Greenhouse almost complete
 

Sorry about the loonggg post. I have wanted to tell you all about my Greenhouse for a while now as I am close to getting it complete. I wanted one for a long time and since getting this place we have the room. We live from pay check to pay check so figuring out how to pay for it was challenging. Of the many cheap designs there are, it seemed that a PVC ribbed, dual sheeted, inflated plastic sheeted greenhouse was reasonable. So therefore I started scoping out materials etc. Down around the corner of our housing block, a neighbor had stacked a bunch of PVC piping. I asked if I could give them 20 bucks for it, and they said if you just wanted it, we would have given it to you…so for 20 bucks I get about 1000 feet of 1”, 700’ of 1 ¼” and 800’ of ¾” of barely used PVC piping. I designed a 14’ X 28’ greenhouse with the PVC. The 14’ width is, I discovered is too much for 1” PVC and maximum for that width is probably 12’. I put up a 4x4 post in middle of GH. The ribs are secured to each other by longitudinal ¾” pipe fastened to ribs with self-tapping teck screws The base plate/sill/lower border was wood given to me from the next door neighbor. I have been watching Craigslist and found 48X150 feet of (hopefully) solar treated plastic for 50 bucks. It was covering a DNR greenhouse south of Olympia. Normal retail price-700.00. I am using sch 10 ¾” PVC pipe with a thin strip cut from it and inserting the 2-pieces of plastic glazing, secured inside of the sch 10 with sch 40 3/4” PVC pipe (one inserted into the other). The two ¾” pipes will be secured to baseplate/sill and end walls. The plastic sheeting will be protected from off-gassing and pipe from UV degradation by paint and felt strips. The rear wall (facing north) is wood framed and covered with plywood. It will have shelves on it for storage and is where the inflation blower will be placed, along with it’s hose. As I don’t really want to type almost a thousand words, I’ll try and get some pictures posted to our site here…

That wooden wall is going to add a lot of strength. Some designs have a south-facing wall that is wood, but very short, two feet or so.

The biggest tip I could give you is to get a big bucket of flat white *latex* paint, and give everything two coats. The north wall will reflect light much better, and your pvc pipe will have a layer of protection from UV rays, which is what destroys it eventually.

Used plastic will eventually begin to separate at the seams, where it is hot-pressed together at the factory, every 10-12' or so. You'll see what I mean when it happens. Those seams may be stitched back together with a needle and fishing line. There is one special greenhouse plastic tape that also works, but the stuff is expensive.

Great project! Do you have to worry about snow loads in the Winter?

any pics?

Pictures of GH
 

I think I down loaded a picture...

Looks nice!

We have had snow recently and I think with three 4x4 posts and 1x3 boards along the top it has held up to 2 inches. I need to put benches in there now and figure out what to heat it with. Will probably zone it with small electrical heaters.

Another pix
 

Here is a shot of the electrical panel. 8 circuits, (1)5 dual plugs on west side, (2)4 dual on east side, (3)Lights, (4) inflator fan + dual plug, (5)Exhaust fan), (6)spare, (7)spare, (8)spare...I had all kinds of advice from electricians on how to do this too. E & W plugs on GFI...

Your electrical panel makes my liberal use of extension cords look like amateur hour. Seriously, nice work all the way around.

Do you have a way to roll up the sides?

Nice greenhouse, I hope it treats you well. Your electrical looks like it is wired to meet a code?