I see this is an old thread, but in answer to the original question, yes the wire will girdle the roots and kill the trees; I have first hand experience in Central CA and about 16" annual rainfall. Galvanized wire does not readily rot out...not for years and after 15 years at my place it's still there. Plain steel wire in the necessary thin gauge is hard to find as poultry mesh. Note there may be some species that can create new tissue around the wire but I have never seen a list and don't have the time to experiment. I have seen trees grow around barbed wire fences but I have never cut one in-section to see if the tree's phloem actually healed over the wire or if it just looks that way and since the wire was straight it did not ring-bark the tree. For sure we lost our apricots and walnuts. I have one large sycamore (no basket) next to three stunted sycamores (with baskets). When we realized this was happening to the fruit trees, we carefully dug around 1/2 the tree to the wire basket and carefully cut the wire around the roots. Then we waited for a season for healing the disturbed 1/2 and then cut the other side. All in all it seems a day late and a dollar short because the orchard growth stalled. We now plant new trees in oversized holes lined with thin, 1" concrete pavers, extending a couple inches above the top of the soil while being careful to make sure no holes larger than 1/2-3/4" exist between the pavers. It seems to be working extremely well. We have not had any issues with gophers jumping over the top but if we do we will simply place something on top of the soil around the tree. Our theory is this: Once a paver is buried in the ground, it's very difficult or impossible to move without a large enough hole created by the gopher to allow it to shift. We surmise gophers can't think the mechanics through and are not generally that lucky to stumble upon the solution. I suppose if the gopher chose to make it's primary burrow right next to the pavers, one could fall out of place. The tree root, however, can get through the holes between the pavers and slowly push the paver out of the way as it grows without being ring-barked/girdled. I think of roots growing under and buckling a sidewalk to visualize the power of a root. To date, we have had great luck and no girdled trees. So, what about cost? Well, the argument that a hundred dollar hole might make a thousand dollar tree and a 10 dollar hole might kill it is a good one. I happen to have a ready-supply of paver off-cuts and rejects to keep my cost down. We have speculated about what to do to keep the costs down and have thought of many alternate ways while keeping the original concept intact: a lined hole where roots can grow through the liner but gophers cannot get at the young tree to do their damage When the day comes for me to make a hole and line it with something different than pavers to save money, I plan to try this one first as a cost-saver: Dig an oversize hole with sloped walls. Mix up some inexpensive fence-post mix, or stucco, or a home made mix (add some extra sand to make it go farther –it can be a weak mix). Make it a stiff-mix and line the hole with the mud, making an in-ground bowl, more or less. Then cut or score deep lines in the firm mud in a large grid (6"?) so as to allow the bowl to break to bits once dry. Now poke holes through the mix where the lines cross; it's these holes that will serve as drainage and for the roots to grow out of so be sure they go all the way through. We thought of pounding in wood stakes while the bowl set up for awhile and removing prior to back-filling the hole. We speculate, too, that if it were a really weak mix ( 1 part cement to 10 or 12 parts sand) that poking a bunch of holes in the mud is all that would be needed (no scoring lines) and the tree would win the day at time of breaking. None of what is done in making the lined hole needs to be pretty, it just needs to confound the gophers and allow the tree to bust-its-way out. It's labor intensive, like the pavers, but no too costly on materials. The hole can be filled with soil when wet, and the tree thus planted, too, so it should be fairly fast. Again, you can cap the buried bowl with wire if your gophers like to travel over-land. One component I would like to add would be sprinkling something on the fresh mortar to counter the change in PH while the bowl cures underground; perhaps acidic Redwood mulch? What other ideas are out there? How about up-cycling flattened tin cans from the recycling bin and lining the hole and letting them compost? If anyone has an idea on how to make a lined hole where roots can grow through the liner but gophers cannot get at the young tree to do their damage, I'd love to hear it!

