Some photos of my GH

I finally got pictures developed, and here are some shots of my GH as it was being constructed: http://davesgarden.com/editgj/viewentry.php?rid=11221

Altogether, it took my DH and me about 3 weekends (not full-time though) to complete, and our oldest son helped with securing the film and building the benches (he's SUCH a good kid!) If anyone wants the "specs" materials list, diagrams, instructions I can probably put them together, but you'll have to be patient with me - we started with a set of free plans, and proceeded to make significant modifications to the size and construction :)

Looks great go_vols! Did you take a picture of the back? I'm curious about the flap you told me about. I like the benches too - your son did a fine job!

Wow! Very nice, Terry!
I bet that you're having
a wonderful time filling it up!
It looks great! :-)

Its really nice vols, I know you luv it too! Where I live its to windy everyday! I dont think it would last -unless I put it out by the fruit trees-not as windy back there! ;]
I have to wait a few more months to really use mine-since I dont have any real heat out there! Im going to take our small heater out there for cold nights starting in March.=]
I bet you are in it everyday!

Thanks! Yes, I do tend to putter in it just about every day. And I'm sure I'll spend more time as more seedlings are started. (Right now, I have a lot of "hard-to-start" stuff going, and I check on them regularly, but there's not a lot of activity - yet. :)

And the structure is sturdier (and heavier) than you might think. You can't see from the photos, but there are four 2' long "legs" coming out from T's at ground level - two on each stem wall, near the corners. These "stubs" are held down with 50 lb. bags of sand, so in addition to the weight of the PVC and lumber, there's 200 pounds of sand weighting it down. We've had some good windstorms (near tornadic-level) and it didn't budge. (Knock on wood!)

Great looking project. Can I borrow the kid this summer.

Terry, looks wonderful. Do you have a total of what you spent? How are you heating it?

tiG, I try not to think about how much we spent (grin). More seriously: we estimate we spent $600 for the structure and benches. That includes the total bill for the plastic film, of which we only used half. (Kinda wish I had double wrapped it though....)

Which brings us to heating: we have a small electric space heater that I run on nights when the temps are going to get around 30. On the nights down in the teens and low 20s, we have a propane heater and a 40 lb. tank that can run for several nights. I also have a set of heat cables to place under flats I'm germinating.

I keep track of temps with an inexpensive digital thermomter that has a cable so I can track inside and outside temps. It also has a memory on it, so as long as I remember to re-set it, I can keep track of the highs and lows in the greenhouse vs. outside. Generally, the GH is at least 10-20 degree warmer at night than the outside.

I'm sure those heating mats will help a lot. Would be very interested in how much it runs up your electric bill and such this winter, if you're willing to share that info. I'd much rather someone be honest with what they really spent than '$100 greenhouse!' cause I would hate to get started and find out the hard way that the estimate isn't close. We're still planning to do an attached greenhouse/extra room, but there may be a hitch (kid moving back possibly) and I have to think both ways right now.

tiG, that's why (in some respects) I like using the propane heater. That way I know EXACTLY how much I'm spending to heat the GH. When we had an "extended cold spell" (those of you up North can stop snickering now), and the temps stayed in the 30s during the day and teens at night, it took about $30 a week to keep it heated. That's not something I can afford long-term, so I was very relieved when we went back to "normal" temps - highs in the 40s/50s, lows in the 30s.

I'm still fine-tuning some things; it seems like the concrete pad it sets on is letting a lot of cold seep in at night and on cloudy days. So I'm looking at some options for putting something down to absorb heat in the day, and provide insulation at night. (Specifically, I'm thinking of getting a roll of carpet padding, and painting it black so it'll absorb heat and be somewhat water-repellant.)

Snickering-cold spell! ;] We've been in a thaw here-40's during the day and 30s at night. Its a little early here to use my GH, but I walk through the gardens and out to the greenhouse-It has been up to 78 in there and down to 32!
All in all its a fine looking greenhouse-see ladies-just a little whinning and poof theres a greenhouse! *giggle* It worked for me-just kept showing DH picks last spring of all the davesgardeners NEW greenhoouse! =]

That looks great,now I have a better idea of what your saying,not looking forward to heating the sucker ,but I can't wait to set it up!!!

