Topic: Well sort of under glass

[Jeannine]

John and I will be lost without greenhouses as we had 5 in the UK but on This spiffy posh Canadian lottie we are not allowed glass. My first idea was a polytunnel which John would have to build from scratch, most on the other plots are polytunnells, then there is a couple that look like normal wooden greenhouses but with poly skins, John is leading more to this idea, again he would have to build from scratch, I don't like idea of plastic sheeting no matter how strong the claim, it feel creepy inside it. Is it reasonable then to build a regular type greenhouse wooden frame and put plastic laminate windows in it..eg how breakable, is it clear rather than milky like sheeting and is it very expensive. Wood here is as cheep as chips so no worries on that score.
Oh and lottiie does not allow cedar or treated wood
Ideas very welcome please.

XX Jeannine

[goodlife]

Actually plastic will not brake easily..it does bend quite a lot..in winter you will have to clear snow away as this is the time when any breaking might happen..
The easi thing with plastic sheets are that you don't have to fit them in the frame like you would with glass..you could screw big sheets with large washers straight into frame and do more fiddly cutting for opening windows etc..
I used the clear stuff on my shed windows..but I would be tempted use the more expensivi milky (double layed) stuff on roof as it is lot stronger than the clear one.
I'm supprised the issue with cedar?!...is it harvesting issue? As the is sustainably grown cedar is sold world wide?!

[Baccy Man]

A basic greenhouse would be something like this:
http://www.buildeazy.com/greenhouse_imp.html
They suggest transparent sheet plastic on a roll for the glazing in the plans but as you can see in the user comments/photos people have used corrugated plastic sheets & Solexx panels (similar to opaque polycarbonate) so it is easy to adapt to your requirements. There is certainly no reason you couldn't use transparent uv stabilised rigid plastic glazing if you wanted to.

If you do not use treated timber then durability will be a problem, the frame may need replacing every few years.
For the glazing the best plastic will probably be clear polycarbonate rigid sheet plastic it should last a minimum of 10 years possibly much longer but I prefer to look at the minimum lifespan of a material when deciding how cost effective it is. There seems to be plenty of suppliers in the US & Canada either online or from stores like Home Depot unfortunately it is not a cheap option. You would be better off checking what the standard size panels are then building the frame to accommodate them to minimise wastage, any offcuts are going to push the costs up fast.
Clear acrylic (plexiglass) would be a cheaper glazing option, again it should last 10 years & it's readily available but the light transmission & heat retention are not as good as polycarbonate.

[Jeannine]

Thank you both very much. Baccyman the plans are better than any I have found ..thank you again.

The house looks great, bigger than I was aiming for as the lottie is very tiny but next Spring we will be able to have up to 6 and then I can get this one done I think.


The reason for the untreated wood and no cedar is because the lottie is different to most as it is in a protected park so the question of wood breaking down is involved,we cannot use anything but natural wood that woud be found in that area, apparently cedar does not fall into that category.

The community gardens although quite big are still a small area area of the park which is huge, it is a wildlife sanctuary etc,we cannot use netting and water  butts have to have lids to protect the birds. I rather like it actually, maybe a bit over the top but it is run completely by volunteers who are very dedicated so no problem with over run plots etc. The rules re the wood etc are from the park authorities.

Thank you again XX Jeannine

[Baccy Man]

The plans could be scaled down if needed, once you have the basic shape the length, width & height can all be adjusted to your requirements.

It may be worthwhile asking if there is a preferred type of wood to be used & possibly explain what you intend to build or show them the plans before you start construction. As the rules are quite stringent it's better to be sure you will definitely be allowed it before you put the time, effort & money into building the greenhouse.

[Jeannine]

Hi again, it is funny you should say that because there are restrictions. eg how much of the ground is covered with coldframes etc, there is also a height restriction of 7 feet but there has been someone building a house over the last  couple of weeks, it has to be higher than 7 feet at the top I feel sure and if it was on my lottie it would almost fill it, the owner probably has a few spots but it does look very big to me and I have been wondering if it is legal!

 I will certainly check it out. Re the wood it is only cedar which I thought was odd?

Thank you again, you are a luv..XX Jeannine

[landimad]

Jeannie,

I think that a good alternative to glass is this perspex stuff that looks like glass and can be used in the framework of the greenhouse.
Try to see if anyone else has this and see if you like the look of it.
It comes in different thicknesses too.

[Plot69]

As a Foster Carer I have 6 kids as well as my own Granddaughter ranging in size from toddle to teenager. All sizes pose major threats to glass greenhouses. My 15x6 lean-to is fully clad with twin wall polycarbonate and performs just as well as when it was all glass.