Choosing a greenhouse advice

How's it going @Madahhlia ,are you up and running?

 

WOW Wish I was good at DIY! As I'd truly love to get a second hand one. My current one is too small (6x8) although I would gladly sacrifice outdoor space as the greenhouse is so versatile and allows so many different crops to be grown.

I'm quite envious of all your DIYers as its not financially viable to buy a new bigger one for me at the moment haha. Maybe one day.

 

Wish I was good at DIY as well! Thanks for asking @Lolimac. Things are at a bit of a standstill as I've been busy and away and my project manager has gone off to Corfu for 6 weeks. The bf might help and another friend has offered. So something might happen this week. Failing that, I can see it will be June before any further work gets done as I have more gadding-about lined up.
Lucky that I still have the old greenhouse in situ - but I am really keen to push this project to completion now.
Feathered_fish, don't be put off. It is a good greenhouse and a good 2nd hand purchase, but buyer incompetence is putting a spanner in the works!

 

How did it go Madahhlia? I'll be erecting a 6x6 this weekend too.

Why is it so important to get the ground level before you erect it? So the glass fits?

 

Yup. Also needs to be dead square - make sure that the two diagonals are the same length, otherwise the glass won't fit!

 

Oh bum, this is going to be fun. I need to get the four huge paving slabs (on a hill) level then.

 

Yes, good point @JWK, mine has a slight fall too. You don't want too much though as I think it will make it unstable, and you definitely want the diagonals to match. Not sure the paving slabs need to be square, if the greenhouse will sit on top of them (rather than exactly matching the edges of them)

 

For sure the hardest part is getting the base correct. As has been said, level is not so important (but no more than 10-15mm) BUT it has to be square, measuring across the diagonals is the best way to achieve this as long as they measure the same the base will be square.

@nFrost , are you using glass or poly? Poly is a little more forgiving, but only a little. Oh and best of luck, hope your build goes well.

Oh and I should add 2 pairs of hands is ESSENTIAL, 3 can be a bonus.

 

Squareness was a bit issue as I'd been given dire warnings about the glass not fitting. This is mainly what caused the delay as at the end of a long day of putting up the frame we decided the diagonals didn't match. Then followed a number of sessions of measuring, mucking about with the frame, remeasuring etc etc, until I decided the glass had to go in even if I had to nibble the last pane to fit with me bare teeth.
Anyway, it fitted, so all the fuss was worth it in the end. I think it must have been square or just a few mil off. Even the base seemed to be level although I spent hours adjusting the heavy slabs and they came out different every flippin' time.

Thank goodness my toms are now basking safe and warm in there now!

 

Two pairs of hands definitely needed, chosen for unflappability, calmness, technical ability and bloody_minded determination. Ideally an extra person to make tea and wash the glass before fitting- took me ages.

 

It's all glass but a few panes are broken, what should I replace them with (not glass) please?

 

Why not glass?

 

I assume it's not as safe, more expensive and more likely to break? I'm only guessing though.