Thought some of you may be interested in watching a greenhouse go up.  Hershell is building this one at an elementary school in northern Georgia.  Started Monday afternoon and will finish Thursday or Friday.  Hershell has been sending me pictures of the build for my upcoming greenhouse project.  

Looks a bit foggy...this is where it starts, sorry no pics of the first steps.  The main structure is up, bows on and purlins (chain link fence top rail) are in.

   
These are the brackets that attach to the purlins and the twinwall plastic will screw down to them.

 
Twinwall going on the end wall.

   
Twinwall across the bows.

 

Exhaust fans installed

 
Vent wall from the inside

 
And the outside vent wall


 

The cooling pads being installed

 


 

The irrigation system going in

 

The next set of pictures is how they build the tables.  Hershell told me the crew can make a table in 3 minutes:)

The basic frame made out of F channel...I think it is called.

 

Cross pieces are 1x2?  tubular steel and the channels that run lengthwise are???  


 
Legs installed

 

 and braced.

 

Finished product except for the sheet of expanded metal.
    
This is a different greenhouse he built a couple weeks back but shows the finished tables.


 

Any questions i'm sure Hershell can answer them.  Just hard for him to post the thread while on the road.

I have to say that twinwall is amazing stuff.  Goes up easy and it is strong.  

Nice, What is being used for summer cooling?

Thanks for posting those pics, Wills.  Those greenhouses are huge and they look well-built.  Is the elementary school going to grow its own food?

Steve,

I'm not sure, think Hershell said it was a federal program???  Or I could have just assumed that.   My bet is food and education.  So many kids these days just think food comes from the grocery store.

Wow! Thank you for posting these photos, Wills. I need one of those.

I took the 3 hour ride up to Hershells on Saturday.  We did a bit of a trade.  I took him up 14 1 gallon figs and brought back a Galicia Negra, Ice crystal, small Jolly tiger and small Zidi.   

 


The first time I was at Hershells a couple months back he and his brother were just making the pieces for his new personal greenhouse project.  He already has 2 36' x 100' greenhouses but his brother wanted something a bit different.  So...


You can tell he is comfortable walking on the steel :)   You can see one of his big greenhouses in the background.

 

They put 9 bales of cardboard on the bottom of the dome then mulch is going in on top.  It is 30 feet across and 15' tall.  It is made out of fence top rail......and a whole lot of it.

 

This is great to look at and dream of.
Thanks for the pictures Wills and please keep them coming.
Outstanding work Hershell

Well those are just incredible!  Thanks for sharing the process with us!

Thanks wills, without you this wouldn't be possible. The greenhouses at the schools are for education only. The most of them are built at high schools, a few at middle schools and ever so often one at an elementary school. Wills I think you got the short end of the stick on that trade , just saying. The dome belongs to dwllnet, he is going to post more on it one day. He plans to heat it with solar so it is our project for the time being.

[QUOTE=HershellWills I think you got the short end of the stick on that trade , just saying.[/QUOTE]



Yeah right...... I took the 3 air layers off the Galicia Negra that had just been put on and replaced it with just one air layer for our friend:)

Looks like fun, Hershell.  What do you usually charge a high school for a greenhouse?  What's their typical budget?

Amazing process Hershell. Thanks for posting, Wills.

Hi,
Nice projects.
For the venting at ground level, how do you keep the critters out ? Do you add some netting ?
Why so many tables ? Pots of fig trees can be direct on the ground :) .

Impressive :)

Just so nobody thinks Hershell is trying to drum up business:)   He is the person that does the installs (subcontractor) for the greenhouse company.    The poly covered houses are a LOT less expensive.  That twinwall is some expensive stuff......here lowes sells it for $113 for a 4x8 sheet.  When I was at Hershells last Saturday he had some used twinwall there he had taken off a house when he reroofed it.  The twinwall had been on the house for 15+ years, even after that time if you bent a corner it just bent....was not fragile or brittle at all.  While more expensive it is better than recovering with poly every 4 years.

wow!!!!!  speechless... thanks 

What a great thread.  Thanks for sharing it Wills and Hershell.  Quite a structure.

