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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > Redneck greenhouse- almost free
 
 


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Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Last weekend I finished building a greenhouse almost entirely out of free and recycled materials.

The footprint is 9.5' x 9.5'. (The maximum footprint I can build on without permit in my town is 100 sq ft.)

The foundation is made of eight 2 x8 lumber from an old deck.

The framework is 2x4 s and 2x3 s, some lying around the house and some bought new.

East and North side  side shell is 11"  x 6ft plexiglass panels that are 1/16" thick. I overlapped the panel by about two inches and put clear silicone caulking between the panels. Roof is made of the same panels. I got the panels free from a friend.

West side wall shell is old windows picked up from curbside.

North side is old sliding glass doors got free off Craigslist.

Door is an old shower door.

All gaps sealed with silicone caulking. The window on south side has a nuvent automatic opener.
Hot air from my family room where I have a wood furnace going, through a 6" insulated duct with an inline fan.
Shelving is wire shelves bought from home depot.

I have about fifty tomato seedlings in there already. Need to do some final touch up sealing before I put a whole lot more in there

Here are thee photos.
The bonus photo is turkey struttiing in my front yard on 4/5. My neighbor has a bird feeder and group of fifteen turkeys were feeding there all winter. They are still feeding there ven after the snow is all gone. They are so used to people they just stand there and look at you at 20 feet! turkey.jpg  gh-4.jpg  gh-2.jpg  gh-3.jpg

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Rockland,NY-Zone 6-B
DesertDance

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
Congrats!  Looks great!  So when do the plants go in?

Suzi
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Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DesertDance
Congrats!  Looks great!  So when do the plants go in?

Suzi

This weekend. I have a lot of onions to plant on Saturday and fence off that area first before I can do the final sealing. Even without the final sealing the temp inside is always 10-15 degrees above what is outside. The first batch of tomato plants, broccoli and cauliflower are already inside. they were under a growlight inside the house.
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Rockland,NY-Zone 6-B
rcantor

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
That looks great, congratulations!
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Zone 6, MO

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Galicia Negra, De La Reina - Pons, Genovese Nero - Rafed's, Sbayi, Souadi, Acciano, Any Rimada, Sodus Sicilian, any Bass, Pons or Axier fig, any great tasting fig.
nycfig

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Good work!  Wish I had the room for something that big.
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Danny NYC Z7a

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FiggyFrank

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Amazing!  That's certainly something to be proud of.
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Frank
zone 7a - VA
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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Congratulations! Very good looking green house!
How long did it take for you to build it?
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deerhunter16b

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Nice work.......that looks great
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john
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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
You must be from louisiana. Good work. Love the shower door and heat from house piped in. That really ties in the whole red neck theme. Got to say its a professional red neck job
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RICHIE BONI
HICKORY LOUISIANA ZONE 8B WARM HUMID
WINRERS ARE VERY MILD LOW 20'S BUT WARMS RIGHT UP DURING THE DAY. SUMMER IS EXTREMELY HOT & HUMID 100 degrees 100% humidity fig tree grow like crazy but some split from rain & humidity
Wish list. Col de dame blanc
Col de rimada
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striveforfreedom

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
You did a great job putting that together. We often recycle materials to save on expense but our outcome has not been as slick as yours. The turkeys look delicious too!
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Vince Russo
Norwalk, CT Zone 7A

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Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Quote:
Originally Posted by greenfig
Congratulations! Very good looking green house! How long did it take for you to build it?


Thank you for all the comments. It took me two weekends. I had to wash all the plexiglass panels and dry them because they were dirty and covered in algae.
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cis4elk

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
You should write that up in an email with the pictures included and send it to Mother Earth Magazine, you might get it printed.  Good job!
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greenbud

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
That is impressive and a good visual example what some of us other folks could rig up.  Thanks for sharing!
Rob

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Love it and love the recycling.  Great job making it all fit with the non uniform shaped pieces. 

How do you get the air into it from the vent?  Is there a fan inline?  Can you, for example, turn it on at night and turn it off during the day?
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Rob
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Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
Love it and love the recycling.  Great job making it all fit with the non uniform shaped pieces. 

