My new greenhouse

My DH just hired someone to build me a greenhouse. It is not a traditional looking greenhouse but it is functional. It is 12’ x 12’ x 12’ and is just the perfect size for me. I will show you the finished product first and then show you a break down of how we did things. Here is what we have done so far. It is not completely finished but I wanted to share it with you and maybe get some feedback from you if that is okay. This is so new to me and I'm sure that many of you can add some good advice or pointers on how to make it better. If you look closely you can see the wiring going around the center of the greenhouse. I am going to paint a border around the middle of it to hide the wiring. I want it to be both beautiful and functional. I was thinking of painting a green stripe around it and then maybe paint some little flowers or something like that to make it pretty.

Jesse

The next photo is what the back of the house looked like before we started building. We had to remove a section of chain link fence before we could start. This photo has one of the worker’s sons starting to dig up the fence post.

Jesse

In this photo you can see the first wall being built.

Jesse

This photo shows the fiberglass panels that we used to cover the sides and the top.

Jesse

The first wall going up. This is the man that we hired to build the greenhouse.

Jesse

Here we can see the walls beginning to come together to make the greenhouse.

Jesse

And once again, the finished product. The greenhouse is almost finished and some of the plants have been moved in. The greenhouse has two other vents to keep it from getting too hot. It has a receptacle on each beam in the ceiling to plug my lights into. It also has a receptacle on each wall. And one feature that I like is my little utility sink that has both hot and cold water. The silver thing shown here at the top is an attic fan converted to a greenhouse fan. It is really nice and is controlled by a thermostat so I can set it at whatever
temperature I want.

Jesse

Nice job and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. You probably don't get much snow there but if you do, watch the roof. Usually there will be enough heat from the greenhouse to melt it and it will slide off but if it's also really cold too keep an eye on it.

My first greenhouse was attached and it's a big advantage to not have to go outside to get inside. On cold sunny winter days you can exhaust heat from the greenhouse into the house and save a few $$ on heating.
Dave.

So far I really have enjoyed my new greenhouse. I have a lot of work to do with all of the plants, setting them up like I want them. I do have a lot of work still to do but I'm loving it.

Here are some questions that you all might can help me with. What temperature should I keep the greenhouse in both summer and winter? What do you think would be the best kind of heater to keep it warm in the winter? We heat our home with natural gas and I was wondering if that would be a good type of heater to use.

Thanks,
Jesse

Hi Jesse, it looks great!
A few things though...I would definitely reenforce the ceiling in case of snow-that fiberglass will crack under the weight of more than a few inches of snow, and as you know, we can get some snow-....also, just know that if the snow falls really fast, the heat in the grhouse won't be able to melt it fast enough. It would be good to have a plan to get the snow off as well.

As for temps, it depends on what you want to grow and how hot the soil temp needs to be for whatever growth you want. I set my thermostats at 60 degrees at night and 80 degrees during the day.

I use propane gas heaters, and I bought the heaters from the gas company so that if something breaks, they will come out right away and fix them. They also can install it for you. I don't know anything about what heater you could use for that small a grhouse, but I would call the company that you use and see if they sell heaters for grhouses.

Thanks for the information tiger. Is there a possibility of me visiting your greenhouse sometime soon? I sure would love to see how you have yours set up. I know yours is quite a bit larger than mine, but I'd really love to visit with you if that is possible. What type of plants do you grow in your greenhouse? I bet you have a wonderful greenhouse and know lots about them.

Jesse

Is the wood that touches the ground...pressure treated? It looks so "new".

We bought the special stuff that you spray or paint on the wood that seals it and keeps the water from getting to it. Every single piece of wood that we used was treated with that. The pressure treated wood was just way too expensive for us to buy at this time. Hopefully the water sealer will keep the wood from rotting on down the line.

Jesse

I'm glad you finally got a greenhouse! You'll love working in there and growing plants to your heart's content!

And yes, I agree with tigerlilly...a snow load, or most importantly, and ice storm will do some serious damage to that roof. (I can't tell from the pics though how much pitch you have on the roof to allow melted snow/ice to run off so hope you can reach the roof to help move it along.)

The attic fan...that's exactly what I used in my very first g-house years ago as an exhaust fan! Worked great! (I'd suggest framing it in though because the vibrations of it coming on and off will cause it to move around.)

As for heating, I also use propane w/thermostat. I only heat mine to 50 degrees though most of the Winter and that saves lots of moola and also keeps many many plants alive!

Congrats, Jesse! You'll have fun!

Shoe.

One thing that will greatly help your heating cost is to pur a 6 mil sheet of plastic on the inside of the walls and roof for Winter. This way you make some kind of airpocket and will prevent a lot of cold air to come in. I did not have it in mine the first year and could not keep it frost free. Last year the heater did not even come on. Mine is made from the same material as yours and is also about the same size. By the way do not forget to cover the door as well.

In England I used the cover the inside of my greenhouse with bubble wrap. ( the one with the big bubbles).

If it gets too sunny you may need to cover the greenhouse with a shade cloth during summer.

In my mind I see a gutter, downspout, and rainbarrel for rainwater collection. SB

Thanks for all of the great ideas. I can foresee some of those in the near future.

Jesse

I just found this photo. It was taken before the greenhouse was finished. We put down a tarp and then rocks for our floor. We bought more rocks after this photo was taken. But you can see the general idea of what it looked like before it was finished.

Jesse