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

 

[GolfAddict]

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!!!

I don't have one, but an elderly neighbor couple has a 6x8 one. I'm not sure if it was purchased from HF, but it looks just like the 6x8 one that troutsqueezer pictured in this thread. When the neighbor got it, he more or less asked for help in assembly and set up. (He's good at that.) Here's what we did.

First we set four treated 6x6's in the ground (about half in the ground and half out) in a rectangle that the GH would sit on and filled the inside of the rectangle with a layer of river rock. We then assembled the GH to sit on the 6x6's. The base of the frame sits close to the inner edge of the 6x6's all the way around. In answer to your first question, it was pretty easy and straight forward to assemble.

We screwed the base of the GH to the 6x6's all the way around. I can't recall if the base of the frame had existing holes for the screws or we drilled the holes, but it is screwed down every foot or so to the 6x6's.

Then we screwed in 6 fairly substantial eye screws into the length-wise 6x6's, three each side, close to the outer edge of the 6x6's. The eye bolts are evenly spaced along the length - one almost at the front, one in the center, one almost to the back. We drilled a small hole through the top center/peak GH frame at the front, middle and back. I know these three holes were not preexisting. We then ran a thin cable from one eye screw, up over the GH through the corresponding hole in the peak, and down over the other side to the eye screw there, then tightened the cables down pretty good with the turnbuckle in the cables. The whole thing is basically "strapped" down in addition to being screwed down at the base.

Back at the assembly - we clipped the panels in place, and I don't recall if he had bought extra clips but there sure was a lot of them. However, we also used a generous amount of 100% silicone caulk all around each panel as we installed them, like others have mentioned. I don't believe they have ever had a problem with panels blowing out at all, as I'm sure I'd have heard about it.

The GH has lasted them many years, it has to be more than 10 years now. However, I have to add that it is only in place from early spring through early-to-mid summer. After each season of use, we get a call and the wife and I go over to their place to store the GH. We remove the three cables and unscrew the bottom frame from the 6x6's. Then the four of us each get on a corner and just lift the whole thing up and shuffle it over and set it inside his pole barn, probably only 100 feet or less. The whole assembly is fairly light.

Since it is stored through the winter, I cannot help you with your second question - about how they may hold up to snow loads. It hasn't had any issues with high winds or storms when it is in place, and has really been a great GH for them for many, many years... but it is only out in the elements for four months of each year at most. If storing it through the winter is an option for you it's really a neat way to go.

In answer to your third question, I know they really love it and I don't recall them ever having any negatives about it.

 

[GolfAddict]

I think I may be remembering a bit wrong. I think there are four cables we use, leaving the very center open. I remember there is a roof window on the one of the GH sides that can be lifted up to different heights for venting, and I think that is in the middle. Have to look again next spring...

 

[crowbar032]

Slightly off topic.....

What are you planning on doing with it? Growing winter crops or starting seedlings for spring planting? Dad and I used to grow tobacco and we put our seeds (tomato, pepper, cabbage) in the float bed system that most people switched to in the later years. It's basically a wood frame made from 2x8, lined with 6 mil black plastic with a waterbed heater under it, 1/2 inch pvc pipes from one side to the other to form a hoop, and covered with spun polyester (remay) canvas. The seeds are planted in styrofoam trays that have 240 cells to a tray filled with potting soil. Fill with water, turn the heater to high, float your trays, add liquid fertilizer after germination and wait until big enough to plant in the garden. We usually put the bed together and sow the seeds the first part of April and everything is ready to plant by mid to late May. This would not hold up to snow, but it will take frost without hurting the seedlings. If it's going to be really cold, we have put a tarp over the whole thing for extra insulation.