$599.00 on sale today in Richmond, Va. With using a dolly it wasn't too hard to get the box out of the van by myself.... after fliping it over in the back yard I seen a message on the box to open it up and seperate the 3 smaller boxes inside the large box... That would have been a nice tip to know ahead of time LOL.

My goal is to put this together with as little help as I can get away with. After looking over the directions I don't really see anywhere I will need an extra hand.

However, I remember that TroyKD included a list of his materials and costs in his blog:
(TroyKD) Building our Harbor Freight 10x12 Greenhouse

And, in case you haven’t already found it, here’s a link to gardenerwantabe’s thread on his modifications:
Modifying the HF 10x12

My blog shows what my husband and I did for ours:
(mudhouse) Building our Harbor Freight 10x12

Basically, we purchased pressure-treated wood (and bolts) for the foundation, EMT tubing and aluminum angle for bracing, extra glazing clips for the panels, screws and neoprene washers for the panels, and some extra bolts as needed to complete the construction of the frame. (I list a lot more specifics in the blog.)

If you want extra clips for the panels, it’s good to get those ordered ASAP because of possible shipping delays. We purchased everything else locally.

Hope this helps a bit, and of course as you’ve found there are lots of other good posts (and good folks) here. I wouldn’t hesitate to post questions.

I will post some new pictures in a few days.

Your error allert....

Error Alert! Page 8, step 7, the manual says to "attach the Front Ceiling Plate to the inside of the two Corner Studs." This is impossible. The ceiling plate can only be attached on the outside of the two corner studs. It will be obvious it can only go on the outside, so don’t worry. The photo above shows how the ceiling plate looks installed.

..... has been fixed on my instructions. Most of the revisions were 05/06 but on page 8 it is both 05/06 and 09/06. Sure looks like they have taken notice.

Now I have to decide what is better to have the door on the north side or the south side??? If I put the door on the north side I think I can modify the door to use a 36" insulated glass storm door so I can look inside from the house instead of looking at heavy insulation only.

Glad you have all your GH parts. I noticed that they provide very few extras (even on the little bagged parts) so keep an eye on those little ones!

I'm not good about advice on door location. I put mine on the west side which was questionable since we do get some winds from that direction, and I've read that strong winds blowing on the HF doors aren't a good thing. However, it made the best sense in relation to our house. I finally decided that the door location might not be that critical on a small square hobby GH, so I should just put it where it would be pleasing. Others will probably have better advice for you.

Amigatec, looking forward to your pics!

jba3fan, take a look at image 57 in amigatec's photos. It shows how the diagonal braces have been installed (early) to support the corner posts. I totally missed this advice in my reading (duh) but it's definately the smart way to go, especially if you're working by yourself. Without attaching these braces early the corner posts are terribly wobbly. The diagonals have to be removed again later (briefly) but that's easy to do.

You used more screws in the panels than we did, amigatec. No way those panels are going anywhere! Looks good. It's so helpful to see what other folks have done.

Here the bolts are in the wrong holes

Same corner, but here they are in the right holes.

Now I will work on building raised beds inside, I have an old waterbed frame that is taking up space. I think I can cut it down and make 2 beds that are 3'w X 5'l X 8"h, place a waterbed heater in the bottom line it with heavy plastic, fill with potting mix, and place on top of 3' high legs.

First off I couldn't figure out exactly where I wanted this to be..I wanted it closer to the house but then it would have looked way out of place and here is too far away to run power..

so I moved (by myself) the old hoop house I built last winter to the west about 20-30 feet

I framed the foundation onf 4 x 6 treated lumber on 4 x 4 post sunk in concrete on all 4 corners and half way on all sides

I dug out the inside to a depth of 14 inches or deeper from the top of the 4 x 6

then added some chicken wire

some landscaping cloth

and some 2 inch styrofoam insulation board (I couldn't find 1 inch boards) the outside walls the insulation is cut at 12 inches and the floor is 24 inches

I added a 3 inch pvc pipe to run in a gas or propane line and a 2 inch pipe to run in some electricity

