[Stree]

For the Ebay symposium or the greenhouse build?

[Zeb]

LOl.....

get on with it Stree..
dont keep us in suspense

[Stree]

Ah.. Been sidetracked a bit, but plodding on slowly.... Apart from the greenhouse I have the workshop to sort out before winter, walls roof machinery, racking, benches, windows. and in the house I am redoing the bathroom, putting  extra radiators in here and there, gutting the upstairs rooms, cladding the walls with rigid insulation, plasterboarding and skimming, which means new windowboards, electricals, skirting, architrave etc, then insulating the loft, half of which is a flat roof so will be very tricky...25` X 16` and only about a 10" high gap to work in............and working for customers as and when called on.
  Where in N Lincs are you  Zeb?
Wootton here........

[Zeb]

I'm in sunny Scunny.
Not too far away ,but I haven't been to Wooton for around 25 years.
Only went then because I had dealings with a lorry place there (I'm an ex trucker)

[Stree]

Right..........................

After a rather extended teabreak, the project is now underway again.......
Having worked out those tricky double bevel mitre cuts for the rafters, the roof frame is on,
Glazing has been ordered today after much measuring and laying out of potential ways to cut a 3m x 2m sheet of clear acrylic to get the best yield with least waste.
The windows will be in 3mm and the roof and canopy in  4mm.
Two automatic vent rams are sat here in boxes, waiting for me to fathom out the best way to use them, I think the best place to vent for cooling would be the highest point, but probably need one  lower down to let air in at the same time......
I have already put staging around, its fixed to the walls and supported by braces so it leaves the floor clear.  As it is over engineered it is easily robust enough for me to stnd on to paint the inside.   Not real paint, that green  waxy fencepaint, I really like the finish it gives and its added protection for the timber although its all constructed from treated timber anyway. One thing about treated timber most people don`t realise is that if you cut it, say for a joint or to length, then effectively its no longer treated and you should treat the cut faces to retain its integrity.
Hmmmmmmmmmm Do you think if I daubed creosote all over some politicians it would help them retain their integrity? Always worth a try I think..
Anyway,  The floor is already about 6 inches of compacted hardcore with grit sand over it, and hardly anything is getting a grip growing on it. ( apart from one area left clear to put a grapevine in )  I scrounged half a dozen octagonal paving slabs, about 2 feet across and 2 inches thick and these will be spaced out on the floor stepping stone fashion with some large gravel or pebbles in between.
Have a nice pair of Georgian glazed French windows for the doorway and these will be furnished with the black antique handles although I can`t decide whether to have them opening inwards or outwards... Whichever it is I had better do it sooner rather than later because the goose & gander seem under the impression I have built it all for them and take up lodging at every opportunity, which would be fine apart from their predisposition to nibbling anything remotely green.  and they are still not forgiven for eating 4 dozen autumn sown sweet pea seedlings the spring before last....
More later. and probably pics too.............

[Stree]

Pic...............

[Slowgrind]

Great thread Stree! It makes a good diary of the ups and downs of your greenhouse!
An inspiration to all would be constructors.

[Stree]

Sent off my cutting list to the perspex supplier last week and collected it the other day. Quotes for the job ranged from £760:00 to  £379:00 but I settled on one at £384:00 which  with careful manipulation  included half of it in 4mm instead of 3mm and one long diagonal cut for two roof sections which I did not relish doing at home...... I opted for collection in my van rather than take the £35:00 plus vat delivery charge. If anyone wants to know anything about perspex supply I think I am moderately qualified now.
For fixing perspex is really quite fussy:  Holes drilled for screws need polishing to avoid stress cracking later, and of course there are certain limits on the size of spans related to thickness, and requiring deep rebates for all round edge support.
Initially I was to use screws and cover with glazing beads, but I have found a way round this and am fixing with no screws at all.
I looked up on what sealant to use. This is not straightforward either.....Silicone is good but must be a particular type: Low modulus and neutral cure.
Low modulus means low resistance to movement when set, so it allows for expansion and contraction movement and the cure is the means by which it sets. Most are an acetic acid cure , the smell of vinegar is a giveaway for this. However the acetic acid reacts with and degrades the acrylic and it will make a right mess before long.
Found a batch of suitable tubes of silicone on EEbyGumBay for £3:89  so promptly ordered.
Began glazing yesterday.......Tricky diagonal bits on the roof first. I had drilled holes and lightly screwed the panels with screws with rubber washers, but on final fixing after running silicone on all the faces where the perspex touched the frame, found that the screws were not needed. The silicone acts as an excellent adhesive as well as a weatherproof sealant.
I also found that the DIY adhesive backed lead look flashing sticks really well to perspex as well ! So progress is being made.
Now with the fixing described above, this means that sections of the roof are put together ( with an small expansion gap between( and so the whole effect would be of one sheet covering the whole roof, which I  think looks a bit dead and dull.........So to get a more traditional pleasing look of glazing between roof bars I am using fence panel capping, also fixed with silicone, to follow the lines of the roof timbers, with the odd nail through the capping into the gap between the panels. This should look bonny and act as an extra sealing barrier.
Pictures would be better I know, so will try for some today weather permitting.

