Assembling a polycarbonate greenhouse is not difficult. Make sure of this, read the instructions, tips, photos, videos. Also learn how to make a plastic greenhouse.
How to choose a polycarbonate greenhouse?
Pay special attention to its frame, if it does not meet the requirements, then in winter, during heavy snowfalls, it can simply break. A polycarbonate greenhouse frame can be:
- Wooden. Such a frame is environmentally friendly and inexpensive. But this material is the most short-lived of the presented structures, as it is prone to decay, breakage, subsidence. Its big plus is its low cost, but it is worth considering whether it is necessary to save at such a price?
- Aluminiev. This frame is more reliable, it does not rot, it is elegant, lightweight, and easy to clean. But its low weight requires binding to a solid foundation. To prevent the structure from being flattened by snow, it is better to choose arcs of sufficient thickness, double ones are possible, and the step between such elements should be small, then the greenhouse will be more durable. So that the snow does not damage the structure, you need to either clean it off, or buy a drop-shaped polycarbonate greenhouse so that it rolls down itself.
- Steel. Such a frame gives the structure strength and rigidity due to its high weight. Such a greenhouse will not move a squally wind.
If you have unreliable frame floors, then for the winter, put props under the arches and clean snow from the greenhouse roof. Speaking about which polycarbonate is better for a greenhouse, you should pay attention to the selection criteria:
- it is necessary that this material has a protective layer from ultraviolet radiation, you will find information about this on polycarbonate, as evidenced by the stickers on it;
- to choose a good polycarbonate, the thickness, or rather, its density, should be at least 700 grams per 1 sq. m.
If you do not live permanently in the summer cottage, do not have the opportunity to open the greenhouse in hot weather for ventilation for the day and close it at night, then buy one that has hydraulic vents. They open themselves in hot weather, and close with the arrival of a cold evening.
Site preparation, foundation for a greenhouse
Not everyone can afford a polycarbonate greenhouse due to its considerable cost. But not everyone knows that you can save a lot if you assemble and install it yourself.
First, choose a place where this warm vegetable house will stand. It should be a flat area without tall vegetation. If there are bushes, perennial flowers, they need to be dug out of the ground in autumn or spring and transplanted to another place.
If the site is uneven, you can fix this with a shovel, removing layers of earth from a hill, throwing them to lower places. If the soil here leaves much to be desired, then it is advisable to buy a car of good land or soil in bags to ennoble this piece of land.
It's great if there is a passage here, then the truck will drive into the site, dump the soil to the specified place. You just have to level it with a shovel and a rake, immediately arranging the beds. More on this will be written below.
In the meantime, you need to make the foundation for the greenhouse. If you put a structure, especially with a light frame, directly on the ground, then strong gusts of wind can simply move it or turn it over. Therefore, you need to fix the greenhouse on the uneven bars.
If you put a bar directly on the ground, over time it will rot and the structure will be skewed. Therefore, they arrange the foundation.
From inexpensive options, you can advise brick, gravel, garden road tiles. Pouring monolithic concrete tape will cost more. To build a foundation for a greenhouse, transfer its dimensions to the area where it will be located. Pour coarse sand around the perimeter of the future structure, place gravel or / and brick on top.
You need a beam of sufficient thickness - 15–25 cm. If you have the means, you want the beds to be high, you do not have to bend low to care for the plants, in this case, arrange the beams in two rows, fastening them together. But first, they need to be coated on all sides with antiseptic impregnation in two layers, allowing each to dry well.
Then the bars are measured according to the size of the future greenhouse, installed along its perimeter, from the sides they are attached to each other with metal corners. This is how the foundation for the greenhouse is made.
Now about how to arrange the beds in it. Their number depends on the width of the greenhouse. Usually 2 ridges are made, and the passage is in the center. If the width of the structure is three or more meters, then you can arrange 3 beds. They must be fenced from the sides in order to prevent soil from spilling out.
Make 1–2 paths 50–60 cm wide, if you want to arrange a passage of such a size for a trolley to pass here, then it should be wider. Protect the beds with one of the following materials that you have in stock or you can buy them inexpensively:
- boards;
- slate sheets;
- corrugated board;
- iron;
- bars;
- scraps of polycarbonate;
- plastic bottles.
The roof is rarely covered with slate now. Therefore, if you have an old stock of this material, use it. If the leaves are wide, cut them so that they can be dug in by a third or half into the soil. You can also use a more economical way to make your greenhouse beds.
Take a few high stakes, hammer or split them into the soil by a third or half, staggered in two rows. Place slate sheets between them, close to the beds. In the same way, you can fix the edging for the ridges when using other materials.
This is not required for plastic bottles.
For stability, a funnel is inserted into the neck of each bottle, earth or sand is poured into it for weighting. Then they are screwed up with lids, dug into the ground up to the shoulders.
How to assemble a greenhouse yourself?
If you decide to use a wooden frame, then you need to buy polycarbonate sheets, peel off the film from the top layer and attach them with self-tapping screws to the base. Cutting the canvas of the desired shape and size is easy if you use a sharp construction knife for this. The door will need to be additionally reinforced with wooden bars.
