Choosing a greenhouse advice

Ta, Kristen, it helps to know other people attempt these crazy transportation feats as well. The bf will be muttering darkly and saying it's not possible, I'll be cramming stuff in just to prove that it is! But I might have to scale my grand 10'x6' ideas down.

I've just been to look at that greenhouse, the panels at the base seem to be some kind of asbestos cement board which puts me off. The glass is held in with metal strips - but half the glass is missing. Structurally sturdy but would need to have quite a bit of work and extra money to get it looking good. Only 2 miles away, however, which is a benefit. Going for around £80 at the mo.

 

Well, today's the big day, I'm off to collect & dismantle my new greenhouse. Wish me luck! It's only about 6 miles away. I've packed all the gear except no power tools. Fingers crossed there are no insurmountable problems. I'm really nervous!

 

Good luck Madahhlia....don't forget some WD40...hope it goes without a hitch

 

Good luck, I did the 2nd hand greenhouse "affair" a few years back when considerably younger.Mine was 22ftx9ft and we moved it in a oner minus glass obviously! on the back of a low loader. OMG it was touch and go and probably illegal. We certainly got some very stange looks from motorists going in the opposite direction. I had calculated everything down to the last inch re the moving of said greenhouse except I hadn't measured the width of our gate halfway down our driveway. Was driving directly behind the low loader so it would be only me who'd run into the large amount of greenhouse hanging off the back of the loader if it had to stop suddenly! As we started going down the driveway I remembered with horror about the gate, I moved my car over on the driveway to see if the loader was going to make going through the gate and promptly drove through a post and wire fence into a field bordering our driveway...oooopppps! Not too much damage to either car or fence luckily and by about a hair's breadth the greenhouse went through the gate!

My only advice is take your time, wear strong gloves to protect from any breaking glass and maybe take lots of photos before starting to take the greenhouse down to help when you erect it again. Unlikely you will have a glass box for transporting the glass so try and lay the sheets REALLY flat on top of each other as otherwise it will break especially if it is old glass. When I've moved it before I usually didn't have more than maybe 5 sheets stacked 1 on top of the other as the weight of more than that can cause problems.

I've recently had a new greenhouse built and oh boy that wasn't cheap so pat yourself on the back for the savings you will make by doing some hard work. Photos please when up and running and good luck.

 

My understanding is that it is important that the glass stands-up, as close to vertical as practical, rather than lies flat.

Worth getting some more opinions, or asking Mr Google, to arbitrate

 

Pah! I'll See your greenhouse and Raise you One Barn converted to 40' flat-pack panels!


http://kgarden.wordpress.com/projects/barn/

 

Home safe and sound, took 3 hours to flatten it & load it, although mercifully the guy had already removed the glass. I took my car and a friend with a car, she carried the aluminium and I carried the glass, as they are both smallish cars. It was only 7 miles away, a great benefit. We went home , unloaded, only one pane cracked, then went and had a slap-up curry lunch on the Golden Mile before fetching the last bit of glass which I'd felt might be over-stretching the first load. I staked it against a wood board in the boot, leaning against the seat backs and restrained with several bungee cords. Seemed to work. We couldn't have done it without the help of the lovely seller, though, he did a lot of the nut unloosening, our soft feeble female hands would have struggled with some of them. It would have taken a lot of sweating and swearing, anyway!

 

Glad to hear your all in one piece and the GH too

 

Hope putting it back together is a breeze. Good luck!

 

Glad you are sorted @Madahhlia , wish you well in the re-assembly.

 

I'm thinking that the new greenhouse really needs gutters and a rain barrel (the old one doesn't have these) but how do you attach plastic guttering to aluminium and glass? There's plenty of kit on sale in Wickes etc but they don't make it clear how it's going to be fixed on.

 

Does it not have a silly little Aluminium "groove" in lieu of a gutter?

There are adapter kits you can get to connect those to a down pipe of sorts. I just use a small piece of lead sheet to "fashion" something into a spout.

 

(Close-up photo of the gutter "junction" might help?)

 

The build is proceeding but not without hitches. We are struggling to get the building squared, but every time we check the diagonals and test-fit the glass on one side of the building and think it's OK, it doesn't fit the other side properly. So I don't want to start the glazing until this has been sorted out.

I think I've got to check out the floor levels again as I think this is at the root of the problem. Trouble was, I had to mostly prepare the base without having received the instruction manual. Now I've read it I think I'd have tackled it differently.

Going to give it a rest until tomorrow, I think, then have another look.