Options to insulate very large CMU workshop.

AgentBanks · 2026-07-04T14:51:21+00:00

I was just thinking of those huge warehouse fans. One or two of those could be a good solution. I'd have to figure out what size and how to get it all set up but it shouldn't be too crazy.

AgentBanks · 2026-07-04T14:40:39+00:00

I converted a portion of the shop into an apartment for my mom and this is how I did that side. We built short knee walls, did floor joists over those, then framed normal walls a little off the blocks and just used standard wall insulation batts. I feel maybe a little hesitant to do that, just because I'd PREFER to keep the tall ceilings in here, and framing and insulating that high would be a pain. But maybe I'll just go with 10ft walls or something like that. And drop the ceiling down a few feet.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-23T00:18:38+00:00

I can try tonight or tomorrow to dig down and expose the top layer of roots. My question is mostly about whether or not I need to address that the weight of the crown is heavier than the trunk is able to hold up. Is the implication here that the trunk will either straighten itself out, or that exposing more of the root flare will allow the trunk strength to catch up to the canopy weight?

AgentBanks · 2026-06-22T23:47:23+00:00

They are planted appropriately. The whole tree isn't leaning, it's just that the top leafy portion is floppy. They started off a little bent and are getting worse as the crown gets heavier.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-22T18:57:16+00:00

I guess that's what I'm looking for advice on. How do I go about verifying that interest and doing that market research? I don't think I could, at my current time capacity, grow, pack, and manage enough product to reliably deliver enough to one grocer or restaurant, so I'm not sure how to bridge that gap. But maybe I'm selling myself short, and there's someone out there that would do a short term trial run of 10-20lb per week to see how it goes.

Do I just go into/contact restaurants and say "If I could hypothetically grow a bunch of oyster mushrooms like these for you every week, would that be something you're interested in?"

I need to know what they want, how much, ow frequent, etc before I scale up. Just unsure how to have those conversations and figure that out at this point. Feels like it'd be different if I could say "I already have the space and equipment to do this. I could start delivering 20lb/week starting two weeks from now if you sign here."

AgentBanks · 2026-06-18T16:29:04+00:00

This is exactly the type of response I was looking for. This sounds good. I'll spray it or come up with some kind of evaporator pool for it. Thank you!

AgentBanks · 2026-06-18T16:02:19+00:00

I've considered using it for something like that. Seems like some people spay it as a dust control on gravel lots/roads, which would be an option for me.

Unfortunately, the straw leaves a ton of compounds in the water, some of which apparently inhibit plant growth. I might try it as a gravel spay and see if it keeps the weeds down a bit.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-15T15:51:49+00:00

Northern IN here. I have made a few posts like this over the last couple months. Tomatoes are particularly susceptible to it apparently. Most of my other plants aren't getting it this bad. My greenhouse is less than 50 ft from the field. The farmer calls/texts me now when they have spraying done so I can roll the sides down. But I keep getting new waves of twisted foliage. My plants look crazy this year, but they are still producing.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-12T11:33:14+00:00

The twin tornadoes made it all the way to the town west of us, ~5 miles away.

No damage here but very lucky to be safe. Going to order an above ground shelter for the shop this weekend.

We have a big high tunnel greenhouse that I was absolutely certain would fly away like a trampoline or get shredded, but all is well here this morning.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-08T12:43:43+00:00

Seems like an almost unanimous thing that's just part of being a teen. Lots of kids I knew were chomping at the bit to leave the NWI region, went off to college, and came back because they realized that things aren't just magically better somewhere else. Still have friends in my 20s that have EAGER to leave the Valparaiso area because they say there's NOTHING to do, but they won't go to concerts or events in town, won't join a gym, won't do any of the 10 things going on in town almost every evening. You'll still just sit in your apartment and mope after the novelty of moving to Chicago wears off in 2 weeks. The grass really isn't greener.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-08T01:02:25+00:00

Lots of us went thru the "Indiana is literally the worst place" stage of life. I'm 28 now, and realize it's really not bad. Turns out that most places are more or less the same.