Construction grade plastic (used to cover your windows?) is not designed for prolonged use outdoors under strong UV light. It will break down very quickly and need replacing very quickly whether you inflate or not. Greenhouse grade poly has UV protection in it to prevent it from breaking down so quickly. My poly is 6 mil which is plenty thick and sturdy. Farmtek sells a greenhouse film, with UV inhibitors that is comparable to what I use. The 5.2 oz sample you tried is not appropriate for greenhouse covering. It is for roll up curtains. Do yourself a favor and use poly designed for greenhouses and for growing plants, no matter what other techniques or methods you eventually decide to go with. There are other advantages, in addition to those already mentioned -They diffuse the light which gets it to the bottom leaves of plants more effectively and filters out UV which reduces the chance of scorching leaves inside the gh. Also, greenhouse poly doesn't tear as easily as construction grade plastics. It can be easily repaired if it happens to get punctured for whatever reason with patching tape made specifically for gh poly. Patching is also easier when the sheet is nice and taught, as it would be if inflated. The method you are describing, hanging one layer below the rafters was addressed and commented on in a post about a year ago. To do this requires a lot more labor than the traditional method of inflating two layers. In the inflation method, both layers of poly are laid on top of the structure and only fastened around the edges. Then air is pumped in between, creating a pillow of air with all the advantages described above-with no need for mesh. Every time you puncture the plastic, you create a weak point. Nailing though lath, which is how I understand you plant to attach the poly, will create lots of weak points along the rafters underneath. The lath will also be tricky to remove and reuse in subsequent reskins. BTW- When securing the poly with lath along the edges, roll the poly around the lath twice. This will help transfer the holding power from the nails to the entire edge of the lath and make it much more secure. It will also help create a more air tight seal for inflating : ). For a future upgrade from lath, I recommend the "wiggle" or "zig zag" wire system. Once the base extrusion is installed, it is very easy to attach and remove the poly. You can easily retrofit this system anytime you reskin. For small jobs and for quick installation, I still use 1/2" staples and batten tape to fasten poly to wood. Considering that you may even be able to get 5 to 10 years of life out of good poly, you may not even need to change to glass or plexi. Both of those have considerable disadvantages to inflated poly IMHO. The upgrade to make would be to polycarbonate as mentioned by tsmith earlier. I did some quick math: at 18" spacing a 2x 4 on edge (1.5 inches) will create up to 9% shade if you include the end rafters in the calculation. That is significant shade right off the bat! The effect would only be amplified during the winter when shadows might be wider/longer and the sun is not nearly as strong nor the days nearly as long as the summer. The movement of the sun will not have much if any effect on the overall shadow/shade effect. Nearly every plant will experience close to 100% shade for a short period of time, several times a day (for each rafter shadow). Also the wire mesh: I calculated that 14 gauge welded wire mesh with 2 inch openings would add another 5% or so shade. F. DeBaggio

aww I'm sorry your contractor is an a$$. I agree with others to a) have a lawyer look over your contract, and b) stand your ground - HE works for YOU - you're the employer - and as long as you let him push you around, he will. Our GC has been pretty good but when times like these came up (charges we didn't feel we were responsible for) we spoke up immediately - and he backed down. On another note, I don't really understand why any electrician can't do a job because there's a ceiling in place. Electricians do wiring with all the walls up all the time - it's just cutting holes in the plaster (for the lights) and fishing wires. Since the walls are down, it's all the more easier. It's not AS easy as if the ceiling was down, but it's not a dealbreaker by any means. (My DH did the wiring for our entire house during this reno - just yesterday he was fishing wire from the basement to the foyer b/c the alarm company forgot to run one for the siren - duh.) Anyway if this electrician is your GC's guy, then tell GC to either find another one or to tell this guy to stop being lazy. I'd request a meeting between you and the electrician and the GC to have them explain to you why taking down the ceiling is necessary. Because based on what you've told us (no crazy weird wiring going on) I don't get why he can't do it.

BTW: I hope you're planning on saving and probably reusing those doors. They are worth a fortune as are those gorgeous door knobs.