i said it in my earlier post, but I will say it again. I would immediately walk based upon the quarry. As zone4newby pointed out, and as I tried to earlier, quarries can change. My own experience is another case where things changed. H and I did a great deal of due diligence prior to our last build. We checked the zoning of all the nearby properties within a couple of miles. We're in a semi-rural area. We made sure we understood exactly what could happen with each zoning classification. We thought we had it covered. What we did not know, and the county didn't tell us, was that years ago properties zoned for agriculture could dig rock (a quarry). Being new to the area, that was the question we did not think to ask. When the zoning changed some of those properties were grandfathered in to be quarries if need be in the future. None existed at the time of our build. Since then an old farm, a mile away, has discovered it contains a very specific type of rock needed to clean up some kind of superfund site in an adjacent county. This type of rock is some what rare. Five years ago or so, the lovely farm on the nearby hillside became a very active quarry. That first summer they ran rock crushers 24/7. We could not hear it inside but our neighbors did. We could not enjoy the outside that summer with the constant hum of the crusher a mile away. (Not across the street) It was quite the fight to get it stopped. Today,, at least once a week, we hear the blasting going on. It's pretty disturbing. Even concerns about a nearby watershed expressed by the county, the department of natural resources, the neighbors, etc. could not stop it because the rock was needed. BTW-if there is gravel, it's pretty likely they use a rock crusher.

Thank you all for your opinions. I especially love that you confirmed it would be okay. Don't think I can have too much of that fabric...it's a soft rayon blend chenille. Thanks for the ideas about pillows, too. Will be fun to look for coordinating fabric. If you run across any in your searches, please think of me. Olychick

Is this an area of flat ceiling that is 6'5" or does it slant down to 6'5" over part if it. In my location if the lowered portion is over counter areas or fixtures and not in areas where one walks, or is a soffit-type drop that doesn't involve the entire ceiling it is sometimes allowable, although 7' is the minimum ceiling height in kitchens and bathrooms in my location, technically. However I live in an area with extremely old and small housing stock where a kitchen and bath were often added as a lean-to type structure on the back of a house that originally did not have one. Alternately some very large houses with high ceilings (commonly 14') on the first floor were lofted with a kitchen above or below and a bath above or below the loft portion, resulting in two areas of ceiling height of about 6'6". These areas are grandfathered in terms of already preexisting conditions and the envelope is grandfathered allowing a remodeled kitchen or bath in the same space. (As long as the undersized structure is sound). I've done and seen done permitted remodels under these conditions. Because if they weren't permitted, lots of housing stock would be "uninhabitable" and the entire lot size would need to be changed in order to build currently fully compliant housing--many lots are too small to build something compliant. Brand new construction of multiple units often demands the demolition of say 5 houses and replacement with 4. I doubt my situation is applicable in many areas but the point is that existing conditions will be grandfathered locally. This would never fly in someplace like California for example So your locale may grandfather some preexisting conditions if they complied at some past time, to avoid the necessity of complete demolition of a portion of the house. (If the structure is sound, otherwise).

I wouldn't crush cans to use as ballast because water can get into the can and support all sorts of nasty bacteria and fungi that don't mix well with plants. Better would be empty soda bottles with the caps screwed on tight, or anything else that takes up space w/o holding water. Bricks make good ballast. If weight makes bricks a poor choice, think of old Tupperware turned upside down, or kids' plastic building blocks. Even overturned plastic pots are excellent at just taking up space. See figure D below. How much perlite is too much depends on what you're growing (some tendency toward fluoride toxicity in many cases - rinsing thoroughly and screening out the dust [use a mask] helps limit the amount of fluoride in perlite), what other ingredients make up the soil, how coarse it (the perlite) is, and whether or not you screened it. Al