mudhouse - there was probably 10 inches of snow on the roof. I recognize that I should have gone out earlier and knocked it off but I'm a bit overwhelmed with life and business at the moment, and I simply didn't think about the risk of the weight on the roof. Actually, most of the snow we had received in the storm was very light and fluffy. The problem developed, I believe, after the storm broke and the snow began to accumulate moisture & weight as it started to melt. busy1 - I employed the same reinforcement of 3 lengths of EMD across the interior. That's nice for stiffening the walls but didn't make a difference in terms of this issue. ole_dawg - thanks for telling me about a guy on ebay. I'll have a look. If you happen to have the seller's name, I'd appreciate it. rosepedal - the 1x? material you have running from front to rear is sort of what I have in mind, but my thinking is that it needs to be centered between the ridge and the wall. Additionally, I would really want a minimum of one sturdy post, such as a 2x4, running vertically between those and the ground. This way there is some strength that prevents those boards themselves from bowing under the weight. As mudhouse mentions, the unsupported centers of the roof studs are the weak point. No question about it. Thanks for an occasional kick on this thread. It would be great if someone who has their remaining parts around might see this. I can be contacted directly at greg at greybearddesign dot com.

hi, its been a long time, but i would love to see the pictures from your build! my HFGH just arrived today and I'm so excited to put it together without crying! Your profile on photobucket is set to private, would you mind sending me a link? thanks!

Vicki, tell your hubby not to be such a nitpicker. The guy who levels the area can go a little bit over sized, and then it can be taken care of when you back fill to the size of the foundation. As far as the need for a true foundation, it looks like to me that this GH does not really require it. My recommendation is, unless you want to put it onto a poured concrete or laid concrete block foundation (which might require you to have a building permit) just dig holes at the corners, and about every two to three feet along the sides (on the inside) and set treated wood posts at least three feet deep. Then attach your treated two by eight base frame to it. I don't have one of these GH's yet, but hopefully someone who does will send you the dimensions from thiers. If not, open the box and find the instruction sheet. (If worse comes to worse, you may have to measure your base plates. I've bought Harbor Freight stuff in the past, and know first hand how "good" thier instructions are.) Kevin

Good morning Jeymac, Iâve been happy with the solution of putting wood framing along the inside of the base channel. I do think it strengthens it somewhat (prevents the c-shaped channel from flexing as easily.) Also after years of living with the greenhouse, I think the bottom of that channel would have been a great catch place for bits of gravel, plant leaves, dust, bugs, and other greenhouse debris. Having the wood there makes it look cleaner, and it really does stay a bit cleaner too. Iâm sure my wood does not look as pristine as it did, years ago, after I slobbered water all over the benches, week in and week out. But I never notice it, back there under the benches. Neither my husband or I can recall what Gardenerwantabeâs base braces looked like, although I bet at the time we looked at those photos and considered that. We must have decided they were not critical, along with the wood we used, as we are both drawing a blank on what his braces were. I guess we are getting old? I donât really have any knowledge of anyone else using braces on their base to strengthen it, so I donât think itâs a deal breaker, but I do understand the wisdom of thinking through any options for adding strength as you go. I donât have a great source of larger photos for the details of joining two greenhouses together, although I try to watch for that on the web, since the question of joining two greenhouses comes up fairly often. There have been a few folks who have mentioned doing this on GardenWeb, but I donât think any have posted step by step close up shots. Funnylady has been super nice when we have emailed, and I hope she can give you more specific answers. If you folks do join two together, you might consider doing a thread on Gardenweb with the nitty gritty details of how you joined them....Iâll bet others would thank you, down the road! So many times, I find that everybody who builds one of these seems to find their own way for resolving some of these questions. I know we did, too; we researched everything we could ahead of time, but often ended up finding our own solution, based what seemed practical at that moment...what we could find in the garage to use...and/or what we could find in the aisles of Lowes. In other words, on most any of these modifications, youâll find there is more than one way to skin the cat...and the way you find may well be a better solution than what other folks have done. I didnât make any notes about the length of the bolts we used with the EMT, but since the EMT is ¾â, weâre guessing maybe 1 ¼â bolts. Just enough to slip through the drilled EMT and add a washer and nut. Best of luck with your build!