Greenhouse Restoration

[Parm]

I’m **Language**ing broken, this desk warrior did manual labour today

It’s hard bloody work

 

[premmington]

@Parm

Everybody I know aspires to a monster motorhome or a holiday home in Spain for retirement.

I really want greenhouse myself - following this thread with interest....?

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I really am... (the simple life)....

 

[Parm]

@Parm

Everybody I know aspires to a monster motorhome or a holiday home in Spain for retirement.

I really want greenhouse myself - following this thread with interest....?

-----------

I really am... (the simple life)....

Same as me, I have all I want, just need time to enjoy it

Greenhouse will be 5 star by the time I’ve finished with it

 

[premmington]

Same as me, I have all I want, just need time to enjoy it

Greenhouse will be 5 star by the time I’ve finished with it

I think I am gonna build one on the base of one of my old sheds - it is on a concrete pad - several rows of engineering bricks up to waist level - then build hard wood frame on top of it - then glaze it.

 

[gaz1]

with it being a rear fence its would be worth turning and moving 3-6ft to the right

then you can build a block wall at the rear leaving 2ft at rear of it for access then insulate that wall

that mean one set of glass is no longer needed then you can go down a few routes from there

our greenhouses are set in line like these not like the southern facing ones

note the double doors and also the cover over in winter note this is canda winter

for other ideas for collecting water and other things

 

[Parm]

with it being a rear fence its would be worth turning and moving 3-6ft to the right

then you can build a block wall at the rear leaving 2ft at rear of it for access then insulate that wall

that mean one set of glass is no longer needed then you can go down a few routes from there

our greenhouses are set in line like these not like the southern facing ones

note the double doors and also the cover over in winter note this is canda winter

for other ideas for collecting water and other things

Thanks for your advice, but it’s staying where it is, it works perfectly

 

[RichardM]

Ah ha - your council uses the same bin supplier . . . and the same lifting support on the back of the bin lorry, part way up the bin, flexing the do-dar out of the bin . . . and it's still your fault when the bin splits and it's you who pays for the new one . . .

Council replace ours when cracked, they have a bit on the website where you can order a new one.

@Parm I was going to say don't sneeze it may be the last straw. Did I read somewhere that glass was better for greenhouses than plastic glazing?

 

[DAPPH]

@Parm

Everybody I know aspires to a monster motorhome or a holiday home in Spain for retirement.

I really want greenhouse myself - following this thread with interest....?

-----------

I really am... (the simple life)....

Look on Freecycle s for a damaged aluminium one about 8X 12 . snip off the glass retaining spring clips and simply break off by overtightening the aluminium bolts . Stack removed sheets of glass in tens with three or four sheets of old news papers between the sheets and put them on some decent thick flat ply .

Work from the door Apex end , and ensure you have a platform to reach it in comfort from the inside you can WD 40 them to try & unscrew them but I found it not worthwhile I was busting more than I was able to undo .

If you have a makers name for it a new skirt & things like auto venting in the roof x two and one central low down on the north wall is useful fior when it gets hot . Get your self set up with a lightweight water fed extended cleaning brush to remove glasshouse shading ..if we get another summer like last year you need some that's for sure & a water fed brush is great for getting it all off in October

You might be able to get a complete glazing pack in horticultural glass for it , If you lucky and do your homework you can get a 10x 12 glass house with sliding end doors for less than half price of a new one.

Also if you go that route buy a few hundred extra long sheared off opposite one pair of corners 25 mm long glasshouse bolts that fit the channels . they are a god send for future things like staging and auto watering devices.

Years ago I got one from an OAP who wanted it cleared out the way as several panes were broken and the double roller doors were wrecked .
T'was a good investment ..never needed painting either but did get new spring clips for holding the glass in after power washing the erected frame to get rid of gunge .


Our current glass house is 17 yrs old , hopefully this year to see me through till I turn my toes up I'll remove all the glass a bit at a time and use a fine bead of silicone to bed the sheets back in as well use some new glass hooks & & all new clips clips to carefully seal the over laps ands top edge at the ridge against hard blow rain ingress. Some years the rain ingress caused blight ..... it was that bad

 

[DAPPH]

I think I am gonna build one on the base of one of my old sheds - it is on a concrete pad - several rows of engineering bricks up to waist level - then build hard wood frame on top of it - then glaze it.

You'll regret wood and the maintenance needed to make it last 12 years or more , that's why moved to aluminium over 30m years ago for the first one .

 

[Onoff]

Here's a mental idea I had...

