Harbor Freight

Anyone with experience with a Harbor Freight GH?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93358

Looks as good as this Elite Green House, but a lot less expensive.

http://www.clearspan.com/farm/supplies/prod1;cs1_hobby_greenhouses;bb759a8.html

Jason

No, but at the end of last summer they had one 8x6 greenhouse 50% off at our local Harbor Freight ... hubby almost bought it for me, but didn't. When we went back, it was gone of course. I'll be looking for another deal like that again this year. But would like to hear if others have bought and like their HF greenhouses.
toofew~

The 8X6 is on sale right now for $299.

This is my 3rd yr for my HF and I love it. Mine is the 6x8...wish I had a bigger one, but in reality it does the trick! I put my stuff out in April and everything is planted out by mid May, so I don't really use it all that long. Putting it together will test your marriage ...it's a stinker! We mounted outs on wide lumber to make the inside taller...glad we did. Also built moveable shelves (4 of them) Good Luck

Yea I am looking at the 10X12. By the way you and your experienced DH is invited to dinner when I get it in. LOL

Sarv.. did you do something special to secure the Panels? I am trying to decide if using silicone will be enough or if I need to use screws as well

Well it looks like we are going to get one. Now I am a hobbyist, so would I need one as big as the 10X12, or would the 6X8 do just as good? What else do I need to consider? Tell me about winter time requirements.

I want to make sure I do not get over my head.

Jason B Bour

They're on Garden Watchdog.

Jazz have you checked out the GW thread on the HFGH ? Lots of really good info on them there. They would recommend both the caulk and the screws to keep your panels on!

MollyD

Jazz...I have just used the clips that came with the greenhouse. If I leave the door open and we get a wind storm, the panels do go flying. But if I shut the door...things stay snug. I thought about using caulk, but the DH put a nix on it.

I've heard there are problems with the 10 x 12....

I just purchased the 10' x 12' HFGH but have not had a chance to put it up yet. You can follow my thread called "first time purchase - need you input please" for some information that was helpful to me. (Post #3178926)
I would give you the advice to go with the bigger one if you can. You know how us gardeners tend to expand in all directions........... LOL

Before doing anything with the 10x12 HFGH, read this: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/strucs/msg0113112919846.html?37

Don't despair, you'll cheer up when you read this: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/strucs/2006122146005629.html

When I buy pre-fab furnnature like desks or book shelves I always re-enforce it with wood glue, and dowels if possible. In otherwards I try to improve what I can when I can.

I got home, pulled up HF website to see how much money I need to transfer, and they have already taken their sale off. No big deal, I will just give them a call, I do not know of any reputible dealer who would not honor a sales price that just expired, espicially if they did not advertise a experation. Even though they just changed the price in the middle of their business day (they are on Pacific Time), they would not honor their sale price. I do not know anybody who changes their prices in the middle of the day, prices are changed at the end of business, or beginning of business day.

Well their unwillingness to work with a customer, and the way they do business just tells me I need to keep shopping. The easiest, and least expensive product a company has to offer is their service, and my experience right off the bat tells me they do not have that to offer. This tells me that if I do order, and I have a problem I will not be able to get help, and if they cannot put quality behind their service, how can they claim quality on the products they manufacture? (One Stop Gardens is theirs)

Not saying you should change your mind, sounds like customer service is definitely something to worry about, but they do offer that sale price on a pretty regular basis so I'm sure it'll be back.

Thanks Sarv.. I didn't want to do the caulk but after high winds popped out my panels I am rethinking that. I was concerned it would be too hot but a fan can fix that.If i lose my panels or they break it will be worse. It has to warm up before I can do anything with it though. DH has suggested we just take the panels out til the weather gets warm enough to fix it.

Just a thought on the HF greenhouse as a whole..It's a great deal and it's one that comes around often. I had also heard that the larger greenhouse wasn't made by the same company as the smaller and was a little less sturdy. I would have loved the larger one myself. I think the picture has a very short woman though.. lol

It's 10 ft high at the middle Jazz.

MollyD

ok..so she's just s semi short woman :)

LOL!

MollyD

Well finally got results. They are going to honor that price, and I will be ordering this afternoon. If you are planning on ordering one, be advised they are under 20 days backorder.

I noticed alot of compaints about blow over. I read the instructions, and looked on the site, and it does not say anything about anchors. Clear Span recommends at leat 6 anchors for that size GH, and they do stock the anchors for $7.95 each. It is pretty much a metal post that you drive into the ground, and then bolt your frame to.

http://www.clearspan.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10001&langId=-1&division=ClearSpan&productId=80274

I will be making my own so I can get a greater depth.

For those of you who have ordered from Harbor Freight, I hope you'll post your experiences here: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/4593/

Their name comes up fairly frequently in our forums and elsewhere; the more reviews are posted, the more balanced an helpful this information will be to others looking to buy.

