Looks great, Jim. Nice job. Did you stain that pressure treated wood? I looked at all of your pics first. I thought it was redwood or cedar from the color. Where did you purchase the poly panels? Looks like nice country where you live. I liked all the pics, but especially the one with the hot air balloon in the background. Best of luck with the new greenhouse!

MoonShadows said:Looks great, Jim. Nice job. Did you stain that pressure treated wood? I looked at all of your pics first. I thought it was redwood or cedar from the color. Where did you purchase the poly panels? Looks like nice country where you live. I liked all the pics, but especially the one with the hot air balloon in the background. Best of luck with the new greenhouse!

Thank you Moonshadows, Josie63 and parttimegardener for your nice comments! The wood is pressure treated (the new kind with no bad stuff in it) from Home Depot. That is the way it looks when you buy it. I only stained the actual cuts where exposed to match aesthetically. The panels came from Sundance supply (they also have a good design manual for panel installation that is online). They had the best price for the Lexan Softlite 8mm that I wanted when shipping (half the cost) was added.
Moonshadows, I really enjoyed your article on ventilation as that is what I need more of this summer. I had to leave my door wide open last summer which resulted in the wind bending the rod that holds it open. I will be posting a few questions on your thread soon related to ventilation.

chukar said:
Thank you Moonshadows, Josie63 and parttimegardener for your nice comments! The wood is pressure treated (the new kind with no bad stuff in it) from Home Depot. That is the way it looks when you buy it. I only stained the actual cuts where exposed to match aesthetically. The panels came from Sundance supply (they also have a good design manual for panel installation that is online). They had the best price for the Lexan Softlite 8mm that I wanted when shipping (half the cost) was added.
Moonshadows, I really enjoyed your article on ventilation as that is what I need more of this summer. I had to leave my door wide open last summer which resulted in the wind bending the rod that holds it open. I will be posting a few questions on your thread soon related to ventilation.

Ask away, Jim. I'll help you out the best I can.

It looks amazing, and for 3600$ this greenhouse has a decent size. My sister has a greenhouse because she's vegan, and she grows mostly salad there. I've been thinking of building one, but I can't decide if my backyard is good enough, or I should just give up on this. I have two kids, and I don't want to take away all the backyard space, but also it would be great to have our own greenhouse.

Hi Alex and welcome to the forum!

When you say you are not sure if your backyard is "good enough", do you mean finding a good location to place a greenhouse? Is you backyard too shaded?

If either is the case, you might want to try small container gardening or passive hydroponics indoors. PH can be done using 1 quart mason jars.

MoonShadows said:Hi Alex and welcome to the forum!

When you say you are not sure if your backyard is "good enough", do you mean finding a good location to place a greenhouse? Is you backyard too shaded?

If either is the case, you might want to try small container gardening or passive hydroponics indoors. PH can be done using 1 quart mason jars.

I think it might be too small for what I want

One thing you might try, Alex and James, to get an idea of how it will impact your backyard size and your backyard lifestyle is to cut 4 pieces of wood (or use 4 stakes and run a string) of the footprint of the size greenhouse you would like to have and where you want to locate it, and live with it for a week or so to get a better idea whether a greenhouse will cramp your backyard and style.

James, as far as materials and size, I don't think (IMHO) there are any "best" for a standard backyard hobby greenhouse. It's mainly a question of affordability and preference.