Harbor Freight Greenhouse Construction

[Mendonsy]

Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier. I went through the same process last year so maybe I could have save you some time.
It looks like you have done basically the same things that I did so you should be in good shape. Mine is holding up well going into the second year.
There are three additional things that I did to mine which you might want to consider:
1) I added a 20" Durafan shutter fan at the top center of the end wall (QC supply).
2) I added an 8000 BTU Procom propane heater about 3' up on the end wall (Northern Tool).
3) I insulated the whole thing with bubble wrap.
The fan keeps the inside temperature at about 5 degrees above the outside temp in hot weather and direct sunlight (with the doors open). The heater and bubble wrap keeps the inside temperature above freezing down to about 5 degrees F outside.
The attached picture was taken on 5/21.

 

[dragoneggs]

Okay not to worry Troutsqueezer! Here are a few pics of what we got going. Tomatoes, Tomatillo, cucumbers, watermelon, beans, misc flowers, etc.

 

[dragoneggs]

Okay an update on the Greenhouse... the sweltering heat here in the Pacific Northwest is overpowering my little freestanding fan so I purchased a 16in fan with louvers and installed it on the side opposite the door. Here are a few pics. During our heatwave the inside temps with the door and 4 roof vents open were over 115degF. I am interested to see the net temp difference of moving/sucking air through the greenhouse.



I removed the fan from the louver housing and attached the louver enclosure to some aluminum angle. Oh, and in the fourth pic, you can see my in progress work of a misting system. The humidity is very low on sunny days.

 

[wngsprd]

The fan setup looks like it could pull a lot of air through - hope it works.

But the real progress report we want is how good those tomatoes taste.

 

[Mendonsy]

That is basically the same setup that I have. I also took a piece of screen door screening (plastic) and hung it from above the inside of the door with a piece of plastic pipe at the bottom to keep it straight. I open the door and turn on the fan in the morning then turn it off again at night.
The other thing that helps with temperature is to line the greenhouse with bubble wrap. It acts as insulation to keep the temperature up in the winter and also knocks down the direct sunlight to keep the temperature down in the summer.

 

[dragoneggs]

The fan setup looks like it could pull a lot of air through - hope it works.

But the real progress report we want is how good those tomatoes taste.

It does pull a lot of air! I still need to hard wire in a thermostat and speed control already purchased with it. Right now I have it plugged in direct to outlet so I have full speed only and it is a bit much.

Yesirree... already harvesting some nice big tomatoes. And the report is: Yum! :cool2:

 

[dragoneggs]

That is basically the same setup that I have. I also took a piece of screen door screening (plastic) and hung it from above the inside of the door with a piece of plastic pipe at the bottom to keep it straight. I open the door and turn on the fan in the morning then turn it off again at night.
The other thing that helps with temperature is to line the greenhouse with bubble wrap. It acts as insulation to keep the temperature up in the winter and also knocks down the direct sunlight to keep the temperature down in the summer.

I am going to consider the bubble wrap for winter but not sure that will fly as it might be a bit of an eyesore. I made a screen with left over deerfencing that keeps the big critters out so I can leave the doors open and provide a big vent on the incoming side. No real reason for a finer mesh since the roof vents are not screened. It also allow bees to come in for a snack.

 

[Mendonsy]

I am going to consider the bubble wrap for winter but not sure that will fly as it might be a bit of an eyesore. I made a screen with left over deerfencing that keeps the big critters out so I can leave the doors open and provide a big vent on the incoming side. No real reason for a finer mesh since the roof vents are not screened. It also allow bees to come in for a snack.

The picture that I posted in post #71 show what it looks like on the inside with bubble wrap. From the outside you can't tell that it's there.
I agree with you about the screen, but my wife complained about the fan sucking in butterflies so I had to screen it just to keep her happy.

 

[dragoneggs]

The picture that I posted in post #71 show what it looks like on the inside with bubble wrap. From the outside you can't tell that it's there. I agree with you about the screen, but my wife complained about the fan sucking in butterflies so I had to screen it just to keep her happy.

aha.. bubblewrap on the inside. Of course dopey me. I think that is a good idea. Did you wrap the roof too?

Yeah wife is concerned about moths, etc. Until I come up with some true screen material I have passivated the wife with the deer fencing on a two by two frame the nests in the doorway and held tight with a bungy cord!

 

[Mendonsy]

Yes, I did the roof too. I have two layers of 1" bubble wrap installed over everything but the door.
I got the bubble wrap from Home Depot. I ordered both 24" and 48" width rolls 250' long. It had to be ordered from the website and shipped to the store.
I found a vendor on Ebay that sells plastic clips that snap into the aluminum tracks to hold the bubble wrap. They had to be shipped in from the UK.
You will need about 100 of the regular clips and 50 of the corner clips. The clips need to be about 2' apart.
Super Alliplugs greenhouse shading clips