I've been thinking of building a half buried greenhouse in my back yard, approximately 5m X 3.8m.

I've been thinking of building a half buried greenhouse in my back yard, approximately 5m X 3.8m. It seems straightforward enough, but then I got the idea that if I'm already digging a pit that big, why not go deeper and build a cellar underneath it?
What would be a cost effective way to shore up and waterproof a hole in the ground that's maybe 3 to 4 metres deep?

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  1. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    whats the advantage of having it half buried ?
    >What would be a cost effective way to shore up and waterproof a hole in the ground that's maybe 3 to 4 metres deep?
    tarp

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      You use that hole to put some water container inside for thermal mass then fill it, turning it into a root cellar or wtv is a ton more work.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >whats the advantage of having it half buried ?
      In winter the walls of the greenhouse are heated, so it can store a lot more thermal mass.

      Slip form masonry walls. They'll need to be at least 1-1/2 feet thick.

      That sounds like a practical option and the end result has a nice look, thanks anon.

      >these plants are planted at ground level
      I’m unclear on the point of the dig.

      Here's a better example of what I mean.

      You use that hole to put some water container inside for thermal mass then fill it, turning it into a root cellar or wtv is a ton more work.

      I don't have a cellar in my house and can't add one since it's on a concrete slab foundation, but I would like one.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        enjoy blocking 70% of the sun and having major rodent problems.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >sun
          I'll be building the north wall lower than the south, so it'll still let plenty of sunlight in. Some of the plants I want to have in there are better off in the shade, too.
          >rodents
          Great, my cats will have something to play with.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          >rodent problems
          Throw a cat or a terrier in there and that'll be sorted real fast.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          This. And no a car or terrier will not be an effective solution. The reason being what you're trying to defend will be destroyedv by them before your cat or terrier springs into action. And it will be a constant battle of dead plants.

          Just make a regular greenhouse like a normal person Anon

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            People keep pests out of their basements, I don't see why this should be a "constant battle"

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        If you really want a cellar why not consider something more along the lines of a root cellar, you dig individual pits maybe 2-3 feet deep, put some forms, concrete pour, membrane the outside and then a top hatch door you can reach down into. Build 4-5 of them and don't put potatoes in there so you don't get poisoned.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          tbh I also want a good excuse to dig a big hole

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Fair enough. Build it, form it, pour it, membrane it, make sure you have something to bolt a sill plate and trusses to and youre good to go. Throw chickens in there and your green house will be warm all winter.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          If the taters are out of light, what's the issue?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        You gotta go deeper than 2-3 feet to get the earth heat. Need 8-12 ft like the Peruvians and line the walls with thick stone to capture the sun's heat. Might be cheaper and easier to move to Peru...

  2. 2 years ago
    Weldfag

    Slip form masonry walls. They'll need to be at least 1-1/2 feet thick.

  3. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >these plants are planted at ground level
    I’m unclear on the point of the dig.

  4. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    It's called the slippery slope. If you're going to just build a cellar, why don't you build a bunker? You can keep going on. Keep it relevant. Stick to what you realistically can accomplish and fund. Furthermore, each thing you add ends up generating exponential costs in time & materials down the road. Take your cellar for example. A hole in the ground is going to need an actual drainage system and that drainage system is going to be much more complex for a cellar. Going further and taking into consideration the maintenance required for that greenhouse over the course of several decades the cellar is going to be much more costly and involved compared to the dug-out greenhouse because you not only have the added space which means more materials, but also the added drainage system which will deteriorate over time.

  5. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Don't listen to these boomers. They think cheap energy will last forever.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >They think cheap energy will last forever.
      Care to elaborate further? Genuinely curious.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Cold rural places will no longer be a cheap place to live. People will have to build in ways that don't rely on constant climate control to keep the elements from destroying your buildings.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Don't listen to these boomers. They think cheap energy will last forever.

          Solar is getting cheaper all the time. I could get it for $0.10/watt if buttholes in congress didn't impose a 350% tariff on Chinese panels. As it stand China is making the solar cells and shipping them to Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and India who assemble them in panels and sell it to us for $0.20/watt, which is still extremely cheap.

          The price for this is only going down over time.

  6. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Then stop thinking about it. A half-burried greenhouse is a meme. It doesn't work. All it achieves is making it significantly harder and more expensive to build a greenhouse and then having massive rodent AND waterlog problem, along with creating a dent in your water table around it.
    In other words: hole in the ground bad.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Built one last year. AMA

      Wrong

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        comfy

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Very nice. What are the temperatures like inside it in the middle of summer, and does it keep out shit like birds and insects well enough?

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Well I have another greenhouse, it's gets hotter than the sunken one (52 vs 38c) so being buried seems to help cool it. No problems with insects, I want them to go in their to help pollinate stuff.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            https://i.imgur.com/CaT0HJZ.jpg

            Built one last year. AMA

            Wrong

            Nice, but looks like kinda too much effort for essentially a few small planters

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              It's more a place to hang out. Will be tiling the floor and putting in a wood stove soon.

              >Well I have another greenhouse, it's gets hotter than the sunken one (52 vs 38c) so being buried seems to help cool it.
              Sounds like what I'm after, it gets well into the 40s in the middle of summer here so I don't want to cook my plants.
              >No problems with insects, I want them to go in their to help pollinate stuff.
              I'm trying to keep out the ones I don't want, moths and woolly caterpillars mainly.
              Also what materials did you use for the screening and retaining walls?

              [...]
              Fair enough, I'm pretty sure my location is going to be hit my heat and drought a lot worse than it is by extreme cold though, so eventually I'll be getting some seriously large rainwater storage and a few more air conditioners. Already have solar power so the energy crisis won't affect me as much.

              Outer walls are just concrete block, back filled with rubble.

              How does it work in the Winter?

              How cold does winter get where you are? Does the greenhouse stay warm enough to grow all year long?

              Not sure yet. Will have to wait and see! Will have heated in winter with rocket mass heater anyway. Doesn't get very cold here (ireland) maybe -5c max

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >Well I have another greenhouse, it's gets hotter than the sunken one (52 vs 38c) so being buried seems to help cool it.
            Sounds like what I'm after, it gets well into the 40s in the middle of summer here so I don't want to cook my plants.
            >No problems with insects, I want them to go in their to help pollinate stuff.
            I'm trying to keep out the ones I don't want, moths and woolly caterpillars mainly.
            Also what materials did you use for the screening and retaining walls?

            https://i.imgur.com/BMahOSc.jpg

            Cold rural places will no longer be a cheap place to live. People will have to build in ways that don't rely on constant climate control to keep the elements from destroying your buildings.

            Fair enough, I'm pretty sure my location is going to be hit my heat and drought a lot worse than it is by extreme cold though, so eventually I'll be getting some seriously large rainwater storage and a few more air conditioners. Already have solar power so the energy crisis won't affect me as much.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        How does it work in the Winter?

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        How cold does winter get where you are? Does the greenhouse stay warm enough to grow all year long?

  7. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Look into making a Chinese style passive solar greenhouse instead. It's essentially just a brick wall with plastic tarp forming the hypotenuse. The wall gets heated by the sun in the day and keeps the structure warm at night.

  8. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >What would be a cost effective way to shore up and waterproof a hole in the ground that's maybe 3 to 4 metres deep?
    You should be building it out of properly filled cement blocks. That is, you lay a concrete foundation, build up the walls of the cellar with cement blocks and cement mortar, then fill the block columns with cement.

    I wouldn't try it any other way, water intrusion is not something to frick around with half measures.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I forgot to mention sealing the space between the block and the dirt with a membrane

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