For the last few years, I've built a small but useful greenhouse under the back porch to keep potted plants over the winter. It was cramped and simple, but it did its job, and gave my gentleman somewhere covered to smoke in nasty weather.
Unfortunately, because it was small and just closed in with 2x4s, the smoke would largely come back in the house with him when he re-entered, and then slowly seep out all the sides... including the one where the air intake for the HVAC sits.
This year, since I'd downsized most of the plants, I decided to get a little more ambitious. I drew up plans to have the part over the stairs taller, an actual door at the top of the stairs (not fully human-sized, but large enough to walk through instead of crawling), and included an exhaust fan and vent. None of these, of course, turned out to be as simple as I'd expected.
The biggest setback was that there are no straight lines anywhere in the house, and I neglected to account for the concrete floor/ stairs settling. So while we measured and cut boards precisely, reality laughed at our precision, and we had to get creative with bracing a few times. Thankfully, I had gotten an extra 2x4, because I knew something like this would happen, but still. It took about a day and a half of limited November daylight to get everything sorted, screwed together, braced, and covered in sheeting:
That gave more room for the smoke to not-come-back-in-the-house, but the leakiness was still a problem, and since we don't have outside electrical sockets, powering the fan and any light sources meant running a cord inside, inevitably breaking a seal somewhere. Thermoplastics to the rescue! I had a bunch of edges from the EVA foam mats that are roughly 1.5" wide and 24" long - too narrow to be useful for cosplay, but perfect for plugging gaps in frames.
Compressible foam = nearly airtight seal. Took some measuring and trial-and-error, but I eventually sealed almost all the cracks. It's not 100% airtight, and the rain seeps in a bit on the edges, but it's much nicer than before. Similarly, since the back door to the house wasn't seated in its frame properly, I made an extra wedge of EVA foam, cut a channel through half its thickness to run the electrical cord through, and glued it into place on the frame above the existing weatherstripping. You can't see it when the door is closed, and it keeps the thermal seal between the greenhouse and basement.
Unfortunately, the exhaust fan had no good way to mount on the 2x4 frame, and still be close enough to the vent to get direct airflow outside. And if there are gaps, then bugs can get in.... more problems. Nope, thermoplastics to the rescue again. I made an extension on the exhaust vent out of Worbla so there's a sealed airway from the fan to the vent, and a wooden frame to mount on the 2x4s that fit both the fan and the vent. Glued some netting onto the vent, and voila, problem fixed! Cut a hole in the sheeting, stuck the vent through, screwed it all down, and caulked the sheeting to the vent. Now smoke and fumes vent under the stairs, completely away from the HVAC unit.
Unfortunately, because it was small and just closed in with 2x4s, the smoke would largely come back in the house with him when he re-entered, and then slowly seep out all the sides... including the one where the air intake for the HVAC sits.
This year, since I'd downsized most of the plants, I decided to get a little more ambitious. I drew up plans to have the part over the stairs taller, an actual door at the top of the stairs (not fully human-sized, but large enough to walk through instead of crawling), and included an exhaust fan and vent. None of these, of course, turned out to be as simple as I'd expected.
The biggest setback was that there are no straight lines anywhere in the house, and I neglected to account for the concrete floor/ stairs settling. So while we measured and cut boards precisely, reality laughed at our precision, and we had to get creative with bracing a few times. Thankfully, I had gotten an extra 2x4, because I knew something like this would happen, but still. It took about a day and a half of limited November daylight to get everything sorted, screwed together, braced, and covered in sheeting:
 |
| About half done - the door wasn't made yet, and I ran out of staples. |
That gave more room for the smoke to not-come-back-in-the-house, but the leakiness was still a problem, and since we don't have outside electrical sockets, powering the fan and any light sources meant running a cord inside, inevitably breaking a seal somewhere. Thermoplastics to the rescue! I had a bunch of edges from the EVA foam mats that are roughly 1.5" wide and 24" long - too narrow to be useful for cosplay, but perfect for plugging gaps in frames.
Compressible foam = nearly airtight seal. Took some measuring and trial-and-error, but I eventually sealed almost all the cracks. It's not 100% airtight, and the rain seeps in a bit on the edges, but it's much nicer than before. Similarly, since the back door to the house wasn't seated in its frame properly, I made an extra wedge of EVA foam, cut a channel through half its thickness to run the electrical cord through, and glued it into place on the frame above the existing weatherstripping. You can't see it when the door is closed, and it keeps the thermal seal between the greenhouse and basement.
Unfortunately, the exhaust fan had no good way to mount on the 2x4 frame, and still be close enough to the vent to get direct airflow outside. And if there are gaps, then bugs can get in.... more problems. Nope, thermoplastics to the rescue again. I made an extension on the exhaust vent out of Worbla so there's a sealed airway from the fan to the vent, and a wooden frame to mount on the 2x4s that fit both the fan and the vent. Glued some netting onto the vent, and voila, problem fixed! Cut a hole in the sheeting, stuck the vent through, screwed it all down, and caulked the sheeting to the vent. Now smoke and fumes vent under the stairs, completely away from the HVAC unit.
This weekend was the test: it was cold, I'd finally gotten everything in place, and my gentleman wanted me to glue some figurines together, which required some very caustic adhesive. We popped the door open, turned on the exhaust vent, and got to gluing. Once done, we went to the net room over - no smell. Went upstairs - no smell. Went back to the craft room - no smell, and only a little bit of chilliness coming in, nothing like having a door open to the outside for half an hour. Even better, the gentleman came upstairs a bit later and asked if I had smelled anything: he'd gone out to smoke about an hour before. Nothing! Success! So now we have a nice little space for him to smoke out of the weather, and for me to keep crafting through the winter in. It's not necessarily pretty, but I'll take functional and spacious without complaint.
Final note: it's functional enough that I actually vacuumed the greenhouse after sealing it with the EVA foam, and it has stayed clean. I'm sure the sound confused the neighbors, but I'm equally sure I've done that enough times that they just shake their heads and move on.
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