Hi all,
Long time since I last posted. Due to a house move I had to give up my plot (which the council turned into 3 smaller plots).
I have a garden now, and in that garden I have a cheap greenhouse.
It hasnt been there for many years, but it is no longer useful. The cover was a single sheet of plastic which had a sort of string mesh running through it. What I have found to my dismay is that the plastic inside many of the string squares has fallen out, meaning the roof is now more of a net than a plastic sheet! I have probably described that really badly, but that isnt the point of my post.
My birthday approaches and it has been suggested I should get a new greenhouse!
I have been looking at various options. Please bear in mind that this is for my garden, so what it looks like is important. I want to avoid anything home made, so any advice on building a frame and covering it with sheeting in not required :)
I want to avoid glass because we have a 2 year old son, and a baby arriving in May. Sheets of glass and boys with footballs do not make happy bedfellows. I cant testify to this with experiences of my own childhood filled with regular greenhouse smashes!
So, im looking at the polycarbonate sheets. These look really flimsy. I fear that high wind would cause the panels to flex and pop out of the frame. I would be looking for something more rigid.
Im sure I remember seeing some that were 'glazed' with sheets of corrugated plastic, similar to cardboard in its design. I cant seem to find anything like that any more.
So can people suggest some affordable places I can look, and give some feedback based on experience with various panel types?
I would ideally have an 'off the shelf' product rather than something that required forraging for bits and bobs to build it with!
any help and links will be gratefully received :)
James
Look and you shall find!...
I think the glazing im talking about it called "twin wall polycarbonate safety glazing"
Found a few sites that offer it. Anyone had experience of it?
Hi I have a small twin wall polycarbonate greenhouse (6x4) at home brought for the same reason as you kids safety had it 3 years now had to replace the roof panels over winter but other wise no problems never had a panel blown out,
I only use it to germinate in then they go up to the plot where i have glass greenhouse's 6x8
Hope it helps
Steve.
Thanks Steve, it does help me lean towards that option.
Interestingly the link in the section below this thread shows exactly the kind of thing I have been looking at.
Been reading that they are a massive chore to erect, but I like a challange :)
I've got a 20x10 Robinsons that I bought S/H... mostly glased with the horti glass I got with it but one long side and one side of the roof is glazed in twinwall. I did this as it faces my party-wall neighbours and their grandchildren are round quite frequently in the summer adn I didn't want my neighbours worrying about them damaging my greenhouse....Been brilliant, all in it cost me about the same as a decent 8x6 with some staging and autovents... but this has got so many vents I didn't fit them all when I rebuilt.....and it's got pretty much a complete double row of shelving... the twinwall has been great.... last year in the highest winds we had it did manage to pop a 4x2 panel on the side.... all the bits were found within a few feet of where they came from... if I'd had a shelf down that side I doubt whether it would have popped
If you do go secondhand though take pictures of junctions, make sketches adn it's not insane to go around numbering the joints either....