Greenhouse blew down

[pammiep]

We are absolutely gutted - with bad winds over weekend, not only has all glass gone but it even pulled the frame from fixings (screwed into concrete). We only put it up in September and it was quite costly as gh is 20 x 8.  The field its on is a bit of a wind tunnel but what do we do in future to stop it happening?  We had not filled all gaps in and door was not very secure.  Any advice would be much appreciated.
pammiep.

[growmore]

That's a shame ..
I find the glass clips supplied not really  adequate  for securing in wind .
Best way I have found is fix glass in with clear silicone sealer  as in running  a bead down on frame and laying glass on this .It will not blow out then .
Once wind finds a way in a greenhouse be it blown out pane etc. that's when all the damage is caused....Hope you can rebuild it OK ..

[Palustris]

We had that problem. Once the wind gets into a greenhouse then you got problems. Our solution, a door at either end, left open when it is windy. Sounds daft, but it is the pressure created by the air getting into the g/house with no where to go which does the damage, the greenhouse virtually explodes.

[Old bird]

Potentially you could try and deflect some of the wind by using that scaffold netting which you would need to put up two strong posts and use that in between them.

What a shame though.  Sounds like a lovely size greenhouse.  Hopefully you will be able to rebuild?

I can't imagine leaving both doors open though particularly when it is icy cold because even if the whole thing doesn;t take off the cold will do a fair bit of damage to any plants you have in there.

Best of luck though in your rebuilding.

Old Bird

 

[Palustris]

We have not lost any glass to the wind since opening the doors at both ends in gales and boy do we get some gales! Fleece takes care of any plants, but generally things in  there over winter are fairly tough anyway.

[pammiep]

Dear All
We had another look yesterday and are not sure whether it will be rebuildable as some of the frame is bent and buckled.  As you said Old Bird, if we do manage to rebuild it we will have to look at putting something up to deflect the wind.  It looked as though someone had been at it with a sledge hammer!  We were thinking whether it would be better using perspex type sheets but I think they are far more expensive than glass. Watch this space!
pammiep

[cleo]

Seems one can never win. I lost an aluminium one so went here for a custom built wood one.

Ha-wood preservative? 13 years down the road I`m facing a huge bill to fix the rotten wood=around £500?

[ChrisG]

Two panes of glass ot smashed on the door of mine. 

[grawrc]

What a shame Pammiep. We did a site inspection yesterday and are now writing to quite a few plotholders whose greenhouses have been storm damaged. A lot of them are similar types to mine which is built out of old council house windows removed during refurbishment (not by me I hasten to add) but some, like yours, are costly, commercially produced ones, which really, given the prices they charge for them, you'd expect to withstand storms better. I don't suppose there's any chance of claiming under guarantee - fit for purpose and all that stuff?

[pammiep]

We bought this second hand - so no comeback.  I think the main problem is we never sealed all the gaps and the door wasn't too secure plus the site is a real wind tunnel.  We're thinking of putting some sort of willow/reed screening round to filter the wind otherwise I think it will just happen again.  Plus with it being 18' we are going to put some more reinforcement in the middle to make it more secure.  pammiep

[morton]

What we have found with long second hand greenhouses on our plots is that the member that runs along the top of the side/ bottom of the roof is critical. Dismantling/ transporting and re-erecting leads to bending and twisting of some of the members etc.
The long floor members in particular seem to bend or are already bent when you take them up. This then has an adverse effect on the long member that runs along the top of the side/ bottom of the roof when you put it back together. The vertical side members and sloping roof members are then difficult to secure. As they are in slotted connections they can pull out with little force or when the wind blows.
Anyone who has tried to put a greenhouse back together will know that it never goes back as easy as it comes down. The important pieces are, therefore, the short corner braces that run from the sloping roof member down to the vertical side members at each or evry other connection. These square the whole thing up and hold the corner connections together. Some greenhouses have them as standard and some do not but they can easily be made.
Re-reading this it seems to be confusing but hope it helps somebody.

[Carls3168]

Hiya,

The only problem with Perspex sheets is that they are expensive and flex in the wind, and tend to get blown out easier then glass! Ive got perspex in my door, and have spent every morning picking it up and putting it back in! ... only bonus I suppose is that when it falls out it doesnt smash!
Fingers crossed Ive got 8 W clips per pane on my greenhouse - so far only one pane broke (and I suspect that was down to kids, not wind!)

I'd be gutted if mine blew over! 

[laurieuk]

My greenhouse is very open to the wind and I used to have damage on a regular basis. Part of the trouble ,having auto-vents which meant they could not be hooked closed as normal ones are. I have not had any trouble since I tied the vents with a length of string which allows the vent to blow open but not flip over. This allows the wind that gets in through the gaps between the glass sheets to escape and releases the pressure that otherwise can blow the glass out. Make sure the vents can open fully otherwise you could damage the unit.

[cambourne7]

sorry to hear about the damage

One of the lotty holders by us has built a 5ft trellis about 2 ft from his greehouse and has uses this to plant things up Over winter he covers it in fleese and this tends to deflect most of the wind.

My greenhouse which i have not put up yet is going at the bottom of my plot with fencing on 2 sides so if the wind hits the greenhouse it will get blown towards the fence. I am leaving a 2ft gap to allow a skinny friend to put the glass in on those 2 sides. I plan on copying the trellis idea myself.

[ktlawson]

One of the lotty holders by us has built a 5ft trellis about 2 ft from his greehouse and has uses this to plant things up Over winter he covers it in fleese and this tends to deflect most of the wind.

Also: what about planting some fruit bushes on 2 sides or more to act as wind break?

[paulinems]

we were given a 60" x 30" greenhouse last year when hubby got it home to our land he secured all the glass till we were ready for it. it rained so hard the ground got very wet! the wind was gale force and  it blew it all over all that was left was the window lights, nearly went into pollytunnel!. we eventually replaced glass with polycarbonate as that was cheaper then the glass and we were having a job to find a supplyer with the size glass that was needed ,so polycarbonate it was , now getting roof sorted all the sides are in apart from door, but with all the gales we have had we are about 3/4 a way there with roof, and the worry is because roof is not finished ,it might blow out panes that we have in because the wind gets though were its not finished. 
Pauline

[ktlawson]

we were given a 60" x 30" greenhouse last year

Blo+dy hell Thats almost the size of my entire allotment (90x30ft). One can but dream....   If only

[paulinems]

Well we bought this small field its about 2 acres to grow our carnivorous plants we have a pollytunnel that is full of them ran out of room at home ,its now a small nursery ,well thats what we call it. we take plants to flower shows and put up displays with them,thers about 1  acres asparagus that we think we have lost! plus 1/2 acre rubarb that didnt come to anything last year now putting horse manure on that and moving asparagus so might have to by more asparagus as dont think thers much there
Pauline

[moonbells]

Is it on your lottie or is the field by/part of your house garden? If at the house, and you've lots of patience, try the house insurance folk... I lost my shed this time last year :-( and it took months to get fixed, but now very happy with the result.

moonbells

[paulinems]

we were given a 60" x 30" greenhouse last year

Blo+dy hell Thats almost the size of my entire allotment (90x30ft). One can but dream....   If only

sorry my mistake was 60 x 30 not 90 x 30
Pauline