Harbor Freight Greenhouse Construction

[dragoneggs]

The weather has finally improved enough to allow me to get on this project. Ultimately for the wife, but I want it to have all of the 'bells and whistles' within reason. I hope to post some video at some point but here are some pics of the construction. These first pics show the ditching work to provide plumbing and power to the site.



A plug for the BX here... I can get into places that no bigger tractor can reach and do some major digging...



About 80ft of trench to lay 160psi poly pipe and another trench to add 2 20amp lines



Starting to flatten out a slightly larger than 10ft by 12ft pad for the greenhouse.

 

[dragoneggs]

Found another use for my tractor... I purchased some 4 x 6 pressure treated timbers and needed to trim a couple of them a bit to make the frame for the foundation that the greenhouse will sit on... you gotta love all the things that a little tractor can assist you with. My back loves it most!



Also dug up an old cable run (orange conduit... weird)



Now getting the power/water and the frame situated.

 

[dragoneggs]

4 x 6 in base frame and 3/4in crushed clean gravel fill in place and now the aluminum construction. Pretty flimsy sheet aluminum and extrusions but efficient use of metal I must admit.



Corners and wall structure and feeling good...



First floor complete and now on to the roof!



Blessed with a decent weather day but of course the afternoon winds are picking up as I now have unsecured members dangling.

 

[dragoneggs]

A little more ladder work and at this point really needed assistance from the better half...



Frame complete and glazing panels going in...



Day is turning to night but feeling good again about progress...

 

[corl]

Nice job! If you live in a windy place you might think of using some silicon caulk to keep the panels from blowing out.

 

[troutsqueezer]

He's done his research as per his previous posts. I expect to see some pics of the upcoming mods too.

Nice pics. Nice location too. I spent my years in high school on Whidbey Island.

Now you'll have to build some benches. Redwood fencing worked well for me.



And don't forget the outside.

 

[wngsprd]

Glad you made it home from China safely. Great looking project...and million dollar view! Am I right in concluding you built it in one day (not including site work)?

 

[jwstewar]

We used to have one of the 10x12 Harbor Freight Greenhouses. I had to do a few modifications to it. First was the back wall. It was facing west and caught the wind pretty good. I had to use a piece of 3/8" rebar to reinforce the back wall and hold it in place where the sections of the back wall supports were bolted together. Then came the panels. We couldn't keep them in the frame. We ordered more clips from a green house supplier. Put 3x the clips on it than it came with. They still blew out. I used silicone on them and the 3x clips. Still blew out. Finally I drilled a hole in each panel with a bolt through the aluminum frame, silicone them in place again, and 3x the clips (less what had been lost in the previous blow outs). I told Monica that we weren't losing the panels any more. If we did, we would lose the whole thing. Got a call at work one day from her, she said the green house was gone. I was like what do you mean the greenhouse is gone? We had a bunch of rain and the ground was soft and mushy. Then we had a big windstorm. It picked the entire greenhouse up and rolled it into a ball back to the neighbor's house. After spending the better part of a day collecting pieces of a greenhouse I think I got $30 for it at the recycling yard. That was the end of her greenhouse dream.

 

[deerseeker001]

looks nice good Job.

A little more ladder work and at this point really needed assistance from the better half...

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Frame complete and glazing panels going in...

View attachment 369460 View attachment 369461

Day is turning to night but feeling good again about progress...

View attachment 369462 View attachment 369463

 

[dragoneggs]

Nice job! If you live in a windy place you might think of using some silicon caulk to keep the panels from blowing out.

Thank you! Yes, starting my reinforcement already. Pics coming. I have already caulked the roof vent panels and plan to caulk and screw many of the rest. The problem I am having is finding some reasonably priced plastic spacers/bushings to put between the panel and the horizontal support brackets. Also finding a roofing screw that has a rubber/seal washer that is less than 1 in.