Hmmm -- I know you will get there, Melissa, but at the moment it sounds like a bit of a PITA. I'm happy now that I decided to just make a hoophouse with PVC pipe framing and a poly sheet covering. Much simpler and will be ample for my needs!

Sandy, I'd love to have some hoop houses like that. You must be in an area that doesn't get much wind? I don't think they'd last a day on our windy hill. Our normal wind is about 10 mph and then it can get to 60mph with gusts or storms.

You obviously know what you are doing there! You certainly sound like you know what you are doing. And it LOOKS like you know what you are doing! All troubles aside, it's looking fabulous!

Thanks all! I wouldn't say that I know how to do this, but hubby has been a pretty good helper. We paid professionals to do it, because it has to be inspected. In our old neighborhood we could do pretty much anything we wanted and no one would say boo about it. The new neighborhood is much nicer and the neighbors are concerned about keeping it looking nice. The city would not approve a hoop house style with visqueen sheeting. The GH had to have engineered plans and permits.

Because of that, we couldn't go the Harbor Freight GH route again. It won't pass an inspection because no engineered plans.

I will say that it looks really nice. The electrician came today and marked the outlets. We ordered corrosion resistance fans and lights so they are rated for GH use. They also have pigtail cords pre-installed so we don't have to hard-wire them. Our electrician is putting outlets right onto the rafters. He said that is the best way, because if the fan breaks you just unplug it and take it down for replacement. Hard-wiring would require a re-wire for any replacement. He is also running wire for two switches. So exciting! Electrical starts Tuesday.

That sounds really good! You're getting it done right. We didn't want to have to bother with permits, etc, so we went with something that is really too small for us. It didn't require the permits. In our area, anything requiring permits ends up raising our property taxes and we didn't want that. Now I'll probably end up with 2 or 3 small ones instead of one nice big one.

"The city would not approve a hoop house style with visqueen sheeting. The GH had to have engineered plans and permits. "

It's good to live in the boonies!

Melissa, I think your new GH is going to be fabulous!

Karen, we do get plenty of wind (and loads of snow, as well). The hoophouse (or any type of greenhouse, for that matter) needs to be anchored down securely. There's a video in the "learning library" that shows the construction of a hoophouse very similar to what I'm going to be doing. I'm planning to document our progress with it and do a thread like Melissa is doing here (and with her previous HF greenhouse).

That is interesting, Sandy. I'll look forward to your posts about how it does. I don't think we could anchor it down sufficiently to withstand our winds. Our wind moves or tips things that I think are way too heavy. We are in the boonies, and have a metal roof. I keep wondering if the roof will come off one day! It's rated for over 100mph, but who knows?

Another important thing about the wind is to have everything (doors, any vents or windows, etc) closed up when it's really blowing; then the wind basically pushes down on the structure, rather than trying to take it away like a sail.

So true! That was one reason we chose the dome shaped greenhouse. The wind really doesn't do it any harm, at least not so far. I do worry about the vents, but we got special vents made for higher winds.

Sandy, I know! Right! The HFGH project we did was so much of a learning process and it worked really well without any permits. I am glad that I could share my experience and the details of our upgrades and costs.

Oh well, it is a compromise and definitely more money but we are liking our neighbors.

Having good neighbors is a big plus!

Melissa and Cheryl, I apologize for mixing the two of you up a couple of posts back (which I've gone back and edited in the hopes of not confusing even more readers of this thread... "Shadytrake," "Shadygreenthumb" -- not the first time I've gotten mixed up with your names!

Electrical is almost finished! Inspection scheduled for Monday!

HVAC is on order and should be here in a few days. We are near the finish line!

Sunday night temps are supposed to dip into the upper 40s so not a moment too soon.

Happy dance. Electrical is finished and inspection tomorrow. HVAC is on order. Luckily the weather is holding.

It's really looking good and you'll have so much room! I should have braved the permits and gone larger too.

Looks great, Melissa. Tell me the size again. Also, what's the size of the door?

drdawg said:Looks great, Melissa. Tell me the size again. Also, what's the size of the door?

It is a 14'x16' with a 13' peak. The door is 36"W x 80"H. I wish I could have had the slider like the HFGH, but it was not in the design and we didn't want to risk failing the building inspection. I think it will be okay width-wise for my orchids unless I have a behemoth.

It's absolutely beautiful, Melissa!! I love the shape of the roof line! I think both you and your orchids/plants will be very happy in there! You have a structure that will be admired by all who see it! Good luck on your last inspection. A greenhouse with an HVAC? WOW!

Certainly a nice, ample structure, Melissa. The door look smaller but that's because of the size of the greenhouse. I cannot imagine a plant not being able to pass through that doorway. Well done. Now you can grow orchids not well-suited to the South's heat.

I love the "gothic arch" shape -- I can't wait to see it with your plants inside, Melissa!

We got the fans and one light up (one was damaged). They are corrosion resistant. The fans are 3 speed pull chain with a door on/off switch. The lights are LED with a door on/off switch.