Buying a greenhouse

[Mark S]

Hi people, I know this is such an open-ended question, but here goes.

I havent got £700 to buy some of the greenhouses I have seen, more like £300 and down the budget end of the market. But I have heard horror stories about the cheaper being next to uselss etc, and since I only want to buy 1 greenhouse, and cant afford to buy another one if the 1st is no good, whaere do I go?
I did think about a 2nd hand one off e-bay, but again, people have tried to talk me out of having a 2nd hand one, with the dismantling, frame twisting problems etc.
Help!!!!!

[grannyjanny]

I'm sure someone with experience will come along soon but have you thought about freecycle. Not 1 person on our daughters site has bought a greenhouse they were all being given away, 4x2 up to 12x8. They helped each other put them. One chap transported his frame on a vehicle so didn't even have to take it down.

[Amazingrotavator(Derby)]

I bought two greenhouses from B&Q for less than £300 a piece. They are polycarbonate. Not the cheap ones that are like paper, but the profiled ones. I've had one for 2 years and the other for about 18 months and no problem at all, even put bubble wrap in one with a heater in last winter, still no problem.

[mark p]

I got mine from Focus about 18months ago, glass panels 8X6 including base was less than £300.

No problems so far 

Mark

[macmac]

I agree with grannyjanny,my OH has helped dismantle and erect loads of second hand g/houses on our site most of which were freebies.He had help at first but now he finds it simple even without the instructions you get with new ones.Are you on an allotment ?ask around, there are often ads for free sheds/greenhouses on our notice board. :)or as suggested try freecycle which is also good for spare glass 

[Tee Gee]

I would go for what you might term a 2nd hand £700+ one

My 12ft x 8ft cost me £50 but there was very little glass in it.

Replacement glass cost me £105 so for about £150  I got a £1500 greenhouse.

OK that was a few years ago but I think the same principle stands.

Plus I new a glazier so I got my glass at cost!

But even so if I hadn't I still think it would have cost me less than £250 which I would have considered as a bargain.

Over the years most of the greenhouse that come on to our plots are 2nd even 3rd hand!

Look out for one in the ads in your local paper/s

[gp.girl]

I've got a second hand cedar 8x6 one. It isn't perfect and was a real challenge to take down (stuck screws) but worth it. Amazingly the first person to ask for it from freecycle didn't turn up?!?!

Aluminium ones are 2 a penny around here

[lottiedolly]

We purchased ours from the Greenhouse People online, i did not think that i would make such a purchase without seeing the finished product first, but they had such good consistant reviews that i dived in and took a chance, we spent approx £700 on a 6x6 high eaves green greenhouse with toughened glass, we could have got a better price on a larger greenhouse but we had size constraints. The company was helpful and the greenhouse was put up quite easy by me and hubbie (hubbie had made the base previously and it was set out as per the companies instructions). I would recomend them to anyone and it is worth having a look on their website as they always have offers on.

Kxx

[detailista]

If you are disabled or have a significant health problem you might want to consider joining Gardening for the Disabled and applying for a grant for a greenhouse. 

http://www.gardeningfordisabledtrust.org.uk/about.html

[cleo]

size does matter and £300 is not a lot to play with. Go for second hand or build your own?

This one was on second hand breeze blocks ,used wood and second hand glass

The door came out of a skip

Grief Leeds got cold!!

[chriscross1966]

I'm in your position too, but given my attitude to building things I'm prolly going to get the biggest one off ebay I can afford secondhand.... though not that 30-something metre by 13 metre monster.... thyat would cover my garden and next doors.....it's tempting though.....

chrisc

[cleo]

Looking at the photo I posted makes me feel just a tiny bit nostalgic-it would have been the winter of 1981/2.

John,the guy who `found` most of the materials and without whose help, I could never have built it died soon after.

I guess many of the older lotties I knew back then have passed on now

[chriscross1966]

I've jsut sorted out buying mine... For 300 quid and a bit of a roadtrip (and having to take it apart myself) I'm getting a 21'x10'6" Robinson Rosette (an old one before they had toughened glass as standard). Needs a few panes replacing but they're a standard 2 foot unit so get them anywhere....I'll prolly replace the roof on the southern side with twinwall and I want to get some autovents for it, but once again they're not too expensie in the scheme of things..... the cheapest thing that big I could find new was north of 1500 quid.......... I pick it up over August BH, planned erection time (oo-er!) is over November so I've got time to sort things out for it (liek a partition if it doesn't have one already amd getting a little logburner sorted out for it...).... That's the sort of gap between when the tomatoes finish in the polytunnel (which will move to the lottie for next year) and when next years onions need a home come december.... I'm now officially excited....

chrisc