Thank you. It's a 4 foot wide by 3 & 1/2 foot deep space and if I go with 18 inches of soil depth then that would be 21 cubic feet of soil. I agree with you, I also like the planter bed. I also agree that the roots are going to run everywhere. I feel good about that because, we both know, a well developed root system means more growing power. Well today I hope to have the liners done. I will try to do a presentation of how and why and not just "look I'm done." Have a good one TOA
LinersAlright I kept kicking my tired ass today and got a few things done.First I taped the sharp edges of the floor (pic 1 ). Then I added padding to the area where the drain tube will be because the drain line of the box must be above the level the run drains to. That means the water has to run down hill or it will pool in the box and that is not good (pic 2 ). Now I had to take a roll of 6 mil black plastic 10 feet by 25 feet and cut it into two liners. (pic 3 ) First I measured how wide the floor was. Then I measured how long it was. Then how deep it was. I came up with 49 inches wide, 42 inches long and a measure of 30 inches was a safe amount for deep since I can trim this with a utility knife. Better have some extra to cut than too little to fit. I went outside and took a couple of 1 by 4's a tape measure, white paint pen and the trusty utility knife. I measured and cut two pieces of 102 by 109 inches. Then with the paint pen I drew lines to show the bottom and the sides. The lines help place the liner and then aid in folding the plastic to form a rectangle. You will end up with plastic folded under on the corners. I choose to do this rather than cut and tape. After all this is to hold wet earth and I do not want leaks. (pic 4 & pic 5) I can only add 5 pictures per post so next post then /monthly_2006_10/Taped_bare_floor.jpg.7974d002cb5e7a12a3dfb2bcb66a7340.jpg /monthly_2006_10/Padding_for_drain.jpg.7bb1888490ea7e14e511a6566741926b.jpg /monthly_2006_10/Black_plastic_layout.jpg.bdd760597391a869faecbbd5e21ec48b.jpg /monthly_2006_10/plastic_lines.jpg.18c60e5dd69101e1a21e20bbe02a912a.jpg /monthly_2006_10/lines2.jpg.e2781449ef3829f96479367a6643e238.jpg
LinersNow back inside I needed to place the liner. I needed to orient the wide and long sides correctly so that the corner lines line up thus making it easy to fold the extra plastic under and behind. ( pic 1 ) Skipping the actual folding and tacking up picture 2 shows liner 1 NOTE: I did not staple the liner below the top. If you look at the frame to will see 1x4's that's the staple area.And not below. After all I want no leaks. Doing the very same for liner number two ( pic 3 ) and finally the tools used ( pic 4 ) I took time to examine the black plastic for holes and cuts by holding it up to a light. After all I want a water tight liner. I found a 4 inch cut in liner number one and used duct tape. Liner two had no holes or cuts that I could see. That's the liners. Next will be the box floor. Questions? Suggestions? post or mail me. Toke one for me. /monthly_2006_10/lines3.jpg.c9b7a807cc90a612f5ce0782ba950aaf.jpg /monthly_2006_10/liner_1.jpg.79cbe00eaf4172c70fe5762f07f730e5.jpg /monthly_2006_10/liner_2.jpg.33876ac5f7a848a0b8213d5f4be4f8aa.jpg /monthly_2006_10/tools_used_liner.jpg.b55c3eca47f43f2f8943f1e150974ba7.jpg /monthly_2006_10/liners_done.jpg.6b39bb6de74d25f018413270b7c02bc2.jpg
what about drainage from the box??????I don't think it's a good idea to have no drainage out of the bottom huh??? especially with soil.. Anyways keep up the good handiwork..!
lol i would hope the way hes doing it the box will be raised some and what drain hes set up for inside the box is to make the runnof drain out. i think thats why he put a drain in it.....
Yeah there is a proper drain run. Look at the post with the pictures of before the liner went in. The padding raises the drain line above the drain run. That means the box is above the drain line. I have all the material to do the floor which includes the drain. I hope to have it posted this week.
