Hi, I'm a daylily grower and I need to build a greenhouse that will keep my more tender plants and seedlings at a minimum temperature of 45 during the winter months. I'd like to make it 16 x 20 and have a 3ft high kneewall to prevent snow from coming in. I've been considering a Quonset style GH but I also wanted to be able to have a solid insulated north wall. I've been doing a lot of reading on this subject and I think I know the steps I have to take in building this thing but I'm having a problem locating a local supplier for the film. I live in the greater Rochester, NY area. Does anyone know of a supplier out this way? I've found online sources but shipping cost almost double the price. I did find an online source for a metal frame (Mortons $400. for a 16x 20 H series) but again I'd rather get it locally than pay for shipping. Does anyone know a source or can suggest an alternative way to build this thing? Heat will be my next consideration. We had been planning on installing an outdoor wood furnace for our house and running a line from it to the greenhouse. Now the need for a new truck may have wiped out the furnace for this year. What options are there for heat.I don't have access to natural gas lines. I can get electric or propane. How many btu's would a structure 16 x 20 x 6 ft high require to maintain a minimum of 45 at night in up to -20F (a possible extreme) weather? Also snow load is another factor. Do I need a minimum slope? We average 5 ft of snow over the winter. If there are archives that would help pointers would be appreciated. Thanks for any help with this project. Molly

I would appreciate advice on our purchase of replacement windows and doors for a beach home on a barrier island off North Carolina. We've owned it for almost 15 years, and it's a vacation place. The house has 4 sliding-glass door openings that are 8 feet wide. A fifth sliding-glass door opening is 6 feet wide. The sliding glass doors are constantly off track, leaky, and wobbly. One has a totally clouded stationary glass pane, thus obscuring 50% of the view at that opening. The house has 10 windows. They're double-hung, vinyl, with leaks and disintegrating parts that make the tilt-to-clean mechanism in the bottoms non-functional. (The tops don't tilt at all, so they either stay dirty or make us risk falling out a window to clean a top pane.) 8 of the windows have redwood bermuda shutters that we make sure to latch to prepare for hurricanes. For the sliding glass doors, we have 4X8 sheets of plywood that we have to pull out, get up, etc. It's time to replace all this. We've contacted a contractor about impact-glass windows and doors. He has proposed replacing the sliding glass doors in the 8-foot openings with 1 hinged 3-foot door per opening, flanked by 2 stationary doors (framed sheets of glass)that would be about 2 1/2 feet wide each. (So, each opening would now be a hinged door in the middle of 2 solid panes.) The 6-foot opening would have a 3-foot hinged door and a 3-foot solid pane. The windows would all be double-hung. All this would be in the Miami-Dade storm-impact, Low E, glass, Andersen brand. The proposed cost for just the windows and doors is $33,500. (That's right off the computer sheet from the Andersen rep, computer printouts and specs right there.) When building materials, paint, labor, etc., get added, it comes to $51,000 for the project. If we were to use regular glass (not the impact glass), the cost of the windows and doors would be about half the price of the impact glass windows and doors. We're getting too old to put up plywood, drag it around, etc. We figure we could just get impact glass on the windows that don't have bermuda shutters, but that would still leave us with all these big door openings. Each respective 8-foot door opening costs about $5000 per the Andersen estimate. That would be about $3000 apiece for regular glass instead of impact. Then we would be back with the plywood... This place is sandy, sunny and salty, with a harsh environment that eats pits into alumininum and totally eats nails or screws that aren't stainless steel. The estimates are for using copper flashing, stainless steel nails, window-wrap membrane in the installation, etc. These aren't custom sizes, just replacement. So, is this reasonable? Should I be asking about lesser-quality windows? We don't plan to sell our house, and this property has gotten very valuable since we bought it. Still, I wonder if Andersen is an unnecessary elite brand, and whether I could do as well to get another brand. (If so, I don't know what that would be, whether another manufacturer would stand behind the product, etc.) Today I asked the contractor about MW windows, and he said he could get an estimate. Does anyone know about that company or another? I understand that Oberon's analysis says the impact glass is really worth it, but I'm concerned that the whole housing of the window or door better stand up, too. Still, this is horribly expensive. Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Maddielee, The response from Oberon is by far the most accurate. Are you going to do nail-fin windows or retro-fit windows. Different labor tasks involved and cost factors. Retro-fit windows are basically a bandaid solution; a new window over an existing window frame. They can work well but, the nail-fin window replacement is the best. It requires more labor but gives the installer/homeowner a chance to see the condition of the existing studs, header and sill and if there is anything suspicious such as mold, rot or termite problems it/they can be addressed immediately. Also the new window is attached directly to the studs again - it is part of the wall as the original windows were. You also get new weatherproofing around the windows, which no doubt will be far superior to the old weatherproofing if there was any at all. As far as gas filled windows they do make a difference in cold climates. Your location should dictate spending more money on