walapini

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Lily left the valley
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walapini

Post by Lily left the valley »

One of my dreams is to build a walapini. For folks who have no idea what the heck that is, it's a partially underground green house. Here's an example:
Image

The best thing for building such is to do so where the glass wall is facing south. Our property is pretty perfectly lined up with the backyard being on the south. We also have a jut out currently from the cellar which is part of what made me think that maybe, maybe we could build a walapini right up against the house there.
Image

My idea is that we'd fit the walapini against the left side, and continue the roofline down with glass. I know we're going to need, at the very least, an engineer who can tell me if digging out the side opposite the foundation might compromise the foundation or not. If so, I'm hoping that we can reinforce it somehow, as I would love the idea of being able to walk right into the greenhouse in the winter from the cellar, regardless of how much snow is on the ground.

So we're not looking to do this anytime soon, but it is high on my "want" list.

There is a professional farmer in CT who has a few, so I know it's not too insane for this far north. There's also a fellow in the midwest who has an extensive walapini system and even grows citrus year round. Finding that was one ray of hope for me.
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Manalto
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Re: walapini

Post by Manalto »

Nice idea. I've been in a few but never realized they were called walipini - sounds Italian. Sinking the structure into the ground takes advantage of the insulating properties of the Earth and reduces heat loss. Placing against the house will help even more, and make the option of supplemental heating simpler and less expensive. It may be, for optimal performance, that the angle of your roof should correspond to your latitude.

ETA: "The word ‘Walipini’ means ‘place of warmth’ in the Aymara language of an indigenous Bolivian tribe." (from the 'net)

James

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Re: walapini

Post by Lily left the valley »

Manalto wrote:Nice idea. I've been in a few but never realized they were called walipini - sounds Italian. Sinking the structure into the ground takes advantage of the insulating properties of the Earth and reduces heat loss. Placing against the house will help even more, and make the option of supplemental heating simpler and less expensive. It may be, for optimal performance, that the angle of your roof should correspond to your latitude.

ETA: "The word ‘Walipini’ means ‘place of warmth’ in the Aymara language of an indigenous Bolivian tribe." (from the 'net)

James

Yes, there is a formula you can use to figure out the optimal slope of the roof line based on your latitude. That's one of the things I'd discuss with said engineer if it would mean altering our current.

Our roof is actually interesting because the last time the roof was done, they only did the front. So the back (south)

I had read a long time ago about their origin, but now you've reminded me. :-)
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Willa
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Re: walapini

Post by Willa »

I found a very excellent one on Old House Dreams I think. It looks like a nice place to hide out in:

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Lily left the valley
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Re: walapini

Post by Lily left the valley »

Willa wrote:I found a very excellent one on Old House Dreams I think. It looks like a nice place to hide out in:
Interesting. It doesn't appear that they are growing any plants there, although it does look like there may be some container plants and ivy around the mantel(?) in the rear.

I wonder if this was originally a root cellar and they altered it, but looking at it it may be that it was intended to be a conservatory or sun room.

I can't quite make out what it says on the placard outside the door--not sure if it would help if I could.
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Willa
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Re: walapini

Post by Willa »

That looks like more of a Pinterest lady hide out, as it is now, than a space that is used for growing or potting. The structure itself looks older, so it may have started life as a walapini, proper. I seem to recall the property it was on was a pretty funky b&b type place, so this was definitely "repurposed" space.

I thought it was interesting the way that it was set into the slope. Prior to your use of the term I had never heard the word walapini, nor have I ever seen one in person. I guess they would be more common in hillier places.

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Lily left the valley
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Re: walapini

Post by Lily left the valley »

Willa wrote:That looks like more of a Pinterest lady hide out, as it is now, than a space that is used for growing or potting. The structure itself looks older, so it may have started life as a walapini, proper. I seem to recall the property it was on was a pretty funky b&b type place, so this was definitely "repurposed" space.

