Hi steve333, good question. I always said I'd never buy HF panels again, but when I was faced with the purchase, I caved! It was a combination of price, and convenience. At the time, I priced 4mm twinwall polycarbonate at a number of greenhouse supply companies. The best price at the time was through FarmTek (cheaper than Charlie's or any other source I tried.) Their product had a ten year warranty, and was truly UV-protected. However, the cost to purchase enough material (just for the roof) with crating and shipping fees to my address, was $410. The cost to order more Harbor Freight roof panels, with shipping, was $135. That difference was enough to give me pause. Hmmmm. Note, it's possible folks living closer to urban areas with more businesses would have found better deals on shipping, but down here in southern NM, the only things close to us are lizards and cactus. Also, the HF panels arrive sized to fit; if you buy better polycarbonate from a greenhouse supply company, you'll have to cut the material to size yourself for each part. Not difficult, but it does take time, so I factored the convenience in as well. Also, occasionally I consider upgrading to a larger home-built greenhouse, so kicking the can down the road doesn't bother me as much as it would if I was positive I wanted to keep this small greenhouse another ten years. I think an argument could be made for both sides. If rtyu's and my experimentation with the Top Secrets clear epoxy product pans out, though, it will definitely tip the scales towards using the (clearly lower quality) HF panels and protecting them with the coating, especially if folks can apply it to their new greenhouses, and avoid the need for panel replacements. Fingers crossed. I think much of the appeal of the Harbor Freight greenhouses is cost/value. They appeal to folks who want to try greenhousing but don't want to make a major investment. I haven't tallied it up exactly for a while, but scrounging supplies, materials, and labor, I figure we have around $2500 in ours total, including kit, benches, sink, plumbing, electric, heaters, thermostats, shadecloth, pavers, and the new roof panels. Over six years that's roughly $400 a year (not including heating costs, which aren't too bad in my climate.) So I think many folks who are attracted to the HF structures also enjoy keeping costs low. It's just one option in the world of greenhouses, and not the right fit for everyone. Happy New Year!

chris8796: Yup, I think that is the route I'm going to have to take. (I'm just tired, that's all.) I've never done any plumbing because my dad never did any plumbing: he always figured the price of failure was too high to mess around with for that area of home improvement (and electricity, too). I don't doubt I can do this, though. It is just one more line item on my list of things to learn how to do because I can't find anyone to not rip me off. suburbanmd: Actually, we ponied up for the plumbers report for Washington Consumer Checkbook. I called the top fourteen on the list and only got two callbacks. One was the $580 quote (of the two quotes I got, it was indeed lower than the other by about $100), and the other never returned my follow-up call (I wasn't home when he first called me). And Angie's list is basically useless. I think we are small and plumbers either won't bother or they jack the price up high enough that it is "worth" their precious time. Fair enough but I'm sick of it, and at best, it is either rude or disingenuous. There is absolutely no way I think removing two stupid cut-off valves will take almost four hours by a licensed plumber (which is what the $580 implies, given what that company quoted as their time-and-materials per-hour rate). And yes, I do understand that when they give you a firm quote, they are supposed to be trying to factor in the "mystery" part where they don't actually know for sure what is inside your walls or what they might encounter. But we have no drywall and they can see everything.

And. Is it not possible that perfectly level and plumb cabs can have the install screwed up anyway? I'm still not fully in the camp that these guys didn't mess up the install and it isn't the cabs (DH) issue OR that a little bit of appropriate shimming under the counter BEFORE they stuck the backsplash to the wall might have mitigated any cab level issue. They never checked the level of anything that we remember and if they did there was no mention about a problem to us. Do counter installers not check for level before they install or do they just go forward assuming everything is level? The thing that really sticks in my craw about the installers abilities/ethics is how they left the counter to the right of the sink unsupported for 3 feet and it's just suspended in air over the sink flange with a glob of caulk to close the gap, no shims at all anywhere even. If they are willing to do that there knowing it is wrong what else did they do just to get the job done? I mean you can't have 3 feet of solid surface counter cantilevered over nothing, right? Doesn't that void warranty or lend itself to breaking or whatnot? I guess I have a lot more faith in DH's abilities (him having done a wonderful job on 90% of the DIY here)than in the ability of almost all the people we've hired for this house remodel and I'm not fully ready to lay this on the door step of his cab install. I've just seen too much slipshod work done that he's had to fix, I guess. But, I also know and he admits that he dislikes finish type stuff and has a tendency to get impatient and rush through things once it gets past the 2x4 stage, so that is also possible here. If it is the cabs then I feel bad for him but again, I'm not there yet. The jury is out til Monday morning and then we'll see. I hope you are right Trebruchet that the counter can come out without damaging the splash. We had a thin coat of plaster on the drywall behind all the splash. I hope that helps and doesn't hurt possible removal. What was that saying? "If everyone on your block throws their problems out in the street, you'll probably run to grab your problems back". Guess I'll take this one over other possibilities, right? :) Whatever needs to be done we'll do that and maybe there is a lesson in this mess, too.

Ok, that worked... Some more, Nearly completed installation. The shelf above the drying rod may or may not stay, it is loose fitted up there now. The cart is a 3 tiered wire cart from HD and I bought wheels off eBay. the counter is a approx 24x14" slate from The Tile Shop and adhered to a 3/4 ply that was painted at the edges to match. It just rests on top of the cart. I like it, not too heavy: Hansgrohe faucet from Costco I picked up several years ago, don't know if they still sell this one or not. this is the stream flow: This is the spray flow that reverts back to stream when you shut the water off. The sink had 2 holes on the deck but was for a bridge type faucet. So the plumber punched a center hole for the faucet, and we braced the deck with 2" treated lumber for stability. the hole to the left of the faucet is a soap dispenser. The bottle to the right is covering the other hole, that I plan to use as another dispenser. Or I could just cap it. We'll see. I could put liquid laundry soap in that one: My wall of washer/dryers: the sink is perpendicular to this wall at the other side of the shower that is at the left. Now I need to get that door painted, poor thing: