Sunshine Gardenhouse-Anyone have one of these?

I am looking at these greenhouses and want to know if anyone here on DG has one.
What are the pros and cons for this brand?

I am looking at possibly the 6' x 4' Mt. Hood series one.

And also the Lean-To Gardenhouse, which is 4' x 8'. This lean-to can be set up so it can stand alone. You can't see this here at the link I provided below. I found the stand-alone on another site.
I really would like a greenhouse that is only 4' wide since I don't have much space between the house and fence, but want it longer than the 6' size one though.

So want to know if people are happy with this brand.
Like the redwood? Does it last good? Do you stain the redwood?
Is it easy to put together?
Will it last for years?

Here's the link if interested in looking at them.
http://www.gardenhouse.com/

Please let me know your comments on this brand.
Thanks, Carol

Here is the link for the Lean-To stand alone. Just scroll down partway and you will see it.
http://www.theyardworks.net/1035424.html

Thanks, Carol

Hi Carol,

I am also in the market for a small 4x6' GH. See my thread here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/662152/
I posted that I liked the Mt. Hood GH also, but it's too pricey for me. I also saw the lean to and either one would work for me also.

I found another cute GH that can be made if you have a good handyman. It would fit my/our area well.
http://www.runnerduck.com/greenhouse.htm

Sorry I can't help with your questions, but I will sure be watching for any answers you get.

Donna

Hi Carol, My greenhouse is a different make however the one you are considering looks like a high quality one. The redwood will probably last longer then you. You may want to put a perservative on it even if it is not exposed to the outside elements. You asked "is it easy to put together?" This indicates to me you have little experience in building however with their instructions where every thing is precut and numbered you will be able to do it. It will be much easier if you have someone else to help you. Will it last for years? Your granchildren will probably use it some day. The company has been in business quite awhile and they claim to have a very good warranty. Because you are putting it in a narrow space, you may have to build it "off site" and move it in and as it is light weight, this will be easy to do. Have you been to a dealer's showroom? If not their are 13 dealers in Or. A four foot wide one with the door in the center will require narrow shelves while the lean to has it's door on one side. You may want to make shelves out of pvc pipe as either greenhouse will have quite a bit of light and you could go two or three high. If you are going to heat it, how well do the doors and vents seal? If they don't seal real tight, you can overcome. this problem. Can the 4x6 one be connected to another 4X6 if at a later date you want more space? You will need to anchor it down and a cheap way to do this is to drive a couple of short steel fence post in the ground and attached them to the base. No mention was made about caulking and I would use a hight quality caulk like the one made by GE. If and I think it is more of a when you buy one, be sure to "square" the frame before attaching the skin.
I have insulated the lower 3 ft. of my greenhouse and this year I am going to use the bubble packing material to insulate the rest. Also I am making my own solar panels to help lower the heating cost. It got down to -20 night before last however I won't start up my greenhouse until the end of the year and I hope the temp will stay above 0 degrees. You are going to love your greenhouse, I guarantee it. Dale

Hi Donna,
I had been following your thread before. Was very interesting.
Yes, they do cost a lot. I have been researching them for forever.
What I like about this Sunshine Gardenhouse tho, is the pieces come together. The wood frame and the polycarb. You just put these pieces together. Kind of pre-fab, I guess.

I called the Sunshine Gardenhouse and talked to a sales guy. Got lots of information from him.
I had asked him why buy from a dealer and not directly from him. He says they are more or less wholesale and don't want to take the sales away from the dealers. But he would give me a 10% discount. But.....
They don't have free shipping.
He said maybe some of the other dealers might have free shipping.

Told him I really wanted a 4' x 8' greenhouse. Wanted to know if they had an extension for the 6' x 4' and he said that I need to remember that I am reading the numbers backwards really. Where I want the 4' wide, not the 6' wide, which the door is on that 6' section. So the 4' x 8' lean-to is really the way to go then.
But I told him that I didn't need the optional back section since it was going up against a fence but............. am not sure on what to do

With all I have read here about people having trouble with the metal frames and polycarb. pieces, I do not want to venture there, I have decided.
My son can help me and is a very good handyman, but he loves cars more. So............. I hate to depend upon him for sure. I can do a lot of things but am not sure on the correct building ways so......

Donna, will check out that other website when I get home on high speed internet.

There is a nursery here in town that is a dealer so am going to stop by there after work today. Will see if I have any more good news.

Carol

Dale, thanks for all your comments.
I was planning on staining/preserving the redwood.
As for actual building experience, I can do things but am not sure I want to take on a major project by myself mostly. I received a little money from my mother after she sold the house my parents live in this fall. My father died in May this year and wanted to use some of the money from her to remember my father, who loved gardening, on a greenhouse.
So money isn't totally the big issue. Just would like a good, usuable but nice looking greenhouse.
You are right that I will probably have to build it off site in the back yard and then move it.

I didn't mention calking or insulation because I am not using the greenhouse for overwintering tropicals. I do overwinter perennial plants tho and my baby plastic one works just fine for it. We do get cold here in the NW but nothing like back east or midwest for the frozen weather for months. So I am not too worried about that.

I did go to the local nursery who had one set up this afternoon. It was a 12' x 8' Mt. Rainer series of the Sunshine Gardenhouse. It was so nice to actually see everything in place. It was great looking. I could measure my 4' x 8' lean-to possibility in it.
I know that the 4' wide is very small. Right now, I have a 4' x 6' plastic one. I just have room to walk in the middle with shelves on both sides. It is very tight and no real room to move around. That is why the 4' x 8' lean-to with the doors on each end on one side would be nice. Tho I then would only have one side to place shelves/plants on tho.
I did ask about the shipping cost and the nursery is to call the main company on Monday to find out if their price includes shipping. If it does, I am then going to have to decide on which model to get then.
I am leaning very hard on this brand of Sunshine Gardenhouse. I really liked the quality of the one at that nursery today. Well built, good wood, and the metal connectors looked great. Didn't look too bad to put together either. The base is made out of hard plastic looking wood and it was very hard when I kicked and knocked on it. I was surprised.
Darn, I should have taken pictures of it. That would help everyone see what it looked like. Will have to do that on Monday then.
I know I will love the greenhouse if and when I get it. I do like my crappy baby plastic greenhouse now just for trying to do things. So a real one would be even much better.

Anyone else have comments, please post them!
Carol

Carol,

That is so great that you got to really see and feel the GH in person. I wish there was somewhere around here that I could do that also. There aren't many people in my area, zone 9-10, that need GH's, so they don't have them for sale around here at all. I would love to see it in person, just to know how it was put together, so maybe I could possibly make my own. Of course I would need a little help from a person that knows how to build things, but I do have 3 male neighbors that have some knowledge, so I could pick their brain alittle.

I do appreciate all the information you are posting and my brain is sucking it all up....lol

Donna

LOL, Donna
I love to pick people's brains for their knowledge so good for you to be able to do that with your male neighbors.
What kind are you really looking at for sure now?
They do have the Halls greenhouse at the same nursery too. I looked at the way it was put together too.
Yes, the NW is great for growing plants but also with a greenhouse.
I spent time today outside really measuring and trying to figure out where I really want to put a greenhouse.
The best place is still where my baby plastic one is. That side of the house is waste land but gets sun part of the day. I was also thinking of putting on on my back patio concrete pad. That would be so nice to already have the base totally done and perfectly level. But it is pretty shady there most of the year execpt in the main part of the summer, which gets hot there then.
I found that FarmTek has some cedar greenhouses plus some lean-to also.
So.............. am still looking around............................just like you, Donna.
Am hoping for someone who might have one of these Sunshine Gardenhouse tho......................... for real comments....................