I thought it was interesting the way that it was set into the slope. Prior to your use of the term I had never heard the word walapini, nor have I ever seen one in person. I guess they would be more common in hillier places.
Willa, I first found out about them through an article on Treehugger. It seemed a really interesting idea, so I started researching them. Before that, I had looked into regular above ground greenhouses some, as well as smaller scale cold frames. Some folks call walapinis solar cold frames.
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Re: walapini

Post by phil »

I knew what a Walapini was after I looked it up yesterday. I thought it was a type of sausage before that;-)

attaching it to the house makes it an addition I dont' know about there but here the city uses aerial photos and just overlays them to see who built additions and they will send out the vultures. An unattached building or what might be considers a portable building is a lot easier to just go ahead and build and I dont think you need a permit for a dent in the ground. I guess You'd need to observe setbacks and things. It might cause some rot issues for the house? it would probably work well , a bit like a root cellar. I'd build it separate and call it a shed even if it's just a gap unless you want a really permanent structure with foundations and inspections. If you want to take on a serious addition you could.. its just gets more expensive.

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Re: walapini

Post by Lily left the valley »

phil wrote:I knew what a Walapini was after I looked it up yesterday. I thought it was a type of sausage before that;-)

attaching it to the house makes it an addition I dont' know about there but here the city uses aerial photos and just overlays them to see who built additions and they will send out the vultures. An unattached building or what might be considers a portable building is a lot easier to just go ahead and build and I dont think you need a permit for a dent in the ground. I guess You'd need to observe setbacks and things. It might cause some rot issues for the house? it would probably work well , a bit like a root cellar. I'd build it separate and call it a shed even if it's just a gap unless you want a really permanent structure with foundations and inspections. If you want to take on a serious addition you could.. its just gets more expensive.
Some places will still up the property value for sheds /garages/workspaces. We'd be doing it by permit, so the vultures would be notified no matter what.

The reason I'd get the engineer's two copper is so we have less concern over leaks, foundation shift, etc. I'm also fairly certain because we'd be digging down, we'll have to take precautionary measures in case there's an old septic or cistern too.

Convenience of winter entry combined with the increased north facing insulation are why we'd want to put it against the home. We also have a problem in that our property is not very large, and the tall trees in the backyard are primarily clustered in the south side, so there's only so far down we could put the walapini without risk of being in too much shade from the evergreens.

I have read cases where folks had to be very careful about the build stage (and sometimes after) of their walapinis because it's just like having an in-ground pool (huge pit in the ground). Since you have those angled walls of glass that are often easy that some kids could climb on (and fall through), that's been at issue for some folks too. Here in Gardner, any pool that isn't a 3' kiddie pool has to have a fence around it. Even if you have a large inflatable pool, they still require at least a temp fence for when the pool is full of water. It doesn't matter if you do not have children in these cases. Insurance can also play into this as well. I mentioned the walapini to our insurance agent, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I'll have to send her some links to sites when we get closer to having funds to make this a reality.
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Re: walapini

Post by phil »

I'm sure it could be sealed so it didn't send humidity in to the house. they might make you do some digging to verify how the soil is or if you hit hardpan. any big tree roots would have to be removed so they don't lie under the new foundation. maybe a heavy screen or fence could keep anyone away from the glass. I kind of wonder if maximizing the house size might increase it's value, whereas a greenhouse might not? sure you could pull your own permit and build the forms etc. I have a neighbor that bought one of those costco greenhouses. it looks like an aluminum structure with glass panels. I think that would be a lot cheaper though maybe not really what you want. I think they might be tempered glass. maybe having big windows facing the back would be ok. I know here they look at the size and number of windows facing your neighbors and they won't let you put too many facing a neighbor. My neighbor had to change their plan but i think it was because it was a fire concern with our houses being fairly close rather than a privacy byaw. you could check if sewer or gas lines are in the way. I kind of think maybe you'd be into buying a bunch of tempered glass panels. I doubt you can just use plate glass so that might be an extra expense.

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