I will post a final post when my GH comes in, and I get it assembled in the Watch Dog section.

They are the least expensive, but when I did a search on One Stop Gardens I found it was a Harbor Freight Company. In otherwords it seems to be factory direct price.

This is my 2nd year with a 6by 8 they heat up very quickly even in winter.It can be 20 degrees outside and 110 inside if the sun is out.I used W.Mart clear silicone inside and out on every panel and never lost one, the trick is to put silicone over every spring clip yes a big glob seal that clip to the panel.Seal every panel in and out to the aluminum frame.Silicone is cheap at W.Mart & it was completed quickly.Hope this helps

Orangelo.. Did you put the silicone on first or did you put the panels and clips in place first and then silicone over them?

Well, I'm with tetleytuna, I also have a Harbor Freight 10 x 12, still in the box. We're doing some work on our house so we have not tackled it yet, but I wanted to get it while it was on sale (and I had an email coupon for 10% off, on top of the sale price.) I'm cheap!

Plus, we can't decide quite where to put the greenhouse yet, and I'm going to throw myself on the mercy of you good folks to help me figure that out (after I figure out how to diagram my house and yard.)

I've tried to do a lot of reading about these, and I think the links Stressbaby mentioned above are definately worth reading. (For some reason GW seems to be a hotbed of info about Harbor Freight greenhouses.) There's a ton of info there. I know greenhouse locations can vary, but most of the folks at GW say the panels need to be secured with screws and (often) caulk, in addition to the clips supplied. I'll definately be doing that on mine, since we have horrible winds here, and our house is on a bit of a rise. I will need all the help I can get.

I was at Lowes recently, and the man in line behind me mentioned he had just put up a Harbor Freight greenhouse. I don't make a habit of picking up strange men, but I practically tackled him and exchanged contact info! My husband and I have since visited his new greenhouse, which turned out to be within walking distance of our home. He ordered extra clips from Harbor Freight so he's using more clips than the instructions say, but that's all he's used so far to secure the panels. In the first few weeks the winds have already popped the panels out twice, and the second time the aluminum door frame was damaged. This meshes with the warnings I've read on GW.

My (inexperienced) take is that the 10 x 12 HFGHs are a great value (size for money) but you really can't just put them up like the directions say and expect them to withstand winds. Modifications are apparently needed to make them work, and everyone says the directions are pretty horrible. Still, the modifications required don't sound expensive...just important. Fortunately my husband is willing to help me tackle it, but we're gonna go slow and think it through as it goes up, looking for ways to improve it as we go. I'll be sure to post here and on Garden Watchdog as Terry suggested. I hope others do too, we need more HFGH stories here on Dave's!

Sheri

My brother works at a nursery, and he said they bolt 6X6 Timbers to the base frame of their GH for extra base weight.

We may move in a few years, and I already showed my DW the GH I want if we move. She said that will be fine, just make sure my next wife is rich. LOL

LOL Goldeneagle.. We put 4x4s as a base for our greenhouse.. we also used metal fence posts like the ones used for box fencing to secure the 4x4s into the ground. We are going ot do something more for the panels..they have come out twice but not before the weather got too cold to go out and fix it right away..lol.. As soon as we have a prolonged warm up we are siliconing those puppies in at the very least. Other than that i was very happy with mine last year..it's the 6x8

I think a sturdy wooden base with good anchors in the ground is the way we'll do it too.

I'm happy to hear you like your HF, Jazzpunkin. I think I will too, if I can just keep it anchored and intact! I will keep my fingers crossed that you get a nice warm spell to tackle the caulk.

If you decide to add screws as well, I found a GW post I saved about the type of screws one person used for the panels. He used self tapping #10 screws with hex heads and neoprene washers. Roof panels were held with clips on the sides, one screw at panel top, one at panel bottom, and one in the panel center where the brace crossed. He seemed pretty pleased with the results.

We built one of the HF small greenhouses about 2 year ago. The instructions call for it to be placed on a concrete base but we planned on using 4 x 4's under it. We spent 2 days assembling it and getting everything aligned precisely and tightened. It looked nice but it was small. We had planned to make the base for it the following weekend but I was in an auto accident and it didn't get done. We did have it on blocks of treated wood waiting to go, however. The next week we have a very strong wind come through and the greenhouse flipped and blew several hundred feet not once but two times before my boys got it and secured it. We had all of the panels and clips but the only part that was not damaged was the front door. Every other aluminum part was either bent or actually snapped. It became scrap metal and trash.