Hi Carol, GrowersSupply.com has a 4x8.9 leanto GH, item #104762, page 342 in their catalog. The price is $1,045.00 and they have free shipping. The base is made of poly and the frame is cedar which should last forever if treated and of course it will not be in contact with the ground. Only has one door however it does come with a roof vent. charleysgreenhouse.com has a 4x8 leanto for$1295.00, item #GMHR408 page 32 in their catalog. I know you don't like metal frames but I would not be afraid of them. The cost is $1,295 using safety glass and $1,350 for 6-mm for their twin wall. The 6-mm is thicker then the 4-mm. A roof vent is part of the package. "Call about our shipping rebate program" which I have no clue what it is. All companies have a certain margin of profit they have to maintain to stay in business and the customer always pays for the shipping. Some seperate it out from the cost of product or they include it in the cost of the product. I have bought items (not greenhouses) from both companies and have been well satisfied.
A greenhouse is a great way to remember your father and I am sure you will be happy with which ever one you choose. As you know, the more sun the better. I thought you might heat it in the spring to get an early start on your plants. Do you grow both vegetables and flowers? Keep us informed please.

Donna, I was going to go on your thread but I thought you would have palm trees growing in your GH by now. I think you are waiting and hoping for a Christmas present which I don't blame you. Ortho has a book on GH which includes some plans and there is a book on Amazon which also has plans. I think a kit is a much better way to go as there are angels that have to be cut and when you price the material out and with the waste you will have, it may not save you as much as you think. I do a lot of woodworking however I bought a kit for my greenhouse.

I also was planning a structure on the south side of our house. Mine would be 8 to 16 feet long, 3 ft high and only about 24 to 32 inches wide. It would not be attached to the house but would fit tight againts it with thick foam insulation beween the house and frame. It would be heated by opening three of my basement windows. I have a 8x10 green house and I grow somewhere around 500 tomato plants plus other plants. Almost all of my tomato plants are donated to a non-proft org. which sells them for a nice proft and I would like to increase what I give them. My plans are on hold for now as I recently had 7 vessels replaced to my heart. So now I am considering a GH kit, blowing it off for now, or delaying my project. I am learning a lot from both of your threads. Thanks for starting them. Dale

Hi Dale, That's some nice information you are sharing with us...which is always a good thing when purchasing a large item that you are unfamiliar with.

I don't think I'll be getting this as a surprise from Christmas because my DH doesn't know anything about them and doesn't know what type or size. I haven't given up either idea yet, I just haven't had the time to do anything about it yet. I had a Garden Club Christmas pot luck at my home last night, so this past week I was decorating this house and getting ready for the party. No time for me this past week. I also had to go to a baby shower today...phew. Busy, busy time of year.

I will probably wait till after Christmas to make some final decisions, but I will continue to read up on everything I can.

Thank you again,
Donna

Thanks Dale, for the information. I will spend some time looking up what you wrote about.
Wow, 500 tomato plants??? What a guy you are to grow that many for charity.
I grow veg., flowers, perennials, shrubs, etc. in my baby one now. I like to do propagation for a challenge too.
I will keep looking to see what I can find.

Donna, you might as well just buy your own Christmas present. You will know exactly what you want in a greenhouse.

Dale, I just finally looked up that lean-to from GrowerSupply. I had seen that one before. But did look at it much closely now.
It looks good.
Tho I will say, I like the Dutch doors on the Sunshine Gardenhouse. So you can open part or all of the door.
Plus there are 2 doors at each end of the lean-to. There are pros and cons for that. Great for air circulation but then if you block the one door with like plants, etc., you wouldn't be able to use it. So...................
The price is nice.
Am not sure if cedar or redwood would last the longest. I would guess that redwood would.
But...........
The biggest reason I like the Sunshine Gardenhouse for the lean-to is that I can get the optional back wall to enclose it totally. I am still not too keen on putting it against the house and attaching it. It makes me nervous to do that.
I will post pictures of the area I want to put the greenhouse maybe tomorrow.
Carol

Ok, took some pics last weekend when it was so nice outside for here in the NW.
This picture shows you how much space I have to work with. The plastic greenhouse is 4' wide x 6' long. The space total between the fence and the house is almost 7'

More of a close up pic.

This isn't the best picture but is from the other side/end of the last pictures.
The direction of the sun is behind the greenhouse so the plastic greenhouse is on the west side of the house.

This picture is on the other side of the house. The east side.
I do not really want to put it here because I use this side a lot bringing the wheelbarrow around to the back yard. Plus it isn't the flattest either. I had to add horrible clay soil to level it somewhat. It was a steep slope at one time.

