ok, that's interesting that yours can survive the high winds. I might think about doing that for next winter. I'd love to be able to keep it warmer than it has been this year.

Does anyone care to share where they got the solar covers with free shipping? (I apologize if I missed this somewhere along the line...)

Okay, just looked up my receipt and my 20x40 solar cover from Leisure Living was $189.99 with free shipping.

cycadjungle said:

You could always put two barrels in the ground and put a top on them and put plants on the table.

That's actually a great idea. Didn't think of that.
How far did you go down in the ground on yours?
I believe I don't frost depth as it rarely get below freezing here in the Valley

abhege said:Okay, just looked up my receipt and my 20x40 solar cover from Leisure Living was $189.99 with free shipping.

From what I was calculating my electric bill to be. $189.99 would pay for itself in about 2 months. Maybe less

I guess the big thing would be how long would it last? 2 years or more would put an extra benefit on it.

I think this is where I got mine http://www.wayfair.com/Blanket...
$85 free shipping 6 year warranty

luckyzl230 said:

That's actually a great idea. Didn't think of that.
How far did you go down in the ground on yours?
I believe I don't frost depth as it rarely get below freezing here in the Valley

It is a 55 gallon drum. It is about 8 inches above the ground. I don't know how tall they are, offhand, but the more that is below ground, the better it will work.

I see it's a 12ft by 24ft.
Wouldn't cover much of the backside and the door side?
Did you get the 12ft by 24ft one?

I see the 20ft by 40ft one is $186.84 with free shipping as well

Yes I did, my GH is slightly under 12' so it reached end to end with enough to clamp it down with metal strips. I even had 4' leftover and plan to hang it inside the back wall to reduce drafts around the heater.

I think mine has a ten year warranty.

It's so warm here that I have been leaving the GH door open at night! But that's about to change by tomorrow night. Shouldn't be a lot more cold weather though.

Arlene, I think if you remove and store them they may last a long time. The summer months are when they would be exposed to harmful UV rays although I've been considering using mine on the pool in the summer.

I'm looking to remove ours the end of this month. Mild winter here this year. And we were late getting it on because we had warm weather late (Dec.) and then we were gone for two weeks and I didn't want it on with no way to open the GH to vent so we didn't put it on until Jan. Next time we'll probably put it on in Nov.

abhege said:I think mine has a ten year warranty.

It's so warm here that I have been leaving the GH door open at night! But that's about to change by tomorrow night. Shouldn't be a lot more cold weather though.

It might get cold again next Thursday and Friday in our general area.

Our 7 day forecast looks great. I think I'll finally begin to start the beginning stages of the construction of my green house this weekend. Looking forward to posting my progress





I have ran into a slight problem with my 4X4 base. I have a nasty slope running south. Would it be ok to bury some Pier blocks in the ground on the south side to keep is level?

This site:
http://www.decks.com/how-to/57...
says this about using them to support a deck, but it is not talking about a steep slope.

"They must ... and be a minimum of 12-inches below grade, or below the local frost depth. They cannot, however, be simply placed at grade level."

It sounds like you are right about burying them.

This has a detailed step-by-step plan and photos for putting a shed on what looks like a gradual slope:
http://www.oneprojectcloser.co...
However, it uses concrete poured into holes, not pier blocks.

We have a dome greenhouse, not a HF one, but my husband did concrete piers for it. He had those heavy cardboard forms. I'm not sure what they are called. He poured in concrete with rebar and embedded his bolts in the concrete. The holes were 18 deep which is what we need around here for frost. Here is a pic of it during construction.

I don't have a really big slope. I think I over exaggerated a little.
It's about a 3 - 4 inch slop. But I want to still make the foundation level on the high side by burring the pier blocks all the way in the ground.
I wanted to use something like this but can't find them at the big box stores.
That way I can lay the 4X4s along them

Am I understanding that the base of the greenhouse structure is above ground where cold air can get underneath? Is it impossible just to get some fill dirt and make the area level?

Yes, I can get fill dirt but over time it will compact when it rains and the 4X4s will start sink causing the greenhouse to lean no matter how hard I compact the dirt it by hand.
That's why I had the idea of Pier blocks. I can dig holes for them and still use the fill dirt to level it out but the pier blocks will prevent the weight of the greenhouse from pushing down on the fill dirt.

I think I'm going about this right.......... Maybe not, I don't know anymore..............

OK, I get that. Sounds like a good idea. You should be able to find what you are looking for, but if not, you may want to pour your own with concrete and put the bracket in the top, exactly the way you want it.