Greenhouse base

[Centiweasel]

Hi everyone

me and my fiance recently moved into a house with a neglected green house
today we decided to try and sort it out, it was a real mess.
there is a brick base but its just loose bricks with dirt between the bricks, no mortar.
there was about 3 trees/shrubs in it so i ended up taking half the bricks up to get at the roots. we washed the inside and outside with jeys fluid and removed as much of the moss clumps as possible, but im not happy with the results.
there is still loads of bits of moss that we just cant get to and where the bits of glass overlap there is green stuff between the glass.
the base was covered with about 2 inch of soil/dirt with all grass and weeds growing that i removed but i know they will inevitably grow back
also 2 panes are broken but i can fix that

i am looking for suggestions on how to fix up the base, i will attach a picture to follow,
cheers everyone,

[Centiweasel]

heres is the picture of the base

Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

[veggiechicken]

Hi and welcome

What is on the floor of the greenhouse? Is it soil or concrete/slabs?

If you want to start afresh, it may be worth removing the glass and cleaning it pane by pane. Then cleaning around the frame without the risk of damaging yourself or the glass!!

EDIT - thanks, we cross posted!

[Centiweasel]

hi veggiechicken

i did consider removing all of the glass i think i will give it a shot tomorrow and do a few, then i could move the frame and make a proper base, lot more work thought lol

when i was cleaning it i noticed a rubber seal between the glass and metal, i wander if this is replaceable? it looked perished so i wander if it will be ok without it

[veggiechicken]

You can buy new seal and if you're going to the effort of removing the glass it may be as well to start with new seal. There are different types though, so you may need a sample to buy the replacement seal.

Glazing clips can be found in Wilkos quite cheaply.

Do you know the make of the GH?
I bought seal from this company after buying their sample pack to find out which one!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Greenhouse-...d=264210049716

[Scarlet]

The bricks don't really need mortar between them inside the green house. Fill with sand maybe? Sorry I'm not big on DIY but I would happily grow innpots in there. So long as it's clean it doesn't need to be perfect.

[nickdub]

If it was mine I wouldn't worry about doing any moire to the brick base - your plants will grow OK on top of it.

As VC rightly says renewing the seal after taking the glass out to clean and replacing the broken pieces is well worth doing.

[bikermike]

brick floor looks fine to me.

Once you get the greenhouse watertight, the mud will dry and you can brush it out.

Don't forget that bricks are very flexible, if you try to put a hard flooring over it, it may crack as the bricks move.

[Lardman]

Looks perfectly functional to me too, when it's dry just dry it a bit with a stiff broom. If you want to make it look a bit nicer, flip the bricks on edge so you can't see the frogs and lay them in a bonded pattern, herringbone would be nice and brush in dry sand. They cover less area that way so you'd also have a soil border to plant into then too.

[veggiechicken]

Good idea Lardman.
I'd suggest a central path to create a U shaped bed all the way round. Use the left over bricks, 2 high, along the edges to create a raised edge bed and fill it with decent compost to grow into.

[Jimmy]

I would be tempted to get a builder to put a good layer of concrete on it.
My base is concrete, unfortunatly it has a dip in the middle where water collects. Make sure yours drains properly.

Also I took each pane out and cleaned them and the frame. Devil of a job but worth it. Just do a few at a time.
My GH is over 40 years old and has followed my around a number of house moves.
Once you get it sorted it will be a thing to treasure!
Jimmy

[aggand]

Hello everyone,

I have a very similar situation to the Centiwearsal above who started this conversation. I moved into a place with a neglected hobby glass greenhouse, yet it was used as a storage space, and I found it full of several materials. The base was extremely full of many many layers of carpets of all sizes! The scale of the issue was unbelievable - Ivy had invaded all the floor and significantly covered the greenhouse inside out in every inch of it. I managed to remove almost all the ivy, yet when I started taking out the carpets, I discovered the base was layered with stone bricks and red bricks as well as some pieces of various types of wood pieces. In general, I can say the original foundations were made with bricks. The issue that I have is that those bricks are uneven and loose. They are not built on the floor like in the photo of the friend I mentioned. I was thinking of removing them and laying them back and starting building the floor from the beginning, but I gave up the idea, as apart from the huge work that is required, I am afraid that might impact the stability of the whole greenhouse, so I do not want to risk it. Between the bricks there is soil, rotten woods and dead weeds. The outside perimeter also, is challenging, as the structure is surrounded with soil, hence the invasion of the ivy inside. Do you have any recommendations on how I could solve the floor problem and the perimeter of the greenhouse? I would be forever thankful if you could help me. Best wishes