Another Completed 10x12 HFGH

18 years ago

Here is our completed greenhouse

It took my wife and me three days to build. As many have pointed out the instructions are misleading and, in several instances, just plain wrong. The good news is that the kit itself is correct. We did not have to modify any parts and, yes, all four #7's are the same.

The completed greenhouse is worth the effort. Our only concern is the wind. We get some pretty good gusts and the greenhouse is unprotected. We will post good or bad after we see how it holds up.

Here is a link to more pictures: More pictures

Comments (6)

greginshasta
18 years ago
Would it be possible to see a close-up of one of your corners please? For those of us who have had to re-drill them, it would be interesting to see how they were supposed to be manufactured.

Thanks,
Greg
oraylawson
18 years ago
gato_gordo

Great job.

Looks like you are located where you'll get plenty of sunshine.

Ray
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Sorry I didn't see your post, feisty! My internet connection at home is down, so I'm offline on the weekends. We finished the greenhouse this weekend and didn't have any problems from clipping 24/25 that I could tell. We did have a very annoying issue with one of the door frame pieces--I had to grind down the top end of one piece so that it would slide onto the track--it was about 1/16 inch too tall just behind the wheel, if that makes any sense, and it acted like a stop that prevented the door from going all the way onto the track. The only other issue we ran into was that my #60 pieces of polycarbonate were just a smidge too short, and wouldn't fit both under the crown and over the gutter, so I ended up shorting the tops just a little so it will hang over the gutter and using foil tape to cover the gap at the top. Anyone else have this problem? Still need to install my automatic vent openers and set up my benches, and DH needs to hook up the wiring (conduit is already run from the house), but it's usable now. We had a big rain this morning, but I didn't have a chance to check the GH and see how it fared before I left for work this morning. I did notice the floor was wet, but I had left the roof windows open. Leigh
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Gardiner is the HFGH construction expert here, but I would like to suggest an alternative to a sheet of plastic between your aluminum base and copper treated timbers. Check your local big box home center for the rolls of 3- 1/2" wide vinyl sold for sealing sills under standard 2 x 4 framed exterior walls and unlike plastic sheeting, made to last as long as the structure. Every time we visit our local Menard's and/or Home Depot or Lowe's, I'm always amazed at the latest in materials and just as regretful that they weren't around when our old house was constructed, so do wander the construction materials areas, and you too may find a product that may not be advertised exactly for your intended use, but one that could prove ideal anyway. Another possibility is vinyl siding. It comes in 10 ft. lengths, is very cheap per piece, but again, made to withstand the elements and just a few pieces of the 5" width laps, would cut to fit and cover the tops of the timbers. Of course, the ultimate and perhaps, in the end, best of all timbers for a GH base, might be the resin timbers that will never rot, are always perfectly straight, will never bow or warp, and don't require any barrier at all.
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Harbor Freight did not suggest this. Lets just say that Harbor Freights Tech support was, um Harbor Freight... I have to admit it was nice, they Cross shipped me new ones, which performed the same as the old ones. I found an overseas manufacturer of similar "budget vents", I think they were called Thermofor, who was very helpfull, and gave me a suggestion. I unscrewed the endcap that has the adjustment screw, and press the plunger till the seal almost comes out, then the oil will start to leak if you press softly on the plunger (If I pressed hard the seal comes all the way out, and you get a big mess ;) then close the whole thing and test. THrough trial and error, I now have all five of my HF openers opening between 65 and 75 degrees. Gato, I am not sure why mine did not work, and yours did, I am only 1300 feet higher than you, but I had a Total of ten from HF (The first five and the second five). Even at 38 degrees they were open five inches under load before I modified them ;) I would not recomend that anyone else try this, because I am sure it voids the warranty. (I tried it on just one first, then got bolder and tried the rest. I did spill all the oil out of one, and I replaced the oil with Cooking oil, even this one is now working ;) so I guess I will have to wait and see if opening them is gonna cause any long term ill effects.
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Hello treed1304, I wanted to let your post sit for a few days, in case others might pop up here with a solution to the vent window problem. I had the same problem with the vent windows on my HFGH. Even in the most "closed" position, the windows could be lifted open just a bit. I was not able to find a good solution, and the orientation of my GH is so that the prevailing winds loved to pick up the vents that small fraction of an inch, then let them bang down again. Bang bang bang. Too often. I was worried that this would lead to a problem at 3AM when I was not there. Failing a brilliant fix, I finally gave up and wired the latches shut with baling wire. A few years ago, when we replaced our roof panels, I removed the vent windows entirely. I was only able to do this because I replace my south wall with screens all summer, and I use an exhaust fan to pull air through the open doors during daylight hours (through a curtain made of Aluminet.) Otherwise, I would not have been able to give up the venting. I think this annoying problem is present with most of the HFGH kits. Maybe, it's worse for some of us, depending on wind direction. So far, nobody had posted to my blog or here with a good fix. It's possible that equipping the windows with hydraulic automatic openers will resolve this problem. I never tried this, but I've read here that the automatic openers sold by Harbor Freight don't work well (or, for most, don't last long.) I'd try some of the other brand auto openers instead...by Bayliss, for example...after doing more research. Maybe...some brilliant person will show up here with a better solution (hope springs eternal...) Looking forward to seeing pics of your project!
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gato_gordo
Original Author
18 years ago
Greg,

I will not be at the location with the greenhouse until the end of the week. I will be happy to post pictures of anything you need then.

As for the corners, they look like tools_r_us's with the thicker #78 and #80 parts. This requires changing the short screw specified in the instructions to a long screw (i.e., three long screws instead of two longs and a short in part #14. This is accompanied with using four long screws in the other studs that you already noticed.)

{{gwi:295357}}
greginshasta
18 years ago
This is stunning.

In my kit, the equivalent of the diagonal braces pictured in this image are paper thin. Around 1/16" thick. The braces pictured here look like the #30 and #31 horizontal braces. Were those numbered #79 and 80?
gato_gordo
Original Author
18 years ago
Greg,

This is another reason why the kit is so challenging to build; it seems to be evolving. What one user posts is not necessarily applicable to other users.

You must have the same setup as oraylawson. I did not understand why the instructions requested an extra short screw until I saw his picture and noticed that he has a different part for the diagonals. And, yes, mine are still marked as #79 and #80.

oraylawson greenhouse
tools_r_us
18 years ago
Yes, those are numbered #79 and #80, on my unit all of the diagonal braces are rectangular. The only drilling I did on it was to clean up some of the end holes in the braces where the plastic plugs didnÂt line up correctly and to add the angle over the door and to the back wall. With the rectangular braces the angle had to be shorter, fastened to the corner bracket with new holes.

Another Completed 10x12 HFGH

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Another Completed 10x12 HFGH

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