How To Build A Greenhouse
How To Build A Greenhouse – Andi Teggartto is excited to share his incredible DIY greenhouse with us.
“Hi! I’m Andi and I’m so excited to be at A Beautiful Mess today! Last fall, I moved from San Francisco to Nashville with my husband Eric, my daughter Lucy, and our dog Jack. 650- San Francisco’s Lower Haight (my daughter’s burial) that he sleeps in our closet!) square meter apartment to own a 100 year old house.
How To Build A Greenhouse
When we moved in, our house (here are inside photos!) had a standalone garage in the backyard, accessible from the back street. As our home inspection report suggests, we quickly decided we wouldn’t put our car there as it was broken and termite/damaged. A few weeks after we moved in, Eric proposed the idea of converting the garage into a greenhouse.
Free Diy Greenhouse Plans To Build Your Own Greenhouse
We both have always loved plants and thought this was a challenging and creative way to transform and grow an ugly, useless structure into a meaningful, functional, beautiful space.
The whole project took about seven months from start to finish and we encountered a number of challenges along the way – the weather, our lack of experience with the scale of this project, and the biggest problem was that we had to deal with a lot of things. Nashville + Nashville Historical Society paperwork, codes, complaints, applications, approvals and more to make it a reality.
I’m excited to share how we turned a dilapidated garage into a greenhouse! I hope you were inspired by this project and got some useful information in case you wanted to build your own. You can always message me @eastnashgreenhouse for any questions about greenhouse!
Quick note: Our greenhouse construction began with demolishing the termite, dilapidated garage in our backyard. If you already have a greenhouse in mind and no existing structure, you can skip Steps 1 and 2 and start from Step 3!
Build A Backyard Greenhouse
1. OTHER EXCEPT. Start with any partition, window or door and start swinging your sledgehammer – make sure to hold the frame in place! Be sure to check the build from start to finish so it doesn’t fall apart on you! Once you’ve landed on the studs, use a jigsaw with a wooden blade and nails to cut through and knock down the wall.
My husband Eric has done it all by himself, but he recommends that you find a helpful friend for this part of the process as it is quite demanding and laborious.
2. cleaning. This part isn’t flashy or fun, but it’s necessary after Step 1 because you have to get rid of the old stuff before you can build the new one! We removed a lot of debris, but saved some garage curtains, a few old doors and windows that we integrated into the last greenhouse. We also found some really old plates (from the 1920s!) in our garage and cleaned them up and kept them for display in the conservatory.
3. BUY OLD WINDOWS. Now to the fun stuff – window hunting! There’s a lot of renovation going on in our East Nashville neighborhood, so it’s really easy for us to pick up the windows. We’re able to buy windows (free!) from five different houses in our area. We love that they are not all the same shape or size – which makes greenhouses even more unique and fun! Facebook Marketplace, garage sales, real estate sales, and auctions are other great places to look for vintage windows.
How To Build A Greenhouse In Your Backyard
4. CORRECTION STRUCTURE. Using old windows means you’ll have a super unique framing throughout the greenhouse structure. Our greenhouse is 10×14′, so we arranged the old windows like a jigsaw puzzle and made 2×4 gaps of different lengths to put together the four mostly glass sides of the structure. bamboo.
I recommend collecting all the windows first and then taking the time to map the entire structure with detailed drawings. Be sure to invest in pressure-treated lumber when building an exterior structure. New to this, we had a 2×4 non-pressure treated back panel in the ground on one side of the greenhouse and had to disassemble it and replace the panel halfway through the project!
Learn from our mistakes and only use pressure-treated wood. 🙂 A friend of mine who loves gardening said to have a fan for air circulation in the greenhouse, so we bought a solar powered roof fan and installed it on the back wall of the greenhouse.
5. CONSTRUCTION ROOF. The easiest greenhouse roof covering is corrugated plastic, which you can attach to the rafters. This will make the roof construction process much shorter and much more manageable. It will also look good! We collected a lot of recycled windows and also used old windows for the roof. This poses some unique challenges, but we love the finished product!
Build A Greenhouse
If you want to shade your windows, here’s what to do: Start with a long board (2×6) and anchor your beams by cutting bird mouths on the sides for support. Similar to frame construction, plan to place windows above ground to size your joists, making sure the joists are supported to the face by the structure’s upper joists.
You will then attach the joists to the frames and frames on the windows using storm straps. We fill the gaps with silicone sealant and along the rafters of the ridge we use white asphalt roofing sheets.
6. REFRESHING SPACE. The area around the greenhouse was not very nice so we decided to renovate the area around it. We set up the greenhouse on a concrete slab where the garage used to be, so we plant flowers and plants around the greenhouse that really refresh the outside.
We hired a local contractor to build a deck in front of the greenhouse to add a private entrance to the space. The deck covers the existing concrete slab and overall makes the greenhouse look more finished.
The Greenhouse Project: She’s Done!
7. SON TIME! Here’s the fun part – you’re almost done! After a reliable Instagram poll, I had the idea to paint the greenhouse glossy black. After my last trip to Tulum, I saw beautiful white greenhouses and immediately decided that we should paint ours white as well.
The white color also suits our home and the backyard atmosphere in general. Painting the entire structure in one color really helped make the greenhouse look more finished and elegant, and we LOVE the look of it!
8. START THE TREE! Here’s the *most* fun part! Now that the greenhouse is complete, you can start decorating its interior and of course all the plants! When Eric built the structure, he built some planters inside.
Most of our potted plants are simple terracotta pots. Dangerous plants look great hanging on the edge of a shelf, and you can’t mistake them for yellow disease or English ivy. We bought a few new and “raised” plants that I found on Facebook Marketplace and garage stores and pruned some of our other plants to create new ones for the greenhouse.
Building A Greenhouse From Scratch
We are very pleased with the result of the greenhouse! It really changed our backyard. It was so special to take our daughter Lucy for a walk in the greenhouse and show her how we watered, cared for and sampled the raspberry bushes! For now, we are very grateful that this is complete and we are working on adding more trees and plants to the area. Finally, we want to hang lights here and add benches here so we can have brunch and dinner with friends! I also want to use it as a backyard office or yoga studio. Thanks again ABM for having me! “
You can see more photos of Andi’s greenhouse and home in Nashville on Instagram, and be sure to check out our plant archive for DIY tips and tricks!
Credits // Author: Andi Teggart. Project credits: Andi Teggart and Eric Burdullis. “After” photo: Amber Ulmer. Photos were edited with A Color Story Desktop. Eye-obsessed editors pick out every product we review. If you make a purchase from a link, we may earn a commission.
Greenhouses give you year-round control of your growing environment, so if you live in an area with all-season or harsh winters or summers, your plants and crops will not be affected. Just maintain the climate in your greenhouse and enjoy lots of herbs and vegetables all year long.
How To Build A Greenhouse
Greenhouses need a clear cover that allows light and solar radiation to pass through ceilings and walls but will protect your plants from cold air, pests and the elements. Most commercial and large-scale greenhouses are made of glass walls, but don’t worry: a
How to build a glass greenhouse, how to build a wooden greenhouse, how to build a greenhouse for winter, how much to build a greenhouse, how to build a large greenhouse, how to build a greenhouse pdf, how to build a hoop greenhouse, how to build a homemade greenhouse, how to build a pvc greenhouse, how to build a polycarbonate greenhouse, how to build a simple greenhouse, how to build a commercial greenhouse
