[Cazzb]

My partner and I want to build a greenhouse on our allotment. We’re thinking of a polycarbonate greenhouse 8*6. The instructions say we can anchor it to soil but it’s not clear what sort of anchors to use. The other option we are considering is a plastic shed base with gravel. Sinking wooden stakes in each corner of the plastic base and attaching the greenhouse plinth to the wooden stakes. Has anyone tried this?

We can’t use a concrete base and I’m nervous about concreting in the corner posts in case we mess it up. It’s quite an exposed site so we need to make sure the greenhouse is very well anchored.

Thanks!

[Growster...]

I think that if you're using a metal perimeter base, the extra weight is quite good, and helps the rigidity of the GH, so if you don't want concrete, and there's nothing wrong with that, a few metal stakes, like reinforcement bars, hammered in at - say - two ft intervals and at an angle should be enough to hold it all down if you can make sure that the tops are poked into the perimeter base and are secure.

You could even belt in the bars at each corner, and wire it to the GH, but that'd look a bit plain!

Let us know if we can help further, it's a common discussion, and everyone has their own solution! Good luck!

[comfreykid]

Just a thought , going a bit off topic ….. if you are considering a polycarbonate GH  and your position is quite exposed , l have found from experience that whilst polycarb. has many plus points , the panels can tend to pop out in high winds . 

[snowdrops]

From different solutions offered on here previously, railway sleepers are offered as a solution then you could screw the frame to that, but use new or second hand sleepers not the actual railway sleepers as they were steeped in oil,creosote or other such toxic stuff.

[mumofstig]

Years ago I screwed mine down onto old fence posts under the bottom edge of the frame, and these were fixed down in the corners with some crook neck fencing pins. That worked well for holding the frame down.
As comfreykid says - stopping the polycarb panels from blowing out, is the harder problem to solve. I ended up using silicone to fix the panels in, but some on our windy site have fixed heavy duty cargo netting, fixed on the base, over theirs.
Good luck!

[hasbeans]

Just a thought , going a bit off topic ….. if you are considering a polycarbonate GH  and your position is quite exposed , l have found from experience that whilst polycarb. has many plus points , the panels can tend to pop out in high winds . 

The peerless Mr HGV looks like he has some wisdom to share on polycarb greenhouse ownership that might help:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mcZzJI8hIg



edit to fix link

[mumofstig]

That did make me chuckle 

[Cazzb]

Thanks all. I’ll look into sleepers, and silicon to help with the panels

[grinling]

pity you are not closer as I have a 6x 8 metal base, a greenhouse attachesto it, needing a home

[Cazzb]

Just an update, thanks for all the advice. We got four sleepers pretty much level, added some sand to help with drainage. We still need to silicone the panels in place and finish off a couple of small bits but I’m fairly sure the base will stay put for a while at least