constructing new greenhouse, etc.

[Kathryn]

Looking good Jack. How about an update?

[elHoagie]

Thanks Kate!  Progress has been a little slow lately.  To make a long story short, I made a bad decision about what type of fastener to use, so I had to go back and change them all.    Anyway, the skeleton is now complete, and I have the bench supports attached to the frame.  On Sunday I finally started putting up the polycarbonate.  I'll try to get some updated photos this week.  It's amazing how long this process can take when I only have a few hours per week to work on it...

[MattyB]

Jack, could you beifly explain your fastner issues.  It could save some of us the trouble in the future.  Plus I just love all the different types of hardware you can buy.  I know, pretty nerdy, but we go to this place called United Fastner here in SD and they have butt loads of stuff....it's fun.  Ever use powder driven fasteners?  It's like shooting a gun into concrete......YYYYYeeeeeeehhhhaaaawwwww!!!!

[ellidro]

Jack,

Where did you purchase your materials?  I'm going to be building my own greenhouse soon and any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

[elHoagie]

Matt,

Here was the issue with the fasteners.  The aluminum I used was a combination of 1/8 inch and 1/16 inch thick.  I would have liked to just use 1/8 for the whole thing, but the costs got out of hand.  I just wanted to use self-drilling screws, so that construction would be easy, but that required getting a screw with a lot of threads to make sure it would work with the 1/16 stuff.  So, I purchased a bunch of 6-32 screws.  After I had the skeleton built, I tested the stiffness by pushing on it, and a few of the heads popped off the screws.  I realized I needed something more robust.  So, I did what I was going to do in the first place before I tried to cut corners, and ordered a bunch of 1/4-20 bolts with nuts and lock washers.  It's VERY solid now.

I used those blue-coated screws for fastening to the concrete.  Those bastards are brittle, and I popped the heads off about 10% while trying to drive them in.  When the screw broke I would just drill another hole nearby, so it wasn't too big of a deal.  I did break the carbide tip off about 3 of those percussion drillbits, which was exciting....  I have used those power driven fasteners, when my dad and I were remodeling the basement of my parents house about 10 years ago.  It was fun smashing the back of the tool with a 4# hammer, then hearing the blank explode the nail into the concrete.  The only problem was the concrete was really hard (or maybe the blanks we bought weren't powerful enough).  Anyway, I'd always have to pound the nail in the last 1/4 inch or so by hand...

Nick - the materials came from several different places.  I shopped around for quite a while to find the cheapest/easiest sources.

The fasteners/hinges/etc came from McMaster-Carr

The concrete and the polycarbonate came from Home Depot

The aluminum came from Metals Depot

Some of the odds and ends came from International Greenhouse Company

Jack

[paulgila]

more photos!don't be stingy!

[BS Man about Palms]

You know, I'vebeen happy with my Harbor frieght tools house other than size.  Doing it again, I'd just buy the $600 10'x12' house and be done with it.  (once you assemble it )

The 6'x8' house is just too small..... for me.

[Zac in NC]

Wow! I missed this and stuff the first go round. Danny is a great help, and a funny guy to boot. I bet he was joking most of the time.  Looks like it will be a nice greenhouse when you finish. More pictures please.

Zac

[Tad]

why no anchor bolts in the slab?

[palmazon]

(Ray, Tampa @ Apr. 11 2007,04:07)

QUOTE

I'll be out there again in a couple of weeks.  Maybe I can see the finished product in person.

two words:

Livistona fulva

[palmazon]

I forgot the magic word: please

[elHoagie]

(palmotrafficante @ May 01 2007,18:04)

QUOTE

why no anchor bolts in the slab?

The 1/4" screws I used are easily strong enough to anchor the structure.  The main problem was the tight space, which means most of the attachment points are close to the edge of the slab.  I was worried that those anchor bolts with a lead sleeve might break the slab...