I added about 65 wheelbarrow loads of #26's AKA crush and run gravel

Tamped the gravel..(harder to do then move about 9 tons of gravel)

I used some 20 mill plastic flashing under the GH base
I think this was an excelent idea for a number of reasons:
1-- easy to use
2-- just go to any new home construction jobsite and ask for some you only need about 50 feet.As long as the framing crew is not running out of the flashing they will gladly give you some.
3--made it really easy to spread out the nuts and bolts and small parts where they were needed with out getting lost in the gravel or dirt.
4--kept dirt and gravel out of the base area.

when adding the extra bolts in the upright studs I used a rubberband to hold them up out of the way while deciding how many extras were needed.. I put the nuts on the bolts that go on the braces as you can see in the pic.

thats it for now

Your website is a really good step-by-step, and should be very helpful to lots of folks! I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your progress. Great job!

I had no physical help from anyone to put this together. The only help I had was from here on Gardenweb.

I see I will need more self taping screws and washers for the panals so I can connect the top and bottoms to the frame. I had a problme with the self taping screws being too long on the drill part of the screw where I couldn't use a spacer between the panals and the horizontal braces.

I somehow lost a screw for one of the door rollers between the back room of the house and the green house site.

One question tho .......... How tall do you have to be to open the roof vent windows?

now to add insulation.. exaust fan and decide what to heat this with.... vented or unvented propane????

So, we took all four window vents off, and I caulked all the poly panels to the aluminum frame with clear silicone caulk on the outside. It doesn't show, and now the poly panels don't slide in the frame. Great. BUT, we did not pay attention to the order of the windows when we put them back in...and now they really don't open and close smoothly at all. I guess we put them back in a different order, and there were enough tiny variations in the fit from window to window to make a difference. ARGH.

I do still use them and I climb up on a 6 foot stepladder to open and close them. But I have to reach up and snug down the corners with both hands to get them to fully close...simply pulling on the center handle doesn't snug them in anymore.

Given my experience I'd consider caulking those poly window panels in place before you install them in the roof, but maybe other folks have had better luck than I have. :-(
Sheri

That's what I've read too, and one of the reasons I'm hoping I won't have to depend on these vents year round. However, I am going to try your 3/4" PVC idea, and see if that works on mine. I bet it would have worked before I removed and replaced the windows to caulk them...I'll go work on them.

I used stryrofoam not to keep the heat in but to keep the cold out from the ground. In the winter time here in central Virginia the ground can freeze solid as much as 12 inches deep, usually it is only about 2 to 3 inches frozen for short periods of time.

I figure since the gravel is at least 14 inches thick it would hold more heat then just sitting on the bare ground.

I hope that makes sence

Jim

I am not planing on using this greenhouse in the summer so I do not want to gain any heat from the ground. In the winter I do not want to gain any freezing temps from the ground.

The only place I read where they say not to insulate the floor was if I was trying to cool the house. As I said earlier I am using this greenhouse for winter protection. The R values that they use in Austraila are measured differently then here. I can only imagin that R 1.5 would be close to the same as our R 13 for exterior walls and R 30 is normal for cielings here but they call it R 2.

Below is from the Department of Energy
link.....

Insulation Priorities

It is most important to:

Insulate your attic to the recommended level, including the attic door, or hatch cover.
Provide the recommended level of insulation under floors above unheated spaces, around walls in a heated basement or unventilated crawl space, and on the edges of slabs-on-grade.
Use the recommended levels of insulation for exterior walls for new house construction. When remodeling or re-siding your house, consider using the levels recommended for new construction in your existing walls.
Next Section - How Does Insulation Work for You?

Deep ground temps around here are around 50-55F so the differential between my ground and my GH is about zero in the winter...thus, no heat loss through the floor. The perimeter is insulated, the floor is not.

SB

Appendix 4- Greenhouse Energy Conservation
Typical Heat Loss Distribution in Greenhouses
Roof - 68%
Infiltration (leaks) – 21%
Walls - 11%