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Base for greenhouse
"Colette A. O'Brien" wrote in message ... Hi all I am moving my greenhouse from the darkiest, shadiest part of the garden to a sunnier area. I decided on a concrete base as I never grow anything in the soil of the greenhouse, and I thought it would be more rat-proof! We live in a very windy area and so the greenhouse needs to be firmly secured. I have a builder friend coming tomorrow to lay a concrete base for me, but now I am rather belatedly having second thoughts. I am wondering if a concrete base is a bad idea because of drainage - how to I ensure that water can drain freely away? You can tell I'm a bit clueless about all of this, any advice would be very welcome. Thanks -- Colette A. O'Brien we laid 300mm slabs to support the gh base section only, leaving the inner soil for planting. We then boarded a central path 500mm wide and about 2 metres in from the sliding door. This is filled with 15mm shingle. The surrounding soil is used for toms and cuces etc. We throw 3 gallons of water onto the shingle path every other day to water their roots. works a treat. |
Base for greenhouse
Colette A. O'Brien writes
Hi all I am moving my greenhouse from the darkiest, shadiest part of the garden to a sunnier area. I decided on a concrete base as I never grow anything in the soil of the greenhouse, and I thought it would be more rat-proof! What sort of rat problem have you in mind? Rats coming into the greenhouse, or rats living underneath the base? We live in a very windy area and so the greenhouse needs to be firmly secured. I have a builder friend coming tomorrow to lay a concrete base for me, but now I am rather belatedly having second thoughts. I am wondering if a concrete base is a bad idea because of drainage - how to I ensure that water can drain freely away? You can tell I'm a bit clueless about all of this, any advice would be very welcome. On our first greenhouses, we had a concrete base with a 6inch brick wall, and the greenhouse firmly bolted on to the brick wall. Therefore no water could get in. Our current greenhouse is directly on to the concrete base, and in heavy rain we have problems with seepage under the edge. We have laid a patch of slabs in the centre, thus raising the floor in the central area about an inch, so that any water stays under the staging and eventually drains back out the way it came in. I think if it were a smaller greenhouse dampness in the winter would be a problem, but as it's a reasonable size and with good air circulation, we don't have any problems either with mould or with cacti rotting. -- Kay |
Base for greenhouse
In message of Fri, 4 Jul 2008, K writes
What sort of rat problem have you in mind? Rats coming into the greenhouse, or rats living underneath the base? We previously had a rat problem where the rats (who were living in next door's compost heap) burrowed under the brick base of the greenhouse, and lived a very merry winter inside it. Our current greenhouse is directly on to the concrete base, and in heavy rain we have problems with seepage under the edge. We have laid a patch of slabs in the centre, thus raising the floor in the central area about an inch, so that any water stays under the staging and eventually drains back out the way it came in. I think if it were a smaller greenhouse dampness in the winter would be a problem, but as it's a reasonable size and with good air circulation, we don't have any problems either with mould or with cacti rotting. I am planning to build a brick base on which to bolt the greenhouse. I am more worried about water just from watering the plants, cleaning the greenhouse, getting in from the roof etc. I've read up on it today and there were suggestions that I would get pools of water, which would stagnate and grow algae and cause diseases in the plants. Thanks for your reply. Am thinking of perhaps getting a concrete foundation rather than a whole base. Don't want to mess the builder about too much though. Regards Colette -- Colette A. O'Brien |
Base for greenhouse
In article ,
says... Hi all I am moving my greenhouse from the darkiest, shadiest part of the garden to a sunnier area. I decided on a concrete base as I never grow anything in the soil of the greenhouse, and I thought it would be more rat-proof! We live in a very windy area and so the greenhouse needs to be firmly secured. I have a builder friend coming tomorrow to lay a concrete base for me, but now I am rather belatedly having second thoughts. I am wondering if a concrete base is a bad idea because of drainage - how to I ensure that water can drain freely away? You can tell I'm a bit clueless about all of this, any advice would be very welcome. Thanks If it were me I would build a rectangular low wall in the ground for the GH to sit on and either flag stone or chipping the inside or use the soil and just have a path -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
Base for greenhouse
"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message T... In article , says... Hi all I am moving my greenhouse from the darkiest, shadiest part of the garden to a sunnier area. I decided on a concrete base as I never grow anything in the soil of the greenhouse, and I thought it would be more rat-proof! We live in a very windy area and so the greenhouse needs to be firmly secured. I have a builder friend coming tomorrow to lay a concrete base for me, but now I am rather belatedly having second thoughts. I am wondering if a concrete base is a bad idea because of drainage - how to I ensure that water can drain freely away? You can tell I'm a bit clueless about all of this, any advice would be very welcome. Thanks If it were me I would build a rectangular low wall in the ground for the GH to sit on and either flag stone or chipping the inside or use the soil and just have a path That's what we did - with soil borders and a path. I can't understand why anyone would want a whole concrete floor ... I use the borders to grow crops in too, is there a problem with that? Mary -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
