Greenhouse -more progress - I think I'm done!

[Southern Gardener]

Here it is.

Overkill on the lumber IMO!!!

And here are all of our plants squished in! I'm going to put down gravel and dad and I are going to build shelves. We are expecting rain for the next three days and temps below freezing so I had to hurry and get them in before it starts. I wouldn't recommend this purchase to anyone - it's cheap and I'm afraid if we get high winds it will blow away. I'm going to silicone in the panels at some point. It will do for now I guess, but I'd like to have a bigger and better one in the future.

 

[nachoqtpie]

We've decided that once we get to our forever home that we are going to put in a greenhouse. We get these GREAT books about how you can DIY a lot of things, and how to build things and etc, and I was SO excited because it had a greenhouse in it, but it was one from a kit. :-/
It does LOOK nice, but, I hate it when things are built more for looks than for durability.

 

[digitS']

It looks great, Joan!

Why don't you get some auger-style posts for tie downs?

Braided nylon ropes would probably add a lot to your confidence with having that nice little addition in your yard!

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

I have a tunnel greenhouse in which there are corkscrew type things that are screwed into the soil to hold it down. Perhaps you can find such an item and use it to hold down your greenhouse. It does look pretty. Another idea I had is to drill holes through your wooden frame and pound rebar into the soil. I have had good luck with Greenhouse Megastore. They were extremely helpful when I needed directions for installing my greenhouse that I bought used. I hadn't even purchased anything from them.
I did take down the plastic on the tunnel when we had a hurricane last August.

 

[lesa]

I think it looks fabulous! I am sure in your zone this will work out great! Jackb has something similar, up here in the frozen tundra- and he has great luck with it! I agree with others about figuring some way to tie it down- but it looks lovely and I am sure you will love it!

 

[Southern Gardener]

Well, I'm not worried about the frame blowing away, it's anchored to the 2x12's and the 4x6's. We'd have to have a hurricane to lift those. It's the panels blowing out that concerns me. I'm going to silicone them in like I mentioned, but there was no time. The wind is kicking right now and the panels are still in place so I guess thats good. I had to use some duct tape to keep the vents closed.

The temps next week are supposed to fall aroud 28 degrees - anyone think I'll need a heat source?

 

[nachoqtpie]

This may be a bit off topic... but since you mentioned heat source, I found the most INGENIOUS little "solar heater" on Pintrest today!

Here's the original post. It's quite innovative really! I thought about maybe doing something like this if/when we get a chicken coop up! It's not like its SUPER cold here, but I think this might just do the trick.

 

[dickiebird]

SG thats simular to a Horrible Freight one I have. On mine the panels are held in with wire clips and there wern't enough to keep them from blowing out. In fact they blew out a couple times, I'd find them and reinstall, each time with fewer clips.
I had the instructions and there was a parts list and phone # to order parts. They were't too expensive so I ordered a bag and doubled up on all the panels. I think they cost about $15.00 with shipping Haven't had a panel blow out since.
On mine it was quite a chore to get some of the clips in the top panels, but I made it.

THANX RICH

 

[Southern Gardener]

dickiebird, yep there were not enough clips for mine either and some pieces were missing. The guy that put it together for me went to HF and got the missing parts. I think I will order more clips.

 

[jackb]

I have had mine for five years now. It just survived hurricane Irene. We lost a whole village and people lost homes, the greenhouse took in about a cup of water because I did not close the vent completely. Last winter I had snow more than half way up the sides and had no problems. I used four foot sections of rebar pounded into the ground and fastened to the pressure treated base by large U shaped electrical brads. I just purchased another unit when they were last on sale, just to keep for spare parts. I think at some point I may replace all of the panels, and I thought it would be less expensive to buy a complete unit than to purchase the panels separately. It is a lot more durable than you apparently think it is.
Jack B.

Note: The heater is the small white box on the floor in the center.

If you decide to go with rebar, available at Home Depot, I would recommend that you drill a hole, the same size as the rebar, through the bottom 2 x 6 snug to the 4 x 4, and fasten to the 4x4 on the inside. It will NEVER blow over.
Just a thought.