In a 18 gallon swc which is what I use, I think 4 3.25" pvc supports will work just fine. Are you attacthing the supports to the bench or are you just tucking them in and filling with soil? Once the soil is in and wet that weight alone should hold down the supports pretty well. You might want to attatch the supports for good measure with some zip ties. And like you said the 5th would be your wick, just make sure you drill enough holes in it so it will wick well. As far as the soil goes I personally would stay away from the vermiculite. Instead I would use A1's 511 mix and add another part peat or two. Damon

OK, why would replacing the subfloor help? That is what I called the GC to see about doing and he said it would not help. I can not do that myself but did call a contractor to inquire. Apparently yes I have a high spot running the length of the house along the steel beam, which has not settled like the floor to one side (the livingroom). The floor to the other side does not appear to be sagging as much, but that is the side that had the fire and I believe the joists were probably replaced. The floor is NOT "perfectly" level beyond that, there appear to be some small dips that are very slight. Using a 4 foot level, not a 6 since I don't have one, I just placed it in about 3 other places and found no noticeable areas where the floor is not flat. Adding another layer of 1/4 in plywood would be fine, but there is no way to make that a smooth transition that I can think of since the new piece would create an even more abrupt change in level. Taking out the subloor along the beam might help but then it would be less than 1/2". It is 5/8" now, and if I reduced that by 1/4 inch, that would only leave 3/8", not enough to nail hardwood to, I don't believe. I would really rather not take up the first 3 rows that are face nailed, if at all possible. I have those nailed in straight to within 1/8" over a 16 1/2 foot run, including past a 6' opening, and that was a bit of a PIA to get to that point. I didn't know you could nail hardwood to leveling compound? My problem with filling the "dip" is that it is more of a permanent drop in the level of the floor beyond that point and I would have to increase it across most of the entire floor. There is actually a small "ramp" going up the hall past the bathroom on the opposite side of the steel beam, but that is also where a neighbor said the fire was. I believe the subfloor and probably even the joists were replaced after the fire on that side of the steel beam in 1994, but the joists and probably the subfloor on the livingroom side are original and date to 1960. I don't know what a fire or the process of putting out a fire can do to steel beams and joists. The house was fully inspected when I purchased it 10 yrs ago, and I still have the 20 page report. The structure was determined to be very sound. I have seen no evidence of movement in the house in the last 10 years, no big cracks or even increasing numbers of small cracks, in ceilings or walls, and what I can see of foundation looks OK. Windows open and close fine, etc. I guess if the contractor I called doesn't feel it will help, I am a little uncertain about where to go from there. I am sure I can find someone who would do what I ask, but are you sure it will help? Why won't the new sub floor just assume the same position over a short period of time? Here is a photo of the layout with the flooring direction. The flooring is being laid perpendicular to the joints, parallel to the steel beam. I am trying to install hardwood through the livingroom and kitchen and started along the wall that divides the two. I plan to reverse the boards using a spline to install the kitchen side. At this point, I plant to start the kitchen tomorrow and put this aside until I can figure out the correct thing to do. When the kitchen floor is in, I can at least proceed with my remodel and have the new kitchen installed. In the meantime, I will need to figure this out and thank you all for your help so far and hope you can help me resolve this. Sue

absolutely , envelope via relief cuts, any size tile can be used w planning

the simple answer is yes. it will help maintain both pressure and water volume but hooking up a drip system will require either a pressure regulator or a pressure regulated dripline.