better insulated glass packages. Most window manufacturers buy their glass from Cardinal Insulated Glass. They offer different levels of Low-E coatings for their glass. The newest is Low-E 366, a triple coating to further reduce the window's SHGC ( solar heat gain coefficient ), the lower the number the better, and UltraViolet light which causes fading. The 400 series Andersen windows/doors offer what they call "Sun" glass. Andersen has a patent on this formula and Cardinal makes it for them, only them. It will DRAMATICALLY reduce uv fading in all uv wavelengths and make a HUGE difference in the solar heat gain. It does reduce the visible light transmittance but is very much worth the little bit of lost light to achieve it's higher performance. It does look different than high performance Low-e or the Low-e 366 so get to an Andersen dealer that has samples to see for yourself. Take the sample outside into natural sunlight, hold it up and move your hand in & out behind the glass and you will feel a difference as well as get a better "look" for the "Sun" glass. I sell LOTS of these in So. California and people LOVE the look, performance and energy savings. As so many other posts have said before - the installer is VITAL to the performance of ANY window/door. You could put the best windows/doors in your home, but, if a hacker does the work you'll have a nightmare!! Leaks, drafts, lost energy, windows/doors that don't work properly, headaches, nausea, backaches, joint aches, ...just kidding. But you will have some major problems and additional expenses. Check out the installer/contractor well before you sign on the dotted line. Check references, go see some of his/their work and talk to previous clients. This is probably as important as which windows you select. New nail-fin windows can raise the value of a home ( in So. Calif. anyway ) 30-35%, retro-fit windows approx. 15-20%. Another consideration could be your needed wind load protection due to hurricanes in your neck of the woods. Not many vinyl windows can give the design pressure/wind load protection that windows such as Andersen, Marvin or Eagle can because of their basic wood structure. Those are aluminum clad products, the Andersen is vinyl clad and is less affected by harsh environments such as coastal areas. Salesmen on commission are also prone to tell you whatever you need to hear to make the sale - beware and use your God given good common sense and investigate! No window/door or company is perfect. If you have a problem how well will they handle it? Check it out. I sell Andersen, Milgard and Jeld-Wen windows/doors. Andersen has been building windows for over 100 years, longer than anyone else - must be doing something right. Good luck! BIG investment you are contemplating, take your time, you have to live with what you choose, be happy with it. You'll know when it's right.

The wall to the right is not structural, it's just a stud wall. There's a big LVL beam in the attic. I like the separation this stud wall provides, between the kitchen and the breakfast nook, and also the wall space (I'm learning that lots of open space and big doorways equals little room for big furniture pieces). bmorepanic - Thanks, you pointed out a lot of things I hadn't thought of. Here is a closeup of the edge of the countertop run, the CT is 1/16"-1/8" shy of the base cabinet. If I add a panel/cabinet, would I put a filler here or caulk this gap? "Be sure to remeasure your opening at floor height - because of the baseboards" -- this is if I add a standalone fridge, right? If I do something integrated, I would remove these, no? Thanks for pointing out the need for a new countertop surface if I did an undercounter ref, hadn't thought of that. My goal is to make this run as lovely as possible. As mentioned above, I will be redoing the trim work around and above the window; perhaps a valance connecting the left cabinet with whatever we end up with on the right. I would like to smile when I look at this wall. Ex: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/award-winning-kitchen-in-massachusetts-farmhouse-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~388162) [Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Boston Kitchen And Bath Jessica Williamson Or: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchens-traditional-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~1541411) [Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Boston Architect Jan Gleysteen Architects, Inc So lalitha, I don't necessarily want to give up the integrated fridge option if that will give me the best end result. We are heading to an appliance store in Boston this weekend to look at fridges and to check out their outlet section. If I could find the right fridge for the right price.... I will get an education on hinges at the same time. I love the look of the glass door but am trying to picture all my condiments, etc., which I keep in the current door and wondering where they would go... Hi breezygirl. Yes, yes, I'm very much hoping for a stunning deal on a SZ:) I am in no hurry to complete this so with the luxury of time, I may find one. Calling around for the SZ is a great suggestion, I'll post another thread soliciting names of appliance stores in the area to check. I will ditch the undercounter option in this spot (but am still thinking of putting an undercounter freezer in the pantry). And yes I do have plenty of storage. Whatever I put in place above the fridge should add to the look vs. detract. michoumonster/breezy, thanks for input on commercial units. I've wondered about those... rhome410 - good question on the wall shortening. It will mess up the existing floor but I need to get my flooring guy back in for round 2 on the hardwood floors in the rest of the house; I can have him tackle this. (He's terrific; we bumped out the front of the house 5 feet and he wove in new hardwood to match the existing, did a great job). Thanks all, this has been very helpful.