Jey_l, and Belgianpup, thank you for your input. I do need the help with figuring the best options for restoring this building to my purposes. When we moved here about 4 years ago, the structure was filled almost to the brim with the remains of the old roof, broken tree limbs, roof pieces, leaves, and those danged sweetgum balls. The pile of debris they hauled to the street was awful, and also included several old a/c window units and car parts and shingles and nails galore. Thankfully, the city trash dept took pity on me as a little ole lady, and picked it all up with no extra charges. I never saw how the roof was constructed, but I think it was a shed style which sloped toward the back, based on the lower rows of blocks toward the back. At that time, the lot had a fence on the old property line which was less than a foot from the back wall, which was the eastern side. And on the south end, it was about 5 to 6 feet from the other property line. This last year, we purchased another 25 feet of land from the neighbor behind us. This has allowed us to install a new 7' tall privacy fence around 3 sides of the new land, and we are planning to remove all of the old chain link running behind the building...but not until it cools off. No way would we be able to get close to the back of the garage any other way. We also had several trees cut down, and I mean they were big ones--4 pines 100 feet tall, 1 big water oak, and the sweetgum which was intent on destroying the building. We did not grind the sweetgum stump, but will let it rot naturally in a few years. But when we break up the cement slab inside the garage, we will then cut out as much of the root as we can and fill in to avoid a foundation problem in the future. I have the old spring loaded garage door opened to its fullest (faces west) and have propped it up with two of the cypress louvered "screen" doors we salvaged from our river house destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. I think this allows better air circulation, and improves the look of the garage somewhat. Belgianpup, I am puzzled by your assessment that it is not well oriented as a greenhouse. What orientation would any greenhouse need if added to this garage? I do not want to add more footprint of any structures to our lot, so I can retain the shaded area behind the garage. I guess when I say "greenhouse" all I mean is a plant safety area, which can all year long house any humidity and heat loving plants, including bromeliads, large container plants which like shade, equally large ones which like sun, but are somewhat tropical in nature. If it is considered a "conservatory" would that make it different from a greenhouse? I do need desperately a cozy place for my big plants, in containers, because our little cottage does not have room for them. And I would like to allow my two parrots to spend quality time inside this place during the winter out of the cages so they might exercise by flying. All trees surrounding the property are on the east and south sides of the garage. Only the small pecan trees on the east are ours, with the trees on the south being in our neighbor's yard. During the winds a few weeks ago, a really huge limb fell across our fence from the neighbor's water oak, which has much rot along its trunk and major branches. I expect more will fall in the future. Help me work out which direction to orient the gables on any new garage roof. If I stand with my back to the street and face the garage, I will be looking at the FRONT of the building. If I hold out my LEFT ARM, it will point NORTH. If I hold out my RIGHT ARM, it will point SOUTH. Mobile is at latitude 30 degrees north, all trees to the east and south are deciduous trees. There are no trees to the WEST which will affect the exposure, because they are all across the street--but they are primarily live oaks and pines, which retain all leaves winter and summer. Our house does create some shade in the late afternoon, but it does not fall across the garage at any season. The roof I was wanting to build would have its gable ENDS facing East and West, so there would be a chance to make the south roof into Lexan panels. Either total Lexan, or standing seam metal alternating with Lexan. I could also make it a LOW SLOPE and cover the proper roofing materials with plants on this south facing side. I think that would help cool the interior, but how about light inside? Could I still put some Lexan panels in a few places while keeping live plants on the roof? Then I would also KICK UP HIGH the other half of the roof, the part which faces NORTH. It would not intersect the south half of the roof covered with plants, but would be up high enough that I could have a lofted ceiling on the interior, and a wall of Lexan windows PERPENDICULAR TO THE OTHER HALF OF THE ROOF...and it is that wall of windows which would connect the two parts of the roof. In the winter it would bring in a lot of light there, and it would be mostly shaded much of the summer. Beneath the high half of the roof, sitting on the cement slab, I want to put in a 15 x 9 x 4 foot deep Endless Pool. No permit required if it is above ground. I figure this would help humidify the interior for my plants. It could also be part of the radiant heat source in the winter, right? Ok, another thought for the south part of the roof. Would it be a good mounting surface for solar panels if not plants on the surface? Or should I just reserve the main house roof which faces south for the solar panels? That portion of the house is in the sun almost from dawn to dusk. Even in winter, it is sunny because of the deciduous leafless trees. The other option for the roofing is to put the gable ends oriented north and south, so the flat portions of the roof face east and west. This will make the building look like an Irish stone cottage, which is a great thing. But by doing the roof this way, all chance of solar panels would be scotched. And planting the roof would be an iffy deal. It would give a lot of head room for the interior , but no way to have a loft with an elevated platform to expand the usable space. Other than the Irish cottage effect, I do not like this roof setup. Note: the INTERIOR FLOOR dimensions are 273 inches WIDE or 22'9" on the wall with the swingup door. 223 inches DEEP or 18'7" front to back This does not include the thicknesses of the cement block walls. I appreciate your help with the optimization of this little building. In our small city lot, it consumes a lot of valuable realestate, and I want it to pull its weight by contributing to our enjoyment of our space. We are getting too old to do all the heavy work ourselves. But we truly want to continue involvement in gardening activities winter and summer. I can see a small window a/c at least kicking the oppressive heat down a notch, or enough that we and our plants can have a chance to thrive. Jey_L, I will upload a few more pictures when I find them. My photos are organized by year/month taken. You ask about the way the blocks step down from front to back. Both side walls are the same, staggered. And the back wall is low all the way across. I do not think we want to keep that setup, but will build the wall heights up and equal all around. The tree roots lifted up a big chunk of the slab about 4 inches above its normal position. I think that will need to be dug out to remove the old tree roots, before we pour more cement to increase the foundation depth. None of the wall perimeter seems to have sunk, so I do not think we have to mess with that. And while my DH is very experienced with cement construction (he is a retired engineer), we would need to hire out the work. Thanks all, for your time and thought. And I put a canvas gazebo inside the garage a year ago to try heat abatement, but it did not help. In the far left is a portion of the crack in the wall due to tree roots lifting the foundation and slab in that area.

