A NEW PROJECT

A SLIGHT PROBLEM WITH THE 'ROOM UNDER THE DECK' has been a small amount of moisture entering as vapour and condensing as a very light dew... just some patches appearing on the western wall.  This is despite the waterproofing applied to the below-grade walls.  Apparently the soil under the stairway up to the deck becomes water logged and four feet of water is generates quite a bit of pressure.

Additionally, it would be very nice if I could get more sunlight into this room during the cooler months, especially early Spring when I plan to be growing seedlings and nurturing young plants, this despite that it has the equivalent of four windows facing to the South.

I have decided to solve both problems by digging out the soil surrounding the potting room walls, down to about eight inches (20 cm), then laying in some six inches of a gravel-sand fill over plastic membrane.

  I have completed the excavation and the remaining soil has a two inch/70 inch slope southwards and eastwards, leading to a shallow east to west trench.  I expect this to take away all the water that results even from heavy rains.  This will ensure dry soil around the walls but will not help with the problem of getting more light, and therefore heat, into the room.  It took several days to dig out the top soil.  I have included a picture of the resulting pile.

I think I can solve the 'more light' by paving out from the southern wall some three feet (c. one metre) with off-white tiles.  At the winter solstice (sun at the lowest angle of 42 deg. to the horizon) I calculate that the tiles will reflect light up to about half of the ceiling (which is lined, insulated, and painted off white).  This should assist with the heating of the room through late Winter and early Spring as the sun begins to rise to a higher meridian.  At the least, it will make the room even more pleasant to sit in on the days we have sufficient sun.  Of course, the heated floor will be great on other days.

I am awaiting the arrival of the gravel sand mix as I write this and am very pleased with progress on the project to date.  Soon I will be trundling the stuff by wheel barrow up to the work place!  When finished, besides the tiling, I will have paved in front of the stairs up to the deck and also the stairs going down to the room.  I have ordered up about twice as much mix as I need for this job; the remainder will be handy for other paving jobs around the house.  It costs $75 for delivery, up to ten  (non-metric) tons and $10 per ton,  so it a matter of simple economics to have a bit more than I strictly need for this project.  The next post will tell how the project went.