Building a Cold Frame

palmski

Ok i give up i have nearly lost a few fingers trying my best to build a cold Frame. OH has made me move green house so i thought i would replace it with a Cold Frame. Haha not so easy.
Does antbody have any plans or point me in the right direction. Where i start So i can try and build something.

I have asked around also to see if i can pick 1 up off somebody who is not using it. Even if i had to restore might be better than starting from scratch but no luck.

Any help would be great....

freezspirit

Sorry to ask but when you say cold frame do you mean brick or timber?

Here are some examples and plans:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardenersworld/video/alys_thrifty/cold_frame.shtml
http://www.allotment.org.uk/greenhouse-growing/build-coldframe.php
http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/advice/how-to-build-a-brick-coldframe/
http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=388
http://tipnut.com/how-to-build-a-cold-frame-with-an-old-window/

alanobrien

Lots on the indestructables site here;

http://www.instructables.com/pages/search/search.jsp?cx=partner-pub-1783560022203827%3Anpr2q7v5m6t&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cold+frame

Furny

Have you put a request on your local Freecycle/Freegle for one I would.
In our area they keep popping up week to week as people are having a sort out in the nice weather.

Lotus-eater

Cold frame? Easy, 4 walls and a see through lid. I use an old shower screen as a lid and bricks as walls, when I don't need a cold frame the bricks get stacked somewhere else, or used to hold down cardboard or other useful uses.
I don't see the problem, just make 4 sides from planks of wood, join them together and stick a bit of plastic on top, if you don't have anything else to use hanging around.

newsgroup_monkey

Picked one up out of Aldi last night for £20. They were £30. Seems ok.....

ERICS_MUM

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Cold frame? Easy, 4 walls and a see through lid. I use an old shower screen as a lid and bricks as walls, when I don't need a cold frame the bricks get stacked somewhere else, or used to hold down cardboard or other useful uses.
I don't see the problem, just make 4 sides from planks of wood, join them together and stick a bit of plastic on top, if you don't have anything else to use hanging around.

sounds good, but I don't know how to join them together especially at the corners (without breaking my fingernails :rotfl::rotfl:) Details would be useful please. :T

Does it need a base or can it sit directly on top of soil, paving etc ?

olbas_oil

Since you're downsizing from a greenhouse, this is probbaly not what you want, but anyone going in the other direction (from nothing) could try plastic storage boxes. I have some semi-transparent boxes, just right for a seed tray or a few pots, with a sheet of safety glass over the top.
It's also a very convenient size for moving back indoors when frost threatens.

Lotus-eater

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

sounds good, but I don't know how to join them together especially at the corners (without breaking my fingernails :rotfl::rotfl:) Details would be useful please. :T

Does it need a base or can it sit directly on top of soil, paving etc ?

Well, you get your planks and nail or screw them to a post each end, then you fix the next planks to one end, stick a post on that, etc.
Umm, it's not brain surgery.
Have you not got anything you can use without major surgery?

It can sit directly on the soil.

Without breaking your fingernails Mmm? Sounds like you need one of those multitools in your life. What are they called, oh yes, a man :rotfl:

annie123

Deep draw from a chest of drawers and bubble wrap over the top.

Or refuse to leave the greenhouse unless OH provides a suitable alternative.

Finger nails should be left intact after either of the above:D

Or start building one in the front garden.......OH will be embarrassed that they are not doing the DIY......Male ego's etc and step in to do, or nice male neighbours should come over and offer lots of advice, then offer to make them a cup of tea whilst they do it for you:cool:

valk_scot

Your OH made you move the greenhouse? Why? Without knowing the exact reason I'm not going to say you should have told him exactly what to do with his made because there are good reasons to move greenhouses after all, but then again I'd like to see my husband tell me what to do with my greenhouse, lol. I'd also like to see him do any DIY at all, but that's another story. Not the practical type.

As to fingernails, it's easier if you cut them short before you do DIY. Then they won't break off. I only grow my nails in the off season because otherwise they go through the ends of my gardening gloves.

I started making a cold frame the other day actually. I've cleared out a corner next to my greenhouse (same place for 12 years now and good for many more) where for years I've been dumping the grubby older sand from the kids' sand pit. I had two sides already made from the brick walls and the third was the side of the greenhouse, which has a solid base edge. I basically cut scrap timber to fit the front edge and put some wooden pegs in to hold three planks of this sitting one on top of the other. I put some pegs in the rear and side edges as well, against the wall, and the lid will sit on these. I left a 3" layer of sand in the base to provide drainage and also to nestle the pots into...this provides a wee bit of a heat sink to keep the plants warmer at night. I've got an old window with a glass pane in it that will sit neatly on the pegs...it slopes forwards a bit, for drainage...and for any gaps in the side I'll put a bit of foam pipe core along the window frame. It will not look Garden Weekly pretty, but it will be functional.

I'd actually make Hubby spring for a new greenhouse though. "Made" indeed!