Steve, Thank you, the first time I'll get a chance will likely be a couple days from now, but I'll happily post them then! Patty, You're unreal. Don't know what more to say. Well, that and thank you. :) Just when I think I'm ready to plant, I feel like I'm singing the old folk song again, "There's a hole in the bucket," (dear Liza, dear Liza...) Home Depot didn't have the Osmocote Plus as Scott's advertised; did have the Miracle Gro Shake 'n Feed® Continuous Release Citrus, Avocado, & Mango Plant Food, but thankfully you had forewarned me! I found it at another local place though. Woo-hoo!!! Grabbed a couple. Does this have a shelf life? Wondering if I should invest in more. Also, for anyone interested in bulk, saw this after I bought the smaller 4.5 lb jugs of Osmocote Plus: www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/osmocote-plus-15-9-12-fertilizer

Windowsonwashington does the 17:1 mean that we have 17 days that we have to heat the house for every one day we have to cool the house? I've been doing some research on passive solar but a lot of the information I have found has been for warmer climates. Do you know of some websites I might find useful? I found some thermal shades that go on the inside that allow you to still see out. Do those work? I've been looking at the plan a little more and trying to figure out it I put the point of the triangle due west then the windows would be more northwest and southwest. Would that help do you think? Also once I put the fireplace on that wall that only leaves two windows 3 feet wide by 6 feet tall on the northwest wall. Thanks so much for everyone's help. It is so hard to balance our view lot with the sun.

Our new home will be west facing, as well, in Texas. I deliberately chose this orientation because we're building a tract home and selected the floor plan first. But... And it's a big but.... The garage, entry/foyer, and one small room face west. I wanted to minimize western exposure, because our current rental has a backyard/dining/powder/master that faces west, and it's pure torture. It is super important to me that the kitchen, dining, and living all face south for maximum light throughout (our current northern living spaces are depressingly dark), and I gotta have all of the bedrooms face north (bedrooms are only used for beds and clothing storage, no toys). West-facing living areas or sleeping areas are a total deal breaker for me. Since I rejected the other lots, the sales associate opened up another section of the neighborhood for me. Would that be an option for you, by any chance?