I managed to find the time to crawls under my little efficiency-office this week, to work on the ongoing crawlspace expansion and rebuild i have been working on since before the pandemic. It's funny to think i have been working on it that long - and i have been having problems with it for longer. It's all sort of a blur, after i get all my old photos backed up off of my old phone, maybe i'll write a little post about the various intermediate stages of development it went through. I feel like i made some good progress this week, so hopefully things start getting a little better now, though actually, the job is not totally done, and i will still need to get in there at least one more time to either tape or melt-bond all the the plastic sheeting together into one continuous layer, as well as finishing cleaning the rats' nests out from all of the joist spaces. The rats' nests can be done from outside with the right tool; i already cut access ports, though i still need to make the tool. There are also a few other small details that may require going inside, though i won't really know if they are necessary until after i get the time to make an assessment. There is also potentially some improvement i can make from outside related to moisture-proofing below grade from where i believe water from the drip-line is introducing moisture into the crawlspace where the above-grade addition meets the original on-slab construction. There is also the question of whether or not i will need to install a dehumidifier. This has been a big project, and I'm sort of trying to wrap it up, though I'm not sure yet if i will need to install electrical and a dehumidifier down there. I currently have the dehumidifier unboxed and running in the room above. I bought the cheapest compressor-driven unit i could find on walmart.com(~$100). I still have to replace my little window AC unit with a 2 ton heat-pump(already purchased) as my next project, and i expect humidity to go down a lot after finishing that installation, so i may end up with a spare dehumidifier. It is not a bad unit; so far, from testing this Spring, it seems to consistently remove about a pint or more of water from the air each day(the catch tray only holds ~3 pints)(edit: it's probably closer to 1 quart or more; i posted about it on the mini-blog: ). I guess i'll see how it goes and then decide if i want to try installing it permanently. Anyway, here are some pics from the jobsite this week.
The first day was mainly removing the plywood cladding from under the joists and then cleaning up debris and rat mess.
I also made a little improvement on the door panels, so the plywood doesn't split anymore. note, major construction is done at this point, so the cinder-blocks are just temporary to help keep dirt from getting kicked downhill each time i come and go while working. Potentially i'll figure out some clever solution though i want anything permanent to be lightweight and not a hiding place for critters. I've looked a little into light-weight block, but it appears to be hard to get here in America(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoclaved_aerated_concrete).
The second day was more more debris removal and dirt leveling before finally laying out the plastic and weighing it down with the rubble from the previous demolition. I included some pics from the sides where i eventually plan to do a little more work from the exterior.
I decided to only open the central panel so as to be less enticing for mice and snakes to find their way inside while it was open. I feel fairly confident i succeeded, though i caught my first glimpse of a black snake for the season just as i was crawling out to close up at the end of the day - it was too fast, couldn't get a picture.
Finally, about the greenhouse stuff, the wether is starting to warm up enough where i had to remove my flax from the greenhouse, and i have begun watering multiple times a day on certain warm days. It still looks a little yellow; i hope it makes it. I was planning to find a place and plant it as soon as i can. Some of my melons also look they are getting a little overheated, though i am hesitant to plant them out yet since we are still in danger of frost until early May here at the farm. I am also behind on bees, and so the next item on my list is probably doing my little Spring bee-checking-up. Hopefully I will be posting about that next. As far a garden sales event in May, it is probably not going to happen this year. I think i will try and plant the melons with the goal of harvesting for July 4th. Things have just been very busy this Spring, and i was only able to start seeds for about half the capacity of my greenhouse. I am also very eager to build another similar design house, and i'm still refining the way i have my shelves set up, so hopefully next year will be better and i will have more to offer. So, let's shoot for June/July then for cantaloupes and watermelons, and hopefully i can get my act together for a Spring garden event next year.
p.s. I should note that the flax i had on lower shelves still looks very healthy, and i am excited to try and get it planted and hopefully harvest some flax later this season!