I lived above all the smog. It was beautiful. But I worked in San Bernardino, where there could be a mountain 1000ft away from you that was not visible through the smog. If I ever move back to Cali it would be SF, that is if I win the lottery and could afford it.:rolleyes2:
god ain't that the truth. just wanna live in SF so bad..... gonna make it the some day I swear. The refurbish seems to be moving along just fine randy....... lots of hard work for a stoner. really enjoying the thread. :new_silly:
PlumbingHere is my plumbing. Pic 1 is the drain pipe that lays in the bottom of the liners. The floor will rest above the drain creating an air space. Pic 2 is the washout and plumbing run. Pic 3 is the tools required to make a drain pipe ( pic 1 ). /monthly_2006_10/Drain_pipe.jpg.0b026ee6de40e5f4cb946985cbc58268.jpg /monthly_2006_10/Drain_washout.jpg.fd35c8e2ee3c09b1c62b10209d402089.jpg /monthly_2006_10/Drill_and_half_inch.jpg.5c05ff2ca251f8aa598dc4890e3a90d0.jpg
Leak Test I believe it was a combonation of being tired and being tired but, the seal around the drain pipe and the liners isn't as nice looking as I had wanted. I tend to work past my time to rest point. I used silicone because it seemed the easy solution but, I ended gobbing it up. I don't like the looks of a gob of silicone but, I hate leaks more. If this does leak I will try a layered sheet metal sandwich next. Well I set here listening to the water run in. I am filling the liners with about a foot of water to perform the leak test. I figure that the most important area is the bottom and the seal around the drain pipe I will fill it with a foot or so of water and let it sit. I will then look for leaks. If it holds a foot of water for a couple hours then it should be safe to drain runoff from the soil which will not be as massive a pressure. If all goes well then I have the floor to do and the upper box liner. I have to decide on the face of the box. That is what kind of door(s) and what the front will look like. Also I need to cut holes for ducting. I will need an 8 inch and a 6 inch. Plus I need make holes for wire for the outlets. Much to do. One thing is I could get in the box and soak; it's that big. Keep your fingers crossed that I did a good job after all. Looks good so far.
Leak test result + new liners and seal.Sadness. It did not pass the leak test. It was a small amount of water but it proves there is a leak. Using silicone alone is a crap shoot for water tight. Looks like I am open to redoing things from a fresh cut set of liners. The good news is the drain elevation is right.-------- Not everything goes right at first but it is important to check the results well. My second idea is to press the silicone flat between plates. ( pic 1 ) I placed a base plate to start the form of being flat on the bare wood and cut the leveling insulation out to fit the sheet metal. ( pic 2 )I start with a new liner with an exact sized hole positioned by measuring it's position out on the plastic first. Also allowing for some trim length of plastic. ( pic 3 )Then with silicone on the back and on the front I position the second plate and screw it to the first plate and the wood behind. ( pic 4 ) I placed tape around the sharp edges of the sheet metal. Doing the same for the second liner I add another plate and now it's a silicone sandwich. It will be a couple of days to cure so look back later in the week for an update. I'm open to ideas on how better to do this part. /monthly_2006_10/Sheetmetal_part.jpg.df53ae449c5a24ecc7af32121389865d.jpg /monthly_2006_10/Sheetmetal_seal_ins_cutaway.jpg.de4b1b37c686a921abaa150132496cc5.jpg /monthly_2006_10/First_liner_SM.jpg.c67c6395e75759e590dc6c16a3bf5a17.jpg /monthly_2006_10/First_liner_SM_silicone.jpg.82f4c1365862153ff18b39c45b8d110c.jpg
stuff called 5200 marine sealant is the shit...and it has a life span of over 30 years without any worries of leaks.
Interesting... I was pondering making a "dirt box" type of room myself but then decided that I didn't want to work with that much soil all at once. I'm working on going hydro but need to do more research and do a few more soil grows to build up the 'ol stash so that I can have enough to get through the hydro learning curve Are you going to have some sort of "soil recycling" going on? You know so that you can re-use the dirt a few times or something? I've always had problems w/ the soil's pH being all out of whack by the end of the grow (I think it's the city water that does it...)
I'm not aiming to fool anyone it's a bit of work. Work I enjoy tho. So that makes it worth my time. Soil recycling : Actually I have a soil that started as a batch of compost about 5 years ago. I add new materials and hot compost it every year. That breaks up the vast network of fine roots and I figure burns up excess nitrogen and whatever hasn't broke down. The result is a rich home made soil. I'll post some pics later when I put the soil into the new bed. I'm into composting and keeping the microorganisms fed. I'm into this Domin8rix so it's a love. Again it's also work.
r u gunna have just one straight pipe for a drain? i would have connecting tubes all around the inside and then an x in the middle like this [X] and then it drain out to the one low(er) side..... and maybe putting a drain sock over all of it- to keep debri out of the lines and maybe even some contractors filter paper on top of the whole shebang- to keep the silt off of the sock to help it drain better....(and not a sock for your foot!)- we use this stuff when we build french drains (for my job).....
