I have decided that I will make the 10x12 work for me; I will reinforce the heck out of it. I am going to be growing trees, I will need the height. ACK, I went by my Local HF Store today, "Just to Check", I should have my Money by Tuesday... They have the 6x8 in stock $399!, but have never had the 10x12 in stock, Granted when I gave the part number to a stock clerk, and told him that it is listed on Harborfreightusa.com, he said that it is a new item and should be stocking it soon... SOON, how soon, my 20% off coupon, expires on the 18th (Does that mean I can use it on the 18th, or that the last day I can use it, is the 17th) Sigh. I am only about 130 Miles from there Camarillo Warehouse, I wonder if I can do a will-call, and use my 20% off retail store coupon... Leme see, 260 miles round trip call it 9 gallons of gas, at 2.60 a gallon, call it $24 bucks for gas, and 3.5 hours of Driving, one hour for The hassle at will call. Oh, I can not forget the Stop at Canters Deli for lunch for me and my helper, so add another hour, and another $40. Oh wait, I cannot use my car (3 door Saturn, I do not think the big metal framed box will fit in it, so I have to take my wifes truck, Yeah my wife has the truck, what can I say, she is a Red Neck Woman, I think Gretchen wrote that song for her, but my wife is better looking.) Ok where was I, oh yeah Driving the Truck, well I can still average 75 MPH, but the mileage is gonna suck, so that would be $40 bucks in gas SO $40 for Gas, $40 for Lunch, and 4 and a half, ok call it 5 hours of my time... Hmm, well there are about 9 HF Stores, (other than my local store), that are 30-75 miles away, I guess I am gonna have to break down and do that old fashioned thing and let my fingers do the walking. I hope they have it for the same price as the Mail order site. Yeah, I found out on this site somewhere that the www.harborfreight.com site is for mail order/web order prices only, and the www.harborfreightusa.com sight is for retail stores, but it only shows stock items (Not what is in stock, but what they can stock), and they do not show the prices. So does anyone live out here in Southern California, and want a free meal at Canters, and Corned beef and cabbage (my wife makes a Wicked corned beef, she slow cooks it all day), oh yeah and lots of Guinness. (Most of the Guinness will be after it is built. I will be taking lots of Pictures, and using the extra reinforcing mentioned elsewhere on this site. I will also be sinking the Frame (But on wooden supports. I will be sealing the open edges of the Panels with 100 Mile an hour tape (Also know as aluminum tape I think), and then running thin weather-stripping along the inside edges of the panels. I will buy a couple packages of Extra Spring Clips from Charlies, and probably screw in the panels on the roof, since they will not be easy to remove for the summer months. I will probably add extra Triangle corner reinforcing, Guy wires with those funny twisty things and some nice big anchors into the ground. I have a 220 GFI for my Hot Tub near where I will be building it, but I probably should not tap into that for the greenhouse. I do have a couple of Blank spots in my fuse box (Why do they still call them fuse boxes... oh yeah I think they are called breaker boxes now), it was easy for the Guys to run the Power to the Hot Tub (About 15 minutes), but then thats what these guys do for a Living. I probably will not need power to the greenhouse, till Fall anyhow, I will be removing panels and using shade cloth for cooling in the summer. One corner of the greenhouse will be just past one of my Spare Sprinkler heads, so I can tap into that for water, and if I install timers inside the greenhouse, I can have different watering schedules for the watering and the Misting... I assume that is what I should do. One other thing I will be doing is running an extension from the clothes dryer vent to the greenhouse to have the clothes dryer exhaust into the greenhouse... Free Heat and moisture. (Most of our clothes washing happens late at night anyhow. I figure I will till up the ground where the greenhouse is going (Should make leveling it easier), and then I will be flooring it will all the shingles that blew off my roof over new years weekend. Ok, what I am I missing, ahh yes, orientation, if I remember correctly this greenhouse is 10 feet wide, and 12 feet deep. The greenhouse will be about 8 feet south of my garage (I already can see that gap is gonna become a place where you toss all the crap for the back yard, but it would make a good place to park my Garden Tractor). The winds here come out of the South, Southwest, I was thinking of Orienting the Greenhouse so that the door is facing west, I figure that would be better than south, and having the door on the east or north side would be awkward. Does this orientation sound ok? Or should I really put the door on the North side? Now a question for those who have built a 10x12,It is hard to tell from the Instructions, but it looks that the secondary brace for the vents is a separate piece of metal, so would it be possible for me to put all for vents on one side (In this case the North Side), of the roof? I do not think that having those vents facing south and opening up into a 40 MPH wind would be too healthy for the vents or the greenhouse (I am imagining a balloon being rapidly inflated), plus the wind blowing across the vents on the North Side would provide a Nice Low Pressure area, increasing the effectiveness of vents on that side. Am I missing anything (other than the greenhouse kit?) any suggestions, corrections, or Ideas. Sorry about writing books, hopefully most of you find it entertaining, rather than annoying