Or did you mean setting the bolts before I poured the slab, so they would be integrated in the concrete?  That seemed like way too much trouble, especially since they'd have to be positioned within 1/2", since the aluminum is only 1" wide.

[Tad]

(elHoagie @ May 02 2007,14:14)

QUOTE

Or did you mean setting the bolts before I poured the slab, so they would be integrated in the concrete?  That seemed like way too much trouble, especially since they'd have to be positioned within 1/2", since the aluminum is only 1" wide.

like in the slab, holding down a 2 X 6 treated plate and then attach your aluminium frame to the treated lumber.... no right or wrong way to do it.

[elHoagie]

Finally took some pictures.  Here's the screw I used to attach the frame to the concrete.

[elHoagie]

Here's one of the bolts I used for construction.

[elHoagie]

Here's a view of the whole structure from the side.

[elHoagie]

Here's a view from above of the back part of the roof.

[elHoagie]

The front part of the roof.

[elHoagie]

Last one, a view from inside the greenhouse.

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Looks first rate, Jack........and even if it were 4 times the size, it probably wont be big enough! :laugh:

[MattyB]

That's so nice Jack.  You'll have so much fun playing in there.  Something to think about while still in the framing stage is mounting brackets for......fans fans fans.  Keep that air moving like a stiff breeze.  Do more than you think and then add some more to be safe.

[Zac in NC]

Nice Jack. I want one about that size. I can always dream.

Zac

[Kamipalms]

Looking good there Jack.

these are the concrete screws your talking about?

I've seen them before and didn't like the idea of 'threading' concrete. Keep a close eye on them and watch the heads don't pop with movement of the frame. Did you consider nylon plug anchors and Tek screws?

The bolts your using to bolt the structure together are stainless steel?

If so, a nylon or rubber washer to separate the stainless from the aluminum will save you a bit of grief in the future. In a wet environment the aluminum will react with the stainless and corrode in time.....but this is the problem with building any greenhouse structure . No matter what material you use theres no way to prevent it from degrading....unless you can afford to build a stainless steel one ???

[elHoagie]

Jay,

Yeah, those are the screws I used.  I did consider the nylon anchors, but I thought these would be more robust.  I'm not so sure now that they're in...  The hole I drilled in the aluminum is oversized, and the aluminum is thin enough that it should flex before a head pops off (I hope).

All of the bolts are stainless.  I was hoping they wouldn't react at all with the aluminum.  I think it might be too late to add a spacer, since I have a lot of the polycarbonate panels up after working on it this weekend.  Hopefully the aluminum won't degrade too quickly...

Hmm, stainless steel.  I just looked at the prices, and it's only 5 times the price of aluminum.  I'm sure it's also a pleasure to cut/drill.

Jack

[MattyB]

No worries Jack.  By the time  it corrodes out you'll need the space to plant in anyway.

[elHoagie]

Well, I finally finished this damn thing on Sunday.  Here's some photos...

An overall view from the outside

[elHoagie]

Cleaning up a few things

[paulgila]

looks great,jack!how many sq.feet?

[elHoagie]

Admiring the structure

[elHoagie]

Let's take a look inside

[elHoagie]

From the front door, looking left

[elHoagie]

From the front door, looking right

[MattyB]

Whoah!  That's top rate dude!  Can't wait to see more pics.  If you have squirrels, screen your low vent.  When the dogs are sleeping they'll sneek by eat your seeds.  Little bastards!

[elHoagie]

From the back, looking left

[elHoagie]

From the back, looking right

[elHoagie]

A closeup of the fan, timer, and outlet at the back of the greenhouse.  One of these cheap $10 fans from Target ran for about 5hrs/day in the old greenhouse for three years with no problems.  So, I figured cheap fans would work for this greenhouse also.

[elHoagie]

A closeup of one of the top vents, with an automatic opener yesterday afternoon

[paulgila]

looks like a meth lab,to me.

[elHoagie]

Here's the same vent at 6AM this morning

[elHoagie]

Time to test the sprinklers.  I still don't have the automatic timer set up