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Wednesday, 28 February 2024

Mission Creep - Greenhouse Edition...

 I kept standing in that 8ft by 6ft greenhouse and thinking it wasn't really big enough for me. My head touches the top (I know I can raise it up), and I love my bigger greenhouse, the air flow is better and it is the real hub of my veg garden. 

I decided then to have a look at buying a new greenhouse, there's a good range of them out there, but for the size I wanted (12ft by 8ft) they start at about £1,000 for a budget model (with some pretty terrible reviews) and upwards from there. One I'd be happy with was about £2,700, which is so far out of my budget! 


My last one was second hand, so I decided I should look on eBay and other sites. 

eBay had quite a few for sale, but all wanting some strong money considering I'd have to dismantle them, which isn't always a small job. I then looked on Gumtree and found one that had been relisted due to time wasters. I sent a few questions and then secured the purchase. He wanted £150 and we had to take it down. 


I messaged a good mate of mine, Neil, to see if he fancied a road trip and to earn some Alviti Credits (he has a window he wants fixing). To my surprise he said yes! 


So Saturday I picked him up, headed to Dads to borrow his van, then headed to Kingswinford to dismantle the greenhouse. When we got there I was pleased with the greenhouse. It looked like a good quality one when it was made, the depth of the aluminium on the ridge shows how much metal they used (some modern ones use as little as they can get away with), coupled with the double doors, I thought it would be a bargain. 


Some glass was, but that is to be expected. I have a third greenhouse I was given so I feel I plenty of spares I can use before I have to buy any. 


We got the glass out first and then started to dismantle it. Quite a few of the bolts snapped off, but they shouldn't be too hard to replace. The gentleman we bough it from was quite impressed with out speed. We got there about 9.30 and had it down by 2, he said he had a second greenhouse and that took the other guy 2 days to dismantle! 


Neil is great fun to work with and great with practical jobs (he's wasted at a desk), I found myself really enjoying the day, a road trip, a nice sunny morning in a garden and lots of laughing and joking. It wouldn't have been half so fun without him helping. Having dads big van was a great help as well as it meant I didn't have to strap anything to a trailer! 

How we left the greenhouse base for the seller

I'm honestly so excited to get this in at my place, but I need the ground to dry up first before I can even consider digging some mini footings for a base! At the moment I sink, let alone the digger. 

This wasn't at all what I was planning when I started to try and sort out my greenhouse, but I think it will be better all round for what I want long term. It's currently in a big pile down by my fence, and I just hope I can remember how it went together when the time comes! 

8 comments:

  1. The idea of removing, loading, hauling and unloading that much glass would have made me extremely nervous about this job. But it sounds like you were able to accomplish it without much collateral damage. The price was right for sure!

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    1. The glass is always the risk. But then I don't think I broke any in transport. I broke a few getting them out though. I have a third greenhouse for spares so I think we have more than enough glass.

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  2. Sounds like a great day, Kev!

    (Like Ed, I too would be nervous about moving that much glass.)

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    1. The glass wasn't so bad. I was worried about the lenght of the greenhouse, but that also turned out to be okay as I could wedge it in on the angle.

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  3. We've done it a couple of times (aluminium shed and greenhouse) it's the reassembly challwnge we relish 🙄

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    1. Yeah, I'm dreading that part! It'll be worth it (I keep telling myself that anyway!)

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