Any build their own gh out of polycarb panels and wood?

My husband says it is a porcelain Crane sink.

Hey , thanks , I can go from there .

Googled them . You better hang on to yours , they don't make the same one anymore.

Beebonnet,

Perfect, thanks. That is what I was looking for in the pictures. I have been off line for a few days since our computer died and I had to wait a few days to get another one. Got lucky since a friend was looking for one like the one we don't use and had a laptop he wanted to trade for it. Luck day!

Anyway, we will not actually break ground until late Sept or early Oct so I will want as much info as possible before then. I think what I have is good, but you never know if other people have found better ways of doing things and I want to do this one time. Some modifications are bound to happen after it is built, but the fewer the better.

How is your slider made? What kind of track is it on? And what do you use for weather striping to keep out draft?

Onyxwar---The slider is a barn door track with rollers and It's an 8 ft. piece. 1 4x8 sheet of T 1-11 siding with 1 x 4 trim/stiffeners. We don't keep out the draft because we live in the PNW. This door may not work for you. Maybe swinging doors or a regular casement door would be best for you. When I refer to my cool greenhouse, I mean that it is not heated or insulated. The floor is gravel over dirt. This past winter was the first time I ever lost anything in it, though. Lost some geraniums and fuchsias. I don't mind taking pictures for you if there are anymore elements you need to see.

Digger---I guess you could say it is priceless. LOL

I'm always a day late and a dollar short .

Thanks, I know that there a quite a few kits that have sliders and I thought it might be a little easier to get into during the winter since we get quite a bit of snow. I think your right in saying that a swing door will probably work best for insulation purposes. I just don't want it to swing in because it will take up too much space and going out means more shoveling. I guess that is just something I will have to deal with.

I would still like to see a pic of it if you don't mind. Thanks again.

Onyxwar---Here are the photos of the door inside and out. These are quite possibly the most unusual photos, not to mention ugly, I have ever taken. Excuse the spider webs. Spiders love the rough siding of my GH. (Inside and out) LOL

outside

I have three more pictures, but for some reason they are not loading now. I'll wait awhile and try again.

I don't think they are ugly photo's, they are lovely and helpful. I think I might be able to put in something like that and insulate it w/ weather striping. Spiders are very good to have all over as long as they stay out of the house. :-)

Oops----Forgot to try again so here goes with another few. (Glad you like them) These are from the inside looking out.

Inside closer up

And one more from the outside looking up.

Thanks beebonnet. I am going to have to see if I can find some that are lighter weight since the door themselves are light weight and I don't know how well a heavy one would hold up. I think if I put weather stripping on the door itself it would keep the cold air out.
Maybe???

I am so excited. I got my first 2 boxes made for the greenhouse. I am using the square foot gardener book for these. I will have a total of 4 2'x4' boxes to plant leafy greens in. I will use the remaining space for flowers. I have a small portable gh that will go on the end wall to house several flowers and also use it for starting my seeds in early spring. I also got the wall shelves cut to size. As for the benches, that will be next weekend I think. My DH said I am crazy to start all this now when I don't even have the gh up yet, but I said that it will make loading it up faster and easier.

Q for anybody who wants to answer: What do you use as a planting medium for your gh plants?

Onyx - For plants that I started in my previous greenhouse and any plants that I sell, I use Promix. It comes in a big bale, about the same size as a bale of peat. I get it from a greenhouse supply place, but a local feed/seed store also sells it.

What is in it?

You will have to wait until I go home and look at the bag. Not sure what all is in it. I think I stall have the bag. I usually dump it into a tub and work out of that.

Ok, if this works, here is the web link with info on the kind I use.

http://www.premierhort.com/eProMix/Horticulture/Products/GrowingMediaCat/mycorise/fBiostimulant.htm

Where it says select a product, choose the first one, Promix BX / mycorise Pro. You can research all their product info on their site..

This message was edited Jul 19, 2010 3:39 PM

That is really interesting. I have never heard of that. It looks like there is a lot to it. I book marked the page. I am going to try several different things this fall and winter to see what works best, so the more ideas the better.
thx

Keep in mind that what I grow is mainly for transplanting. Sounds like you are doing permanent beds in your greenhouse. I'm not sure if that will make a big difference or not.

