Question for anyone with a Rion re: doors

I've had my Rion for 6 years now and have never really figured out a good way to hold the doors open -- does anyone have any clever ideas for this, other than propping them open with a stick or a brick or something (which is what I've been doing) ?

Sorry no help here, I just prop mine open with a pot. lol

I also use a pot but thought about burying a tube (vertically) to use a stick vs digging little holes in my yard. I wonder also if you could install the same type of opener on the tops of most screen doors that let's you keep it open.

Well, I guess it kind of helps me to know I'm not the only one just propping them open (mentally, anyway). Mine is sitting on railroad ties so I've been thinking about drilling a hole to put a stake in, kind of like the idea about the tubes... seems like they might have designed something in to hold the doors, open, doesn't it!

For as much as it cost, you'd think! lol

Anothe idea would be to drill a hole on the top front side and install a hook & eye latch on each side with the "L-shaped" hook on the doors outter front upper corners (if that makes sense) . Probably just as cheap, easy and concealed as the tube in ground.

That sounds like it might even look like it was meant to be that way, LOL!

My DH put a hook in the wood base and I used a bungee cord. Works to keep it open, but on windy days the stretchy cord stretches and the door rattles and bangs against the GH. I stopped using the cord, and went back to using a big old capstone. My old GH, which was cheaper, had sliding doors. I like that set up a lot better. Maybe the folks at Rion will come up with a solution. It seems to be a universal problem with Rion owners.

In looking at mine last night I realized the hook and eye would need to be further down on the outside edges given the side walls aren't as tall as the doors themselves. Maybe use a door stopper to prevent the banging. I'll have to investigate this for myself this weekend.

I use a brick too, or whatever bag of potting soil is handy.

My bungee cord was a long one.

Maybe we should all send a picture to the Rion company of what we're doing to hold the doors open -- would that give them the idea that they need to do something different?

Sounds like a plan. Maybe we should have a contest to see who has the most innovative way of keeping the doors open.

That can be fun (and helpful to others), Pastime. I'll lay claim to my hook/eye idea. If I get time to do/test it out this weekend (between my classwork and finals studying), I'll post pictures. :-)

I'll have to buy a new bungee cord also. I didn't use it last year and the old one is rotten. I still use bungee cords on the inside to keep the windows from slamming shut should a big wind come up. I don't trust those little slots in the window handles to hold. I have the automatic openers, but never installed them. It was my experience with a different GH that the automatics didn't close fast enough when there was a sudden weather changed. The wind was stronger than the hydraulics and they broke. That's what happens when you live in the middle of open corn fields.

A new technique would be most welcome. Those heavy cap stones are a real pain to move around while bending over. My aching back!

I am in agreement with eveyone that with the money we all spent on our Rion greenhouses that the company would have included some sort of door openers. Or at least gave some sort of easy cheap ideas of how to keep the darn things opened.

Like the others I have ceramic pots in wrought iron stands that I prop up against my doors. They will sure look better when there are some plants in the pots.

I am wating to see what everyone comes up with to solve the problem

Please show us with some pictures.

Thanks
Amos

I have you all beat. I have a concrete pellican and a penquin. I use them on the doors.
They look cute and they are easy to move. I kept falling over the bricks, the bungie cords did nothing for me since I had no long ones.......I wonder why Rion never thought of the door problem. They retain so much heat you just must open the doors in the warm weather. Also, I use a big fan in front of the vent to move the air around. Plus a small clip on at the workbench. No way can I take that 90 deg. heat inside and outside. LOL

Our weather has been so crazy this year I have really been having a problem keeping the temperature and humidity at the proper levels. Temp dropped 20 deg. last night and the heater went on again. Thank God. Happy Mothers Day to all you Rion people. JB

At the local hardware store (not a chain), there is a bracket that is sold for holding the old wood storm windows open. I used one on a storm door when the kids were little because their running in and out and the door banging drove me nuts. It has a hinge at each end that screws to the frame and simple latch in the middle where it bends. IF I can remember, I'll look for one this week and take a picture.

" The other side is a old bbq pit."

LOL -- we really need something better!

Yesterday the heat was opressive at 93 deg. and I had the doors proped open and the vent opened and two fans on. The winds picked up due to a cold front coming thru and the CONCRETE PELICAN BLEW DOWN, the wind got behind the door and blew the panel out. What a mess. So omuch for the concrete Pelican. I need to get a BBQ pit. LOL.

BBQ pit, that is too funny.

I'm glad ya'll got a laugh.

Wind and Rion doors do not mix. I've had my whole left door blow off it's hinges and caused a crack in the door frame on it's way off. The little pin at the top of the left door does not defy gravity and always slips down leaving the door vulnerable to a sudden wind. I rarely open that door, except to bring in and out large containers. What do other people do to keep that darn pin from slipping down? How about sticking a piece of florists clay in there? Everything else I've tried falls off.

That little pin is actually really tight on mine -- but then, I've never been sure we actually put the doors together quite right originally and for 7 years now I've been meaning to get the instructions back out and see where we went wrong... I guess I just haven't been all that motivated, since they pretty much work okay. (now that I think about it, I can't actually remember what I thought was wrong in the first place!)

