I could be totally wrong but I would think your double white would be Angel's Moonlight as everyone or most would associate angel's with white and the yellowish or the off white/white would represent the color of the moon. I personally would not between the two see the pink one as Angel's Moonlight. The top of the one bloom on your picture even looks like it has wings. What a gorgeous bloom.
A Cool House for my Brugs
Gordon, thank you! I know that I'll have a million questions once I get started on the process of making those flower pots. Really want the LSU flower pots to turn out nice for my daughters outside entry-way into her sun-room. Planned to paint the pots a neutral color with lettering in school colors of purple trimmed in bright yellow.
Lol, I had a feeling you'd end up adding stucco to your plant palace. If you have time post a picture so we can all see it.
Not real sure, but I would think Sandy is correct saying that is a photo of Angel's Moonlight.....and what a beauty she is! I agree with Sandy about the look of wings on the top blooms too. Thanks for sharing a cutting of her with me & the canna....looking forward to adding them both to my garden.
How many sq ft storage did this pink plant palace add for you? I bet you are happy to reclaim a little indoor space for your plants to be able to spread their wings a little instead of having to cut them back so severly before bringing them in. I am sure space is a premium for you in the winter. This was such a wonderful idea.. I am really pulling for it being a tremendous overwhelming success!
TY cannagirl, Yes she is a beautiful brug. I would love to see a picture pf it with stucco also.
How big is a sheet and How much if I may ask. I want to do somethings also. Awesome creation Gordon.
Angel's Moonlight, one of the Angel's series by Anne Kirchner-Abel, is a pale yellow double. I haven't been able to find a photo. The Brug Register doesn't show one.
Dolly...here it is with stucco on it ...no decoration or embleshment of any sort.. no roof over hang.. the metal was taped for easy disassembly.. any sort of decoration can be applied at any point. molding or faux stone.. it wouldlook real cute as a stacked stone out building..or a seriesof 1/2 columns for a greek revival Parthenon look..
Oh..Sandy... since you were wondering of the cost.. thisis about how it breaks down..Well the foam cost is a small part of the total. however. it's $11.67 each.. $128.37 + tax for the foam.. maybe$30 of construction adheasive.. to anchor the double metal tracks together with$10forscrews.. maybe 60 metal track sections@ about $4.78 $286.80...$50 for the floor joists and plywood...I'd say it was some where about $515.00 total material cost.. w/ hinges.. locks..insulating andweather stripping of the double doors.. and personal medication... above that... but it is an insulated building. not a thin wall plastic item .or a weak 3 season greenhouse.. .
the building has about 48 sq ft floor area..384 cu ft of storage... I'll have things
on one another inside..smaller things on bigger ones..
So.. that's how it shakes out.. maybe a bit more than I was imagening at the onset.. but it's about twice as nice and 3 times as durable as I was thinking it would be.. guess it was mostly a research projecct for light minimal framing technique.. now for the raod tests..
OH and it can be easily disassembled... shipped and reerected...difficult criteria to include in design/construction..plus.. it's VERY LIGHT.. something I pay a premimum for on the roof..
It's 60* F in a light rain...seems quite unnecessary... and totally excessive...
said the grasshopper to the Ant.. ( remember your fables ; )
It looks totally stable and something I may think of in the future. Wonder how it would hold up in a Hurricane IKE. Just Joking even I did not do well during that.
Thank you
Well.. I guess a two week report is in order..
SO the week I was away.. with mother... it was kind of warm... the las eek has had it below 32 most days and every night.. last night Ichecked it and it as 34*F at 3 am.. It has a radiant heater.. not the oilfired one I'd imagined... I got a1800 watt radiant heater ... no light from it... and I've hung it on awall..well actually overthe doors .. to keep it down from the ceiling I hung it down into the door way some.. and put a bit of sheet metal on the ceiling... to protect the foam..from warming up too much.. it has nowarmth from behind... and I put it over the doorway.. as in front of the doors would always be left free for entering anywayThe DeLonghi radiant heater .. has a low end freeze setting.. where it will come on when it's close to freezing.. this setting I used.. and it was as I said 34 when I checked after 5 days,,I've since increased the thermostat to the #1 setting.. .. and I checked this morning it was44*F. .. so Ididn't need a trermostat at all anyway.
