Hi
My opinion is that you might be better sourcing a second hand greenhouse and spending your money on wiring it for electricity, adding heated benches for propagating. Hotbox do a nifty mat with soil warming cables that you can unroll when needed and put away in summer. Robinsons greenhouses are sound and sturdy and last for years and are sometimes available second hand. Hartleys clearspan greenhouses are a more unusual shape and I have seen these second-hand. If new is what you want I have a friend who bought a 'rhino' for a theraputic horticulture project and is delghted with it. Myself, I have 3 second hand greenhouses kept frost free with battered old paraffin heaters and a rented polytunnel with no heat and manage to propagate thousands of plants a year. The frills are nice but not really necessary. Sound advice is to get hold of the biggest greenhouse you have room for. Propagation is highly addictive. I have changed career in my 50's to work on a garden project with disabled people to further fuel the addiction, so be warned!

Good luck

Thanks for your thoughts. Good idea to look at second hand ones. It's certainly no fun being greenhouseless!

You really do get what you pay for, and the more expensive greenhouses are stronger and function better. There are hundreds of secondhand greenhouses changing hands, check the local classifieds, places like Loot, and eBay always has a few dozen. You'll have the trouble of transporting and replacing lost or broken bits, plus 90% of them are fairly low-end brands.

My own personal list of options worth investing in:
- full pane toughened glass avoids those annoying overlaps;
- a quality door that opens, closes, seals well, and locks;
- more vents than any greenhouse comes with standard;
- auto vents, almost a necessity rather than optional.

The bar capping is nice but I'd spend my money elsewhere unless I lived in a really exposed spot. But do think about stainless steel clips instead of galvanised and look at the U clips instead of the spring clips, I like them a lot. You can always add extra clips to each pane if you need to resist high winds. A tube of silicone will solve a whole host of sealing problems. More expensive models tend to pay a bit more attention to how the glazing is sealed even as standard.

Benches and shelves might be a necessity or you might not need them but they can add a lot to the cost. You may get them included with a secondhand greenhouse.
Most greenhouses have some guttering anyway and its very easy to add a downpipe to a barrel. Remember you'll likely want a stopper for the other end of the guttering.

Robinson's are even more expensive than the Rhino. Hartley's possibly even more expensive again but they are extremely well made. Think about whether you need to heat it in winter. Consider a wooden house (usually expensive in cedar) for better insulation, possibly also twinwall polycarbonate, but you should be prepared to maintain it well.

Last thought is the foundation. You can get a metal frame for most houses and plonk them almost anywhere, but you might be happier getting an extra foot of height from a small brick wall (think about whether you need a level door opening). Or consider an insulated concrete pad for a longterm installation that will be heated in winter.

Thank you for the useful advice. Our existing (damaged) greenhouse was procured through Loot, for £25. It's served us adequately for 3 years, but I've decided that I'm going to splash out on a new Rhino 8 x 10 (the largest that we can accommodate). It comes with large-pane toughened glass and loads of ventilation. I know I'll be glad that I did so, every time I walk into it.

The foundation is a separate problem. The last one we just anchored to the soil, which in that area is very soggy clay, giving a chilly, damp, unwelcoming atmosphere for half the year. I was thinking we could lay slabs, but the whole process sounds quite complicated, and very daunting for us hard-landscaping-virgins. Still, there's a first time for everything. Now I have to stop prevaricating and order the damned thing!

You know, the Rhino might just have enough ventilation as standard! I'm sure you'll love it, I know I would ;)