i've got a greenhouse!!!!

[ckfe]

just got a greenhouse off a lady off freecycle, we're picking it up tomorrow and i'm sooo excited

not got a clue what condition it's in but i really don't care!.. apparently it's 8 x 6 and has a few panes of glass missing but we can easily give it a good scrub and replace the missing glass

she's even took all of the glass out for us, all we need to do is take the frame down and bob's your uncle!!.. just hoping that the base of it isn't cemented into the floor like i remember someone else on the vine finding out when they went to pick up theirs from a freecycler

how long does anyone reckon it'll take to dismantle the frame? it's just that we'll have an impatient 6 year old with us

also, it should all easily fit in a zafira shouldn't it? (bearing in mind that there will be 2 adults and a child already in it

roughly how many panels and how many bits of frame will there be?

[MrToggs]

Remember to take Photos of it before you take it apart and mark certain sections with a marker pen so you can refer back when to when your putting it back to gether.
I took mine down last weekend from my neices garden and im glad I had the sense to mark sections of it made it so much easier when I put it back together.
If you can try to take it down in large sections if you can fit it in the car or on the roof of the car.
When I moved mine I did it in 2 trips in small escort van.
You may find that the bolts are ceased and snap off so it may be worth grabbing some spare bolts.
B and Q do a repair kit which is about £6 which contains clips, bolts and z springs not many bits in the kit but you can get the bolts springs separate from a decent garden centre.

[teamladd]

I want one! I have been asking n freecylce for a couple of months but no joy! Well done for getting one though!

[ckfe]

I want one! I have been asking n freecylce for a couple of months but no joy! Well done for getting one though!

i was pretty lucky really because the lady had already promised it to someone else but she said she'd email me if he didn't contact her to arrange collection

fortunately for me he didn't!!

what sort of things did you mark on the frame mrtoggs? was it numbers etc?

[teakdesk]

Take lots of newspaper to put between each pane of glass - they are best stood up in the car rather than laid flat on the boot floor.

I'm sure you realise that glass and 6 year-olds don't mix so do take care - and take leather gloves to wear while handling glass.

I'd take a pad of paper and sketch the greenhouse as well as taking photos. Give each corner a number and mark on the metal with a marker pen. Give the side joints a letter and mark on the metal.

The tricky bits are the door and its mechanism. ?Could you take the door without dismantling?

As MrToggs says it is sometimes much easier to let the bolts snap off and replace them when you rebuild. Only use greenhouse bolts (ie not steel) though or they will rust.

Take a range of ring spanners with you to undo bolts - 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 13mm could all be used. Penetrating oil could be useful especially for bolts around the base. Pair of pliers as well.

Any rubber seals on the windows that are damaged may be hard to replace but a silicon sealant can be used instead. Door seals really need to be there.

I'd allow at least 2 hours to dismantle.

When you come to rebuild it squareness is the watchword - if you make sure everything is square then it will be strong and the glass will fit properly; if the glass holes are not square then the glass will just break.

Good Luck!

[ckfe]

thanks for the advice TD.. hopefully should be able to take the door without dismantling it.. if it's going to be 2 hours of a job i think i'd better start looking for a babysitter

[Davdandy]

Good luck with it.

Looks like good weather though so should be helpful in that department.Better putting the gh up in nice warm weather than a lousy raining windy one eh?

[ckfe]

Good luck with it.

Looks like good weather though so should be helpful in that department.Better putting the gh up in nice warm weather than a lousy raining windy one eh?

thanks dav.. doubt we'll be putting it up today, still in negotiations with the OH about where it's going.. she's chosen a lovely shady spot under the trees for it which defeats the object, while i'm wanting to take up even more of the sunny part of the garden which she's not overjoyed about

[vikkib]

Congratulations cfke!

I was sooooooooo excited when I got mine too!

