keep a greenhouse cool in this moderate climate. The problem with a local builder is that most of them know nothing about greenhouses.
     
  4. Jun 30, 2010 #4
    Forrest

    Forrest Really Neat

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    I agree with Jon and Marni.

    Perhaps you will get better results in the other places that you have posed this question.
     
  5. Jun 30, 2010 #5
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Adam, have you considered that the only time the cinderblock would be weeping (and therefore cooling) would be in the winter when humidity is already pretty high, temperatures are low and your will be running a heater? If the floor is the same or higher than the surrounding ground and water table you wouldn't need a sump pump either.

    Another thing to keep in mind is that for most of the cool growing orchids, it is the night temperature that is important. There are very few nights in the bay area that don't get down to a comfortable temperature. I have vents or doors on two of the greenhouses that are open all of the time for much of the year.

    How big is it going to be?
     
  6. Jul 1, 2010 #6
    AHAB

    AHAB New Member

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    Hmmm since your main concern is to cool the GH... How about digging down about five feet or more and putting in a sump pump. Then pump the cool water through a wet wall type cooler/chiller, and return the water back into the ground through a different hole?

    I imagine the ground water temp would be fairly constant...
    Here in Florida the groundwater is 72 degrees year round.
    I've often thought about trying something like a ground cooled system and it would of course "warm" in the winter when the outside temps dip below 72 degrees.
    I think the biggest concern would to size it correctly so that you get the amount of cooling/warming that you need for your area...