Beautiful structures!
Wish I could afford a solar heated dome greenhouse.  That would fit some tall fig trees ..LoL

The only way I could justify a nice greenhouse was if the plants inside were making me a profit.

An impressive/magicistic GH!

Though not for the average/little home-owner Joe/Jane ... 

Thanks Wills for the clarification. I do not sell any greenhouse parts. I am only a contractor that builds a lot of them and works on many brands.

[QUOTE=RichinNJ]Nice, What is being used for summer cooling? [/QUOTE]

The brown pads are for evaporative cooling. Water circulates thru the pads and air is drawn in over the pads by the large exhaust fans on the opposite end. Same system I have in west Texas. Even the same pads and water circulation system. Our dew points are lower so it's more effective here than out East. I can maintain 10-15F lower inside than out in winter when dew points are very low. In summer 5-10F cooler inside than out if wanted. I use it in winter to get chilling on my other fruits.

I built mine, mostly myself, in 2004-5 for $25K total including labor 1725 sqft. The one pictured above looks smaller than mine but having someone else do the work and with more expensive covering at least 60K, maybe 75-100K.



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Very nice!! Just starting a gardening club at the local schools and have some land someone want sot put in a learning garden for all schools to come to.... maybe in a few years we can get something like that..

For those curious that house he built this week is 24x48 and $19,000 but that does not include the shipping, evaporative cooling system, irrigation or tables and of course does not include labor.  No clue what the final price was but would guess......35-40k ish?  I think Steve is off because he thought it was taller like his is,this house was just 9' to the peak and 5' side walls.   Hershell is done with it and is headed home, will have some more pics to post later. 

Thanks Wills that is smaller than it looked but a good price I'd say. I'd like another with that type covering and that shape only about 11-12ft tall. Mine is 16ft tall which really isn't necessary for most uses.

Do you know who made the frame?

Steve,

You have a PM.

Testing the cooling system.




 


irrigation check

 

Heater

 


 

And the crew.  Hershell was behind the camera.  Started the house Monday afternoon and finished today (Thursday) before lunch.   The next house I will amend this thread with the beginning stages so we will have the whole process start to finish.



 

Thanks Wills I really like that greenhouse. Think I could still build another with a part time helper. Maybe go 10-11 ft peak 6-7ft sidewall. Skip the tables/concrete and plant in the ground. The other major cost would be foundation but after getting in properly leveled and square piers, the building doesn't look that hard.

That would be a fun project.

Thanks for the cooling information. I missed that in the original pictures. I was skimming along too fast. doh! My father built his own cooler like that but he used stiff fiberglass filament sheets. The more modern sponge like pads probably clog less and are easier to clean.

Rich:

My first pads lasted 8 yrs but probably should have been replaced at 6 yrs. If I could use rain water they'd probably last 10 yrs.

Those a really nice looking green houses Steve, what are you growing in yours? I see a lot of tree pots

Rich:

I still have figs and blueberry in pots but am letting the figs root into ground. I'd like to get where I can leave for a week any time of yr without need for watering pots.

In ground there are citrus, kiwi, grapes, blackberry, apricot, plum, pluot, peach, nectarine, sweet cherry, and this winter, super sugar snap peas.

Awesome thread. I need one. I wouldnt need cooling, I would just need something where the sides open up. I have seen them before up in New England. I could also live with a stone floor.. Thanks for posting all the photos. I also think its a great idea to get the kids involved in growing food at school.

[QUOTE=fignutty]Rich:

I still have figs and blueberry in pots but am letting the figs root into ground. I'd like to get where I can leave for a week any time of yr without need for watering pots.

In ground there are citrus, kiwi, grapes, blackberry, apricot, plum, pluot, peach, nectarine, sweet cherry, and this winter, super sugar snap peas.[/QUOTE]

Wow that's great

Update on the dome greenhouse.