I've stacks of old greenhouse glass, collected by the previous house owner. The ancient, already glazed, wooden greenhouse here is falling down and we're slowly getting rid of it.

I've recently gone and got one of my brother's cast off aluminium greenhouses as he's upgraded. It did have plastic panels but they're all knackered.

The obvious is to use the stack of glass to glaze the aluminium greenhouse but where's the fun in that?

So...3D print corner connectors and make a geodesic dome out of the stack of glass.

CT1 all the adjoing edges etc.

Should be self supporting right?

What could go wrong?

 

[James1979]

Here's a mental idea I had...

I've stacks of old greenhouse glass, collected by the previous house owner. The ancient, already glazed, wooden greenhouse here is falling down and we're slowly getting rid of it.

I've recently gone and got one of my brother's cast off aluminium greenhouses as he's upgraded. It did have plastic panels but they're all knackered.

The obvious is to use the stack of glass to glaze the aluminium greenhouse but where's the fun in that?

So...3D print corner connectors and make a geodesic dome out of the stack of glass.

CT1 all the adjoing edges etc.

Should be self supporting right?

What could go wrong?

Nothing??! Good idea. Be keen to see it finished

How non flexible is CT1? Reason I ask is that usually greenhouses have a bit of flex and the glass is held in with clips. Is that to allow for movement in the wind?

Or at I over thinking it and stiff will be fine?

 

[droopsnoot]

How non flexible is CT1? Reason I ask is that usually greenhouses have a bit of flex and the glass is held in with clips. Is that to allow for movement in the wind?

The end wall of my lean-to greenhouse does flex quite a lot in the high winds we've had over the last year or two, I've had to replace a couple of panes recently but they were held in place with the old-style mastic strip that's been in there for 30+ years. There is a single bracing piece across the wall, but I'm thinking of adding more - in one bout of "weather warning"-grade wind, I could see the wall flex and didn't want to stand near it. The lean-to covers the back door which is the main entry to the house, so I can't just not go in there when it's windy. I'm not sure whether making the frame stronger will make it worse or better in terms of glass loss.

I've also recently gathered some spare glass from a chap on a local freecycle or FB recycle group - he was getting rid of his greenhouse, so I picked up quite a few spares, though I didn't have quite as many when I got home (or more, depending on your point of view). I've also gathered old double-glazing units to strip and cut down before now, but I find it difficult to cut, perhaps because it's old glass and perhaps because it's 3mm.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Here's a mental idea I had...

I've stacks of old greenhouse glass, collected by the previous house owner. The ancient, already glazed, wooden greenhouse here is falling down and we're slowly getting rid of it.

I've recently gone and got one of my brother's cast off aluminium greenhouses as he's upgraded. It did have plastic panels but they're all knackered.

The obvious is to use the stack of glass to glaze the aluminium greenhouse but where's the fun in that?

So...3D print corner connectors and make a geodesic dome out of the stack of glass.

CT1 all the adjoing edges etc.

Should be self supporting right?

What could go wrong?

Should make an excellent build thread.

 

[Bornfree]

Greenhouses seem to be making a comeback around this way. People who you wouldn't think have any interest in gardening are putting them up. And interestingly they mostly have opaque glass/pvc.

 

[Seadog]

that's why moved to aluminium over 30m years ago for the first one .

Really?

 

[Keith 66]

I built a greenhouse about 15 years ago, concrete blocks to 2ft high, secondhand aluminium double glazing units & door above, topped off with polycarbonate roof.
Its done well but the sills are now going rotten so i may have to replace them at some point, It would be an idea to make it bigger while im at it!
Its good for the soul pottering in there with everything growing.

 

[James1979]

Greenhouses seem to be making a comeback around this way. People who you wouldn't think have any interest in gardening are putting them up. And interestingly they mostly have opaque glass/pvc.

So the feds can’t see what herbs are being grown

 

[Onoff]

Its good for the soul pottering in there with everything growing.

Actually very true and proven. I think some GPs are prescribing "gardening".

 

[Bullet2012]

Actually very true and proven. I think some GPs are prescribing "gardening".

ALao factor in the rising costs and recent supermarket shortages of certain veg

 

[prepman]

About 10 years ago I built a timber frame greenhouse, clad in plastic sheet and covered with a corrugated clear roof.

For the last 3 or 4 years it’s not been used and quite neglected and very heavily overgrown

With the chillies doing well it’s time to get it sorted and operational.

But first I needed to get to it

This is what I started with
View attachment 392719

Cleared up the patio section
View attachment 392721

Then found the pathway
View attachment 392720


I will clear the ivy and see what shape the greenhouse is in

Looks fine to me.....