New Year's Weekend Construction Plans - Part 7

December is ending with more than a foot of snow on the ground, fog over the land, and the greenhouse still not finished. I have finished the metal portion of the structure with three lengthwise stringers bolted in place and most of the scaffolding removed. I made significant progress yesterday when I moved a large wood furnace into the greenhouse. I know, that's not how a subterranean heated greenhouse is supposed to be heated, but I assume by now I may have significant underground freezing in the labyrinth of underground pipes. I may need some additional heat for a few weeks after the greenhouse is covered to thaw things out, so I moved the wood furnace in place before finishing the north wall. Once the structure is covered and the fans are in place and operating, I plan to fire up the furnace to expedite unthawing the soil inside and the subterranean heating system.


Moving the furnace has been a chore in itself. It was in an old building, difficult to access, and the furnace weighs perhaps 600lbs. I used the front-end loader of the tractor with a 4x4 chained to the bucket to lift the heavy heater and carry it to the greenhouse. The furnace is shielded and will have additional duct work attached that will circulate when the subterranean fan turns on.
The weather today and tomorrow is predicted to be much warmer than it has been, in the 30's and 40's, and even though it may rain, I hope to complete the north wall on Friday and Saturday along with the aluminum rails for attaching the double plastic cover. After that, I'll have to wait for a calm day without wind to put the plastic covers on. After that, I can begin to work inside installing the fans and it should actually warm up during the day to make the work more pleasant.

My four-day New-Year Weekend will be a busy weekend. My goal is to have the cover in place or at least ready to be installed on the first day appropriate for the task in 2011. Today is my last (scheduled) work-day for 2010 and I may get out 4 hours early using the last of my vacation time. Hopefully I'll have progress to report on the north wall by tomorrow night and enough energy to blog progress...