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Hi All

Please can you help? I have been given the frame of a greenhouse but it has no glass.... I obviously want to use it as a greenhouse rather than a shed so need to replace the glass panels. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about doing so?  Should I use glass or plastic? Also, money is a little tight so a cheapish option would be fab  :)

Thanks, Sam x

Hi Sam, I think you should use glass . Its a shame you are not on the Isle of Wight,,I have 500 sheets of 24"X24" going for a quid each but there is a lot of cheap glass about and garden centers uaually have a lot spare. best of luck, john.

Quote from: samela on January 22, 2010, 14:07:39
Hi All

Please can you help? I have been given the frame of a greenhouse but it has no glass.... I obviously want to use it as a greenhouse rather than a shed so need to replace the glass panels. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about doing so?  Should I use glass or plastic? Also, money is a little tight so a cheapish option would be fab  :)

Thanks, Sam x

If money is really tight I suggest Plastic and slowly replace with panes of glass, when you can afford it.

you can cover the North side with ply-wood, and glass is about £3 a sheet round this way.

Welcome to A4A Johnny
Have you asked about on the lotties Samela... many plotholders have a few panes kicking around...  :-\

....and not forgetting Freecycle, I did most of my second one that way ;)

Ninny

Quote from: Ninnyscrops. on January 22, 2010, 21:05:49
....and not forgetting Freecycle, I did most of my second one that way ;)

Ninny

I agee and also check the small ads some folk offer greenhouses free if you dismantle and take away,while you don't need the frame it would be easy to get rid of and DE glazing the greenhouse is great practise for glazing yours ;)

Samela,
              I would go for the glass option even from glazier it is cheap compared to plastic more importantly do you have the wire spring clips that hold the glass in to the frame of the greenhouse?, :)

Wilco's do the "W" and "Z" styles very cheaply...  :)

What about PVC? There's some nice double-layer plastic around, but now Kay's have gone under I don't know where to get it.

As far as I am concerned, glass is the better option...recently paid £12 for 3 sheets 1200mm x 600mm (4ft x2ft approx)...
Perspex and all the other plastics around are expensive as far as I'm comcerned..
Glass is far cheaper....

PS I supply conservatories ect to people..add to this all plastics de-generate over time...therefore not cost effective...others may disagree...but thats my
opinion...
Stop and think...If the plastic windows/glazing is so good....Why are your PVC
windows not made of It...

when I can see windows made of wood and glass over 900 yrs old (ely cathedral) why do folk purchase plastic ones?

Tonybloke...spot on...Double glazing ...I'm all for....if its done correctly...
I'm not even against UPVC windows ect...Somehow people seem to think this is " the be all..and end all"
I would prefer bouble glazed windows in WOOD...bUT COST WISE...wow!..
As I said earlier ...its each to their own........ ;)

PS...I've seen some good G/houses built out of secondhand/ disguarded double glazing units..Built and set into 3x2 timber frames...they realy do work..
The upvc companies have skips ...units wrong size ect ..dumped..into the skip..

Ask permission and you will be rewarded...after all it cost them to be rid of the glazed units that are of no use to them..re-cycle......say no more... ;)

Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on January 24, 2010, 13:47:46
What about PVC? There's some nice double-layer plastic around, but now Kay's have gone under I don't know where to get it.

         Robert,
                         Try the 'One stop plastic shop' in Melton Mowbray, Just bought a couple of double skinned plastic sheets for my cold frame, they are on line and do a courier service,

If you have plastic glazing and a pond.............be prepared to retrieve panes in high winds  ::) Been there and got the T-Shirt  ;)

Ninny

Glass is clear and brittle but doesn't lose strength or clarity over time.

PVC, styrene and acrylic (perspex) all become more brittle than glass in a few years, even if they don't go milky first.

Polycarbonate is the only plastic worth paying for - never loses its toughness but does start to go yellow after 10 years - at which point it can be recycled to the north side or re-used to make a well-lit shed, or for raised beds - or a million other uses.

Glass and polycarbonate are the only options worth considering.