Martins site » greenhouse

Greenhouse done!

martin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:02:25 +0000

I finally finished the greenhouse last week! Now it’s done to start putting things in there, so next spring we’ll have it full with lovely plants I hope

We also had quite a bit of wind a few days ago, and everything is still in one piece after that, so that was also a good test to see how it holds up to weather…

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A concrete fact…

martin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:13:57 +0000

Is that I yesterday mixed and poured the concrete for the plinths of the greenhouse. It took 100 kg of dry concrete. Mixing concrete by hand is a b*tch. If I ever need to mix more than a bucket or two of concrete again I’ll definately rent a proper blender, instead of spending 20-25 minutes per bucket adding concrete and water in little bits…

Now the concrete is hardening, and the weather is just right. Not too hot or direct sunlight, and I water it lightly a few times per day, and won’t put any pressure on it for at least 5-6 days, so it gains most of the strength it needs to keep the 4 corners in place, and the whole construction firmly grounded

So, the project is actually progressing, woohoo!

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Greenhouse done!? No…

martin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:15:47 +0000

The greenhouse still isn’t completed. I’ve finished the foundation too now, but the concreting of the foundation still isn’t done. Why? It needs a day without direct sun, or lots of rain, and those days haven’t been plentyful lately. It’s been either sun and 25C or rain and 17C… Plus, it needs a weekend, and the last few of those have been occupied with other things, such as driving my mother-inlaw to the airport, and visiting fellow dog owners. This coming weekend it’s time for a visit to a festival, but I still have the hope that I’ll be able to set aside one day for the greenhouse… Let’s hope that it’s done this summer anyway

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Greenhouse, the never ending story…

martin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:44:40 +0000

I bought us a greenhouse a few weeks ago. We’ve talked about it for a long time, and I know it would be a chance for Judit to have a proper place for growing the vegetables that we all enjoy.

I thought it wouldn’t be a big problem to put the house up. I already had the right place for it, since I made a “fake” greenhouse 2 years ago, using left over wood and plastic. The fake greenhouse wasn’t meant to last more than a summer, and but it lasted 2, but barely (not the sturdiest of constructions, plus the ventilation was very bad).

So, I ordered, and 2 weeks later it arrived. It’s already a bit too late to grow the things, but I thought I could put it up during the first weekend. Well well. First problem, after opening the package; Assembly instructions. They containted illustrations and numbered parts. Problem was, the parts themselves weren’t numbered, and as many parts looks virtually identical, this turned out to become a giant puzzle.

One of the things I did wrong with the previous house was the ground. I just cleared the worst week and built the house on the soil. Bad move. Lots and lots of week also enjoyed growing in a greenhouse I realized… So, with this greenhouse I thought I’d do it properly. I cleared off all the week, put on a cover cloths which blocks the weeks, but lets water soak down. I also dug holes which I will fill with concrete to keep the construction in place. I then covered the area with a layer of crushed roof tiles, which we had left after we changed roof tiles some years ago.

Turns out its not very easy to crush roof tiles into little bit. In fact, it’s a pain in the ass… I pounded the tiles with a sledgehammer and pounding tool for several hours, and still it looks nothing like how I’ve seen when roof tiles are used as pretty orange walking paths. They must have a professional machine which grinds the bits…

So. Groundwork is now almost done anyway, and I started assembling the house today in earnest, which, as I said, is more like putting together a puzzle than building after clear instructions. I managed to get one side and the front end done today, and I’m hoping I can get the other side and the back fixed tomorrow, and then another day for the roof, and finally the plastic which will be the glass (I opted for 6mm plastic because of the better insulation, which I hope will enable us to keep plants there a few more weeks in the year…

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