I got a remote thermometer today.. it will give me the high..low and current temperature and humidity from inside the building.. . wirelessly transmitted to my computer station inside..
Now.. it is humid in there... the cooler metal condences the air moisture.. and it runs down the metal.. I've some foam to coverthe metal with on the inside.. to minimise this ..
mmOne pot..and none of the others .. has a thick layer of light fluffy mold on the surface o f the soil..
What can I do to elimminate this... I thought a fan to blow the warmer air down to the floor level.. might help some.. even if was to dry out the soil some..
Anyway.. it seems strong.. in heavy winds there is no shaking or movment of the foam or building.. it's quite dark inside now.. a coat of stucco and a coat of light gray paint has made it quite opaque..the doors are 1/2 weather stripped.. and there's little wind or air exchange with the outside.. I'm on the lookout for a hunk of carpet being replaced at one of the highend uptown /upscale buildings.. so I can run a bit of carpet on the floor.. and if there's enough..some for up the walls a bit as well.... there's always plenty of most anything you need being thrown out there... most in excelent shape.. if a bit out of cutting edge sytle.. well.. up to install the thermometer.. and make sure the ireless aspect ill reach down to me.. I'fe gotto get a new camera/computer cable.. then I'll post some inside pictures..
Gordon, a small fan to circulate the air helps. It also helps move the warmer air down where it will do the plants the most good.
Well...temperature inside the cool room .. on the lowest no freeze setting is now at 48*F.. outside temps at 38*F..it seems to be a bit warm.. and mostthings.. even with about no light .. still have their leaves.. some of the late flowers developed in the dark.. and others were moved in with flowers on them.. they faded and most fell off... a few stayed and shriveled.. but did not fall off.. these I find have pods developing... on Dark Rosella.. pictured in bloom outside.. is now dug up.. baggged and in the cool room.. going dormant perhaps..
Should I.. leave the pods on...will they start to develop again in the spring when they break dormancy. or... once they go dormant.. are the pods gonners.. if I'd loose the pods.. I guess I'll put it in a pot . and bring it inside.. under the metal halide lights .. will pods develop underlights.. and ripen..
My Brugs don't go dormant in the greenhouse. The few pods they've had continued to develop, although a lot slower, and ripened. If you can keep the plants going under lights, the pods should continue to develop and ripen. I would think that the more active they are, the faster the pods will develop.
I'll take bets the pods will continue to ripen when the plant starts to grow in the spring.... just leave them on and see what happens... your pod experiment. Can't hurt.
Well.. perhaps it's a little soon to give an all clear.. but it made it through some 35MPH winds.. and days of cold down to the low teens.. always keeping it above 38 inside... but with 94% humidity.. in the 65* temps of two days ago.. before the 12 hours of snow..we moved everything out.. and installed alovely thick all wool carpet.. with a bright up beat design.. to help keep the floor warmer... also... the heat loss through the metel framing was addressed with strips of 1/2 " foam... secured to the metal... this will make it more evenly warm.. and it removes the condensation which was forming on the cool metal.. and dripping down... all issues have now been delt with.. and we're ready for the 3 months of the severe road testing... to come.. but it looks good to go ..
the heater is working beautifully. all be it a bit warm on the no freeze setting..it likes to give a general room temperature of about 48* F.. it hangs on an interior support... but that is attached to the cooler framing... so the thermostat might be reading more of the cool metal framing... than the room temperatures to figure out if it's time to kick on.. bit it's not all that too hot.. and might be just the setting once it gets down to below 0* F.... a roof heat baffle was included to keep that foam from being weakened by any excessive heat from below... although it never gets warm so far... There is the oscellating fan now.. to make the temperatures more even from the floor to the ceiling... an easier job now that there is the carpet..
We'll give an update after the first snowstorm of more than a foot or two with winds of 50 MPH... which I'm sure will come all too soon.. secure and warm inside...