PS the spec on perspex is really quite good, ideal for gardening purposes.

[Kristen]

"EEbyGumBay "

Not heard that one before. Stolen!

Seems like it has been pressed into use with plants and clutter before being glazed, now there's keen!

[Stree]

Yes, I had it all wrapped in polythene sheet through winter, primarily so the timberwork did not get soaked, but it warmed up nicely in the sun, so I started using it .
What you can see in there is a large seed tray full of sweet pea seedlings at the far end and nearest is a mix.... Something like a lemon thyme I found while digging over, put it into 3 pots and its doing well. Some Yucca new growth taken from a neighbours plant, just sat in a pot of water and willing it to root. Some overwintered spring onions that are just getting going for this season, and a hyacinth that died off before Christmas but is showing a gloriously healthy flower bud coming through..............Whats not in  there now are the cauliflower, carrot, white onion, lettuce and gallardia that I sowed 2 months ago.......They took off really well and  are now in another cold greenhouse..........
Its really nice having a proper little greenhouse staging, and its been really handy for standing on whilst constructing the greenhouse around it.
Got some more roof on today, even though it was raining, all going to plan so far and rest of the roof should be on this weekend..Then the windows and doors....
Then getting a waterproof double socket and some bulkhead lights on the wall...........
And a set of extension speaker leads from the workshop sound system so I can have radio 4 and music in there. Not many greenhouses will have a 400 watt amp in to rattle the windows..
I have been chopping and changing as I go with the design...I have made changes to the front, and  have been busy on a lathe making a finial as a finishing touch. If you look carefully at the latest pics you can see on the block above the doorway right in the middle, a small roundel. and a matching one on the bottom centre of the  half round window above the inner stable door. These roundels were obtained years ago ( 25?) when we went to look at the house that my wife was born in, which was due to be demolished.... So I climbed a drainpipe and used my penknife to get these roundels from the trim around the bay window.................They have been sat in a drawer in the workshop since then but I knew I would use them one day. Built in memories..........
I have  3 old stone sinks i the garden waiting for a final position and I might use them in the greenhouse somehow.......I thought of flowing water from a pump in the rainwater barrel so I could grow watercress properly. Be good for humidity as well. I say water barrel because "Butt" sounds like an oversize American bottom.
Rest of the roof tomorrow I hope, just hope it doesn`t rain as much.

[chopkins1313]

Stree - you still working on this thing of beauty? I'd love to see the finished job!

[Stree]

Yes, its still a work in progress! Although I did get a rather handsome crop of toms  in it last season....It has stood up to all the snow rain and wind over this last year with no problem, although I still have to get around to final touches.
Got some sweetpeas starting in it right now, with more seeds to get started very soon.

[dittydotty21]

Hi Stree,
I've just finished reading the thread covering your lean to greenhouse build and am fully geared up for building my own now...without the requisite woodworking skills and tools that you have but hey, a girl can learn and beg/borrow/cadge!
Anyway, I sent you a message asking for advice - ANY - and if you could offer any further advice then great, but if not thanks anyway for the vast amount of info given in the thread :-)
I now need to locate suppliers for 2x2, 4x2, perspex, automated vents, go to Lidl for wood preservative paint, locate the relevant sealant etc etc...and check out if there are any scrap pallets at TCAF going begging for raised beds, coldframes and compost bin ;-)
Thoroughly enjoyed reading, thanks for the posts!

[Ice]

Stree hasn't been active on the forum since April so you might not get a reply from them.  Why not pop over to the 'welcome' forum and introduce yourself.

[Stree]

I was hibernating:

I have replied to DittyDoyy`s PM and hope its in time for me to be useful.
My summerhouse/greenhouse is in full and good use now, got lots of seeds starting off in it at the moment, some spuds grown over winter in a barrel, some winter lettuce and carrots, some plants taken in for the winter too, waiting for the last frost so they can go outside again.
Its a nice place to be for me, rain or shine.....

PS anyone else growing Mirabilis? I have some started and looking forward to seeing it in bloom.