Building a greenhouse?

Loph · Post by **Loph** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:12 am

i dont know about the states, but in BC the "BUILDING CODE" is actually quite good, its for safety. its the bylaws, strata and all that other big ego stupid stuff that gets in the way. i doubt teh building code itself would say a gh has to be WAAAAAAYYYYY smaller than teh property, it would be relative and with though of neighbours property lines. but i can see teh city's bylaws getting silly like size limits, colour limits placement issues etc. i find the city is more into giving fines or collecting permit fees (aka pre-fines) and trying to get everyone into teh white box suburbs. not everywhere, but look around the hood, and if it feels like some kind of TV fantasy suburbia, there are probably reasons you see nothing out of the ordinary.

thats why i choose the countryside wherever i live lol. just more freedom to live on your land.

hippyman · Post by **hippyman** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:11 pm

thats why i choose the countryside wherever i live lol. just more freedom to live on your land.[/quote]

I know exactly what you mean, I live in a town of roughly 12,000 so color-wise, we can do pretty much whatever we want with our houses, within reason. And I'll tell u one thing, I dont think I could find my way home, if I lived in one of those clone neighborhoods. Lol. One thing, I'm having to get building permits for new siding, a new roof, and a new fence anyway, how long are the permits good for?

Loph · Post by **Loph** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:39 pm

that really varies place to place i think. back home before they were only goo for year.

check your local office, they will tell you everything and probably be able to help you with the local requirements as well.

MildBill · Post by **MildBill** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:56 pm

OK, I just have to chime in on this issue. I also live in North Central Texas and built a new greenhouse last fall. I thought about it for several years before I built so here is what I can tell you:

Consider the kind of plants you plan to grow and then the location and the size. The city ordnance dictates the size, mine is 10' X 12". Try to locate it away from trees and check your plat for utility easments. If you build in one of them, you may have to move it at some point.

As for storms and hail, the best material to cover it with is polycarbonate which is the most hail resistant stuff. If you want to grow plants that require lots of winter heating, you will want the double wall stuff which is expensive and hard to install. I have all native Texas plants which don't require much heating so I used single wall material.

Mine has lots of windows like are in your house. I bought them from a window dealer as seconds for $30.00 apiece. They are vinyl, double hung, and double paine. They are removeable for the summer.

The most expensive part of the construction was the polycarbonate. I think it was $28.00 per sheet (2' X 12") at Lowes.

Hope this helps,
Bill

hippyman · Post by **hippyman** » Tue May 04, 2010 6:15 pm

There is one thing about zoning that still has me confused. There is a guy in one part of town, a fairly middle-high class part of town too, who has a green house business, that he runs from home. I'm just wondering how he could've gotten away with it.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Tue May 04, 2010 6:33 pm

Zoning confuses all of us, even city workers! lol

It could have been zoned a long time ago and kept up to date while others around chose to drop it and just build houses. 2 houses side by side can be differently zoned. The original owner of the land (or kept up by an immediate family member) when it was zoned RA could technically keep that land zoned RA for as long as the immediate family owns it. If it's ever sold outside of the family it would/could be rezoned.

It may have been petitioned to the city/county on a good day or under odd circumstances. Normal residential housing may be zoned RA but nobody is actually growing anything, where technically you could move in and grow whatever. But the community could petition against it with the argument that you are the only one growing anything, unsightly structures, increased street traffic, etc. The opposite could also happen (but bloody unlikely!) where you could petition the city/county to zone just your land as RA.

As an aside: somebody mentioned easements and land borders. I would highly recommend a trip to your county planning department for the proper maps and then have a county approved surveyer physically map out your land. You'd be amazed what surprises could arise!

hippyman · Post by **hippyman** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:13 pm

So, I could theoretically get just my lot re-zoned, right? If I wanted to fight them, I mean. Hell, the house right behind me barely has any fencing, around whatevers growing back there, and the last I knew, this was farm land, so it might be zoned RA.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Tue May 04, 2010 11:01 pm

Theoretically, maybe...kinda

Remember I'm in California, your regulations probably aren't as tight.

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Wed May 05, 2010 1:33 am

Darryl, It's just as whacky here in AZ. I do not know about Texas law either.

I would be careful about easements as well. Sometimes there are things you don't know about. It is a good idea to get your property surveyed. That way you know what you actually own. In AZ they own 10 feet from any road which causes problems for me. I am growing things on their property and I do not give a crap. They didn't hit em with the county truck so I think that is all that matters there. I have to deal with the water company as well. It can be messy!

Hippyman, if you are rich and have a good lawyer you might be ok. I don't know how much sense it is to try and change zoning. Usually it seems if one person complains then the it won't happen, but who knows it might be worth a try. Parts of AZ are so stupid. I hate the whole live a foot from my neighbor and have to paint my house whatever color is approved by the HOA folks, and not be able to plant whatever I want. I would bet that in most of those HOA's you couldn't plant chollas hahaha

hippyman · Post by **hippyman** » Wed May 05, 2010 1:45 am

I already had my land surveyed, back before I moved in, so I know what I own. I might have it done again tho, just in case. As for zoning, the guy that used to live next door raised chickens, but I think that coulda been grandfathered in, I'm not sure.

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Wed May 05, 2010 3:41 am

Hippyman,
raising chickens is a lil different then raising plants.. hahaha I don't know why but in some places you can raise chickens by you can't have horses or huge green houses.

hippyman · Post by **hippyman** » Wed May 05, 2010 3:49 am

Peterthecactusguy wrote:Hippyman,
raising chickens is a lil different then raising plants.. hahaha I don't know why but in some places you can raise chickens by you can't have horses or huge green houses.

Chickens, but not a greenhouse? Now thats just weird. Oh well, go figure. My dads looking for the zoning map, so I can be sure, before I start building anything.

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Wed May 05, 2010 3:56 am

Hippyman,
now that is a good idea.

I would make sure of it before building anything. Like others have said the size might be an issue depending on the zoning laws.

Loph · Post by **Loph** » Wed May 05, 2010 3:18 pm

when in doubt, grab a copy of the title of your land. not sure if its the same in the states as canada but in canada we have something called the title. this is the record of everything that is "going on" on any said piece of land. basically if its not on the title, than its not going to hold much ground in court....