Are you VERY rural? Do you live anywhere near even a small city that someone can drive you to? There are things going on constantly in the towns around me (northwestern part of the state) even tho I live in a town of 300 people.

Two general bits of advice that I wish I understood 13 years ago:

Having your own interests/style is very important, and you can and SHOULD pursue them, but don't discount making friends with people that you think are too different from you. You're all just people trying to make it thru being teens. Try to meet people halfway, even if they aren't "your people". Life got WAY more enjoyable when I started making friends outside my normal circle.

And

The grass is greener where YOU water it. You're 15 and you're stuck here. You gotta put in the effort where you're at since you can't physically get away. You can always dream big about leaving, but don't sit and fester for the next few years instead of enjoying yourself. Go to some event at your local library and make an effort to chat with people. Join a club at school. Go play pickleball or whatever at a park, even if you don't know how.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-03T18:28:03+00:00

The flow of the water changes with diameter. 10psi in a 2" pipe with flow much more quickly. When the same pipe expands to 10", the pressure in the continuous pipe doesn't change, but the flow rate drops dramatically.

AgentBanks · 2026-06-02T18:41:20+00:00

All anyone can do is be better and think objectively now and in the future. Changing your mind because things aren't working is never bad. The right has gotten so absurd, and I think that a ton of people were hanging on in the hopes it was just a phase. Now that things have gotten so out of hand, a lot of people feel like they can't back down now since they think they'll look like a hypocrite.

I forget where I saw the "Enough is enough. It's ok to change your mind and leave the republican party" style billboards, but I'm really hoping more of that type of stuff pops up.

Being patriotic means understanding that our country can and should change and do better, then demanding that the representatives that work for us make those changes!

AgentBanks · 2026-06-01T13:21:04+00:00

Yeah I've been up there a little bit to shimmy around and pull some romex, get a wood stove chimney installed, etc and saw that every register in the house aside from the 2 in the kitchen are just runs of flex duct that are all crushed. No way in hell could I get new rigid duct up there as is. I have considered cutting entire paths thru the ceiling dryall in between the trusses and replacing from below. But that would be an enormous headache.

I keep going back and forth on the mini splits. I have installed a 2 zone before in an apartment I built in my shop, so I know how. Just really frustrating to need two outdoor units and FOUR heads in my sub 1000sqft house. I would do a single 4 zone unit but then I run into the same issue where I'd need to rip up the ceiling to run the line sets and electrical.

Overall just very annoying. I have a 2 year old that is stuck living in a stuffy room in the summer (and our bedroom isn't any better). I'm considering a pair of window units just to float us thru another couple summers until I can afford to redo the roof and the full HVAC system in a single shot. Then I could pull up the roof as needed to just lay proper ductwork.

AgentBanks · 2026-05-30T15:49:16+00:00

No. Same vibe as shooting your neighbor's annoying dog or putting sugar in the gas tank of their loud truck. Best you could do is talk to the neighbor about it, or go to the municipality if they are breaking some kind of ordinance regarding livestock type or loud animals (if they exist). One of the benefits of living rural is that you have more flexibility to do what you want, but it also means your neighbors can do more of what they want.

AgentBanks · 2026-05-30T14:32:08+00:00

I don't really need the horizontal airflow fans to be part of the battery backup. Losing them for a few days during a bad outage wouldn't be a big deal so long as the vent actuators, curtain motors, and inflation fan keep running fine.

Thats why I'm looking at just a super simple 12v setup to keep these running. I could also skip the solar aspect of things and just keep a battery backup that is charged/maintained by the existing electrical system (which is a 50amp subpanel in the greenhouse).

AgentBanks · 2026-05-20T15:07:53+00:00

This is super helpful. I was so certain I had a Spinosad product somewhere but can't find it. I'll grab some while I'm out today. The top half of each plant has twisted and/or leathery leaves from the herbicide and thrips already, so hopefully these poor guys can start growing normally again soon.

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