Allotments 4 All

Hi all,

I'm ridiculously excited as I've just got myself a (possible!) eBay bargain.  I've wanted a polytunnel or GH for the allotment since we got it last year, but have been put off by the expense.  Well, I haven't, but she who controls the finances has!!  Anyway, today I managed to get a 10 ft 6 ft metal greenhouse for £93!  It needs dismantling and a few panes replacing, but even so I think its good value.  I'm picking it up on Friday.

Just a few questions:

1 - They say the glass is fixed with 'putty' which has gone brittle - is there an easy way to remove this if its still sticky?

2 - I plan to label everything, take photos and keep it as in tact as possible - any other tips when it comes to dismantling?

3 - Is it wise to erect it at the plot on the same day, or is this likely to be too tricky?  Can you leave it overnight without glass in, or with panels missing, or is this a recipe for disaster?

4 - The base, I was thinking of using thick, pressure treated wood to create the base - is that going to be heavy enough?

5 - Positioning - North south or east west?


Questions questions - too excited!!

Congratulations :) 1 Putty is a bugger and the older it is the worse it gets because you bed the glass into it as well as around it. Is it posible to dismantle it bb roof sections, and then side panals and transport with the glass still in the frame. Great take plenty photos and label everything ;D Base and location just at the moment the country is having high winds and heavy rain. Best to take a look what is happening at other greenhouse on your lottie and the decide the best position. This is just me I would put it on a strong base i.e small concrete footing  flat concrete block around the footing and paving slabs on top with anchor bolts to fix the greenhouse down. Try council recycling centers for blocks (no need to be new) you will also get sand, and chippings there look on line for local recycling Best of luck you will get there in the end rome was not build in a day DO it right first time it will save you a fortune ;)

Stedic,
         Normally the glass is held in by metal spring clips which are easily obtained, so why have they used putty, I would think to stop some kind of water ingress but removing the putty you will have to be careful or you will break the glass which I think is only 3 mil again easily obtained, it will just be a case of using something like a small chisel or screwdriver to get rid of the putty which would be time consuming, the greenhouse is only held together by bolts and it should come apart in sections, better still if you had some flatbed transport you could remove the glass then move the greenhouse  still erected, with the glass removed the frame is not very heavy, you can put your greenhouse on any footings you want that suits you although whatever way I suggest someone will prefare a differant way, good luck and which site are you on in Leicester just up the road from you, :)

Hi
I had a second hand greenhouse given to me and one side of it had putty holding in the glass i found that a chisel broke the glass to easy, so i used an old sharp carving knife to basically cut it out then i cleaned the glass up on a flat surface before putting it back. you may find if its been up for a long time some of the bolts will snap or just not move i used a chisel to cut through the stubborn one and spare nut and bolts are very easy to pick up from the garden center or eBay 

Steve.

I was going to suggest spare nuts and bolts too

One of those razor scraper things may be useful for the putty, take a range of tools and some WD40 too

My greenhouse is sat on breezeblocks buried 2 high so the greenhouse is at ground level (if that makes sense)

What about some sticky tape to put on the glass might help if there cracking or your worried about breakages.

How far do you have to transport it?

Is it worth going and having a look and preparing the ground for it to go on 1st??

Maybe having a post christmas greenhouse putting up party :)

I transported one I was given with some of the glass panes still in place... a couple shattered on the pot holes but If you take it slowly and dont go thru the potholes than maybe it will be ok.. it will be really heavy though with all the glass in.

In the end it didn't matter too much.

They had forgotten that they'd concrete the base in!  And it was caked in a variety of puttys, some of which were impossible to shift without cracking panes.  They had also puttied every single nut and bolt too.

We tried for 4 hours but in the end had a discussion to split the price and leave it there.

Back to the drawing board!

Oh no! That's awful. But why did you pay them anything for it, if you couldn't take it? Are you going to use it in situ?

Something is not right here, first what discription did they put on there selling advert. Did they say frame beded in concrete, all glass fixed with very old putty. and all bolts covered in putty as well. First contact EBay if thats where you got from and explaine everything that happened. Allso ask how many times as it been put up for sale. But never mind all that they had no right to ask you for any money find out your rights put it right hate >:( when people get cheated :( >:(

mate  if they didn't advertise it as being concrested in and as hard to dismantel such as putty every where you should not of paid for anything, sounds like they were scamming you, def take it up with eBay and get your money back...

Please dont let them get away with it >:(

Agreed i would not have parted with the money file a complaint with ebay state whats happened and ask then to adjudicate

No no, definately not cheated.

They had advertised it as being puttied in, I'd decided to take the chance that it would come out easily.  Even the lady selling it had no idea that it had been puttied on the nuts as her dad had done it sveral years ago.

As for the concrete, you're right, they should have mentioned that but I'm convinced they genuinely forgot (it was full of stuff, and done after construction).  We were able to remove the concrete, it was about an inch thick, but it would have taken us ages.

The reason I paid half - well, first of all some people with more time would have been able to take it apart and free it, but because we had broken some glass it then couldn't really be resold on eBay.  Secondly, they were an elderly couple who were clearly both frail, and I know that they'll have to pay someone to remove it for them.


We made the decision that we could dismantle and remove it, but that it would take longer than expected and probably not be worth it in the end.


You're all quite right of course, I could have gone back to eBay and demanded a refund, or pushed them and paid nothing at all on the day, bu it was just one of those things and I'm not about to start causing problems for people when they've made a mistake.  50 quid to me is an inconvenience, but I thought represented the possible value someone else might have paid for it in its state after we tried to dismantle.  50 quid to two ill pensioners is a lot of money, and they lady had helped all day and provided drinks and food.

I don't really have regrets over any of it, just one of those things.

Steve

That's a comenable attitude Steve, hope you soon find one more suitable :) :) :)

That was very generous of you Steve,

But I would also keep an eye out for the Greenhouse reappearing on ebay.

Hope you find another one soon.

There are still some good folk out there. Good of you Steve

I would not be prepared to pay anything in this circumstance.  They shoukl pay you for the expenses of trying to remove something which was unmoveabled. 

Maybe Steve didn't need to pay anything to this couple - but what a lovely bloke!   :)

Steve your a good bloke - hugs xx

Steve, you are very kind, I would have done the same too  :)