This message was edited Dec 17, 2008 9:38 AM
This message was edited Dec 17, 2008 9:38 AM
Gld to know they still doing good and yoru structure is still hanging together good. Keepign my fingers crossed for ya.
Application testing tonight... 18* now... .. it snowed some.. not enough for a snow load test.. the good news is it isn't melting on the roof.. which means there is little heat loss there... bad news is it isn't melting on the roof... so when it does pile up.. it won't be melting off..
The wind chimes are clanging gusts of 40 MPH they say... wind chill of 5* Below Zero.... when it's cold... everything gets smaller... luckly.. the metal will get smaller porportionally than the foam...so it ill be clamping even harder on it..
Like the old expression... cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.. anyone not know the origion of that one.. OK>> maybe someone doesn't..
the wind driven war ships with cannons...would stack the cannon balls on deck.. near the gun..in a paramid form.. to keep them in place the first level of cannon balls were put in a brass form secured to the deck having holes the cannon balls would sit in.. it was called a monkey the brass would contract more than the solid steel balls.. when it got real cold eject the balls and the balls would be sent rolling across the deck...hince the saying.. that it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey..
So.. temperatures inside the monkey house are 46* and steady.. humidity is down to 81%.. lowest ever recorded inside..
MMMM the clapper on the chimes has already disabled it's self.. being blown and stuck the heavy chime music now is the tubes blowing easily aganst one another..Liberty Airport at Newark right across the harbor has 31 MPH (27 KT) gusting to 40 MPH (35 KT) easily that here now... I only have the house 1/2 filled.. I keep finding things there I want to pull out and have bloom next week.. so.. there's less and less to help hold it down..MMM humidity is down to 79%
water is being sucked from the air..temperature is at 45*F it's really too air tight though..hince the high humidity.. i'm glad to see that dropping.. 78% now..
so..not much snow..with the wind.. I'd like to have 300 pounds of it on the roof, right now
Hi Gordon,
Glad to see your foam house still standing. I've been getting cold temperatures but NOT that low. Thank heaven, our wind gusts are only up to 30 MPH. I take the clapper out of my windchimes or the noise would keep me awake and scare half the cows in the county. I get humidity problems too, but on the occasional warm day, I can open the side flaps to the greenhouse and let some of that humidity out. Have you tried a small dehumidifier? Have you noticed any changes in plant growth due to different light conditions?
I was feeling miserable because the forecast for tonight is 27ºF and my experiment to keep the top of my Audrey Hepburn from freezing down to the ground is slowly losing ground. haha The wind keeps blowing the bubble wrap loose or tears it off completely. So far the "Y" is till safe, but the wind is really fierce tonight. The wind comes up through that north pasture and there's nothing to block its passage. However, after one look at that snow and reading your description of weather conditions there, heck, I'll be happy with the 27ºF. Happy experimenting!
Veronica
The water froze in some of the buckets of large cuttings on my front porch. The electric heater wasn't enough last night with the wind chill down to -20 (the wind gusts up to 44 mph didn't help). I hope I don't lose them. I have a kerosene heater on the porch now & they've thawed out. I had some big (8 foot) plants there & all the ones that were blooming when frost came + all my Iochromas & Vigna caracallas. It's supposed to be a high of 19 today, 8 tonight & stay cold like this into next week. It usually doesn't do this until Jan or the beginning of Feb. I am really glad I stored most of my brugs in my friend's basement. I should have just put the big cuttings there too. I think I am going to cry today. Next year, I think we may be trying the rigid foam instead of the outside layer of plastic. The plastic would be fine if put up a different way maybe. It tears when the wind gets too strong (about 40) but just on the one side. So far, we have been able to staple it back up but I'm not sure it will do for the whole winter. With 2 layers, the 2nd layer hasn't been torn. Next year, foam insulation on the outside & the plastic layer on the inside. It has made the house incredibly warmer this year.