Last pic of that east side.
So if anyone here on DG has any ideas for greenhouse/lean-to, just say so...............

Carol,

So it looks like the two possible sites you showed pictures of are both kind of in the shade. If I understand it right, your first choice is the narrow 7-foot space between the fence and your house on the west side of your house. Am I right in thinking that is the west side of your house? And the "other side" is on the east side of your house. More room there, but the base would need more work to level it.

OK, apparently there is some reason why you aren't considering the south side of your house. What is the situation there? Normally you try to locate a greenhouse where it will get the most sun and where it will be the most sheltered from north winds. Usually that is the south side.

I am considering an aluminum frame lean-to or attached greenhouse which would go on our south side, which is quite sunny and sheltered from the wind. In this climate here in Maine I wouldn't consider any other location. We would be able to walk out through the door of our utility room directly into the greenhouse without braving the cold and the wind.

Right now I am considering an 8ft wide by 12ft long lean-to. I might go longer, up to maybe 16ft long. Anything longer than that would interfere with the backyard view from our kitchen window. I am considering a kit from Essex Greenhouse: http://www.essexgreenhouse.com/site/history/

Unfortunately our weather is no longer conducive to building the greenhouse. The ground is frozen and covered with snow. I might get to it in the early spring after the ground begins to thaw but before it is safe to set plants out in the garden. Once the safe no-frost date passes, my free time is pretty much taken up by gardening. Since I have waited this long to get a greenhouse, I guess I can wait a bit longer.

MM

MM, I just looked at the link you provided. That looks like a good greenhouse too. They don't have any 6' wide greenhouses tho. Too bad. The prices aren't bad either. That sounds great that you can go from the house to the greenhouse without going outside at all.
As for where I want to put my greenhouse. Yes, I am crazy on which side/direction I want to put it. You are right. The sides I want to put it is either the west or east facing direction.
As said before, it is wasted space on those sides so want to use it up. I have had this baby plastic greenhouse there now for over a year and plants seem to do just fine there. Actually, in the summer time, I have to put a tarp over to keep the sun from frying the plants but it seems to work and the plants have plenty of light.
On the south side of my house, is my front yard. It is too hot at times in the summer time plus don't want a greenhouse in the front yard.
The north side of the house, I did consider putting a lean-to greenhouse attached/coming from the dining room to outside. But only get real sunshine in the middle of the summer when the sun shifts. The rest of the time it is shady, more or less.
MM, you are in a much colder place so I can imagine you would put your greenhouse/lean-to in the warmest spot. Thanks for the link. Will consider it.
Carol

Carol,

"They don't have any 6' wide greenhouses tho. "

Actually, they do. Unless by "wide" you actually mean long.

http://www.essexgreenhouse.com/site/greenhouses/lincoln-greenhouses.php

Although they don't have a picture of it on their website, the 8' x 16' greenhouse that I would like to have should look something like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/MaineMan/Garden%20plants/Lincoln-8x16.jpg

They didn't have a photo of that model, but based on their description of it, I cut-and-pasted their picture of the smaller 6x10 Lincoln model to construct a picture of an 8x16 foot model. I used Photoshop to construct the picture.

Actually, if I get a building permit, I probably will superimpose a cutout of the greenhouse on a picture of this house to preview what it will look like. Also, I notice that Essex talks about the availability of custom painting. I may price that to investigate the possibility of having the color of the greenhouse match the color of the house.

MM

I know they had the lean-to in the 6' wide. I don't really want a lean-to now. I want a regular greenhouse. I can't attach the lean-to to the house very well.
You will have to get a building permit??? Why? Just because it is over $1,000? Not me. If I do that, they won't allow me to put it on the side of the house between either the fence or other side by the meadow. You are to not have actual buildings within 5' but.................I am still going to do it.

Carol,

At this time I don't know whether I need a building permit or not. I will ask about that at the Town Office next week. If they say I need a building permit for my greenhouse, then I'll jump through whatever hoops they say. I intend to be fully compliant with our town ordinances.

