Vintage greenhouse, 16X18" glass & cypress wood...got one?

I'm in the process of giving thought to building and contructing a 25'ft. X 60' ft. vintage styled greenhouse made from glass, cypress and 2" pipe. Anyone got an old vintage greenhouse that might give me some tips - pro's/con's about building and maintaining a vintage greenhouse? So far, I'm kinda sitting on the fence with the idea, not sure if I wanna do it or not? We love the styling of the old greenhouses, but realize heating costs may be a sacrifice for the look of an antique greenhouse.

I've located some old greenhouses that are available for salvage and the parts and materials we can get for pretty cheap. It's just the foundation that will cost the big bucks for building.

- Thanks, Brad

I don't have one but I have some pictures. This is an old Lord and Burnham that someone restored. It is not cypress, but maybe it will give you some ideas. This is before...

This message was edited Mar 10, 2006 9:05 PM

Another before...

And after.

The ridge, under construction.

The sidewall vent.

Pretty nice, huh?

Hi Brad,

Nice to see you getting around the forums. :)

I think I could kill for a greenhouse like that. LOL That is awesome! Could you pour just footers for that and use cinderblock or would that not be stable enough? I have no idea if that would save you anything over poured concrete but I am learning as much as I can about greenhouses lately.

Great pics stressbaby!

Thanks for the pics. NICE! I've seen several pics of vintage commercial greenhouses over the years that have enticed me. This greenhouse thing has been a dream of mine for several years with lots of hurdles along the way like finding all the parts and glass affordably. Now we're to the point where we can actually get the materials with an estimated 1-2 week's worth of hard work. Still it's gonna be a costly and time consuming venture.

Lots of things to consider! :)

- Thanks, Brad

P.s. - Badseed, yes concrete footers would work out nicely and that's exactly what I had considered for the greenhouse with a dirt floor for growing daylilies in-ground!

Nice forum here! :)

I've seen your intros and they are knock out! I think you'd be a beauty producing maniac with a greenhouse like that. LOL Good luck! It looks like a wonderful dream that could work out for you soon. :)

here is my 12x16 window and wood GH :)

Dori - That's a nice pic with the frost highlighting the surroundings. Those winter scenes pics bring back several memories.

- Brad

Brad, Can you provide more info to us? Would this be a detached GH or attached to your home? What type of foundation are you thinking about? Would your foundation be including a thermal mass storage area? How will you seal the glass joints and where the glass meets the cypress? (Will there be a vapor barrier created to eliminate air-leaks around your perimeter there?) Who and/or how will the site be prepared (excavation, leveling, etc)? What type of glass -- single, double, etc? What about the orientation of this GH? What's the purpose for this GH--commercial or hobby? Can you justify the heating costs? These are just some of the questions that should be addressed when you (or anyone) is considering a large GH.....

There are many considerations but these are a few that come to mind: the use-factor (all year, winter-only, etc), the percentage of solar transmission through the glass, R-value of the glass, the thermal collecting ability (if any), the heat-source (aside from solar, will you use propane, electric?), solar orientation, the climate, etc. The size of the GH that you mention is pretty large and winter operation costs can be quite expensive even for a hobby GH. Would you erect the GH as it was previously constructed, or alter the design and/or size? If the funding is not a problem, having a GH is a wonderful endeavor!!

I have a couple of GH reference books and will be happy to look something up for you if you'd like.

Lynn - Hi! The plan was to build the greenhouse as it was originally with some variations for heating - like using a corn burning furnace with hot water radiated heat. The glass is single pane with the potential to go double pane if we so choose as there's enough original glass to do it. We'd be glazing the panes to the cypress as needed and would use a recommended sealing compound to seal glass joints as needed.

The purpose would be for commercial use and the foundation area would be graded by a contractor of choice. We also considered connecting the greenhouse to the house just above the cellar doors with an enclosed foyer. If we opened the cellar doors within the foyer, we could then heat a large percentage of the greenhouse with simply the heat from our basement. The corn burning furnace would also make the heating ultra affordable in the years to come. Overall, I think it could work out great. However, I'm still 'on the fence' considering dumping the idea for several reasons I still cannot sort thru so well. It's simply boiled down to the fact time is money and the time it will take to build and the return I get may not satisfy my goals for the business for several years. When you think things over with a business way of thinking, it's a whole new ball game for justifying.

- Brad

Brad, thanks for explaining this further. I'm unsure what your business plan is, or whether you have an existing business that would be incorporating GH produce, but you are wise to think it through. One great thing about owning a business can be with the tax deductions and depreciations afforded to the business-owner. But an income of $0 (or less) can't happen if you need a dependable income to live on. I'm sure you'll sort it all out. Good luck on your endeavor!

this is how we made ours
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/572295/

Dori - Nice setup! How long did it take to build and how many persons worked together to build it?

- Thanks, Brad

Brad my dh and i built it in about a week-just the 2 of us!

VERY nice GH, Notmartha!! You folks who can start out with level land.....my, my.....

Here is one of the webpages showing our GH construction: http://www.veriwired.com/garden_ghoverview.html

When we move and we grow our next GH, it will not be from a kit. Although we had no problems with our Juliana GH kit, it is just too expensive for what you get. Altho my hubby is a construction super., he had no GH experience. Now he does, and we'll design our own, hopefully working with recycled glass and/or windows, too.

Dori - I'd say you made good time in building it! :) Nice job! That kinda helps me understand what it would take to build one over four times the size - probably well over a month with the ground leveling needed and soil build-up, concrete work etc. That's something I'd surely need to do in the fall with our busy summer daylily business. I'm still considering it! So many things to think about when your planning for a large greenhouse and limited spacing.

I have three areas of choice I could put it. There's pro's & con's with each area. Trying to figure out which area has the most PRO's! :)

- Thanks, Brad