Soooo... Does this mean that nobody has actually purchased/installed the HF Solar Ventilation fan in their GH? Now I'm getting nervous - wondering if ordering it was a "Bad Idea" <:->Anybody??? Thx! -N (BTW - I posted minimal "Construction Update" pics tonight. It's been very slow-going!!!) Here is a link that might be useful: 2007 - We bought a Greenhouse!

I'm sorry if I confused matters by mentioning the intake fan I use. I actually used the Lasko 20" box fan for my exhaust for three years, then stepped things higher this year after adding on an air chiller. In theory, all you need is a good exhaust fan. But I've found that the addition of a relatively equally-powered intake fan (placed where the air enters your gh) nearly doubles your turnover. This is only my theory, but within a closed airspace, I don't believe the actual output of an exhaust fan reaches its rated CFM because of the weight/friction/vacuum of the volume of air it's trying to move. I didn't set out to "test" this theory with the addition of my second fan -- it was to operate the air chiller I constructed to cool incoming air. Basically it's a 2x2 frame covered in gh fabric, with a dozen fogging heads and spun plastic furnace filters inside. However, I did note that my turnover is much better "pushing" the column of air from the intake side as well as "pulling" from the exhaust. Because of compromises during construction (my gh is a Rube Goldberg affair, and definitely wouldn't win any beauty contests!), my exhaust fan is placed directly over my door -- which is in the middle of a long side. But my door is pretty airtight. It's a shower curtain turned sideways, such that the grommets snap over exposed nails in the door frame. Because of the UV I need to replace the door every few months, but the design and function is tested and true. I can seal things up tight during the cooler winter months, and get the proper air flow as well. My application is an effort to make a "cool wall" for my intermediate orchids, and isn't necessary for the types of plants most people cultivate. Actually, I need to build the chiller larger because it doesn't have quite enough "horsepower" yet (except when humidity is below 50% -- not very often during the summer). It works, but not well enough...yet. -Bruce

You don't say how often you have to replace the portable, but if you're willing to dedicate the space to a more permanent structure, based on my experience in NJ, USDA zone 7, I think you'll find the 6x8 HFGH satisfactory. Ours is also somewhat sheltered (by a garden shed, large oak and bank of trees and understory shrubs) and has come safely through wind gusts well above the 25-30mph you mention. It sits on a foundation of 2"x10" treated lumber, and, with our winters, I do use a solar pool cover as well as north wall insulation. Definitely check all parts, and maybe we just were lucky, but we found nothing missing or damaged. My adult son and I worked on this, but he really did most of the work and it was completed in one November day. It did help that my adult daughter applied the aluminum tape to the ends of the glazing panels as we were finishing up the frame. I'd suggest reading through the directions from start to finish before you begin, and check out Conifers' thread (link below). If you're handy and careful and think it through, you should have very little, if any, trouble. We deviated a bit from the instructions at times. For example, we started the frame first, then measured it, constructed the foundation accordingly and squared but didn't secure it; carefully lifted the partially-built frame onto the foundation to be sure the dimensions were all correct and everything square and level, then set the frame aside, secured the foundation together and put the frame back and secured it to the foundation. Aside from the insulation, I've not found any retro-fitting necessary. You may not need to, but I added foam weather stipping tape around the perimeter of each panel. We also installed a hardware cloth barrier at the foundation, running under the gravel floor, to discourage burrowing mammals. Despite being in the shade of a large deciduous oak, ours does get very hot in the warmer months and I'd like to follow up on someone's idea of exchanging screen panels for the glazing. If I can keep the temperatures moderated, it is a good safe place for seedlings, cuttings and other plants that might require some coddling (we have very curious - and somewhat destructive - squirrels and crows here). You'll appreciate having both electricity and water close at hand! Good luck, have fun ... and please keep us posted. Diane Here is a link that might be useful: HFGH Assembly (6x8)