Many years ago, when I built a concrete retaining wall in Fort Worth, they required a building permit with plans and drawings, which they required changes to, and they inspected my progress. They also required permits for our fences. I won't be at all surprised if my proposed lean-to attached greenhouse requires a building permit here in Maine, but at this moment I just don't know what our Town Office will say.

What's with that little barbed wire fence on the east side of your house? Is that a property line? If not, there seems to be a lot of free space over there.

MM

LOL Yep, that is the property line.
The guy next door has promised to put up a fence for 3 years and hasn't yet.....................
Would love for him to finish that property. He has dogs and wanted to contain them. But............. still no fence.
What I would give for free property, LOL

Well, I am assuming most places have a limit on permits. Here in OR, it is over $1,000, then you are to have a permit. But the guy next door built his white fence and he never got a permit. That fence cost him over $9,000 installed!

I normally would comply but don't want to bother. The city here has lots of dumb laws for everything so................
So you are a good person.............

Have been outside measuring more and more. I just stand there and think of what I really want.
I am now leaning toward a 6' x 8' or 12' long. I would have 2 dutch doors to walk thru with the wheelbarrow.
Now just need to decide on which size I want.
I want to get it soon but need a space to stain the redwood tho. The garage will be taken up for that, I guess.

Carol,

"So you are a good person..."

It's not so much that I am a good person (I am that), but I don't want to be at the mercy of any of my neighbors turning me in, if at some time in the future a squabble should arise. Also, this isn't a large city, so it is possible that a town official might at some time drive by and notice my greenhouse.

Do you think your neighbor on the east would be willing to sell you part of his lot for a "reasonable" amount of money? I have heard of people selling pieces of property for as little as a dollar. It seems that he is not using it. In Texas they had a weird law (I don't remember now if it was just Fort Worth or a statewide law) that if you "used" some of your neighbor's property for a certain number of years, that it became yours.

That law may have had its origins in the days when ranches were fenced without benefit of accurate surveys, but in modern times it had to do primarily with fences or driveways that were "accidentally" mis-located over the property line, and possibly surveying errors as well. When we had the surveyors survey for my retaining wall and chain link project, it was discovered that the builder of the house directly to our north had misappropriated several feet of the property of one of our neighbors to the west, as well as that of his neighbor to the north. The time limit had expired, so that property grab had become legal.

To be on the safe side, I located my concrete retaining wall (which was also the footing for a 6-foot chain link fence) six inches back from the surveyed property line. I was, in effect, "giving" the two neighbors to our west six inches of our lot. I was willing to do that in order to retain exclusive unchallengeable ownership of the retaining wall and fence.

"I am now leaning toward a 6' x 8' or 12' long."

It seems, from what I hear, that you never make your greenhouse big enough.

"I would have 2 dutch doors to walk thru with the wheelbarrow."

I'm not arguing against the two doors, because I think they would be handy, but couldn't you take your wheelbarrow through on the other side of the house?

MM


This message was edited Dec 10, 2006 2:29 PM

Yeah, I am gambling on that one side too by being so close but the neighbor doesn't care and hasn't done anything to his place in 3 years except put up a fence.
As for buying that property. Nope. The city is requiring whoever owns it or sells that property (there is a house next to it that actually owns the land) to put in a roadway. So, nobody really wants the property since it cost so much money to put a roadway in on 2 sides of the land.
I would love part of the land.
We have a similar law here in OR too. That in like 7 years, you use the land, you get it.
Yes, I figure I would use the extra space for storing garden things if nothing else.
I get to get another door for free anyways. I had called the guy and he said for the same cost, I could have a door so why not. Could always use it for ventilation then. Yes, I could always go around the other side but.......... am lazy at times and my compost pile is on that side I want to put the greenhouse on.
Will go check with a nursery to see what kind of deals they can get me. I also e-mailed the Sunshine Gardenhouse to see what the cost would be direct too. So shall see what people say.

Hey Carol,

I finally made my decision on my GH this weekend. Hubby is buying me the Gardeners Supply "Fast Start GH" that I posted on my other thread. This will be my Christmas present. :-)

I hope you make your decision soon also.