Linda
yes.. Linda...the plastic isapain... hen it gets real cold.. and the wind is high.. it doesn't stand much of a chance... you might try the boat shrinkwrap.. I've heardsome good reports from that.. My choices were a plastic house... but I've had boat workshops in plastic.. and through an ALinter it was a constant job to keep it up.. or aglass/plastic house.. which looses alot of heat ..so I thought of trying something new..in the foam.. I'm pretty impressed with it....so far.. and the heater on the lowest no freeze setting is holding the temps real well.. in the teens tonight.. and holding at 44*.. with a range today in 24 hours of 41-50 with the below 0*wind chill...
I'm thinking of crossing a brug with this succlent I have.. pictured... i does cold/snow real well.. and is always there in the spring... it's been a month of mostly below freezing every day..and it shows no sign of distress..
Veronica... OH..I'd imagine it would be difficult to keep it wrapped in the wind.. and would the wrap keep the tips above freezing at 27* in the wind... here they wrap the fig trees.. but they are big limbs.. I believe they use a layer of burlap to keep it drier aganst the bark.. I'd imagine the humidity would be great just wrapped in plastic.... A plumeria grower..not a nursery. in Houston .. was showing me an acre or so he was planning on installing underground heating pipes in. to keep his plants warm in their inermitant cold snaps...pumping through hot water to keep the soil temps high.. he had alot of projects. so I don't know if he ever got it in the ground..
you got me thinking on the problem though.. perhaps a 2' deep hole brug planted in the bottom.. with an enclosure on the top.. for geothermal heating... but there would be alot of water in the hole during a rain... you'd need a gravel trench with the plastic drainline with the holes in it.. like a leaching field/septic system running away downhill..to keep the hole dry..
humidity tonight isdown to77%..now that the heater is running more.. before the fan there was one pot ith about aninch of light fluffy mold on the top of the soil.. like angel hair.. appropiate I thought.. but it has cleared up with the drop in moisture..
it is becomming abit defoilated inside... some new growth.. some of it looking like the white asparagus from growing in darkness.. a little tip die back... but I'm getting a little of that on the ones inside also.. the beauty is I've missed five or six waterings up there..that I had to make for the ones inside.. and no running expencive lights.. no insects...but no hope of a suprise flower either.. well I've no bugs inside... since my black fly watering with the BT.. mixed with the disolved mosquito dunk... aword of caution here.. the mosquito dunks are made with a cork or other fibereous item which as the poison on it... so it would never disolve... and would clog my sprayer I used to drench the soil.. got to soak it for a few dyas to remove the poison from it.. then strain out the fiber.. then the dunk water can be sprayed... I've never had anything kill the soil knats like that combination did... Thanks...
Note* Passiflora is also still green in the foreground...
This message was edited Dec 23, 2008 1:01 AM
What a cool pic. A very pretty sight. I keep checking here and keepign hoping your building holds. pretty amamzing so far. : )
ALOHA ..
Well.. at almost 1/2 way through the winter here.. it's all ACES..
I hadn't visited inside for about the 3 weeks.. since my last post... I wanted to see just how they would do.. without being looked in on.. I've monitored the temps and humidity dozens of times a day though... thinking I'd have some indication of aproblem if there was one.. I've also checked the pannels outside.. and they were all tight and secure during this time of neglect.. snow all day yesterday..ending in an icee storm.. with freezing rain.. but it is still great outside
Well... we opened up the door... for the first time in asI said three weeks.. a labor of leave it alone stupid.. something that is very much in play here..but I did.. today I opened up andwent in..
the EE's were sprouting some.. they didn't seem to need any [ very little ] light to green up..
just a tiny bit ofgrowth from the bulb..... the 6' durantia has finally lost it's leaves... I was betting on them keeping each and everyone in the darkness.. as they had done for the first month.. of me going in and out all the time...
Temperatures have been between 35*F - 50 *F [ aside from the 65* days... then it got to 65* F inside...The humidities have been in the 80% - 90% range..so I didn'tthink I need to visit for ater.. as there was so much floating about in the air..
