The greenhouse reborn

 If you remember, last year I put up a temporary greenhouse structure.

I did not survived quite a week and got demolished in a wind storm. :-(

Totally demolished.

We even parked the truck in front to give it some protection :-(

The frame parts got twisted, some pretty badly, but we salvaged what we could and decided to gave it another go this year.

So this year, decided to rebuilt it, stronger, better anchored and hopefully more wind proof.

After gently unbending the parts that needed it and I do meant gently.  Not very thick steel post, kink easily.  I was afraid of breaking some, so I just unbent the worst until the frame came together.  OK, A tad wonky, could had unbend more, but like I said, was worry about breaking some.  That would had been pretty terminal as damages go.

First, we dug a trench around each sides of the structures, set some screws in the bottom of the post on their sides so the cement will have something to grab on, locking the post solidly into the cement.

Off the grid cement mixing :-)

My generator is providing the power to the cement mixer.

Easily handled 2 bags at a time, 3 would had been pushing it.

Both sides done with their cement "boots"

That is 7 bags of 66 lbs cement on each sides for a total of 924 pounds.  All told the total weight should approach close to 1000 pounds, should be grounded solidly this time.

Then I fasten boards on both sides of the greenhouse metal frame.

I used metal strapping and screws. 

The wonkiness on the sides are caused by the still  wonky frame members.

The outside boards are to receive the special fastener for the plastic.

Then  it was just a matter of making up two wood frames to fill in the ends, put a door and windows for ventilation etc.  I had no plans, and worked with what I had on hands.  She went out and bought the special plastic and came back with Qty 10 2X4X8, 10 pieces of 1X3X8  strapping and Qty 6, 1X6X8 boards.  I scrounged what I could around the house for any pieces of 2X lumbers I could find.

It was quickly obvious that I did not have much wood to work with.  So I had to improvised as I went along.

First I put down a thick piece of lumber, roughly even with the sand floor.

The stick in  the middle mark my center of the opening.

I have an aluminum storm door to install, so I took my measurements

 for the door opening from it.

This is what I came up with to fill the frame with my limited amount of wood.

The wide pieces in the bottom give me enough support.

Instead of trying to match the irregular shape of the metal frame, I simply went straight across it.

The last piece on the right is a goof.  Cannot afford too many.

All the cuts are 90s and 45s or close to, easily done on a power miter box.

Took me two goofs to finally figured out why my carefully prepared template got me wrong, twice...

See, the template fit perfectly...

Used it to cut my 2x4 and it is too short...???

Aligned perfectly with my template...

See anything wrong yet??

My template is wider than my 2X4

When lining up my template if I used the bottom, versus the top of it,

 I get a smaller piece at the correct angle...DOH! 

And to think that both time I used my precious template was to "ahem" save on my wood pile by not making costly mistakes...That and I was tired, been under the sun too long and Yaddy Yadda.  But still, annoying!

Then I attached both ends together at the top by using the strapping boards

It really stiffen it up.

Now, how to attached the wood frame to the metal frame.

I resorted to small pieces with a slot to capture the frame.

Drilled a hole centered near the edge

Quick work with a chisel to squared up the sides.

The wooden frames solidly attached to the metal frames.

Joined at the hip :-)

Now ready for the end panels

For the ends panel we recycled the original ends pieces 

End panel attached up front

Stapled and sandwiched with wooden battens around the structure.

These will attach the special rails to it for the top plastic.

Both ends done.  All possible points which could puncture the plastic

 have been rounded and covered with tape at possible rub points.

And then it was time for the special greenhouse plastic.  If you are building a green house, DO NOT use the regular house vapour barrier plastic found at your big box stores.  You need special green house plastic, UV stabilized, won't harden and crack.  Not that expensive and very much worth it.

5 years warranty, which is about all I expect from this structure.  It is temporary
 

Greenhouse plastics comes in various width, we choose 32 ft wide by 40 feet long.  In insight, the next size down, 24 ft would had probably be enough.  Why 40 ft?  cause she wanted to double the cover.

We did not so we have a lot of plastic left over.

Not to worry, we will simply built another with it :-)

Try to pick a day without wind, so much easier :-)

 

Wanted a door, but had nothing on hand, so I simply framed 

the opening same as the front one.

This is how the plastic is attached securely

That track and spring clip makes it so easy and very strong.

No staples, no puncture of plastic,  That is the way to go.

Hint, that is the system they used on commercial greenhouses.

Next up was to bring in power and ventilation.

Bought a simple box fan at the store and built an enclosure box for it to put in my door opening.

Again, more head scratching, cause I'm really running low on lumber by then...

I'm not joking when I said I was running low on lumber.

That last mistake cutting the diagonal too short, had me resort to an uncommon source.

Notice the greenish colour of it?

Now you see it...

Now you don't :-)

That's right I used one of my boards on the cutting grid :-)

That poor board was too long and sticking out, so it came out to play.

I built that thing in 1995, its been around ...

Box fan, boxed.

I used screws for the whole thing so I can take it apart easily to retrofit a door if ever.

She laid down a weed barrier fabric on the floor.  Much easier to keep clean :-)

Made the box into a rain hood.

Still need to tuck in some loose ends around

Installed a security lite.

I thought it was solar, nope, it used 4 D cells.  Hum, will see how long it last.

Work great .

So now, I have to bring in water and hook up her sink inside.  I will need to excavate a trench for bringing in the water lines to a water point to service the green house, orchards and vegetable garden.

That and a waste line from greenhouse sink.

Meanwhile, she has started moving in already 

This will take a while....

From portable greenhouses, basement and shed etc...

What is left from my pile of wood.

At today's Covid prices, worth about $75 :-(

To say that she is happy, would be an understatement :-)

I can now return to my other projects on the go ... 

Bob, tired, sore but happy.  I got lots of Brownies point in the bank :-)