Good job, go vols! I need those benches by the way...really nice. I use cement blocks and old lumber for now along with whatever else will hold a flat off the ground. You're going to be surprised how fast you will fill it up. I'm still wondering how I did that.
I read somewhere about a lady that made a heating system out of a string of 100 watt light bulbs mounted to a board and placed bulbs up under the benches. The heat rises all around the plants that way. Sounds like a good idea I'm going to try one of these days.

Go-Vols, I know what you mean about the cold floor, mine is on concrete too and it dowes get damp and cold. We got the cheapest in-door carpet we could find at HD, it is green atrificial turf, I think it was only about $20. for an 8X12 piece. I pull it out once a year, in the fall and just blast it clean with the hose blaster. The pad would help too but I think it would wear out pretty fast and hold moisture. You don't want mold to grow under it.

So carpet is a good thing?I was going to use sand,or gravel dust.Whats the best?

Crestedchick, are you setting your greenhouse on cement or turf? Mine is on the turnaround "stub" of our driveway, so it sets on cement. That's why I'm contemplating some type of padding/cushion/insulation.

If yours will be on turf, I'd recommend you get heavy landscape fabric of some sort, or perhaps even a tarp to keep out "critters". Others with GH's on turf can better address your question, and add pros and cons of each choice.

Whatever you choose, keep in mind that you don't want the floor to be slippery when wet since it'll be moist a lot of the time :)

CC, I like the carpet but have nothing to compare it to. It looks a little cosier too I think! Probably would not be practical in a very large GH. Don't know what's really best. Oh, I forgot - we put styrofoam sheeting under the carpet, it won't absorb moisture like a foam pad would. Go-Vols, I love your benches too, but I have several tropical trees that take up so much floor space I only have room for one down one side. Got to leave room for Brugs to grow too!! Then smaller metal shelving units and the potting bench on the other side. You can hang baskets from your middle rafter unless you double wall it(which you need). Then you could add a second "pole", rafter underneath it.

I just thought of something,I have some green ,indoor - outdoor carpet out in the barn,I was going to use it to carpet one of our old boats,sounds good,hope its still there.Yes ,mine is going on turf,or gravel,havent decieded,which direction it going to go off the porch.What about this doubling thing,do I attach the inside plastic to the inside with clips?how and where?the outside things ,do I put out the bucks for the special stuff to staple through or use the stuff you guys suggested?You guys are sooooo good!!!

When we buildt my GH last spring we got a truck load of sand about 6-8inches of sandfloor and packed it down. Leveled it. Then we got some used carpet(heavy/home)and turned it upside down and I had planed on putting pea stone ontop the carpet-but its so easy to just shop vac it out! I am now thinking of somekind of black paint for more heat. Dont you just luv all the ideas you learn here.

Yes I do! MORE!!!!!

I have a friend in Va. that has a hoop style GH with 2 covers he uses a small squirrel cage fan to blow air in between the covers. The air acts as a insulation to keep cold out and heat in. This cuts down on heating cost. He said very little air is needed.
Greenw@@d

Save your milk jugs, spray paint them black and fill with water. They will absorb heat durning the day and give it off at night. The plastic in milk jugs will break down but should be good for a season. You could put some of those instant closet organizer shelves or old referigerator shelves on them and use them for bench supports as long as the sides still get plenty of sunlight.

If you use conduit you could possibly slide the inside layer under it, thus holding the lining in place. If you have wood, you can use small squares of cardboard With strapping tape on them to staple it to the wood so the plastic won't tear out. It doesn't matter if it sags a little, this forms your insulating dead air space.

The milk jugs are a good idea, I used them the first year but I soon found that they took up too much floor space - I use every inch in the winter.