OK... about all of them were still moist enough to let go longer.. and a few of the others needed a little water.. to keep them moist....
dispite there being no light .. I got a little bit of sprouting from the tips and along the stems.. this new growth is about white...
but it seems ok... perhaps a tiny window... just to keep them slightly awake.. but it's hard to do anything...with them being sooo effortless
Humidity has stayed in the 80%- 90 % range
Good to know that the cool house is still standing and everything is fine.
Gordon, this week end we should be in the teens, how cold do you think it will get for them??? I would be scared, we have not had these cold temps for the longest times. Praying your bruggies make the cold spell!
Clemen... Well Happy New Year.. Yes.. I heard it was to get to be 5*F starting Friday.. Then add wind chill onto that.. The Temperatures seem fine though.. holding steady at 44* now.. I don't anticipate any change in that.. down as low as it might get..I'm sure we'll see some down to
-8*F before the winter is out.. but I'd bet on it being above 40 then also..We're on the heaters no freeze setting.. I could have it up to 80* in a 1/2 hour.. right now just by flipping it up to it's higher settings.. but I like not watering for months on end..although it's a little disconcerting that in that time.. it hasn't dried out at all.. like an Edwardian Case.. where it's set up and sealed.. and it works the watercycle from the air to the soil and the soil back into the air..humidity in there is 83% today.. I wish it would dry up some..
thanks for the good wishes..
My DH was very impressed with your house & has watched the process. We had the double layer of plastic blow loose in 50 mph winds & we (by we I mean DH, good sport that he is) ended up buying 1/2" foam panels & putting them up in between the plastic. That will hopefully keep it from flapping loose again, it is pretty darn tight otherwise even with the wind. It is supposed to be -10 a couple nights & below 0 a couple days this week (wind chill) so that will be the real test of how well it does. Just those 2 layers made a drastic difference in the whole house especially on the days when the sun shines on the patio doors. If the price of oil goes any higher, I will be living in one next winter, cramped but WARM. LOL
Linda
Gordon, How's yours holding up???
The foam worked on mine. It is tight but the high winds still suck all the heat out. It was -15 with wind chill & 32 on my porch in the middle of the night. DH put out another heater & I hope it was in time. I am usually keeping the porch between 38 & 50 with just one heater. I don't think that's too bad since the porch is 8 x 8 x 30.
Linda
Yeah Gordon, we want to know, it is cold cold in NYC! Hopefully everything is good!
It's still all aces..
so it was down to single digits for days here.. but it's going to snow... so it's warmed up some... 24 now.. and still on the lowest heater setting... which is a no freeze setting.. and comes on just before 36.. or so... and has a high end of about 46*F.. inside the cool room . it's 41*F right now.. last night it was 5*F with a wind chill of 15 below 0*F and the temps inside were dropping.. I was watching it from inside here. with the wireless thermometer.. I was tempted to go up and jack up the heat to a higher setting... but left it alone...the temps inside went down to 34*F.. at the coldest of it.. so I escaped any problems.. it seems..
Linda... yes... with any air escaping it will be difficult to steady the temps.. that's one benefit with mine.. is it is about air tight.. every where .. but the double doors do leak some I'd imagine.. but they too are weather stripped some.. I'm really glad I carpeted the uninsulated floor.. I did a visitation up inside tonight.. and found my fan had stopped.. and the light wouldn't go on.. but the heater was still purring away..
Clemen..yup..it is cold here..maybe you should waite a while before visiting.. but the city scape is bright and clear at night .. still quite spectacular..
trying to imagine how to use it to it's best advantage in the spring... maybe a few clear widows in the roof to bring in light and heat.. to get it all blasting away in the end of march.. and still be protected from excess rain and the cold winds we can expect then..
Thanks all for the best wishes.. it's still looking good... now to figure out where to put it in the summer.. thinking of gifting it to mother.. but she doesn't really need it.. although it would look darling with a faux stone exterior most anywhere.. here's some foam housses covered in the stone
http://www.culturedstone.com/photos/
Gordon
Gordon, Did you get the wind yet? We had at least 60 mph & the plastic with the foam in between stayed on (even though it had to be re-stapled a few times). If I had not added the foam, the whole thing would have blown down.