Donna

Well, Donna, am glad you made up your mind finally, LOL
But really, I bet you are happy that you finally know what you want.
Let us know how it goes then with it.
Enjoy putting it together during the Christmas holiday. I bet you can't wait to start some seeds now................

I am still waiting for an answer for my e-mail so shall see.
Carol

Carol,

I talked on the phone with our Town Office, and ended up talking with our Town Manager. He seemed like a nice guy. I definitely need a building permit, and will stop by the Town Office this week to pick up the application paperwork for a building permit.

Apparently I also need to pick up a copy of the plat for this property, since my daughter doesn't know where her copy is at the moment and doesn't have time to look for it. Christmas season is busy, busy.

As I understand it, our application for a building permit needs to include a copy of the property plat showing a drawing of the greenhouse floor plan in its proposed location on the plat. I won't order the Essex greenhouse kit until the building permit is approved.

MM

Wow, what a lot of work. But it sounds normal tho. Yeah, I wouldn't order the greenhouse until you have everything okay by the city either. Out of curiosity, how much is the building permit?

Carol,

If you want to see a display model of the 6' x 6' Sunshine Greenhouse, you can go to Salem just off I-5. This unit has been displayed for about 3-4 years, so you can see how they weather. Here is a map to our location http://www.greenhousecatalog.com/about_us.php. Good luck!

Michelle

Sorry, that didn't work. :( Try this.
http://www.greenhousecatalog.com/about_us.php

Michelle, Ok, am going to try to stop by this afternoon!!!

Carol,

"Out of curiosity, how much is the building permit?"

There was a $20 basic filing fee, plus 5¢ per square foot (8x16=128), so the total fee was $26.40. I got the permit yesterday and, per their instructions, it is now displayed in a window facing the street until the job is complete. No time limit and no inspections. I'll start excavation of the sod from the site today and call in my order for the greenhouse kit Monday.

MM

Well, that isn't too bad for the permit. Good job. One reason I don't want to get one is because the neighbor built his fence over 3' inside his line. So I really don't have that property but I am using it up to his fence and I maintain it. Plus who knows if he would complain even if it wasn't his property anyways. He isn't a very nice guy.

You need to take pictures of your whole process then. We all would love to see it all happening!
How cool, that you will start preparing the site. And ordering the greenhouse. Great Christmas present!!!

I stopped by that Greenhouse Catalog store in Salem, OR yesterday. Talked with a gal for about an hour. Got to see the Sunshine Gardenhouse, a 6' x 8' one. It was 4 years old. Ghcatalog told me about it in a D-mail. She had talked to me about the wood shrinking and swelling due the weather. Yes, the door did stick a bit when I tried to open it up. Some of the poly. panels were coming out of their slots in the wood.
But I think a lot of this is due to the greenhouse not being treated with stain. I had already planned on doing that. It will be a pain in the neck to do but will preserve it.
I still like the way it looked and felt tho. They had other samples of greenhouses, like the Solexx ones. They don't have a 6' wide one tho. Talked to a gal about it and they are trying to get one planned out. But still in the thinking stage. Saw some of the curved ones and then a peaked one made by Solexx.

Asked the Greenhouse Catalog gal what price they would give me for a greenhouse and they said just what was in their catalog. No other real special price/deal. I could have a 10% walk-in price on the Solexx tho.

So when I got home, I had finally gotten an e-mail back from another dealer in Seattle, called The Yard Works, on the Sunshine Gardenhouse. I had asked them what kind of price/deal they would give me.
Wow, they were willing to give me a pretty good deal.

6' x 12' Sunshine Gardenhouse - $2399 (normal price)
21" x 8' redwood bench - free (reg. $99)
21" x 12' redwood bench - $159 (reg. $169)
12' x 12' shade cloth - $25 (reg. $42)
AND
FREE SHIPPING!

So am going to call the actual factory again that makes the Sunshine Gardenhouse and see if they will match or go lower on this price. They had said they would give me a 10% discount but would have to pay the shipping which would have been around $150 or so.
So I would actually be paying $14 more if I go thru The Yard Works. If I could get free shipping direct from the factory, I would save that $150. So......................
Will have to see what kind of deals I can get next week then.

So go for it, MM.............!!!!!!!!