Building my Greenhouse

[ellidro]

I finally began building my harbor freight 8 X 10 greenhouse so I thought I'd share some pics of the process. Here is what I got done today. The toughest part of the whole process IMO is preparing the site and base. Everything must be square and level, which at time can get frustrating. Here is a shot of the base from a few angles. Sunday I'll be stubbing out the electrical and hopefully putting up the supports for the walls.

I cut diagonals to help keep each corner square

[Shon]

Are you going to lose the one person at a time shadehouse?

[ellidro]

Are you going to lose the one person at a time shadehouse?

It will be gone. That side will be the access to the back yard.

[BS Man about Palms]

Looks good Nick, If you need help let me know. As you know I built the smaller one. You saw my old thread?

I think they are a pretty good value. Only thing is, don't assume all the holes are drilled in the right spot. A tape measure and level will help you a lot, which already got a workout on the base.

Oh yes, YOU WILL need to cover it with something. either 30% shade cloth, or I used white shoe polish diluted with water, because IT WILL burn leaves if left plain. During the summer, open the doors, you'll cook stuff. Ask me how I know.

Also, those plastic shelves at the big box stores work good as benches. (The heavy duty ones)

[LJG]

Nice Nick. That thing fits perfect. Still waiting for you to stop by. Make sure to put lights in there. I spend a lot of time in my GH in winter.

[paulgila]

why do you need one? seems to me that you have the best climate around!

[ellidro]

Today I put up all the sidewalls, supports and the roof. Here's a few photos

sidewalls

Roof

[MattyB]

Nick, don't put shoe polish on it like Bill's. Have you seen Bill's? It looks like a giant pteradactyl took a shiz from 40,000 feet and it landed directly on Bill's place. Shade cloth, 30%, booyeah.

[Jeff Searle]

Nick, don't put shoe polish on it like Bill's. Have you seen Bill's? It looks like a giant pteradactyl took a shiz from 40,000 feet and it landed directly on Bill's place. Shade cloth, 30%, booyeah.

Ahh Matty,

You sure have a way with words. I think you owe Bill an apology, or buy him a choice palm of $100 in value or more. Don't make me start a poll to see how mean you were to one of our beloved and respected members here. A phone call to your wife Jennifer might be in order too. What's your home phone number?

Jeff

[paulgila]

i just pm'd it to ya,jeff.

[BS Man about Palms]

Matt. Just because your greenhouse LOOKS like a giant pteradactyl target from the sky so you had to use the the shadecloth to protect it from view.....

Don't be jealous man.

[LJG]

Come on guys. This is Nick's own little special thread about his greenhouse, not Bill's ugly azz hobo house.

[BS Man about Palms]

Come on guys. This is Nick's own little special thread about his greenhouse, not Bill's ugly azz hobo house.

No fair Len.

I can't pick on your Greenhouse, its the shizz, thats fer shore. Its the real dealio. But plants still die there too.

Wait sorry.

Greenhouse foul.

Damn stuff dies in everybodys greenhouse. Maybe Nicks will be different.

(PS- I suspect more than a few of you would be more than happy to raid my "hobo house")

[LJG]

WRONG! No plant has ever died in my greenhouse. They died in their pots.

And yes, more then a few hobo's I would like to take home from your place.

Come on guys. This is Nick's own little special thread about his greenhouse, not Bill's ugly azz hobo house.

No fair Len.

I can't pick on your Greenhouse, its the shizz, thats fer shore. Its the real dealio. But plants still die there too.

Wait sorry.

Greenhouse foul.

Damn stuff dies in everybodys greenhouse. Maybe Nicks will be different.

(PS- I suspect more than a few of you would be more than happy to raid my "hobo house")

[palmcurry]

I recommend getting a small fan on a timer. You can pick up plug in timers on amazon for 5 bucks. I lost a bunch of great seedlings & 1 gals last winter to mold and rot- not enough air circulation.

I think the light idea is great, too.

