My Dad's Greenhouse

Daftanian

My Dad is in his late 70's and he loves gardening and using his greenhouse. The greenhouse used to belong to my late aunt and the dimensions are not standard. It is very old and in places the wood appears rotten. A couple of the panes of glass fell out the other day and my Dad has duct taped them back in. I worry that there is going to be an accident and have suggested we need to get a new one but he will not hear of it. Any suggestions on how to repair it and make it safe.

Mankysteve

Well it'll need stripping down, any rot removed and then repainted.

The glass plains that have drooped may just be due to old putty falling apart and it just needs renewing which is a easy job. Just need a tub of linseed putty any good high-street DIY place should sell it.


Dependent on the extent of the rot new bits of wood spliced in or just a wood filler for smaller areas but its important all rot to have been removed.

Its difficult to say wherever its salvageable without seeing it.

Sally_A

We had a similar problem, but bought a sheet of liteglaze from a local glass company - easy to cut to non standard shapes.

Davesnave

There is a chance that your Dad, being from a more practical era, has a decent understanding of what's safe & what isn't. Old wooden greenhouses won't normally come crashing down, except in very high winds, so he may be thinking he'll stay out of it in gales!

I inherited such a greenhouse at a previous property and used it, with odd bits falling out, for a few years. It was pretty obvious when the thing was becoming unstable and, at that point, I demolished it.

The problem with getting a new one may also be financial, as once you have owned a wooden greenhouse, the aluminium equivalent is, frankly, no substitute, and new wooden houses don't come cheap. Could you work with your Dad to locate a second hand cedar house? They don't come up very often, but I've seen a few for sale this year. The best help you could give in this respect is to locate someone with a Luton van, or similar, who could move one quicly once you find it. Also, is Dad up to making the base which it will need? If not, who could? Putting up a wooden house is easy (ish) but it's the preparatory work that takes time/skill, and he may know this.

Daftanian

My Dad isn't really up to laying a base for another greenhouse and I will be honest, I haven't a clue how to start. At the moment he has a concrete base but it doesn't have a middle, if that makes sense? It supports the greenhouse all around the rim but he grows cucumbers etc inside in the ground.
You are quite right Davesnave, a replacement wooden one would be very expensive. How would I go about locating a second hand cedar house?

laurel7172

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=2&_nkw=wooden%20greenhouse&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

You may be lucky and find one local enough, especially if you're prepared to be a bit patient. This is a winter job. You can't go demolishing the old one around his cucumbers, you know

Be aware, though, your dad might have a sentimental attachment to his late sister's greenhouse. And by the time you've bought a new/old one, collected it, paid for the base and any help you might need to take it down/put it up, you might be better off paying an old fashioned handyman (if you can find one) to fix the old one...

Davesnave

Daftanian wrote: »

You are quite right Davesnave, a replacement wooden one would be very expensive. How would I go about locating a second hand cedar house?

Local papers usually have free ads on-line these days. As you can see, eBay's good, but not often local. I'd have that Alton in Sleaford like a shot, otherwise!

Lotus-eater

Daftanian wrote: »

My Dad isn't really up to laying a base for another greenhouse and I will be honest, I haven't a clue how to start. At the moment he has a concrete base but it doesn't have a middle, if that makes sense? It supports the greenhouse all around the rim but he grows cucumbers etc inside in the ground.
You are quite right Davesnave, a replacement wooden one would be very expensive. How would I go about locating a second hand cedar house?

You don't need a new base then, as long as the new greenhouse is the same size. You have a perfect base already by the sound of it.

You need to have a good look at the greenhouse and see what condition it is in. As steve says, glass falling out, although potentially dangerous, can be nothing more than dried putty.
You just need to have a look at the state of it, take a tiny screwdriver to assess the rot in the wood, it may just need a bit of TLC.