Linda
Congratulations there Linda..
Well a few miles away they said it was 60 MPHalso... it blew down a block wall on some ne house.. and killed the worker who happpened to be working underneath..so it was brisk here... my weather staton is nolongersending wireless signals down to the display.. so I don't know the actual wind speed here.. but it was brisk.. lots of stuff was air borne.. my round glass top for my table.. stored wedged inbetween some things was rolled out.. unbroken... but the foam building held perfectly strong... not a shiver or shake I saw... I can check it out through the skylight in the bathroom... and it was ridged... one of the strong points is is is about air tight .. so no air can get in to cause havoc.. it''s much stronger than I'd imagined... in pushing hard on the corner... it on't give or move one little bit... I couldn't have anchored it so well..
It sounds like bot of us ere pretty lucky... you might do away with the plastic all together .. and run a foam building.. perhaps in some different way.. going to be thinking of removing a foam pannel sometime soon.. to start kicking every one into gear.. but I love the no watering I've enjoyed...
Gordon, Taking off work for now until the end of summer to work with my tropicals. My first project is a foam GH. Going Tuesday to purchase my supplies. I've had so many GH's ripped apart by either hurricanes or strong winds off hurricanes.It has been so costly to replace. I think your foam GH would hold up so much better.
In the summer for my roof I'll use a 20 X 60 shade cloth and cover over in the winter with the foam.
For the sides, I want windows installed about every 20 ft. for plenty of light & foam panels.
The front of my GH is already completed (20 X 10). It was made for house plants/sitting area. I had the clear sheets of GH roofing plastic put on for roof, Lattice with clear plastic applied to back for the exterior. On the inside of this room I want to use the foam for walls, add the stucco, & paint.
Does this sound like it would work?
My son Brad, thought the foam panels might get the GH too hot in our climate and cook my plants. He suggested cutting designs similar to lattice, only larger holes.....and in winter adding the plastic from the inside. Brad said, the foam was easy to cut and work with.
Not real sure what this would look like......I want it to be cute.
Please let me know what your thoughts are on this design of Brads.
OH...Dolly... design is a ,complicated item... what's the over all size you are looking to build.. perhaps I can roll it around in my empty head.. and come up with something for you useing the foam for your high heat... Alot of what makes this work here for me is the unitized nature of it..
I'd prefer to leave out pannels rather than to cut them up.. here every bit of the foam has the metal track on the edge of it..
So.. leave out assortedpannels... and havethe plastic lattace in place there.. putting a foam pannel over it in the winter.. but give methe overall size.. and an idea as to the direction the prevailing winds come at you from.. mine is unanchored.. as the floor/plants holds it down..what type of floor does yours have... any thoughts on anchoring it..
OH .. I wasabout planning atrip south this week.. to deal with soe auto issues.. Ijust had a coplete rebuild of my transission ith new drive axels.. a few days ago.. and then yesterday it was malfunctioning in new ways.. before it was fine.. I just had to rev it through so it would shift... but there wascomputeralfunctioningcodes on it's coputer about doing that... I have to have inspections on the car in NY.. and thiscanonly be given with a clear computer .. no malfuncting codes.. even though it wasperfectly fine if I coaxed to through shifting... so $4500 .00 later it had other codes present. and I'm still uninspectable.. had the catalitic converter replaced 6 months ago... and they say now the aftermarket one fron Midas is no good... midas has no guarantee on theirs... it was only $700.. this dealerwasthe one playing about with my dash warning lights.. seems their idea of fixing it was to blow the engine indicator light ..bulb..for me so I didn't see a problem.. hince having theengine replaced in NO a year ago. some1200 iles out of warrenty.. butthat 1200 iles was enough to make it on me... and I had it in their shop,, just before the trip... so I wantd to come south.. where I could sell [ dealer trade ] i for someone not needing inspection ... orfailing on the basis of the computer spitting out bad codes.. anyway.. with still trasmission work that's needed I haveto finsh with the shop that did it here.. and can't come.. or I'dhave madeadetour to get right in with you on the project.. maybe Ican be ofsomedesign helphere.. but it's kind of like aDr.phoning in an opinion and diagnosis.. on the basis of symptom reports over the internet.. maybe it ill work out over the next few days..
