Glass

Do I need safety glass in my greenhouse?

I heard it was easier to keep clean with safety glass, but is it worth the extra?

Any views on the poly carbglass stuff?

thanks
me

 

In my opinion No!

In fact most glazing companies sell greenhouse glass it is normally 3mm thick and is generally much cheaper than standard glass.

All glass gets dirty!

As far as polycarbonate is concerned I would shy clear of it for a few reasons e.g It is expensive, it goes brittle and obscure after a few years.

 

If there is a posibility of children being near the GH I'd go for the safety option on the lower panes at least.
Our GH is a mixture of old double-glazing units,re-used windows, horticultural glass, double walled polycarbonate and a roof made of corrugated plastic. As far as regards keeping the 'glass' clean, there is no significant difference between any of the surfaces. The only problem we've had is with the roof that got a bit opaque after about 15 years and developed a couple of holes when the house next door burned down and red hot bits of roof tile landed on it.

 

3mm Agricultural glass does get brittle over time and it can be a safety hazzard if there are children about or anyone elderly who is likely to trip. It is however very easy to cut your own panes to size if doing repairs. As for as the plants in your greenhouse it makes no difference whether you use agricultural or the thicker 4mm safety glass. You will probably have to have some sort of summer shading though.

Ribbed polycarbonate gives a softer light and you are unlikely to need shading but it does deteriorate and you inevetibly get algae growing in the spaces which is nigh impossible to clean out. Of the three it is by far the safest option as it is rigid yet flexible and has good visibility

Personally I much prefer agri glass as it's easily cleaned and fairly cheap to replace but it's not suitable if you have children who are into cricket or football :D

 

Thanks everyone,

I don'r have children, but I do have dogs and cows in the field, so I may do what Dave says - lower glass safety and roof normal.

I just need to get on with ordering it now

 

Might be a cheaper option to put a wire netting fence round the greenhouse.