Base for greenhouse
"Mary Fisher" wrote in message t... That's what we did - with soil borders and a path. I can't understand why anyone would want a whole concrete floor ... I use the borders to grow crops in too, is there a problem with that? Mary -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea Best solution is to dig a six inch deep by 9 inch wide trench foundation underneath the base . Dig similar 2ft wide trench similar to act as footway between ends. This gives you a sort of 8 shaped concrete in plan Pour barrow/ready mix with security fixings embedded therein, with assembled base thereon. Leaves plenty of space for borders therein. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 1 1 1 1 1 SOIL 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ------------------------------------------------------------ CONCRETE ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 SOIL 1 1 1 1 1 1 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Regards Pete www.thecanalshop.com |
Base for greenhouse
"Mary Fisher" wrote in message t... "Charlie Pridham" wrote in message T... In article , says... Hi all I am moving my greenhouse from the darkiest, shadiest part of the garden to a sunnier area. I decided on a concrete base as I never grow anything in the soil of the greenhouse, and I thought it would be more rat-proof! We live in a very windy area and so the greenhouse needs to be firmly secured. I have a builder friend coming tomorrow to lay a concrete base for me, but now I am rather belatedly having second thoughts. I am wondering if a concrete base is a bad idea because of drainage - how to I ensure that water can drain freely away? You can tell I'm a bit clueless about all of this, any advice would be very welcome. Thanks If it were me I would build a rectangular low wall in the ground for the GH to sit on and either flag stone or chipping the inside or use the soil and just have a path That's what we did - with soil borders and a path. I can't understand why anyone would want a whole concrete floor ... I use the borders to grow crops in too, is there a problem with that? Mary -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea For what it is worth, here is my two pennyworth: Our new greenhouse is on a concrete base nominal 4 inch thick, the proprietry steel base is bolted to this, i used resin capsule anchor bolts you can get from Screwfix. The reason for this is the exposed location, and the soft sandy soil, (a few hundred yards from the Irish Sea at the north end of the Wirral Peninsular). I was worried about the little clips that came to secure the greenhouse to the base, and as concerned as everyone else about water getting in, so the greenhouse is stuck down wtih an adhesive silicon rubber as well (Cerasit FT100). The same chewing gum is used between the concrete and the steel. In case we have an accident with the hose pipe, i put a six inch plastic pipe down through the concrete, with rubble underneath, this is trimmed off level with the floor on completion (tiles in ours), and filled with pebbles, to form a soakaway. Does it all work? Ask me when it has been standing for a year, i.e. in twelve months time. John |
Base for greenhouse
Colette A. O'Brien writes
I am planning to build a brick base on which to bolt the greenhouse. I am more worried about water just from watering the plants, I don't have that problem since my plants are all on trays. But unless you need to water a lot in winter, any water spills should evaporate pretty soon. cleaning the greenhouse, Depends on when you do that. Since my greenhouse is used for overwintering a lot of plants, any cleaning has to happen in summer. getting in from the roof etc. That shouldn't happen, and you should do your utmost to avoid leaks, since leaking roofs tend to mean drips on to plants and hence rot. -- Kay |
Base for greenhouse
In message of Fri, 4 Jul 2008, Pete Stockdale writes
Best solution is to dig a six inch deep by 9 inch wide trench foundation underneath the base . Dig similar 2ft wide trench similar to act as footway between ends. This gives you a sort of 8 shaped concrete in plan Pour barrow/ready mix with security fixings embedded therein, with assembled base thereon. Leaves plenty of space for borders therein. Thanks everyone for your replies. I decided against the concrete slab in the end. It's an old greenhouse (can't afford a new one right now) and although things may improve when it is moved, it does let in water here and there. So I asked the builder to do just a 9 inch foundation, haven't done a central path. I don't want to grow stuff in soil in the greenhouse, and so underneath the concrete foundation and covering the whole area is a 4-inch layer of gravel/grit. On top of this I am planning to put a semi-permeable membrane, a central path made of paving slabs, and fill up the rest with some bigger-sized gravel. I am hoping this will give me a good balance of humidity and drainage. Hope it works! Thanks again for your responses, helped make up my mind for me. Colette -- Colette A. O'Brien |
Base for greenhouse
In message of Fri, 4 Jul 2008, Mary Fisher writes
That's what we did - with soil borders and a path. I can't understand why anyone would want a whole concrete floor ... I use the borders to grow crops in too, is there a problem with that? Nothing at all, it's just that I never do it. Perhaps it's due to where the greenhouse has always been sited, but anything I've attempted to grow in the soil has always done really badly. Since I didn't want soil borders, I thought I might as well go for a good solid base which is easy to clean. But as I've said in another post, I decided against a concrete slab in the end. The foundations are down now, and looking good. Thanks Colette -- Colette A. O'Brien |
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