I just put in one of those cordless thermometers you can monitor inside in my green house. I'm sure most everyone here dose that already but I'm really diggin it. Only 15 bucks at one of those large home improvement centers!

[ellidro]

Here is what I finished up yesterday. I put all the roof supports on, finished the roof vents and put up the door. All the framing is done, next up is putting up the polycarbonate panels. I'm waiting to get my exhaust fan and intake shutters so I can custom fit them into the polycarbonate. In the meantime I'll finish stubbing out the electrical. I'm getting excited, I've always wanted a greenhouse to get some of the small rare stuff through the winters and up to plantable size.

[palmcurry]

Wow! Your definitely doing it the right way!

[BS Man about Palms]

Looking good Nick.

I bet Jeff Rood is happy too.

[John Case]

There is an old saying for Koi ponds that applies to greenhouses as well; "Build your 2nd one 1st".

I'll bet that you run out of room long before you think you might; ask anyone (even the one with Pterodactyl shizz).

[ellidro]

There is an old saying for Koi ponds that applies to greenhouses as well; "Build your 2nd one 1st".

I'll bet that you run out of room long before you think you might; ask anyone (even the one with Pterodactyl shizz).

I wish I had the room for a bigger but the reality is I bought the biggest one I could for the space I had. Its coming along!

[ellidro]

Today's progress! I put up about 2/3's of the panels. It took forever because I caulked every panel along with using the glazing clips.

[BS Man about Palms]

Nick- You may want to leave one panel "uncaulked" in the summer you may need more airflow.

[ellidro]

Nick- You may want to leave one panel "uncaulked" in the summer you may need more airflow.

The 8 X 10 has two vents unlike the 6 X 8. Also I bought intake shutters and an exhaust fan so I can completely exchange the air inside with outside air in a minute. I think I'll be ok in the heat department. I think if you added some vent equipment your temps would drop drastically.

[osideterry]

Nick, that thing is perfect there. I'm wondering what side of the house it's on, as it looks like you are jammed in there between it and a wall and fence on the other side. How many hours of full overhead sun?

[ellidro]

Nick, that thing is perfect there. I'm wondering what side of the house it's on, as it looks like you are jammed in there between it and a wall and fence on the other side. How many hours of full overhead sun?

Its on the east side of my house and gets sun from 8n in the morning to about 1 in the afternoon.

[Bags]

Looks like you are almost there! If they ever let me off work I will give you a hand with the rest.

[MattyB]

My first greenhouse was situated on the east side of my house, jammed between it and a fence, just like yours. It'll be great and you'll love it. You can put shade loving species on the house side that gets the shade sooner.

[ellidro]

Thanks Matty! Here's the progress from the last few days. First up electrical. I ran everything in the greenhouse on its own a 20 amp circuit.

The J box Stubbed out

The service entrance/exit

Then I dug a Trench put 12g wire through a 1/2 inch conduit and used a sweep to enter in the greenhouse. I continued the conduit to a water tight J box inside the greenhouse. Here there will be a light switch and an outlet.

[ellidro]

Made brackets for a 12" exhaust fan

Then did the same for a 16" motorized intake shutter

Then added the rest of the panels

Then my dog got curious

Now all I have left is to wire the fan and intake to the thermostat. Then wire a light and I'm done.

[Zeeth]

Very nice!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Made brackets for a 12" exhaust fan

Then did the same for a 16" motorized intake shutter

Then added the rest of the panels

Then my dog got curious

Now all I have left is to wire the fan and intake to the thermostat. Then wire a light and I'm done.

Very professional effort . big exhaust fan will be great - sure makes my greenhouse look like a primative affair !

[BS Man about Palms]

Looking good Nick. Are you gonna put those auto vent openers on too? Quite handy. Especially if the power goes out...

[ellidro]

Looking good Nick. Are you gonna put those auto vent openers on too? Quite handy. Especially if the power goes out...

I am going to purchase some auto vents just for that reason. With the vent system I have, I plan on leaving the doors closed most of the time. My plan is to set the auto vents ten degrees higher than the thermostat just for a back up.

