Harbor Freight greenhouses

[RichZ]

Has anyone had any experience with either the 6ft x 8ft greenhouse (lot no. 47712/69714) or the 10ft x 12 ft greenhouse (lt no. 93358/69893)? My wife and I are considering getting one. How hard are they to assemble, and how do they how up, especially against snow? Any other positives or negatives?

Thanks!!!

 

[bcp]

I've had a 6x8 for several years, and just bought another to lengthen it. We have had about 8 inches of snow on it with no problem. It took an easy day to assemble without any rush. We raised it with a rectangle base made with two 2x6's on edge and another flat on top. This gives it plenty of headroom. It would be hard to use without being raised as the walls are only 4 ft high.

I doubled the number of clips holding the panels to the frame. They came from a local nursery supply company, which had an almost identical greenhouse, but anodized green, for over $600.

Bruce

 

[Shutesbury]

If you're looking for function, versus appearance for the neighbors, you can whip together an 8' x 8' x 8' cube structure out of 2x3's and cover it with roll plastic. I made one for storage, with an OSB roof, that is 12' x 16' x 8ft high for less than $300. I used opaque white plastic to wrap it up, but you should be able to find heavy clear vinyl too.

I was inspired to do this building because a Cover-It type (not certain of the actual brand) silver vinyl metal-framed building I put up to house my Kubota tractor had collapsed under about 4 inches of heavy snow, while I was out plowing. The jumbled mass froze in place, and in the Spring I reframed it with 2x3's, and 8 ft walls, 24" O/C rafters with no roof paneling except the silver vinyl, and it's twice as strong as the original. I had not taken photos of all joints of the original metal tubed framework, as required to get warranty coverage.

The HF description does refer to use in areas of 'mild winters'. If you're not going to be able to sweep off snow loads before they hit 3-4 inches during each storm, I'd be leery of leaving it up during the winter. Though BCP says his handles 8 inches.

I'd suggest, to be safe in Cambridge NY you might be plan on removing the roof panels and reattaching them in the Spring. I don't own one of that aluminum style greenhouses, but I've seen several here in Western Mass that are NOW covered in plastic for Springtime and Summer use, implying that panels broke or popped out under our typical snow loads. If you plan for that, I'd bet you could make them work...

Paul

 

[troutsqueezer]

I have both. I have no problem recommending either. For the 10x12, Google HFGH and you will find a whole community dedicated to these HF greenhouses. Read the blogs and forum entries. There are a few recommended modifications to make and these are well documented. Mine have just stood up to the most recent CA storms, no problem. For the price, you cannot touch anything else. It is a very good investment.

6x8

10x12

 

[jwstewar]

We had one of these a few years back. We dug down put it in the ground like they said and put gravel in the bottom of it. Seemed to be fairly solid. The panels kept blowing out. We ordered more of the clips from a greenhouse supply on line and tripled the number of clips. The panels still kept blowing out. I siliconed the panels in with the now triple clips. The back wall started bowing/caving in. I reinforced the back wall with 1/2" (I think) rebar. The panels then started blowing out again. I then drilled holes in the panels and fastened the panels with 1/4" bolts, triple clips, and silicon again. I told my wife, if the panels come out now, we will lose the whole thing. The following spring she called me at worked and said she couldn't see the greenhouse from the house. I asked her why, she said it was gone. The wind had picked the whole thing up and tossed it through our yard, the neighbors, to the 3rd neighbor house. Their were panels up in trees and everything else. Pretty much every piece of metal was bent beyond use. Gathered everything up and took it to the recyclers. I think I got $30 for the aluminum. Haven't been brave enough to try another one, if you do get one, do something to anchor beside just relying on dirt and friction to hold it in the ground. Wish we would've.

 

[Chuck52]

GardenWeb has a number of threads on those and what look to be pretty detailed instructions as to how to assemble them and make them stronger/better.

Chuck

 

[troutsqueezer]

You definitely want to anchor the thing.

The most common mods (for the larger version) is to put some lengths of conduit across the walls (rafters) to keep the sides from flexing, and across the back and over the doors. Also, screw each panel into the aluminum frame in the middle to keep them from blowing away. Lastly, put some aluminum tape (used for ducting) along the bottoms of the panels to keep crud from seeping up into the panels.

I bought my 10'x12' for $560. I waited until it went on sale and used a 20% off coupon on top of that. Extra conduit, screws, foundation (treated 4x4) and shelving brought the total cost up to around $800. Like I said before, you can't touch another greenhouse for even close to that cost. The panels are pretty much the same ones they use on the more expensive versions. The aluminum, of course, will never rust.

We had 40 mph gusts here yesterday, no probs.

Notice the conduit along the top. Makes for good places to hang things from as well.

 

[forgeblast]

Real nice, does it have vents on top or do you control the airflow with the door?

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Like others here, trying to keep panels in place during winds takes a lot of effort. We had ours for maybe 6 yrs. Panel blown out every winter, even when doubling up on the clips. Found some panels undamaged and reused them while other panel had to be replaced. The solution for us was to cover the GH with a tarp, then put binder cord around GH to hold the tarp in place. Other than that we've made good use out of it & think it was a good purchase.

Snow is not an issue here so can't comment on that.

During assy the frame is going to seem pretty flimsy until it is all boxed in.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Real nice, does it have vents on top or do you control the airflow with the door?

It has four vents in the roof. I added some internal shade cloth and use a mister for the hot summer months since I mainly grow ferns.

To keep the panels from blowing out, the cross bracing helps and putting a screw through the panels into the aluminum frame will solve that problem. Quick and easy to do.
Building our Harbor Freight 10' x 12' Greenhouse: Part Six: Adding the Panels