My HFGH - insulated north wall with pictures

18 years ago

About a year ago I saw an ad for a HFGH. I wndered if they were any good so I did some searching on the web to see if I could find some experiences. I found this forum and learned a lot from your experiences. I bought one and set it up. A few days ago I was going through my browser bookmarks and remembered this forum. I thought I would contribute back my experiences.

Someone suggested that the greenhouse be raised, what a great suggestion. I built a redwood 2x12 frame. I attached a redwood 2x4 to the bottom of the frame to create a lip. I drilled holes through this lip and drove 3 foot sections of rebar through them to anchor the greenhouse. I put the lip to the outside. If I were to do it again I would put the lip to the inside and dig a 2 foot trench around the permiter of the GH frame and put blue insulation board down to try to isolate the GH from the frozen soil outside the GH in the winter. I put about 3 inches of pea gravel in the bottom of this frame for my GH floor. Here are some pictures of the frame. I placed it into a leveled trench and then dug out the center and put in pea gravel.

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I built the greenhouse frame in my garage where it was not as cold. After the frame was completed I layed a layer of calk on the redwood and sat the assembled frame on the base, drilled holes and screwed it down.

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I added additional captive bolts to the frame while I was putting the greenhouse together. Thanks to who ever passed that idea along. I used these bolts to attach lights, shelves, electrical fixtures and insulation. I used 1 in foil covered polyurathane insulation on the north wall, 1/3 of the north ceiling and east and west walls. I put a 1 inch spacer on the bolts, then a washer then the shelf and then a nut to attach it. I also used aluminum tape from FarmTec to to tape the sections together. I didn't initially paint the exposed foam edges but you should either paint the edges or cover them with tape. Initially I put the unlettered foil side to the inside thinking that I would get a lot of good reflected light from the foil. What I did was create a great reflector oven - it melted my bedding plant trays. I ended up painting over the foil with white paint. Now I wish I had put the blue lettered side of the insulation on the inside where it would be painted over so the plain side would face outside and it would look better.

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Here is a picture from the inside

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I built my greenhouse primarily to grow bedding plants for my garden and flower beds. I am trying to learn how to use Elliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest philosophy of gardening and needed to be able to get vegetable starts at times when they were not comercially available. I used closet wire shelving for the shelves in my greenhouse. I ran two shelves down each side of the greenhouse. At the east end I placed a potting bench with a storage shelf above it.

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I ran electricity into the greenhouse. The 4 outlets on the left are regular outlets that are hot all of the time. The right group of outlets are connected to thermostats. The left two are connected to the heat thermostat and the right two are connected to the thermostat that controls seed starting heat mats. I plug the clock into one of the heat outlets so that I know how long the heater runs each day. This allows me to know how much it is costing me to run the greenhouse. Under the potting bench I have 2 bins where I store my soil mix.

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The cable for the heat thermostat goes along the top of the GH over and drops down one frame from the door.

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There is a chain by the door that I can loop over the thermostat to hook it out of the way when I am working in the greenhouse.

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Here is a view of the finished GH. This area is now where my garden is and the grass is now gone. I ran electricity to the post on the right. There is a GFI outlet in the box and the greenhouse is behind that GFI. In the future I plan to built some cold frames to the right of the GH and this will provide electricity for them in case I have a really cold night. I also have a weather station for my garden. A weather station is a wonderful garden tool. You can see the main sensor pack on the left and the additional sensors on the post on the right side of the greenhouse. I posted the details of my weather station to the "Anyone Have A Weather Station" thread. Last year I started over 50 varieties of vegatbles and flowers. I grew enough for myself and plenty to give away to the neighbors. I my area I start my greenhouse up again early March. I'm getting really anxious and ordering seed!

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Comments (18)

stressbaby
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Clw, well done.

There are lessons to be learned from your post.

First, do your research ahead of time, it will pay off.

Second, proceed in the proper and logical order. Step 1 is decide what you will grow and what times of the year you intend to use the GH. When we neglect this part of the planning process, as is often done, there can be problems down the road. (See link below)

Third, safety concerns. You have built with safety in mind. I see the outlet wiring in conduit and "in-use" outlet covers in place.

Fourth, integration of the GH into the garden landscape. We just get a hint of this in your last paragraph, but it is apparent that you have considered this aspect which, IMHO, is too often ignored.

Nice job. Thanks for coming back and posting. SB

Here is a link that might be useful: Hobby GH basics
chris_in_iowa
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Rip it in half!

