Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Design and Construction => Topic started by: Pimento on August 24, 2011, 22:21
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Hi all,
I've been offered a free 8' x 6' greenhouse - aluminium but without a base. At the moment it's sitting on a concrete 'wall' (to which it's also mortared, and I have to work out how to get it off, but that's another story... :ohmy:)
Please can anyone suggest a cheap and hopefully pain-free way of anchoring it to the allotment? In truth, I'm not overly strong or handy.......... :wub:
'Proper' concrete footings with a brick base on top seems too tricky and expensive for the plot. I don't want to flag the whole area because I want to grow in the soil inside the greenhouse.
I've read various suggestions, but I'm confused! Would concrete fence posts work as a base, and what would I need to put underneath them?
Ideally I need something which would raise the greenhouse a few inches, to the height it is on its concrete plinth at the moment... That's if I can ever get it off in the first place! :D
Thank you!
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It goes without saying that the best base is one built on solid foundations and properly constructed and mortared for strength, but you only have to look around to see that lots of people get away with much less fancy sorts of bases!
I think that in the absence of proper foundations plenty of weight will help to keep things stable as long as the ground underneath is well compacted. Concrete building blocks (not the aerated type) are heavy, and also cheap; a single layer layed upright on their long sides and half buried in the soil will give you the few extra inches in height, require no mortaring, and should only cost about £30 for your greenhouse.
Don't forget to secure the frame to whatever sort of base you decide to construct though!
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I built an 8x 6ft greenhouse about fifteen years ago. Got it level on the ground and then dug under the corners and then replaced the soil with a big bucket full of concrete. Levelled it up before the concrete set. Still standing in an exposed position.
Cost - a bag of cement and three bags sand/gravel from a DIY store.
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Hi,
Thanks a lot, both, for your replies. Fills me with relief because although the digging's no problem, I've no building experience whatsoever. Just don't want to end up with loads of shattered glass (especially with me inside!) through sinking or gales. Although there are no restrictions on what I can use, sadly my allotment site is prone to regular vandalism so I really don't want to spend a lot on something that could well end up destroyed - it just needs to be safe and well-anchored. If the glass gets smashed by vandals, I'll just have to replace with plastic.
As I mentioned, the greenhouse could really do with raising up a few inches, so if I went the concrete block route, JayG, what would I need to put underneath them (on well-compacted soil) - sand? a dry sand/cement mix?
Thanks a lot.
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I would think that bedding them on a couple of inches of dry sand/cement mix would give you a bit more insurance in terms of stability, and also make it a lot easier to get the all-important truly square and level base.
Good luck! :)
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Although mine are on brick bases I helped another chap with his, what we did was to dig a trench and filled it with hardcore and made it level, we then built the frame and got it square then attatched 6 posts, 4 in the corners and two along the length, these were then concreted in, the frame was made from 6x2 tanalised wood, it gave it a little height and has lasted three years now and some pretty strong gales.
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I used scaffold planks, fixed to posts in the corners. I have noticed that despite treating the wood before laying, after 3 years - it has started rotting away. If we get a dry spell over winter I'll have to lay a course of blocks to fix it to...another job ::)
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Thanks everyone,
Have now got all the glass out of the greenhouse so the next step is trying to chisel/hacksaw it off its current concrete base - we'll see how that goes, lol! :D
I'm only 5' 4" but even so there's hardly any headroom, so I think what I might try and do is lay one layer of concrete blocks with the biggest flat side down, and another on top of that on its side 'normally', if you see what I mean... Has anyone tried that at all, please?
P