Greenhouse

Absolutely beautifully built, Greenthumb. What a nice Christmas present you made for yourself! You are going to love being in it during the late winter/early spring, getting a head start on your growing season. It required lots of your time and hard work, but it should give you enjoyment for years. Take picture of the seedlings for us when you start to use it!

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

Wow you did an awesome job on that greenhouse.Looks great.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

applauding!!
looks wonderful—and the night shot – sweet.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

What a marvelous construction of a green house! The joy of doing it yourself saving a lot on costs must have given you a great satisfaction and a christmas gift, self earned. Now make use of it in the coming season and post plenty of projects to keep or monthly news letter alive. Wish you all a merry christmas and happy and prosperous new year.
Sharad

-- Bagwan-- “If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life”.-Albert Einstein

Thanks…..................I like it too.

At my age and at at this time of year, anything I really want for christmas, the person who likes me enough to buy it for me…...doesnt have that kind of money, and those who do have enough money, dont like me enough to buy it for me?

-- Central northish Ontario

wow! Your greenhouse looks sturdy and roomy.
Have fun!

-- Orchids77

WOW, again! Very nicely done. You are going to have so much enjoyment from this. We are all green with envy. :-)

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

Thanks. Its certainly sturdy but its not really that roomy being 7’ wide x 12’ long with a 9’ ceiling. next is a “boiler” for the shop/barn which will allow me to heat that greenhouse year round for pennies. Last night I found a good deal on a gas boiler, too good, like it fell off a truck and I already have the radiant tubing in the concrete floor and I bought a few cast iron radiators at an auction….................perfect.

I’ve always wanted to raise canary’s too….....might be perfect for that as well.

I really like it….................I sure wish the glass guy would install the roof vent so I could clad the exterior with copper and stop the leaks.

-- Central northish Ontario

Well done, Greenthumb. It certainly looks SOLID, and definitely will last a life time or more. You do good work. Thanks for posting the photos. Now all we need is some greenery … and canaries. :)

Have a great Christmas.

-- jroot

Thanks Jroot.

yes…..........plants and canaries

chickens are way too much work and way to hard on plants.

-- Central northish Ontario

Wow, that is really neat looking. I like this!

one piece of glass is missing, just one ceiling panel that is the “vent”. There is a 6” x 6” laminated beam down the center of the roof. When it rains….....it leaks a LOT. Then the wooden floor is wet…....arrrrrrggg.

I finally put up some temporary flashing but I sure wish “dude” would install that last peice because I cant flash the building until he does…................and its getting cold

-- Central northish Ontario

Thanks to Bob, I should have heat in my greenhouse tomorrow. He pointed me to Princess Auto that had a fan already fit to a heat duct, soooooo

I cut a hole through the shop wall into the greenhouse. Put together some heat ducting to capture the hot air on the shop ceiling, hooked the fan up to a thermastat…............and Bingo…......heat.

Thanks Bob !!!

-- Central northish Ontario

Greenhouse looks really, really good, eh… Makes me want to do mine sooner.. Still planning mine out though.

How’d you do the foam.. Call someone in, or do a DIY solution (around $350 from what I’d seen?)

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

the two part foam….........sorta tricky stuff and learned a few things…..I did the DIY.

It’s rate of expansion is dictated by ambient temperature and it was on the cold side so I did not get the square foot coverage I wanted. Working in a small room proved another challenge because I had to layer it, to fill the voids. Had I been a little smarter, a little wiser, more experienced I would have made the floor as a sealed unit by putting PT plywood on the very bottom….............I wasnt that smart.

The R7 per inch is impressive and no vapour barrier is needed but I live in Canada and the kit (wholesale, not retail) cost me over 600 bucks. Had I used blue rigid insulation my floor would have to been 12” thick, to get the same value.

-- Central northish Ontario

Things I would have changed given the chance to do it again.

Thermal pane tempered glass roof, instead of single pane tempered…..........

make the floor 12” deep and insulate it, instead of 9”

a bigger door to get in and out

-- Central northish Ontario

Greenthumb … wonderful greenhouse … I love the rustic look to it; fits your barn area and from what I remember your yard as well. As others have said it will certainly bring you many, many hours of enjoyment whether planting/raising seedlings or listening to those canary’s sing. Anxious to see the whole inside done and how you lay out everything. :-)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

Thanks GrandmaT

Oh the things I would change and right off the bat…..........I wish it was bigger. Bigger isnt always better but I wish it was bigger…....sigh. It’s been fun so far.

I had to insulate the glass roof with removable ridgid panels because there was just no way on Gods Green Earth that puppy was going to hold heat, at night, where I live, without buying a furnace. No way, so every day when the sun shines I remove the roof panels and every night I put them back in place. Seems a small price to pay for a headstart to the oncoming “green” season.

I put shelves around the perimeter but that didnt work. Although the greenhouse doesnt dip below 60F at night, the area right next tothe glass is way to cold so I ripped out the shelving, the brackets, and started over.

I already had a fair wack of 1/2” thick glass panels (free) so I made plywood blocks, enough for three shelves and put it right down the center but now I look and see that the sun doesnt shine through that plywood very good…............sigh !!. I think with my next paycheque I might purchase some steel shelving/wire racking cuz more sun gets through.

That said, I have many seedlings, all kinds of herbs, some veggies on the go, and I hope enough flowers to really make the gardens look…......beautiful.

-- Central northish Ontario

Green, awesome job. I wish I had one. I am jealous. If only I were as industrious and talented.. please show pics of plants!

-- Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.. shine on you crazy diamond