We are still considering a greenhouse and have a proposal right now to buy a red cedar greenhouse with 8 mil 4 ply walls. Sure its a lot more money but I feel we wasted our money on the HF.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

Ken, I really appreciate your post. Any experience is helpful to know about, but I'm sure sorry yours played out this way. It was really unfortunate that your accident delayed the anchoring of the building to a base (if I'm understanding your post correctly.) Even before putting ours together, I can see that a Harbor Freight greenhouse that is not securely anchored to the ground is basically a big box kite waiting for a wind to take it. I think the materials are just too lightweight to stay in place if the right (wrong) wind comes along. And if the structure rolls, I would sure agree that the thin aluminum framework would most likely be ruined. I can only imagine your frustration at losing the whole structure.

I've also read stories about people who finished anchoring the framework to the base, and then put the panels in place in a rather temporary manner (without screws, caulk, extra fasteners of choice, whatever). Usually they plan to attach the panels more securely the next weekend, but a freak wind or storm didn't wait for them to do so, and varying ranges of damage result. It sounds to me like these light structures go through a pretty risky phase during construction, so we hope to anchor the frame super well before we add the panels, and once we add the panels we will be securing them with a vengeance as we go. That's the plan, anyway, and we'll see how it works. It was good of you to share this, it may help me (and others) avoid a similar tragedy.

Your cedar greenhouse with 4 ply walls sounds absolutely wonderful. I hope someday I can step up to that kind of quality!
Sheri

Sheri, from what I have read, I think you have summarized the HFGH nicely.

What I can't figure out is this...how do the panels pop out? Is it that the panels flex around/underneath the scant number of clips? Is it that the metal frame flexes and panels come out from under the clips? Do the clips fail?

SB

Stressbaby, I believe that the main issue is that the panels flex. Although it could be a combo of flex and clip failure. If you used one clip every three inches it probably would not pop out however they don't include enough for that. You can get extra clips but I am thinking that silicone is a better Idea. I was concerned that an airtight seal would make it too hot inside so I held off on the silicone.. My mistake. My advice to anyone setting one of these up would be to make your base and have it secured first. and then secure your panels right away. I knew we had bad wind here so I can only blame myself

Are they 6mm, or 4 mm panels?

goldeneagleone, my instruction manual lists the thickness of the panels at .165", so I believe that's 4mm. The thickness of the aluminum is listed as .038". The weight for the entire structure is listed as approximately 200 pounds (which does not seem like much for a 10 x 12 building, to me!)

I agree with Jazzpunkin, I think the panels flex in a wind. Also the clips really aren't super strong either, you can bend them with your fingers. I also agree that extra clips might help, but in my location it won't be enough...and it wasn't enough for my new Harbor Greenhouse friend just a few blocks away from me. I'm going to have to really batten down the hatches. One person on GW joked that the first thing you should do is put your name and address with a Marks-A-Lot on each panel, so your neighbors knew where to return them. I am keeping that joke in mind! :-)
Sheri

They way people was talking about the panels not staying put I assumed it was 4mm. Still a good price. I looked at building one with 6mm, and I still could not beat that price. For a starter it is not bad, and when you see my picture on the power ball website then you know I have ordered the Elite from Clear Span. LOL

Jason,

"I looked at building one with 6mm..."

And even 6mm is less than ¼ inch (0.23622 inches to be more exact). Unfortunately, 4mm is less than one-sixth of an inch. That's cutting it pretty thin.

MM

I bought a 6x8 one last year from HF in Delaware. It was on sale for $299 and we had a 20% off coupon, plus DE is the home fo tax free shopping! Since we were moving it went into storage and we just got it put up yesterday! The directions are the worst I have ever seen! We had lot of little plastic pieces left over either because we couldn't make them fit or couldn't figure out where they went. We out it on a wood base of PT4x8's, sunk intot he ground, with reinforcing rods driven though at an angle into the ground. It's smaller than I would have liked but you can't beat the price. They gave us just enough clips and screws, only 1 extra screw which was good because hubby's power driver snapped the first one like a matchstick!

I think it's in a pretty sheltered spot as far as wind is concerned but I am going to caulk it when I get the chance anyway. Now I have to get the energy to move my plants out of the house and into it. My poor bamboo seedlings are looking for some sun!
TC

So when your DH was putting this up, did you remember to have the camera running for America's Funniest Videos.

Well as "flimsy" I here it is, I do not here to many complaints on it, and everyone seems to be someone satisfied. Like they say, you get what you pay for of course.

I cannot wait for mine to come in so I can get it up. Wonder if I can guilt trip my wife into doing it for me. :)

No..No you can't.. lol.. How mean is that???

I would definitely go to GW and get the supplemental instructions for putting one of these things up. it helps having more than one brain on it

Based on how annoying I hear these are to put up, that would have to be one big load of guilt! :-)

Congratulations dragonfly53! Sounds like your greenhouse was slightly "aged in the box" like mine will be. These posts are making me crazy to start putting ours up.