As people have already said definitely take loads of pics and do sketches, loads of newspaper, gloves, WD40, ice cream tub (or similar) for keeping all the bolts and clips in, spanners, screwdrivers, hacksaw, hammer, pliers, plasters and TCP!

If you have got access to a kango or the like take it along just in case the bas is cemented in.

Couple of hours job without a cemented in base.... quite a bit longer if it's cemented in!

If you've got a roof rack I strongly recommend leaving the side panels in as large a piece as possible and just tying them to the roof of the car!

Good luck!

[ckfe]

Congratulations cfke!

I was sooooooooo excited when I got mine too!

woohoooooo got the greenhouse!!.. it needs a good scrub, a few new panes of glass (not many though) and some of those rubber strips that the panes sit on (has anyone got any idea where i can get those?).. might even repaint the frame as it's green but it looks a bit shabby

i'm pretty impressed with it especially as it was free, the guy even gave us a bag of spare nuts and bolts that he'd bought in case any were missing

oh has anyone got any suggestions what sort of base to use? it's only going to be in the garden till i get an allotment.. so that could be a few years!.. don't want to cement it in or spend too much money on a base though if it'll be moved at some point

all i need now is some staging.. oh well back to freecycle lol

[BilboWaggins]

Many congratulations, it will change your gardening forever - there is something utterly magical about wandering into the g/h first thing in the morning (dressing gown & wellies works well), mug of tea in hand, "just to have a look at things" and all of a sudden you realise you've been in there 1½ hours and you're very late for work!

[Davdandy]

Glad you got it mate.

Is it going on hard ground or grass,if its grass i would imagine you could simply drive some pins into the grass to hold it down.I don't think a base is truly needed apart from the extra height it gives.You could use some timber joists,treated of course form B@Q or other like that.Or as with the grass screw the gh down in to the hard surface.

As for staging,i made my own.I simply went to B@Q and bought some treated 2x1,quite cheap at around £6 for 6 lengths,i bought about 4 bundles and works a treat.

[bobleponge]

Many congrats. Hurrumphed re the popping into the g/h in the morning with a cuppa and then realising you've been in a timewarp and an hour has vanished.
Mine is just sat flat on a concrete base, there was a spare flat bit of concrete iin the garden and so it sits on there. No supports no nuffink.

[smallblueplanet]

If its possible for you to do it then I'd bolt it down - a couple of springs ago our whole glass greenhouse was blown along the wall it was sitting on. It only shifted about 10" along so I managed to slide it back by pushing it, I'd bolt it down if I could be sure I wouldn't break something (but I can't, so I haven't! )...

[vikkib]

I'm sure I've heard people mention on here about using railway sleepers and bolting it onto them. I think they would have to be the proper big one's from a timber merchant/building supplier rather than DIY store. I got a couple a few months ago to make a raised bed and they are so heavy, I can't imagine it shifting once it's attached to them!

I believe a really important thing is getting whatever base you use as level and square as possible otherwise when you put the frame up it will be skewed and getting the panes in will be really difficult. We've done the base for ours but haven't got round to doing the assembling yet so yet to see if our's is level enough!

Even when you get an allotment you might want to keep a GH in the garden for some of the plants that need closer attention (peppers etc.) so you may end up going for another freecycle greenhouse when you get the allotment! Plus you never know your luck the plot might already have one!


With regards the rubber strips there is this sort of thing available:

Adhesive foam Strip for glazing 15m long - Miscellaneous - Greenhouses by The Greenhouse People Ltd

You might be able to get it cheaper else where though.


On another thread on here a very talented grape had made some fantastic staging for a fraction of the price of the stuff in the shops/online. I keep meaning to have a hunt to find the thread again as I believe the guy offered to email over the spec to anyone interested.


All this talk of greenhouses is making me even more eager to get mine up! Got to level the ground inside it and around it yet so I can pop some slabs around the outside and then membrane and gravel the inside. So much work to do but it's just too darn hot today!