Apache Forbidden Directory - CHMOD Not Working

[fmatin]

Hello!

I just made a LAMP server out of an old computer, Ubuntu 10.04. Everything is set up properly, or so I thought. Whenever I upload a file to the "public_html" folder via ftp, the permissions are reset so that it says "Forbidden" when I try to access it. Then I have to go in and either use chmod -R or use FileZilla permissions. Is there a way for me to just set it permanently?

Thanks!