In my small green house and in the huge commercial ones, you just lay the layers of plastic on top of each other, staple them down and like someone said, use a squirrel cage fan to blow the layers up. If we get a heavy wet snow(hey, it snows here once in a while) we turn the heat up, open the fan a little wider and the snow melts instead of caving the greenhouse in. The double layer of plastic with dead air space in between the layers makes a big difference in the heat bill!!

Doubling is a must do I see!I have a small fan so thats all taken care of,we picked out the spot,I'm not going to order the film till we have the frame up ,just so I'm sure of the mesurments.

so, is it holding up well so far? looks very nice

Mingsmimi, it is holding up very nicely - knock on wood (tornado season is just starting.)

I posted some "lessons learned" in another thread, but I'll copy them here becuase this is probably where I should have put them to start with. In fact, I think it'd be great to have a thread on "what I learned after I built a GH" for all of us to contribute to - there are some common experiences that could benefit others who are thinking of building one. At any rate, here are the things I've learned so far:

1. Don't put stuff in the GH that can overwinter somewhere else. I've spent too much money keeping the GH warm so I could keep some water hyacinths and my Agapanthus and Rain Lilies all snug and warm from October onward. I could have arranged to get more water hyacinths for a trade or SASE, and tucked the pots of bulbs in our crawlspace. Next year, I will start my tomato seeds inside (they all fit in a couple flats to start with), then fire up the heater in the GH when it's time to pot 'em up and move 'em out - mid February. In a "normal" winter, that means heating the GH periodically at night for 4-6 weeks, instead of 4 months.

2. Double wrap the GH - next fall, that is tops on my list of to-do's. I am now a firm believer in double-wall for insulation purposes. Not sure I will even need a blower, if I can figure out how to get the second layer on the inside of the PVC (that would make a 1-2" dead air space, which should provide good insulation.) That should cut down on the number of times I need to heat the GH, too.

3. Jury's still out on a floor covering. Too late in the game for this year, so I'm blowing it off for now. But next fall, I'm seriously thinking of buying some scrap carpet padding, spread it out and spray or roll it with black paint on both sides. Cut to fit, it's a $10 investment that can be trashed in the spring if it's too yucky to try to salvage.

Other than those lessons learned, I absolutely ADORE my GH. I spend every moment of the day out there (unless I'm here, LOL), and I just hope I can sell enough 'mater plants to recoup our building costs plus a little against the propane bill ;-)

go_vols I have thought of trying to make a GH like yours and have looked at your pix. I may make my side walls only 4 ft. That would lower the top 1 ft. How high is your benches and what width is the isle? We have milder weather than U but only takes one cold nite to kill new plants as DW found out last nite.
Greenw@@d

Greenwood, my sidewalls are 5' high. The total height of the GH is about 11' Lowering the sidewalls a foot would change the pitch of the roof (unless you scale the other dimensions - and math is not my forte so please don't ask me to re-calculate those angles, LOL!)

The inside width of the GH is 10' and the door is 32". Each bench is 36" deep, leaving a walkway of 40"+ (But with plants, that's not exactly true because two flats placed end-to-end hang over a few inches, so my walkway isn't quite that wide where the flats are starting to line up.)

If I were building this one again, I would probably make it at least a foot wider, because that extra foot in the center walkway would make a a difference in ease of maneuvering, especially when heating equipment is set up in there. But if those times will be few and far between, the same dimensions I used might be okay.

go_vols thanks for the quick response. I don't think lowering the side will effect the roof angle it will just be 10 ft.high. I will now try to convince my banker (DW)*G*
Greenw@@d

govols, Im from Canada..what on earth are Rain Lilies? never heard of them before???? Elaine

Elaine, "Rain Lilies" are a southern thing (or "thang" if you're talking to one of us in person - it's a common name for several different species within the Zephyranthes genus. You'll also see them referred to as Atamasco lilies (although that really refers to one particular species.)

They bloom after it rains in the summer and early fall; hence the name. Regular watering helps them grow, but only rain water will get them to bloom.

Well, now isn't that different!!! you see, we learn something new every day..at least, I hope we do..thankyou!!!!!!! Elaine