Happy Mardi Gras..
Oh Gordon I hate to hear about your car! It seems like once something goes wrong everything else follows.
Thank you for the happy Mardi Gras wish. I love our Mardi Gras balls, parades, food, cajun music, and the Courir de Mardi Gras. My son Terry, & I are leaving next Monday for Mardi Gras in Mamou, where we'll meet up with other family members & friends. If you get a car, or yours working by then your welcome to join us in Mamou.
I wish it were possible for you to be here to show us what was needed. Thank you for the thought. My brother is a contractor and offered his help this evening.....so I'll see :)
The frame of my GH is built out of treated 2 X 4's & by treated 4 X 8's...I think thats correct. The frame total size is 20ft X 60ft. The roof has a small pitch for water drainage. Before the two hurricanes this was covered in black shade cloth & the thick nursery grade plastic.
We used 20 ft.X 10ft of this space for the sitting & houseplant area. This portion is complete & closed in, except for inside walls.
I didn't do anything to floors other than put down shade cloth type fabric...not as good a grade as my roof. I like planting in ground in my GH, but at one point did consider concrete floors.
Will send you photos of finished look :)
Well Dolly... you seem to have some great help there... so.. you're using the existing wood frames... just a thought... on these.. when screwing them to the wood... this company had a plastic washer to spread the load os secureing it.. called wind-devils they are in the catalog... might be some useful items there.. like a foam electric knife.. if you are cutting into it.. as well as a foam adheasive... a bit better then the construction adheasive.. although requiring a bit more work.. .everything you might possibly use to build in foam is in their catalog
http://www.wind-lock.com/cat-19-1-1/EIFS_Stucco_Stone_Veneer.htm
they will also send you a hard copy version f you'd like.. and can wait for it before beginning..
most of their applications use a thinner foam.. attached all over to asecure soild backing of plywoood or masonary fully behing the foam.. I use a thicker foam... and always have a metal edge on and place wherethe foam is joind to another pannel although when I'm connecting one bit of foam to another.. both between the metal. I'll just glue them and slide them both together..
I've extencive foam construction experience... starting in carving/coating it some 40 years ago..in art projects... [ did I mention the 40' long carved cloud bank... that was my bathroom..sink/tub/kitchen sink much like many of the Mardi Gras floats are made now] but if you keep the edges secure... and provide a support in multiple places .. to keep it ridgid and unmoving.. you should be OK... any time you start using a material in an unconventional manner... you're pioneering new territory... and have to do the engineering to go along with the forces it will hopefully endure..
OH.. I'l love to find you in Mamou... if I can make some headway.. it's slightly possible...
All the best .. Gordon
Update ... on my cool room to to provide dormancy conditions..
perhaps many know of the snowstorm we had last Tuesday.. we got winds and about a foot of snow in that storm.. Well...we did just fine.. weathered it wonderfully..
So.. spring should be getting it together soon ... and the no work or attendance to the dormant lovlies through out the winter has be great.. it's been up in the 50's lately.. and I'm looking foward to them blooming.. So.. enough of dormancy.. lets get flowering.. must be time to wake them up.. here's the doorway after the snow... no footrints.. a testament to the care free dormant state..
OK... time to wake up guys.. OH... got to have some light I guess.. I drove out to Griffin greenhouse supply.. great bulk shopping .. up and down the east coast... from maine to Ga. there's at least one in every state inbetween.. Gallons of Avid there.. only $860.. what a deal.. anyway.. they have some double walled polycarbonate.. so I got a 4' X 16' cut it in 1/2 for transport and getting it up to the roof.. and to fit .. I put a 4' wide hunk along the top of the east wall to start with .. about 6' X 4' 24 sq feet of light .. that and the additional heat we'll have from it should get them started...