[Wai`anae Steve]

Made brackets for a 12" exhaust fan

Then did the same for a 16" motorized intake shutter

Then added the rest of the panels

Then my dog got curious

Now all I have left is to wire the fan and intake to the thermostat. Then wire a light and I'm done.

Ridgebacks. The next best thing to a palm. I had a few in the past. Can't beat them for pet and protector.

[freakypalmguy]

Really nice work, I need to put in a ventilation system similar to yours. Right now I have an extension cord ran from a GFCI plug to an oscillating fan. Where did you get it and how much did it set you back? Are you going to put in an irrigation system, or plan on just hand watering. I put in an overhead misting system that helps keep it cool. I did it for pretty cheap, PVC, six misting heads, and a Digg battery operated sprinkler valve. Basic, but effective. I will change it out later for a temperature activated controller.

[ellidro]

Really nice work, I need to put in a ventilation system similar to yours. Right now I have an extension cord ran from a GFCI plug to an oscillating fan. Where did you get it and how much did it set you back? Are you going to put in an irrigation system, or plan on just hand watering. I put in an overhead misting system that helps keep it cool. I did it for pretty cheap, PVC, six misting heads, and a Digg battery operated sprinkler valve. Basic, but effective. I will change it out later for a temperature activated controller.

The fan I have is for exhaust only it does not help circulate air other than drawing air in from the intake and expelling stale air out of the greenhouse. Here is a link to the vendor I bought it from. It came as a package deal and after shopping around quite a bit I found this to be the cheapest. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...54#ht_762wt_941 .I plan on buying an 8" circulating fan from schaefer to help move air around. I do have irrigation already plumbed to the greenhouse but I'm not sure yet what type of system I will put in. For now I'll just be hand watering. Be careful when using extension cords even when plugging them in to a GFCI. The end that the extension cord plugs into the fan can still cause problems. Maybe I'm too conservative but after seeing a lot of fires caused by electrical (I'm a fireman) you get that way. ACF greenhouses sells watertight covers that wrap around the part of the extension cord I'm talking about.

[ellidro]

Steve our ridgeback has been an amazing pet. He has more personality than any pet I have ever had. Sometimes he's too smart for his own good, he can get quite crafty.

[freakypalmguy]

Really nice work, I need to put in a ventilation system similar to yours. Right now I have an extension cord ran from a GFCI plug to an oscillating fan. Where did you get it and how much did it set you back? Are you going to put in an irrigation system, or plan on just hand watering. I put in an overhead misting system that helps keep it cool. I did it for pretty cheap, PVC, six misting heads, and a Digg battery operated sprinkler valve. Basic, but effective. I will change it out later for a temperature activated controller.

The fan I have is for exhaust only it does not help circulate air other than drawing air in from the intake and expelling stale air out of the greenhouse. Here is a link to the vendor I bought it from. It came as a package deal and after shopping around quite a bit I found this to be the cheapest. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...54#ht_762wt_941 .I plan on buying an 8" circulating fan from schaefer to help move air around. I do have irrigation already plumbed to the greenhouse but I'm not sure yet what type of system I will put in. For now I'll just be hand watering. Be careful when using extension cords even when plugging them in to a GFCI. The end that the extension cord plugs into the fan can still cause problems. Maybe I'm too conservative but after seeing a lot of fires caused by electrical (I'm a fireman) you get that way. ACF greenhouses sells watertight covers that wrap around the part of the extension cord I'm talking about.

That's a great price for that package, thanks Nick. Also, I had no idea that the cord could still be an issue while plugged into a GFCI. I need to break down and do it right, I'm a bit embarrassed how I've got it set up now.

[ellidro]

I needed to hurry up and finish as the coldest day of the year is upon us in SoCal. Here's my latest.

Wired the fan to the intake in series then wired both to the thermostat.

Here it is all done! I'm so excited! I put up some shade cloth then started filling it up for the cold night looming.

some palms

[Jeff Searle]

Looks like your full.... Great job!