Skedwards - I took a look back in my log - before installing the solar pool cover we had some windy weather, including gusts to 40mph and I had no trouble with the panels. Forgive me, but have to ask: Are you sure the panels and especially the clips are installed correctly? Do you currently have a shade cover in place? I'm wondering if that might help a little, however it sounds as though you may want to try those self-threading screws by the time the spring stormy season rolls around. Gardenerwantabe - Have you checked the "Rion Greenhouse" thread started by Banana? It's on page two of this forum. Diane

gardenerwantabe - I agree with your point. We built it on the driveway so we would have a flat surface near tools and power. The debate is now on as to the permanent location to which we will move it, which have been thrown into flux due to gato's wind issues. She wants it over in the corner where it will get direct (and sometimes very hot) sun - I am proposing a location between some trees where it will have some shelter from the wind, and a bit less direct sun. I won't install either the corner bracing, or any other enhancements such as angle aluminum across the doorway or 1/2 EMT across the mid-sections until we have the GH sitting on footings at a permanent location. Then I will add all of that to stiffen and secure the unit. 2 questions: We are in Mount Shasta, CA which is snow country (3500' elevation) and the snow can tend to be fairly wet and heavy. We had as much as 3' accumulation in some areas of the property over the past winter during some storms. Obviously I should remove snow from the roof if it accumulates like that, but I'm thinking about establishing some structural support along the roofline - either directly beneath the ridge, or adjacent to the #30 braces that are installed in the roof. Those supports would be probably be 2x4 or 2x6 lumber, supported by wood posts down to the ground. Does this seem a good idea, or unnecessary? In an earlier post, I raised the idea of setting the GH on top of 2x12 PT fir, so that it would sit on a footing like this: I see that you set your's on 4x4 PT. My thought is to raise the GH in this manner so that when snow is on the ground, at least the first foot of snow accumulation would be against the wood foundation. I realize this means a step up and over the threshold. Any thoughts on this? Does anyone believe that this amount of wood foundation, or possibly more, would help in terms of withstanding snow accumulation? Would the additional height raise any other issues concerning the effectiveness of the GH? Thanks, Greg

svalli and kicksnj, I apologize to both of you for missing your posts. I haven't been able to check here for a while. My husband and I made our living by forging iron and fabricating items out of mild steel, so I'm pretty familiar with my old friend rust (we have a saying, rust never sleeps.) Steel is always trying to return to its natural oxidized state, but with modern finishes and a little maintenance, we can usually keep the enemy at bay (in most climates, anyway!) Sorry to hear that rust is trying to interrupt your greenhouse projects. Without seeing photos of the rusted bases, I'd tend to imagine the blistered paint and underlying rust are more of an annoying (and admittedly worrisome-looking) cosmetic issue than a true structural risk. My approach would be what kicksnj suggested; remove any loose or blistering paint with a steel bristle brush, rough sand paper, or rough abrasive pad. Then prime any roughed-up areas with a good metal spray primer (Rustoleum is good) and follow with another coat or two of a good spray paint made for exterior use (again, Rustoleum is a decent brand.) I'd sure rather pursue this approach than to abandon using the base, since as svalli mentioned, the clips that hold the vertical aluminum beams in place are anchored by the formed lip on the steel base, and then you have another set of challenges. I wonder if Harbor Freight has modified the finish on these steel bases, as our 4-year old base still doesn't show any signs of rust (but, we do live in a dry climate.) Svalli, since you've already constructed the two-by-four replacement base, I'm trying to visualize your challenge. I'm sure you've found that the hold-down connectors (part 47) do two things at the same time; they not only secure the aluminum floor plates (parts 1 - 6) to the steel base; they also attach the vertical aluminum wall studs, at the same time. So, even after you screw the aluminum floor plates to the top of your two-by-fours, you'll have to figure out how to attach the vertical wall studs to the aluminum floor plates, with no hold-down connectors to help. You may already have a solution for that, but I'm just making sure. The polycarbonate panels do touch the vertical lip of the aluminum floor plate; the panel clips (part 53) press the panels tightly against the aluminum frame, from the outside of the greenhouse, for air-tightness. It would probably be best if the screw heads did not fall in the area closest to the vertical lip, since it might affect the panel fit. The actual measurement from the outside of the poly panel to the outside of the aluminum floor plate can vary, depending on whether or not you use weather stripping between the polycarbonate panel and the aluminum frame. (I did.) What matters most is that you realize the poly panel needs to be able to fit tightly to the frame (or to the weatherstripping smooshed against the frame) if you want to avoid air leaks. If I'm misunderstanding, please feel free to post back! Again, apologies for my slow reply. I hope some of this helps. Hang in there, the challenge has been well worth the end results for me.

I've built a shelving system along the back wall which makes it extraordinarily strong--it doesn't bow-in at all anymore where it previously moved 1/2 to an inch in a typical South wind. I used 3/4" galvanized pipe for the vertical supports, and 3/4" EMT conduit for the horizontal supports, which for the front-edge of the shelves pass-thru the galvanized cross- and tee-fittings, whose threads had to be ground-down just a little so the conduit would slide-thru. I'm real happy with the way it came together--the trickiest part was getting the installation "staged" properly: 1. Grind-out threads in the fittings for the side-to-side conduits 2. Make the two vertical posts (floor flange, 36" pipe, cross, 18" pipe, cross, 18" pipe, tee) 3. Flatten one side of three 10' conduits, thread these thru fittings and posts 4. Flatten other side of 3 conduits, drill holes, put assy into place, secure sides and floor flanges 5. Weld "L" brackets into one end of short (22 1/2") conduits (twelve of these) 6. Screw short conduits into each fitting and rotate into place 7. Cut cattle panel (2"X4" mesh) and wrangle into place from the side (having taken a side panel out temporarily) Look for "Details" in my photo link below. I think I'm done now with structural issues of the HFGH. Still have to build a potting bench, and we've been shocked to learn how hot the thing gets (over 100 degrees inside in 75deg sun out). So we have to do an exhaust fan/louver intake plus prolly some shade cloth. But the GH seems strong enough now that we shouldn't have to worry about it blowing-down, though the roof vents seem to twist a lot when open and it's windy--may have to make some further mods there. Here is a link that might be useful: Our 10X12 HFGH with Details