John C's Greenhouse Expansion 2013

[John C]

Well, it has been in the plans for some time now. Floor space is almost gone and the heater takes up the rest of it. There is space for my two feet, that's it. There isn't even a place for a two inch pot on my main shelf currently. (The really scary part is that the shelf has so much weight on it that it is leaning significantly. I'm glad it hasn't fallen yet!) An expansion is definitely needed!

We went out for supplies on New Years Day, and started working on it a couple weeks later, as we had time.

Here is what my greenhouse looked like before the project.







The expansion started with the cutting of rebar. After the rebar is cut you will get a nice pattern of filings sticking out of the now magnetized rebar.



Next step is to build the base. The greenhouse will be expanded by 3 feet.



Here is the preliminary placement.





Next came the rebar.





Everything is screwed together, leveled, and the the rest of the base is installed.





Installation is complete.



I had to take plants out just so we could get in to do the work.



View from inside.



Outside



Next step is the new roof extension! I'll upload the pics then post them soon.

[iann]

Greenhouse expansions always make me jealous. One day ...

[gemhunter178]

Nice, getting an expansion!

Greenhouse expansions always make me jealous. One day ...

Well I don't even have a greenhouse to expand!

[John C]

So, the next step was to remove the old plastic.





My concern about the leaning shelf was verified - once the plastic was off, it was obvious.





We pounded some wooden 2x2's into the ground and screwed the current shelf to them. The shelf is now upright and sturdy

Next we cut off part of the old pvc roof.



Looks like some sort of giant animal ribs - maybe a whale!



We cut some new pvc to the appropriate length, and heated them to make the bend we wanted. Here they are bent:



We installed the new (bent) pvc and glued everything together.



Next we installed the new wooden roof frames/supports.



The old plastic was not big enough to cover the whole greenhouse, and my remaining sheet of UV treated plastic was not big enough either, so we just taped/stapled them together. It will work fine for now, eventually I will need new plastic anyways so I will get an appropriate sized piece then.



Sure, it doesn't look "Pretty", but it gets the job done.





Now that the greenhouse was sealed, once again, I began working on taking out the grass and putting down a gravel floor.

Grass:



No grass:



When we built the original part of my greenhouse, I never put down any weed cloth. I have since had a lot of trouble with weeds, so I thought putting down weed cloth in the addition might prevent at least a few more weeds.



Gravel:





...And that is where it stands at this time. Next step is to build some shelves so I can finally give my plants (and me) some more room.

[cactushobbyman]

What is the make and model of your propane heater?

[John C]

It's looks to be the same as this one, just yellow, not orange:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mr.-Heater-Po ... er/5712813" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess they just changed the color of it. I don't use it very often, just on the nights that I feel would be pushing the limit. It works really well. I heat my whole greenhouse on the low setting. When it gets down to the 20f's outside, my greenhouse stays in the 50f's with the heater on low. I really like it. The only negative thing about it is that it doesn't have a thermostat. Not too big a deal, but sometimes I feel like it could be wasting some propane by heating the greenhouse too much. Really though, for my purposes, it is not necessary.

[DaveW]

I don't know what it's like in the US and other countries, but you can often pick up second-hand greenhouses cheap in the UK provided you are prepared to dismantle and transport them yourself. People buy them but loose interest in greenhouse gardening and eventually they fall into disuse, or people moving to a new house don't want them and want to get rid of them, so an advert in the local paper will often find you one. Also the larger commercial sized greenhouses are often proportionately cheaper than small ones since there is little sale for them second-hand because nurserymen can set the cost of new ones against tax and in the UK gardens (yards) are often not that big.

A friend of mine bought a 30ft second-hand commercial one cheap many years ago and simply shortened it to the length he wanted far cheaper than he could find one second-hand that length.

[iann]

That's neat! I don't think I could bend the roof bars on my aluminium greenhouse to pull that trick.

[Tony]

Where there's a will.

[Ivan C]

That's neat! I don't think I could bend the roof bars on my aluminium greenhouse to pull that trick.

If it's tubing then you could rent a tube bender. Used to avoid kinking the aluminum. Easily done.

[John C]

I don't know what it's like in the US and other countries, but you can often pick up second-hand greenhouses cheap in the UK provided you are prepared to dismantle and transport them yourself. People buy them but loose interest in greenhouse gardening and eventually they fall into disuse, or people moving to a new house don't want them and want to get rid of them, so an advert in the local paper will often find you one. Also the larger commercial sized greenhouses are often proportionately cheaper than small ones since there is little sale for them second-hand because nurserymen can set the cost of new ones against tax and in the UK gardens (yards) are often not that big.

A friend of mine bought a 30ft second-hand commercial one cheap many years ago and simply shortened it to the length he wanted far cheaper than he could find one second-hand that length.

I'm sure it is possible to find used ones here as well, but building one like I have is simple and very cheap. Probably cheaper than most used greenhouses.

Good idea though.

That's neat! I don't think I could bend the roof bars on my aluminium greenhouse to pull that trick.

Well it certainly would be a bit harder to do

[daiv]

John,
It looks like you've added about 1/3 more space. Now you will have to do the same thing on the other side ...

[John C]

John,
It looks like you've added about 1/3 more space. Now you will have to do the same thing on the other side ...

Yes sir! It's only a matter of time. I'm sure that will happen eventually. Maybe sooner than I think

[hendryterok]

More space.....more cacti John

Cheers

[John C]

More space.....more cacti John

Cheers

That's right!