[Aisling]

Hi Everyone,
I've been offered a secondhand BillyOh Rosette 8x6 polycarbonate/aluminium greenhouse for nothing (lucky me!). Only one problem - it has been dismantled and lying on the ground for several years so all the panes have dirt and insects inside the channels. Has anyone found a way to clean these thoroughly? Wickes website advises NEVER to allow water into the channels, but I'm guessing that cleaning without getting them wet is impossible!

TIA for any advice!

[Kleftiwallah]

Bit long winded but you could run a bead of bathroom sealant down the channels and push it in to seal them.     If they are as 'gungy' as you say, try costing new bits as they may be quite brittle.     Cheers,     Tony.

[crh75]

Will take ages, but pull a bit of cloth on a wire (or someting similar) through each hole.

[mumofstig]

would a squirt down the channels from a power washer work?
As long as you leave them standing on edge, raised up so they can drain they should dry out ok.

[Tom_Good]

Hi,

If you have access to a power washer with a mixer, put some jayes in the mixer and wear some goggles!

If you get them clean wichever way, get some clear silicon sealent (less than £2 in screwfix) and seal both ends of the sheet, as long as there's no moisture or dirt when you seal it you shouldn't have to clean them again.

[Aisling]

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks! Amazingly, almost a year later (due to a building dispute - don't ask!! ) I am only now contemplating assembling the greenhouse. As most of the panes have old sealant on them, which is almost impossible to remove and makes power-washing a nightmare,  I've priced replacing them. The cheapest I can get comes to £225 for a full set cut to measure. Even at that I'd have to cut the irregular shapes myself from oversized panes  . As a whole new greenhouse costs £250-300, I'm strongly considering giving up on my 'freebie' and shelling out for a new one!!
Sigh  - maybe I should buy a lottery ticket!!!
Thanks again!

[angelavdavis]

I guess it depends if you are worried about the asthetics of it.  Why not put up the GH frame and then cover the GH with a polytunnel PVC cover, gaffa taping it around the edges?  A plot holder on our site did this when his was vandalised and it actually looks OK.

You can also buy polycarbonate sheeting from old conservatories/GH's cheap second hand on ebay or similar, some might be too thick though for GH use I suspect.  See:  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POLYCARBONATE-GREENHOUSE-ROOFING-WINDOW-SHEETS-2600-X-790-15MM-THICK-X-1OFF-BHAM-/160916944617?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item257765b6e9