Oh My! I've just bought a greenhouse!

[SarrissUK]

It's a bargain! I would never buy a new glass greenhouse now, I think. I got mine second hand and it was probably 5 years old when I got it. Not got a thing wrong with it

Use some WD40 on the sliders for the door once you've cleaned it all up.

It will serve you well for years

[Mark_Riga]

Thank you VC!! I need to hire a van. I'm hoping it will all go in the B&Q vans as they are on offer at the mo'.

If you need to hire a van, I would dismantle completely and stack where it is (advise the seller). Then hire the van when you know it just needs loading/unloading. Just in case you have any problem dismantling and hopefully, you won't break any glass trying to rush the job.

[Mr Bones]

Nice one Gardening Gal. What every one else says plus don't stack the glass flat one on top of the other, stack it leant up. When it's stacked flat the weight of the top sheets cause the bottom ones to break which can result in a cascade type effect.
Good luck with it

[gardening_gal]

Thank you all! Some really good tips/advice which I appreciate.

It wouldn't have ocurred to me to lean the glass up, I would have laid it all flat on top of each other, nor would I have labelled every pane of glass but I will now and I'll mark the framing too.

Thanks all for taking the time and thanks for all those links VC. Noted and read.

I'm getting excited again now.

[greenishfing]

I'm sure you'll enjoy both erecting and growing in it. I didn't really want a greenhouse until I got one. Now I've accumulated four. I found putting them together really satisfying (but then all I really wanted as a little girl was a meccano set but kept getting things like dolls).

[veggiechicken]

It wouldn't have ocurred to me to lean the glass up, I would have laid it all flat on top of each other, nor would I have labelled every pane of glass but I will now and I'll mark the framing too.

If you slip a sheet of newspaper between each pane it makes it easier to separate them when you start to build the GH. If there's any muck on the glass they can stick together. You'll probably want to clean each pane first too.

[bikermike]

Two things
1) is there a motor factor near you? A small tube of coppaslip (or similar) for the nuts and bolts when it goes back up will make life easier
2) when putting glass clips back on, I found a piece of stiff metal strip is the best thing to poke the clip into place to avoid chipping/cracking the glass

[gardening_gal]

Well Karma is a ...bit of a nasty person...sometimes.

Grumpy son was working in Norway and was travelling home on Sunday. Late on Saturday night, he slipped on the ice and hurt his hand. He couldn't move it and it swelled up to twice normal size. He travelled home with it like that and went to A&E this morning to have it checked as he thought it was broken. It's not thankfully, but it will take some time to heal.

I told him that was Karma slapping him in the face for being less than supportive about dismantling and picking up the greenhouse.

As for the greenhouse, I messaged the seller to say I'd be there tomorrow and didn't get a response. I'm beginning to feel twitchy. I hope I haven't just lost the deposit I left with him and the greenhouse is still actually there for pickup! I'm sure I'm just being daft but you know when you get a feeling you just cant shift????? #pleasebewrong

Will let you know...........

[Stan79]

I’m sure it will be fine. People have a lot on their plates. What did your message say? That you’d be there or were you checking if it was ok and asked a question?

[gardening_gal]

I said I was planning to be there at a certain time and asked if that was ok for him. No response at all, yet he was very responsive during the initial contacts. I'm going to drive up in the car first tomorrow just in case. No point in rocking up with a van until I know for sure. I'm being daft, I'm sure I am. I admit to sometimes overthinking things, that's probably what I'm doing now.

[Bren In Pots]

Hope it all goes well for you tomorrow GG.

[greenishfing]

Good Luck!

[Stan79]

How did it go?

[gardening_gal]

You know that phrase 'bitten off more than you can chew'? Well I felt that applied to me yesterday.

Greenhouse was still there and seller was expecting me so all was fine and clearly my spidey sense was twitching just because I'm getting old and jaded.

The seller had just bought the house and had workmen in renovating it. It took me all day to dismantle the thing and one of the workmen saw me struggling with the base as it was dug into the ground so he came out to help me pull it up. I was eternally grateful I tell you!

I was expecting to be a couple of hours but 6 and a half hours later I was still fighting with the thing!

I'm usually quite a confident soul when it comes to stuff like this but for some reason I felt very nervous about it all and decided not to hire a van and try to get it into my car instead. I got half of it in and I'm going back for the rest of it today. I got home yesterday around 4.30, went straight into a hot bath and I was in bed for 5.30, I was exhausted.

I need to get the long lengths today, they are around 12 feet long so will stick out the back of the car. I know I need to tie an orange 'thing' around the ends and I'll tie the boot door down with ratchet straps so I'm hoping it will be ok.

I lost 5 panes of glass, 2 were already cracked in situ, I didn't notice this when I first saw it. The other 3 were when I had to brake hard on the way home and they moved against each other despite the fact the were tied in and had some vet bed round them for protection.I haven't actually measured the glass yet and I don't know what thickness it is but it feels very, very thin.

I've decided to just buy all new clips, many of them were rusty. Also a lot of the black rubber was coming off as it was stuck to the glass so I will just buy some new seal too I think.

When I started dismantling it, I quickly became aware of just how uncared for it was, there was hard moss 'sealing' parts together and I had to scrape a lot of mud away from it just to be able to access some screws. I'm really hoping it cleans up ok and it's still a decent buy. One of the workmen said it would have fetched �200 easily but the seller just needed it gone so he could clear the garden so he sold it cheaper for a quick sale. Who knows. It'll be a wee while before I get it up as I need to move a shed first but when I do I'll post pics and you can tell me what you think. Wish me luck for today, I checked online how long things can stick out the back of your car and I should be ok so I hope I don't get stopped by the Police.

[greenishfing]

Shop around for greenhouse glass, the price varies hugely. One of our local garden centres sells 10 sheets (60x60) a lot cheaper than singles. Even singly they sell them for under �3 a pane.
Rubber is reasonable. Again shop around. In the end I bought a massive roll very cheaply. Clips, bolt and spacers are not particularly expensive in bulk. The good thing is that while the greenhouse is all stripped down it will be easier to clean.
Basically you have done the worst bit now.