Come on, be the first....

Zinnngggg dingggy dinngyyy vrooommmmmm....
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Insulation on North wall and North top is 1 sheet per top or side of Dow foil foam. The joint is taped longitudinally with reflective 4 inch duct tape material. Top is held in place with the bolts that are pre-positioned in the roof rafter tracks for hagning plants next spring. Sun-side panels are pre cut, sealed with duct tape and numbered to be taken off and put back on during sunny days. Air leaks - anywhere you see outside light, you have an air leak. Use silicon seal to plug every one you can find. ALso check your base plate - if the wood is at all uneven, there may be a leak there unless a leak proff seal was put down before the HFGH was built on the base. If you need more info or better photos, email me privately newfvt@sover.net You are in Portland - same relative zone as we are. Steve Here is a link that might be useful: attached HFGH pics with insulation
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I do not know if you are still interested, but I have a Davis Pro Wireless (not the Pro II). I love it, the Customer service at Davis is fantastic, and the options you can get for them are fantastic. They are probably the most versatile Hobby Weather stations (TO get better, you need a system thatÂs starts at about $5000), but I have not seen a reason to get the high end systems. Unfortunately the only option I was able to afford was a second temperature station for the Greenhouse. Most of the optional components start at at least $100. I also like the Lacrosse, but I have heard they are limited at expandability. If I had to do it over, I would probably get the Oregon Scientific WMR 968, it is a nice compromise of Price, features and options. $25 for an additional Humidity/Temp Sensor that has a display so you can read it at the sensor. They also have a floating temperature sensor that would be nice for my hot tub, or if you have a pond you need to monitor. All three of these are wireless. Wireless is really not an option, but a requirement, considering where you need to mount them. All three can upload the information from the base station to a computer. I have mine set up this way, it is so nice, I can pull up the history for the past 4 years, (How long I have had my station, and get temperature trends, Heating and cooling days, and Chill hours. Another Great feature that I use is that my info is uploaded to a National database at www.wunderground.com There is this great free software that can access all of the amateur stations and you can get a comparison of all the stations near you, as well as weather forecasts, and alerts. The software is called Weather Exchange, and it is available to download for free from www.ambientweather.com They also have a nice listing of weather stations here. My Station ID is KCAVICTO3 Here is a link that might be useful: Ambient Weather
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susan_on
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thank you for the wonderful post!
agardenstateof_mind
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Clwl - looks like a great job - very well organized! Thank you for sharing your pictures, ideas and experience. It's interesting to see the variety of ways people finish, furnish and use their greenhouses.

Diane
caflowerluver
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You did a very good job. I like the shelves and potting bench at the end. I wish I would have thought of that. I have plastic shelves that go both sides and back. We used concrete paving stones for the floor to keep critters out and used 6x4 pressure treated lumber for the foundation. I am still in the process of setting my up since I just got it in December as an early Christmas present.
My husband ran the water and electricity to just inside the door. And put on a door latch with a screw type closing mechanism to keep it shut on windy days. We had a real heck of the storm over the weekend and one panel got blown out. Luckily we found it and the clips so could put it back. We are thinking of a more permanate solution like screws or rivets. Have you had any problems with that?
Also I didn't see an exhaust fan. Do you have one? What one do you have, if you do? I will really need it as I stated in my post about fans. Though after that post we have had nothing but cold rainy windy weather. I got mine for the same reason as you, to grow veggie and flower bedding plants for my garden. Though I have 2 greenhouse books on order, I will have to look up the Elliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest philosophy. Thanks for the information.

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clw1
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
There are several postings about how to keep your panels in. Try searching and see what you find. I have found that there are two ways to put the clips in. One that I figured out and a different way my wife figured out. My wife's way works much better. Most people just calk them in with silicone calk. I haven't done that. Once I turned the clips around they stay in much better. I don't have an exhaust fan. I do have a air curculation fan. It is a small fan I picked up from Walmart that I zip tied upside down under the shelf above the potting bench. If it gets too hot I just open the door. With my weather station I have alarms set that go off in the house if it gets too warm. That is a reminder to open the doors. I can monitor the temps via the web from work and call someone also. Last summer I picked up a little self contained swamp cooler at Home Depo for $50 and put it on the lower bench on the north side. It cooled things down quite well.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Weather Station
mfatty3
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Howdy! nice set up. I was wondering if you could tell me how much you like your HFGH. I was just looking at their page and reading about them. I know you cant beat the price on them, does it seem pretty sturdy and durable? I read about your modifications. I grow over 400 orchids and some of them could use the added warmth, so I am thinking of picking one up. Let me know please. Thanks a bunch
MIke
milwdave
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
HI Mike;

I'm using mine for orchids also but I think your climate is just a tad warmer than mine...LOL. I love my HFGH!

