Building ones own greenhouse

[Caelma]

Been wanting a couple med sized green house and
been looking at premade ones, they're so costly.
Does anyone know of any books or internet plans where one can learn
to make their own?

[Fire-Man]

Originally Posted by Caelma

Been wanting a couple med sized green house and
been looking at premade ones, they're so costly.
Does anyone know of any books or internet plans where one can learn
to make their own?

I sketched out how big/tall/wide I wanted mine(8x12x9' tall in the middle 6' on the sides)------Then I went and bought some straight 2x2's treated and some 3"screws, came home and built mine in a few hours---stuck a fan in one end-----a Louver in the other---a heater in the middle---some shelves and a old sink----It is 15 years old now---Replace the plastic every 2 or 3 years. The biggest thing---Is when building it is make sure you build it so it will work out with the roll of plastic you plan to use and don't leave any jagged/ruff edges on the outside that will tear the plastic. Good Luck!! Randy

[greenguy]

Check out:
http://www.northerngreenhouse.com
They have a nice catalog that comes with a sample of a high quality, woven, UV resistant plastic. Inside the catalog are plans to build your own greenhouse out of "rebar" or "rerod".

scott

[Dianol]

These are pretty nice, and the price is fairly decent. You can probably build your own a little cheaper, but with this one, you'll never have to replace the visqueen.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93358

Have a blessed day.

Dianne

[newfieannie]

mine is 20x10 or so. used whatever was available. 2x4 left over from another project. had some used windows for the sides .drilled holes in the frames and screwed them to the 2x4 the roof was used hard plastic.
couple of fans. a friend wired it. as i recall the only thing I bought was an inexpensive door. been there 25 years. although I am planning a smaller one now.

[Snowdancer]

Here's the one I'm going to try making since I have to build up the low lying area anyway. Maybe we can compare pics once they're completed.

http://www.bobshowto.com/build-homemade-greenhouse.htm

[visionary]

I had this page for a pvc model bookmarked:

http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html

[Trixie]

Would corrugated fiberglass let in enough light so you could use it for the roofing?

The white kind.

[Kelly FG]

I'm pretty new here & I'm on a tiny 1/4 acre so my greenhouse is quite small but we designed & built it ourselves from 'junk'. my Dh is a carpenter in a really affluent area & the things that people pay him to rip out & replace are often in perfect condition. After a few months he collected Andersen double hung windows, an andersen slider, a couple of side lights & an entry door. He is always buying cull lumber & we got the river rocks we used for the floor for free off craigslist.



We have painted the rest of the wood white & this spring I'll paint the door barn red

inside each wall has one long shelf-I used the grids from commercial lights that were being thrown out as shelf tops, they are great for drainage.


I also have a wicker chair in there & my chicken supplies. I hang out in it with my chickens this time of year & read.
I sometimes see old windows & doors on Freecycle & craigslist. I looked at many kits online, but were out of my budget. We spent less than $75 on this.

[SquashNut]

built this in 4 or 5 days



bassketcher

[george darby]

northern is a good company some of thier poly is on an end wall at 10 years now and a small bldg still has a its silver poly cover at 10 years realy like thier poly fasteners its easy and durable u can make a nice hoop greenhouse using pvc electric conduet have some comercial greenhouses i torn down a few years ago and havent had time to put them back up thier the hoop type , green house space requires a lot of intense management but realy can be a major asset ,check the library for eliot coleman 4 season gardening lots of very good ideas all in one place.

[sleeps723]

i like kellys best but i`ll never get any of that stuff for free.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Don't make a greenhouse any harder than necessary. This is my new one. Its approx 12 by 16 and 10 feet high at the peak. Total cost was less than $400.00 and it will last for years. Sorry for the construction debris, but it was taken before the cleanup.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

"The white kind."

No - use clear and add shadecloth in the summer to control heat.

BTW - the rule of greenhouses - they are never large enough. Don't build too small.

Rule number 2 - they take a lot of heat in the winter.

[bbbuddy]

http://www.lostcreek.net/

Loy makes a very nice tubing bender to make your own hoop style greenhouse, complete with directions

[Honorine]

Cattle panel greenhouses are good because their strong enough that you can hang baskets from them, unlike a PVC GH.

http://www.floydcountyinview.com/buildagreenhouse.html

[SolarGary]

Hi,

A bunch more plans here:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects.../sunspaces.htm

Gary

[veggrower]

Originally Posted by Caelma

Been wanting a couple med sized green house and
been looking at premade ones, they're so costly.
Does anyone know of any books or internet plans where one can learn
to make their own?

You really didn't give enough info to get a good answer. How many square feet does "med sized" mean to you? What do you plan to use it for? Are looks very important to you or do you just want fucntionality? What type of covering do you want?

You can put up field sized poly high tunnels for $15k/acre. You can put up 20X100 greenhouses for $2k including film with extra dollars for heating/ventilation if you need it. You can spend $10k+ for a small (to me) redwood framed, glass glazed, architectural showpiece. What are you looking for?

[Trixie]

Yes, I see the clear - to be honest I didn't know they made that kind.

They sell some white here that isn't quite that 'see-thru' and I wanted to put couple of sheets in our storage building roof to give light - everyone told me fiberglass wouldn't last in the TExas heat for long - only 3 or 4 years. Don't know - didn't try it.

[Junkmanme]

Built ALMOST entirely from Salvage (scrap I had accumulated). I bought the 3/4 inch PVC....it's cheap. The plastic covering was WalMart cheap stuff .......about $10.00 for the 20 x 25 foot roll. But the WalMart plastic will only last 4 to 6 months (no uv protection) I am ready to recover with 4-year uv protected plastic....cost $140.00

Pics:









When it was first completed, I'm sure I didn't have more that $100.00 cash in it.
It is approx. 12 ft by 20 feet

just might give you an idea or two,

Best Regards,
Bruce