If you decide to buy a polycarbonate greenhouse, which is already equipped with everything you need, including frame parts, then start assembly as follows. Take the end part of the assembled profile, which is the small side. There are two ways to place polycarbonate here.
The first way
- Take a sheet of cellular polycarbonate, cut it lengthwise into two equal parts, with them we will cover the space of the door and vents. Let's start with the first side. Attach the cut sheet so that it starts at the bottom of the end, covering the door and the window. Line it up with the bottom.
- Move the remaining piece of polycarbonate down a little so that it goes 1 cm onto the door. Then there will be no gap between it and the window. Cut this sheet from above in an arc shape. Make holes in the end profile with a drill for better fastening of the self-tapping screws. Holes must be made immediately for the handles and for the screws with which they will be attached. Put the cut polycarbonate in place, screw it to the profile with roofing screws.
- From another sheet, cut out the parts for the right and left halves of the end, attach them in the same way to the profile.
- From the second half of the polycarbonate sheet that you cut out at the very beginning, make a transparent door and a window for the opposite end of the greenhouse.
Please note that you do not need to overtighten the self-tapping screw, as soon as the rubber gasket touches the polycarbonate, you need to finish tightening it. Second way
You can put a large sheet of polycarbonate on the end so that the transparent material immediately covers its left side, the door, the window, the space above it. Secure this sheet with self-tapping screws, first driving in a self-tapping screw from one and the opposite side so that there is no skew. Then secure it completely. Make a cutout between the door and the window, another one above the window, so that these elements open freely. You just have to cut a piece of polycarbonate in shape for the right side, and the end for the greenhouse is ready.
Here's how to build a polycarbonate greenhouse further:
- Take the lower base of the metal profile, attach it around the perimeter to the timber using self-tapping screws. Please note that the bottom profile must be fixed along the outer edge of the timber. Then precipitation will not fall on the wooden base, and it will last longer.
- The metal base for such greenhouses is usually a profile that has a length of 2 meters, bushings are already attached to it, into which you will then insert arcs. To connect two bases, a T-shaped adapter is first inserted into the first, then the second base is inserted here.
- Now you need to put arcs in the prepared elements. To give the structure rigidity, they are fastened with profile strips. It is fixed on the arcs with self-tapping screws, which are first baited, after the entire frame structure has been assembled, they are screwed in with a screwdriver.
- Further installation of the greenhouse includes the installation of ends, on which polycarbonate is already attached. Also remove the protective film from the rest of the sheets. Starting from the ends, lay the first sheet of cellular polycarbonate on the greenhouse, secure it with self-tapping screws. Then, entering this one, the overlap is the second. Depending on the length of your greenhouse, you will need a few more.
Usually, the kit includes a metallized tape, it is placed on a polycarbonate sheet so that it repeats the shape of the arc, and then fixed with self-tapping screws, which first pass through the tape, then through the polycarbonate and the metal profile of the greenhouse frame.
Cut the gap between the door and the window and above it so that they open freely. It remains to attach the handles to the doors and vents, and the polycarbonate greenhouse is ready for use. You can plant seedlings here and wait for high yields.
If you can't buy a polycarbonate greenhouse yet, then check out the almost free option for making a vegetable house.
A plastic greenhouse is the most budgetary option
Usually greenhouses are covered with transparent film, but it has to be removed every year before winter, and in the spring the greenhouse is covered again. Moreover, such material is short-lived. Whether it's plastic bottles, they will serve faithfully for many years.
You can use them as they are only after removing the label. Metal fittings are placed around the perimeter of the greenhouse, sticking the ends of the rods into the ground. Holes are made in the bottom of the bottles with a drill, they are put on without caps on the rods, the top is screwed in with a cork.
For the roof, you can also use metal reinforcement by welding it obliquely to the rods of the walls of the structure or make a house for vegetables on a wooden frame.
A plastic greenhouse can be done in another way. For this option, you need to take straight transparent bottles, cut off their necks and bottom. Find a seam in the resulting workpiece, go over it with scissors. You have got a canvas made of plastic, make the same from another bottle. Fold both canvases so that one curls in one direction and the other in the other direction. This principle will help the material to become flat.
Sew both canvases on a sewing machine, it usually takes such material perfectly. You can do this by hand, fastening the knot well on the thread, and sew it with a needle. Attach the third canvas to the second so that it twists in the other direction.
After you have made a piece of the right size, nail it to the wooden frame.
Between the plastic and the head of the nails, you can lay a rubber seal or cut out small rectangles from the remaining parts of the bottle, fold them in half, first pierce this part with a nail, and then the plastic of the greenhouse.
Now you know how to save money. To do this, you need to learn how to assemble a polycarbonate greenhouse with your own hands. If this is not possible, then make a plastic greenhouse from bottles, which will be very cheap. If you don't have enough packaging, it may be enough to make a small greenhouse. Which one, choose by reading the video material:
The following stories will teach you how to assemble a polycarbonate greenhouse with your own hands.