How do you get the air into it from the vent?  Is there a fan inline?  Can you, for example, turn it on at night and turn it off during the day?

Yes, there is a six inch inline duct fan. It is 170 cfm, I believe, I am going to change it to a higher CFM fan before next winter. I guess I will need some more hot air coming in during the brutal cold spells. Except for the patio doors everything is single panel, so a lot of heat is still lost by conduction. If I make another one I will collect all the insulated windows (double pane windows) I can find on local Craigslist and make it with better insulation properties.
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Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
Love it and love the recycling.  Great job making it all fit with the non uniform shaped pieces. 

How do you get the air into it from the vent?  Is there a fan inline?  Can you, for example, turn it on at night and turn it off during the day?


At the moment I manually turn it on and off, but I can put the fan on a timer if I need to. I can also make it variable speed by inserting one of those cheapo speed control devices sold for fixed speed grinders.
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Rob

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
I bet you could greatly improve the insulation by using plastic sheets on the inside taped/stapled/glued to the 2X4 frame.  They sell the stuff for people who have those old single pane windows.  I think it's pretty cheap.

I have heard you can use dark colored containers of water placed strategically inside to help it maintain temperatures overnight and add to thermal mass.
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Rob
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Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
I bet you could greatly improve the insulation by using plastic sheets on the inside taped/stapled/glued to the 2X4 frame.  They sell the stuff for people who have those old single pane windows.  I think it's pretty cheap.

I have heard you can use dark colored containers of water placed strategically inside to help it maintain temperatures overnight and add to thermal mass.


Good idea. Thanks. Will probably do it before next winter.
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Rockland,NY-Zone 6-B
GinnyLea

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 

You did  great job on your "redneck" greenhouse! Very well put together and designed. You cant beat free, or recycled!! If people would look around freecycle, craigslist, go around the neighborhood on trash pick up day, or find building contractors and friends who are remodeling, they would be amazed at the material you can pick up for free.
I have been collecting old used patio doors and windows for close to 20 years. I knew I could make a gh out of them someday. And my dream came true eight years ago when my hubby and I built a unheated recycled 12x18 Greenhouse with them.  We used polycarbonate gh panels on the roof and a few on lower half of north wall. We already had the framing from leftover building  material that we cut and dried ourselves. I love it! It gives me three extra months for growing season. I will post pics someday soon.
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Ginny Lea
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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
Nice greenhouse. It is my kind of a deal.
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drphil69

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Posted Reply with quote  #21 
Very nice work!

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Phil - Zone 7A - Newark, DE Newbie fig lover just trying to learn.
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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
Really great job!  Looks fabulous!
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Philadelphia Gardener Near Philly, but winters still feeling like Zone 6!
nycfig

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cis4elk
You should write that up in an email with the pictures included and send it to Mother Earth Magazine, you might get it printed.  Good job!


Or Farm Show magazine.  They'd love it!

Can you post some pics of the framing and base from the inside?
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Danny NYC Z7a

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pino

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Posted Reply with quote  #24 
This is a great idea and job Mat!

I don't think you need it for spring and summer but if you are planning to use it for winter you could insulate the inside with bubble wrap.
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Pino, zone 6, Niagara,  JCJ Acres
Wish; Peace on earth and more figs Italian 258, Galicia Negra, Luv, trade suggestions welcome.
Mat9

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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
Thank you all, for the kind words.

@ Danny:
I was busy all day fencing the area where I planted the onions. The water heater picked this day to  quit, so got a new one from the box store and installed it. Will post photos of the inside probably tomorrow.

@ Pino
The bubble wrap is a very good idea. need to find out how expensive the rolls are.
Mat
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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
that is a great job.  Good looking also.  Congrats.
ajv73

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Posted Reply with quote  #27 
Good job. Looks very nice.

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Tony V. - Western PA, Zone 6a
pino

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Posted Reply with quote  #28 
Mat
I was able to locate rolls of 1/4 " bubble wrap for cheap. 
There are several youtube videos showing using bubble wrap to insulate greenhouses.
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Pino, zone 6, Niagara,  JCJ Acres
Wish; Peace on earth and more figs Italian 258, Galicia Negra, Luv, trade suggestions welcome.
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