I have 2 that I joined together and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I use two electric heaters on seperate thermostats which seem to be working well. My temps generally run 40 to 70 this time of year. My collection is eclectic as I see your's is and everything looks wonderful as opposed to growing in my basement which was a struggle to say the least.

any other questions just ask here or email me.

milwdave_us "at" yahoo "dot" com

Dave
Milwaukee

Here is a link that might be useful: My Greenhouse under construction
heebiejeebie
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
how did you use the captive bolts to hold the insulation on? did you need to use any additional tape to hold it on to the wall?
clw1
Original Author
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
There is no additional tape to hold it to the wall. Just 2 inch aluminum tape at the joints. I put 1 inch nylon bushings purchased from Home Dept on each bolt so that the nut and washer did not put pressure on the foam. Then I put a large washer and a nut on the bolt. The washer holds the foam. The two shelves on the north wall are connected to the frame as well. On those I put longer bolts, same bushing, one washer against the foam and then the shelf and then another washer and then the nut. The pressure from the nut is on the bushing and the large washer holds the foam. You need to locate the holes in the foam pretty close to where the bolt is actually going to be so the holes in the foam are not over sized. The foam goes below the level of the pea gravel at the bottom. The pea gravel holds the foam against the foundation at the bottom. The foam has been there 2 years now and is holding up very well. You must paint the aluminum or it becomes a reflector oven.
Karen Pease
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
A couple quick questions:

1) Why did you choose to insulate the greenhouse from the ground instead of insulating the ground under the greenhouse from the ground outside (and thus getting a free heat sink)?

2) How did you manage to melt the trays? No, seriously -- sunlight alone shouldn't be capable of doing that. Your inside temps must have been off the scale.

Apart from that, a nice looking GH you've got there :)
stressbaby
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I've cooked BBQ ribs in my homemade reflector oven, using sunlight alone. I don't have a hard time visualizing seedling trays melting, particularly at first when one is figuring out how the GH is going to "behave."
clw1
Original Author
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I built this greehouse specificially for starting bedding plants. I don't start heating it until the first week in Feb. At the time I didn't think a ground heat sink would have that much effect so I didn't do it. If I had it to do over again I would put the lip of the 2x4 base to the inside and put some foam board into a trench and up to the redwood around the base on the outside. The insulation on the north side just goes to the bottom of the redwood. The trays didn't melt uniformly along the whole shelf. It was just the 2 trays or so in the corners on the top shelf where the light would get concentrated. None of the seeds in those trays germinated however. Low angle sun reflecting from the top combined with the corner reflection against the dark plastic of the trays made for some real hot spots. I you look at my weather station at http://wx.uvci.com I have a temp sensor in a tray of soil on the soil heating germination mat. When the soil is dry and a bright sunny day the temp will get up to 130 easily.

Another change I would make is to have the potting bench in the end just sit on supports rather than build it in. That way it could be easily taken out when not in use. It would make getting to the last two feed of shelf much easier. It also gets a lot of water on it when watering which has caused the composit material it is made from to expand. I will probably replace it next year and when I do It will not be built in permanently like it is now.
milwdave
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Stressbaby is SOOOOOOO right. I would recommend that anyone, anywhere, purchase shading at the same time that they are erecting their greenhouse. I burned some plants pretty badly when I first put some in when I finished it last October. The Sun can be deceptively hot in these structures.

Dave
Milwaukee
Karen Pease
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ah, uneven lighting creating hot spots -- *that* I can picture better.
chris_in_iowa
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I still am amazed why someone has not bought one and ripped it in half!

If the HFGH 10x12 was available 5 years ago I would have!

Look at what northern growers are doing with them. Insulating north wall and roof. Cut it in half, build a wood north wall and roof and make a 24x10 for a northern climate.
milwdave
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I am considering it Chris, but more as a leanto type of structure.

Dave
Milwaukee
imqtpi
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My motivations are twofold:

1. To say 'THANKS' for posting this! I found the 2x12 'risers' to be very useful, and...
2. To keep this thread 'alive' - since I'm linking to it from my website!!!

Seriously though - very good, useful info here! Thanks again!

-Nancy

My HFGH - insulated north wall with pictures

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