It looks like there are several different options so it would if I ordered the right mix.

Well, we have everything except the man power to build. My DH's back went out so it looks like it will not happen in the month or so like we planned:-(. Hopefully we can get it up before our first frost in Oct.
No matter, I hope it is better sooner than later, I would rather have a healthy/pain free DH than a gh anyday. The gh can wait and I guess I can wait until next season if need be. Unless one of you wants to come out here and put it for us :-) jk.

Well, had to go with a Harbor Freight one. I will keep the wood to build benches and I have a friend who will buy the panels I purchased (will not loose any money). So we will probably set it up next weekend! Not what I really wanted, but it will work for a few years.

Onyxwar---Congrats on your greenhouse. You will love it, I'm sure. I once had a prefab and it was really nice.
Beebonnet

Onyxwar - I also went with the Harbor Freight 10x12. We picked it up on Saturday afternoon. With DH's hours being cut after the first of the year, I felt more comfortable not spending the extra money to build something bigger. I found a great blog from someone who put up the HF greenhouse and he has some great descriptions, pics and tips for putting it up. If I have a chance later, I'll try to find it for you.

Keep us posted about your progress when you start putting it up. We probably will not start for a couple weeks.

Thanks, I am excited! Hey, you have to start some place.

I don't know how to make this a link, but I think this is what you were talking about. I have it bookmaked/.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/strucs/msg1018342913355.html

That one looks good also, but not the one I looked at. If the link works, this is what I have been looking at.


http://hfgh10x12.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-is-greenhouse-we-bought-link-it.html

Thanks

For anyone who is interested...
This was the start of the greenhouse. It took over 5 hours to get this down. We are going to fill in the gaps w/ the dirt I took out. I tried to level it, but we found out that I did not need to do as much as I thought. Next week we are going to start putting the gh together.

Getting in late on this thread, but my question is does anyone know of solar powered heaters for greenhouses?

Second, can you burn propane heaters in a greenhouse (safety of plants my concern)?

Greenhouse just finished, very excited!

Congrats on your gh!

I looked into solar heat for my gh and found that it would not be cost effective. The only way it would work is if you had panels on your home and used it for everything. There are things you can do to help retain heat ie bubble wrap (check out the thread), you could also keep barrels or gallon jugs of water in your green house. Paint them black so they can absorb heat during the day and then they will slowly release the heat at night.
As for the propane, you will need to vent it in order to maintain good air quality. There are numerous threads on the subject. Your best bet is to go through some of the older threads. I got more and better information by looking here and then going to various extension office websites.
Good luck

Onyxwar, thanks for the suggestion on the barrels of water. Such a great idea, sometimes the obvious escapes me.

Your welcome. I have heard that gallon jugs work better because they heat up quicker and release the heat quicker. What I read was that the 55 gal barrels will more than likely still be warm in the am. I am going to try both methods this winter to find out for myself.

I have used both 55 gal barrels and 5 gal buckets, I believe the buckets did a better job and were much easier to use. The 55 gal barrels took up so much room. I used the buckets as the base for my wire shelving so they didn't take up much room at all.

We finally got the frame up. It took a little over 5 hrs. We are done for the day. I am hoping to get the panels on tomorrow. The only really bad thing is that the benches don't fit through the door so we had to put the one that is built inside before we put up the front wall. I will have to put the other ones together inside the gh when I get ready to do it.
Here is a photo of what we have done so far.

I love, love, love it. It looks so cute sitting there. The bench looks great and handy to rest your tools on. You will get so much enjoyment from this darling greenhouse. You must be racing against the cold now? It is supposed to be quite decent here this week. Hope it is for you, too.

It's done!!! I just have to put some caulk on it and put the heater inside. The bench does not have a top on it yet, but it will by the end of the week. I am going to put a small shelving unit inside tomorrow so I can get the plants out of the house.
I am no longer racing against cold weather since we have already had a couple freezing nights, that is why the plants are inside.

Another pic