I really enjoyed my 6x8 when it wasn't blowing away! LOL We put ours in a very windy area of the yard and had to rebuild it almost every year, so think about where you are going to place it. You might want to wrap it with wire or chicken wire or something if it's going to be in a windy area. You might also do a search for the little clippies, cause they tend to fall out and disappear and HF does NOT carry them and ordering them from HF is a joke (or any other part that might be missing!)I gave all my clips and spare panels to my neighbor for spare parts. He uses them! I never got any leaking in my GH except when the air vent in the ceiling stopped working or the door stopped closing. I was quite toasty sitting out there in the middle of winter reading my books among the geraniums flowering in January! We are glassing in a portion of our deck for a more permanent GH/sunroom. Enjoy your GH!!!! NT

Hi Dax! I *just* found this thread (after reading a bazillion others, *and* starting a new one - my bad!!!). Awesome pics - Thanx! I'm printing and hanging onto 'em for when (okay - still "IF") I buy my 6x8! Question: Is all of your construction SOLELY based on what's in the destructions - err - instructions that came w/the 6x8? Or did you do any add'l "beefing up?" (other than the extra T-Bolts) Your GH location looks pretty "protected" - so I'm guessing wind probably isn't a huge concern. But I'm still wondering if there's "additional" stuff (above and beyond what HF supplies w/the GH) that I need to concern myself with... How's your GH holding up? And - looking back now - is there anything you wish you'd done differently? Thanks a MILLION for posting this!!! Nancy - aka IMQTPI (still contemplating....)

katrina_gardener - a few of us went through nightmares assembling the 10x12, but as time passed and I tracked the posts here, it appeared that they really improved the instructions, etc. You will likely be very happy with the greenhouse. I made a few of the upgrades that gardenerwantabe described in his posts, including the cross-bracing at the top of the walls with rigid conduit, and aluminum angle-iron across the door. You asked about placing your unit on the ground. I did not choose to do that, as many did not. Personally, I built mine on 2x12 pressure treated lumber. If I were to do it again, since I am growing veggies, I'd use cedar. I learned of its availability several months later. Then I used lag screws to secure the greenhouse to the 2x12 footing. (I used some regular non-treated wood as a divider between the PT and the metal base because the chemicals in pressure treated lumber react badly to metals.) Others have used 4x6 timbers, for example. I used the 2x12 because I am in snow country and wanted a bit of height. The 4x6 results in a shorter step in and out of the greenhouse. When you receive it, read all of the directions start to end. That way you will have a sense of the assembly process. I discovered that knowing some steps that were coming ahead allowed me to better understand the prior steps and short-cut some of the assembly. Just make sure you get everything very square so that when you start installing the operable panels in the roof they will fit properly and open/close with ease. Post your questions and you will find there are many here with experience building the unit. You should be just as happy as many of us are. Here is a link that might be useful: My HFGH 10x12

Hi Chuck, I love my HFGH 10x12, but I think splitting it in two to make a 5x20 lean-to would require a huge amount of rethinking and re-engineering. The roof pitch in the kit is predetermined by angle brackets at the corners, and by a formed angle in the framing piece at the top of the side wall; I don't think you could use that major component if you changed the roof pitch. The framework really doesn't lend itself to cutting the structure in two as far as critical bracing. Not saying it couldn't be done (anything is possible for hard workers!) but personally my husband and I think you'd be better off to consider building your own structure (which would allow you to go wider than 5' if you wanted.) It's nice you will have a solid structure to anchor to. I now know the twinwall polycarbonate panels that come with the HFGH kits will not last more than a few years in my own sunny climate, due to (in my opinion) a lack of UV protection, even though HF continues to advertise otherwise. The panels represent a huge part of the value of the kit, since true UV protected twinwall polycarbonate is expensive, so I now advise folks to take this into consideration, depending on climate, when they consider the kit. Some of the close-up photos in my blog may help you see what I mean about the pre-formed angles in the aluminum framing at the GH corners: Mudhouse blog for 10x12 HFGH Also, here's a link to a helpful site with many links to info about building your own greenhouse: Free plans for building greenhouses and solar spaces I also agree, I'd encourage you to start a new thread to get more opinions from other folks...lots of folks here more knowledgeable than me, and some of these older threads with many slow-to-load pics get skipped by folks who might be very helpful to you. Sheri