Scyrn, Are you talkin' about my house? Our basement is just like yours and we have 4 Stairmaster machines down there in the winter. In the summer we haul them up (it takes a tractor and a chain-hoist to do so) and put them in the middle bay of the hay barn. It would be cooler (temps, not style) to keep them in the basement year round, but the view and fresh air are better in the barn. We move them in in October and out in May, as they need to be at least at 50F for the lubrication to work. I'm not going to tell you to paint anything (we haven't), but there are a couple of issues, primarily moisture and potential radon to think about. The radon you can test for. Keep in mind that when you are exercising you are spending more time there and also breathing more, so I wouldn't do this in any marginal situation, unless the radon was below the danger point. The moisture is another issue. Even if you have a poured concrete floor, if wasn't installed with a vapor barrier, you're still going to have rising soil moisture issues, in addition to the moisture from the undoubtedly unsealed basement walls. Moisture/humidity can be hard on the machines and also breeds its own problems with molds and mildews, which again, when you're exercising you'll be more exposed to by time and by the fact that you're breathing more. We have no vapor barrier under our concrete (yet), so we park the machines on rubber-backed mats (HD or Lowes, they look like that curly polypropolene doormat stuff, but are larger than door mats and have rubber --or more likely plastic -- backing), which protects their feet from rising moisture. It does nothing for the rest of the floor, though. We're in far northern NY, so we also have to heat the basement a bit to keep the machines happy in the deepest winter. We use quartz heaters or small box heaters. We figure the heat rises to the underside of the floor anyway (what isn't shed through the side of the exposed foundation, of course), so it's not too bad. Now, for the human experience: it's really great to have ex. machines so convenient to the living space. My husband works out on them before anything elese in the am, and all he has to do to go to the gym is walk down a flight of stairs. Beats getting in the car any day. If we kept the machines there year-round I would want to look into installing some of those tricky light wells to capture daylight and throw it around the room so it isn't so cavern-like. He has a TV and VCR there so that's what he watches. The other thing, is that even if we had the space, I would not want the tremendous weight of the machines upstairs. They're happier down on the concrete or out on the barn floor, which is made of hand-hewn oak 4 X 16 's that don't even shiver when we plunk the Gravitron down. If we ever did get good concrete down, I would consider painting that surface a light color, though. You also can buy snap together grids of a subfloor material which would allow a vapor barrier to be laid on top of the concrete, and in turn support the substrate for a finished floor of something like vinyl sheeting. We've considered it, but are still planning on removing the old concrete and having a modern floor poured, perhaps with radiant tubes to handle the heat needs of the machines. HTH, Molly~

The garage windows face front and it's a very pretty part of the house, and the side where it could be put through the wall is totally visible as part of our front yard, so we can't have a window or wall AC. Not sure that's even allowed in this association. Homebound, your idea is brilliant, thank you so much, that never occurred to us. We will either do that, or spring for the big $4000 unit that gldnfan endorsed. Gldnfan thank you for that info. Also, I wondered about those rolly ACs in the situation. Thanks all for your ideas, now we know we will build a real wall with a real door, and we have our two selections of AC to choose from. Will get back and let you know what we do and how it goes. Probably sooner than I think since DH wants to try to build the wall ourselves.

No one will ever finance a 1 bedroom home, which is what this is, without a much bigger down payment than most are willing to pay. The upgrades to make an agricultural building meet residential building code requirements results in a higher cost than planning a standard residential build in the first place. The metal siding is more costly than vinyl, and unless the building is sheathed and internally bframed properly, it won’t meet residential high wind bracing requirements. The spray on insulation for ag buildings is useless and won’t work for much higher and more involved residential R values, including the required vapor barrier system. The same with any of the windows supplied from an ag building supplier. Useless, with no R or U ratings with considering. Plus the need to add interior framing to support those required residential insulation and glazing and structural requirements. All add expense that is not there on a traditionally framed building that is designed to be code compliant from Day 1. This can be dine, of course. But the end result costs more money. It doesn’t save any money whatsoever over building a standard home. Unless someone is trying to build something that does not meet code requirements. You might as well go buy a chicken coop as do that. The whole point of building any home is to get something BETTER than you can buy that is already built. Otherwise, why do it? Better is more than just getting the 8 car garage that you need for your Yugo collection. You want your house to be better structurally built than a tract builder builds. Better insulation and windows, for a lower operating cost over its lifetime. Otherwise, what is the point to building a virtual hunting cabin that won’t keep you warm or cool and will give you a 1K per month utility bill if you try to keep it climate controlled? Not to mention will have condensation issues that result in rot and mold.

Here to the T5 and then to a 600 watt metal halide full spectrum, with mylar. I have experience with indoor lights. I was only going to grow it as an annual and save cuttings, but you can cut them to a stump and they'll still leaf out. I need a heated greenhouse. Apple of Sodom? Well, if they were eating them that would explain their rude behavior. It would be worse than eating artichoke silk.They do really use the sap for poison arrows. No fire and brimstone wilt come nigh my house! Here's a log of a member growing Calotropis from seed. She has since mysteriously dissapeared. And she's from Arkansas! It's good you kept the Impatiens. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4453958/growing-calotropis-procera-from-seed