Back to you question, though -- I think florist's clay might end up making kind of a mess but I see what you mean about anything else falling out. I'll take a closer look at mine later and see if I can think of something, or maybe someone else will have a brilliant idea before then. (have you thought of trying a BBQ pit? LOL)

My pin must be a newer design, when I push it up, I can turn it to one side to lock it in place, same with the bottom pin. I'm watching the neighborhood trash for an old BBQ pit, haha.

My problem is the polycarbonate popping out of the tracks or grooves.

I don't have a pin up or down. I have what looks like copper a thing that when you turn it fits into othe indentation of the frame of the door both at the top and bottom. The bottom one is a PITA most of the time because you need to lift the door so it goes in the hole to hole the left door shut. I really love the greenhouse but these doors are a real problem.
They change with the weather. I keep mine open all day on hot days with a fan going. If I kept them shut I would cook my plants. I have the greenhouse facing South and that works out really well. Most of our storms come from the West or off the coast which is East and so the wind blows across the GH not into it. I can not open the top vents on windy days or they flop up and down. So, in the summer when the shade is on I can crack them if I want. But, with the doors open it is not necessary.

Dean, Is all your rubber stripping in place around your panels? It's a pain to stick it in the groove, but it really helps keep things tight. I haven't lost a panel since I went around and made sure they were in place. Sometimes I find one that's starting to come off.

I never installed my automatic window openers. I don't trust them to close tight enough in the wind. I've always used bungee cords to keep them tightly closed. One side is hooked in the groove along the roof piece and the other end is hooked around the window handle. Needless to say I don't open them much since my GH is empty in the summer.

pastime, yes I put the rubber stripping in. I suppose the timbers I used weren't exactly level for the foundation. And now it causes a few of the panels to buckle a bit, but they haven't come completely out of the grooves. It's just at the bottom of the panel. I was thinking of using some caulking.

Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread.

LOL, Dean, I think this is pretty minor "hijacking" -- it's just sort of turned into a "problems with my Rion greenhouse" thread! The rubber stripping on the bottom of some of my panels keeps working out too, although I've never had a problem with the side panels coming out; I *did* have a lot of problems with the lower roof panels falling out, until I used some silicone seal caulk to hold them in. I also used some "Great Stuff" foam caulking to seal up some of the openings between the roof and the side panels -- which turned kind of a dark orange from the sun and doesn't look the best, but it worked a lot better than the stick-on foam tape that came with my kit.

Sandy

Great ideal, Sandy. I have some great stuff in the garage. I'm going to get some silicone caulk too.

We caulked instead of the rubber strips, I didn't have the dexterity to get it in (arthritis.)

I know what you mean Dean. My GH is on an old cement paddock that is slightly sloped for manure runoff. Just enough slope to give me problems at the door end. Some panels fit good and some are a tight squeeze and want to buckle. DH had to do a little customizing on them. It's been a year since I had any significant panel problems, (knock on wood.)

pastime, what he do to fix it? I have a few buckled at the bottom. I mean it's okay now, but come winter there will be cold air entering there. Maybe caulk will help hold it secure.

After I posted here yesterday, a sudden and severe storm passed through with 60 mph winds. I had to run to the GH and try to close the right door. They were about to go flying away. All I could do was stand inside the GH and hold the latch down with my hands. I could see the panels on either side of the doors were coming loose, but I couldn't let go of the door handle. It took everything I had to hold the latch down, the doors were shaking so much. I thought the whole GH was going to implode. Three panels took off flying into the air. I used my foot to push the capstones against the doors inside. I saw a piece of wire and wrapped it around the latch to hold it down and went out through the open window to put the capstones in place in front of the doors. I thought we were having a tornado and I was going to blow away. I found the panels, they got caught in a vortex between the GH and the barn, flying around like frisbees. I laid them inside the GH along with the rubber pieces and ran for the house which is a good 100' away. I was soaked. All this time DH is on the back porch thinking I'm just waiting out the storm inside the GH. He couldn't see my ordeal because there's a hedge blocking his view. Dah! I wanted to strangle him, but didn't.

That's what I get for saying I haven't had any panel problems lately. None of this would have happened if I had only closed and secured the right door the day before. And, of course, that stupid pin on the left door had slipped down again too. The doors were trying to open in. If I hadn't held the latch down inside there would have been major problems if they opened the wrong way.

DH previously shaved off some of the poly so the window would fit into the slots. That was the second window to let go. I could see it bulging in and out and I tried to pop it in place, but I only had one free hand. Back to the drawing board and lots of caulk. Thank goodness the bungee cords held the roof vents closed.

The storm left as fast as it came. The skies cleared and the sun came out. What a morning I had!

Pastime, what a terrible way to start your day! Thank goodness you were able to prevent more damage to the gh, though (and also that you didn't get blown away!)

I did make an up date to the gutter Thread and added an door fix on there Too ....

as for a panels blowing out try Buatel calk it is very good and stays rubbery and can be cut out with a razer if the panet needs to be replaced.


Sarge

Caulk gun here I come.

we used the clear kind, it doesn't show as much.

Buatel calk can be obtained inany color in ones mind it is used in the construction industry and yes it does come in clear thats my fav color LOL