For example, all three people mentioned that the specs for building the foundation were off by half an inch. Meaning that the square wood base I didn't know I needed because the photo on the box has the greenhouse sitting on grass, should not be built using the calculations in the instructions!
Since I can't fit 8 foot lumber in my little Nissan, and I wanted to make sure I had some wiggle room for the foundation, I decided to have the 2x4's cut into half the supposed length needed for each of the four sides of the greenhouse, and just half an inch shorter than the specs called for.
I figure that if I wind up with small gaps, that would be a way for excess water to wash out.
The other cool idea which I hope to implement in the future, was one man's idea of putting it all together and then building another low wall and putting the whole greenhouse on top of that. Effectively making the greenhouse two feet taller for a tall man! I like that idea because that would give me more room for shelves, as I am hoping to be able to stack my tube trays four high using plastic modular shelving. I already have six sets of those and I know one tube tray will fit on each level.
So today I was able to get the box unpacked. And there are A LOT of pieces to this thing!
Then I was able to build the 2x4 base. The "floor" is temporary. I thought that was what I was going to be building and the boards were a temporary means of making sure that gophers and rats couldn't burrow in. But I need to make it much better than it is. I didn't have enough matching pieces of wood on hand.
I had to build the 2x4 base because the bottom rims of the greenhouse frame have a lip that hugs the edge of the square. This was why the guys in the video were saying that after they built the wood frame base, the metal frame didn't fit onto it. They all had to remove half an inch for the lip of the aluminum frame to fit snug.
At least all three of the videos I watched made it seem as though I ought to be able to put it together by myself. And all three men mentioned that they were actually impressed with how well made this little greenhouse it, because at first glance, they had their suspicions. One of the good ideas I gleaned from watching them, and there were a lot of good ideas, was using a little weather stripping under the roof panels to stop them from rattling in the wind. Also, it is designed to insure that the wind won't blow the panels inwards, but if the door is open and there is a gust of wind, it could blow them outwards. So I am going to add a few well place screws to prevent that.
The printed instructions really are lacking a great deal of information. There is no way I could put this together without having watched those videos!
And then, ha!, it is going to rain! So I got a the base and four corners put together and now I am hoping it isn't going to rain as much as they say. At least I don't have to worry about aluminum getting wet. It is a greenhouse after all, it is always going to be damp inside!
Stay tuned for the completion!
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