quality greenhouse is it worth it?

jhe

hi. i have been looking to buy a good quality green house for quite a while now. i have been offered what seems like a good deal by a supplier £2000 for a robinson 10x8 including delivery and putting it up. can anyone advise me please if it is worth paying xtra for robinson greenhouses over other cheaper makes. it includes xtras including benches, shelves, 2 louvre vents and auto roof vents toughned glass and the greenhouse is in green colour. i would be grateful for opinions

mrbadexample

Difficult to tell really - only you can say how much use you'll get out of it. I've got a £180 greenhouse, and that's about right for a few tomatoes / chillis etc in the summer, and a few carnivorous plants. That's pretty much all it gets used for.

If it only lasts 5 years, I wouldn't lose much sleep over it. I figure if I spent £2000 on a greenhouse I'd want it for 20 years, minimum. And it had better have all the bells & whistles a greenhouse can have.

jhe

thanks for reply. we had an alton before now which lasted us 25 years before it bit the dust. it was already in the garden when we bought the house, so dont know how old it really was. the robinson should be maintenence free hopefully. we looked at cheaper greenhouses but our garden is surrounded by football fanatics so we need toughned glass. that seems to rocket the price. then the extras put prices up plus the frame on the robinson is supposed to be heavy duty. we are heading towards retirement so looking ahead we will get a lot of use out of any greenhouse. just cant decide what to do for best. thanks again

skelly01

Hi Op, have you checked out local advertisements for people selling, ebay, freecycle etc. You might pick up second hand but very good quality for a fraction of the price.

jhe

hi skelly. yes ive checked nothing really suitable. ive been looking for the last 6 months the only ones ive seen have been horticultural glass that would get broken in no time with all the footballs flying over the fence even though ive put 6 ft fencing up. i can buy a new greenhouse with similar specs to the robinson cheaper, but all the garden centres, suppliers ive spoken to seem to say alton or robinson are the rolls royce of greenhouses{ but then i suppose they would say that if they sell them} just wondered if i really am getting something thats worth the xtra money. thanks

Slim4Summer

What size is it? I just got a 6x6 toughened safety glass with base from tesco direct for £499. I have high winds and footballs to contend with!
So far I am delighted with it - but wish I had got one a bit bigger. I did a lot of research and it was the cheapest safety glass one with base I could find.

jhe

hi. its 8ft6x10ft8. i hadnt thought to look at tesco. but have looked everywhere else i could think of. the high winds were also a concern to me thats why i mentioned the heavy duty frame. i know its a lot of money for a greenhouse but dont mind if i am getting something more durable, just dont want to fork that amount of money if i am just paying for the name or if i can get something of equal quality cheaper, thanks slim4summer

rhiwfield

FWIW I bought a rhino 10' x 6' with autovents, toughened glass etc but I wanted the peace of mind that when (not if) the westerly gales hit it would still be in 1 piece afterwards (and in the same place )

Paid a lot for it even with discounts but dont regret it.

jhe

hi rhiwfield. did your rhino work out dearer or cheaper then the robinson? i will have to look up rhino.the robinson i am lookin at is around £500 cheaper than the advertised price with discounts and they will put it up for me included in the price,.the winds and sturdiness are 1 of the factors that made me look at the more expensive greenhouses, thanks for reply

rhiwfield

jhe, I paid £1420 but erected it myself with aid of OH after laying concrete foundations. Price included tools and green finish. Pleased with greenhouse at end of day and it may just outlast the house

A._Badger

Just over a year ago I bought a greenhouse which is probably even more expensive than a Robinson (which I had on my shortlist) -a Hartley Botanic and I've never regretted spending the extra.

If you are really going to make use of it, a greenhouse is a wonderful thing and if you plan to stay put then the extra you pay will not amount to a great deal averaged out per year.

It's not exactly 'money saving' I realise, but some things are worth paying extra for, I believe.