How big of a greenhouse? What are you wanting to grow and during what time of year? To me the most important thing is getting the design right. That's dependent on climate, crop, and growing objectives.

I think any of the big suppliers of commercial greenhouses will have construction options. Probably the suppliers of upper end hobby GH will also have options. They should also have engineers to design the GH, if not go elsewhere. But their expertise will be more in the areas snowload, wind, and structural integrity and not on designing with a crops needs in mind. They'd do well for tomatoes, a common GH crop, but might be lost for other crops like fruit or tropicals.

Fruitnut,

Thanks for the info. I mostly would like to grow spring seedlings and extend the end of the year harvest. My wife will require a nice looking structure so hoop house, etc are out. Storage and potting room would be nice too.

Scott

Do you have a budget in mind?

Do you have any friends or family you trust who could possibly build it for you? Or at least assemble a kit? Money can be saved by making your own imitation of a common design, but you have to trust the builder to do a good job and not rip you off with labor costs.

Hi Scott,

I don't know any greenhouse builders, but I've had a great experience with my Sturdi-Built greenhouse. The company was able to customize exactly what I wanted using their existing styles. They also prevented me from making lots of newbie mistakes in my design. While they had people that would build it for me, I just hired a general carpenter locally and we had a great time putting it up.

Not cheap, but I had the somewhat the same issue: Local convenants required approval of the structure and it had to fit the neighborhood.

Paul

Paul, Awesome looking GH. I am in the process of looking for designs for a wood GH. Is the floor cement? what is the size?

Thanks. It's 12' x 16'. I used pea gravel for the floor and placed pavers just inside the threshold and where I stand at the potting bench. If I had it to do over again I would use pavers for the whole thing.

I like the way this design worked out because I can open the double doors in the summer. You can't see them, but there are louvered windows on the wall opposite the doors and two large roof vents in the back roof. Lots of air flow. (there's also a large exhaust fan on the back wall.

If I were in your situation I would contact a few greenhouse supply sources like Nolt's in Leola,PA and pose the question to them. They likely could set you up with a list of Amish contractors who could give you a most reasonable construction estimate and who would be very familiar with setup options.

Paul, your greenhouse is gorgeous! Just what I want--in my dreams. I'll check them out and compare them to Cedar-Built. At first they seem more expensive, but I haven't done a complete comparison of all the details. I also live in an area where the HOA would have to approve it esthetically, and I'd need a building permit for more than 120 square feet. C-B has a 10' X 12' model, but I'm not sure S-B has one (in cedar) that's exactly 120 s.f.

Paul, Sturdi-Built has a 10' X 12', the Tudor, at $14,296 with all the extras they list. Cedar-Built's Go-Green 10' X 12' is $8,155 with similar extras. I'll have to save up for a while to even afford that, and maybe drive to B.C. to pick it up. Then I'll need a new passport; so complicated! Those S-B's are out of my league, but they do look top-of-the-line and very beautiful.

to myrmayde,
Just from my experience, the CB greenhouse was shipped to me via truck at what seemed a very reasonable charge. Much less than me driving a large truck (at least larger than my pick-up) all the way to B.C. (p.s. the passport process is relatively simple, it is the new cost to buy it that is the problem... )

This post was edited by cuestaroble on Tue, Jan 21, 14 at 20:51

Cuestaroble, that's good news. Once I add shipping; extra cedar for the interior, the north wall, and foundation veneer; a propane heater, a couple fans, a mister, a poured perimeter foundation, flooring brick, shade cover, soil amendments, etc., it's bound to be over $10,000, maybe $12,000. I still want it, though! I just finished reading Paradise Under Glass by Ruth Kassinger, and I'm more inspired than ever to make it happen someday. For that price I could almost go back to Plan A and hire an architect and contractor to build my original octagonal design. However, that would be more time-consuming and more things could go wrong, compared to a well-designed customized kit.

Sturdi-Built certainly isn't an inexpensive option. Especially given the price of redwood. I suggested it more in context with the original question which was finding a builder. In my case, S-B took a general design and customized it for me. (Although I think they made it a standard version now).

After having it for 6 years now I've learned to appreciate all the little details, (condensation gutters, size and operation of vents, window glazing methods, etc.) that make for a great greenhouse. I would be very concerned about hiring a builder that had no greenhouse experience especially if I myself didn't know enough to provide the details. Something custom from S-B might be a good alternative. C-B might be as well.

Pabloverde, I believe that one should probably spend as much as possible up front, in addition to getting the biggest size one can afford, although those two are at odds with each other. I want my greenhouse to outlive me, and I'm not building another one when I'm 80. I'd rather get something solid and not have to be continually replacing, repairing, maintaining, and modifying. So, even limiting my choices to 10' X 12', almost everything in wood or vinyl is about $10,000 and up. I've kind of resigned myself to that budget. For the original poster, those Sturdi-Builts look like a great choice for esthetics, function, and customizability.
I posted a bunch of octagonal greenhouses I found, and then I tried to move them to a new thread, since I kind of highjacked this one. But I found that I can't delete a post, only modify it. So I have to leave them here. Here's the first octagonal one I found:
http://www.fifthroom.com/ProductCustomize.aspx?ProductID=8711&Path=203

Here is a link that might be useful: 12' octagon vinyl sunroom

This post was edited by myrmayde on Sat, Jan 25, 14 at 1:12

Here's another octagonal sunhouse that is delivered prebuilt:
http://www.greenhousenation.com/little-cottage-company-12x12-octagon-garden-shed-greenhouse-p-227.html

Here is a link that might be useful: 12' octagon garden shed greenhouse

Here's another one, and they're in my state:
http://www.gazebodepot.com/proddetail.asp?prod=GazEnc002
I think this is my favorite so far: the most light, the cheapest, and possibly free delivery.

Here is a link that might be useful: 12' octagon gazebo enclosure

And yet another octagonal sunroom:
http://www.foreverredwood.com/pergolas-gazebos/gazebos/regal-gazebos.html

Here is a link that might be useful: 12' redwood gazebo

I didn't know there were so many octagonal greenhouses until I persisted in looking. Here's another one, and the company does custom construction on site, for Scott, the original poster.
http://www.leisure-woods.com/products/index.asp?ID=22

Here is a link that might be useful: 12' Woodbridge cedar gazebo

We call these enclosed hexagonal and octagonal gazebos "All Season Gazebos"

Not really a greenhouse, but very nice none the less!

http://livingoutfitters.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=%22all+season%22