Greenhouse Plans_Part Two Cutting & Assembly

When I did drafting for a living, it wasn’t a good idea to start out by announcing that I was going to make mistakes because that’s a good way to not get the job. I had to do everything conventionally to look like engineering and architectural drawings with dimensions, title blocks, notes and all that

monkey business. But I’m doing this for fun and I’m not getting paid for it so I can be as folksy and artsy-fartsy as I want to be. Screw-up is the human condition………….look at General Motors and Toyota. I don’t care who you are or how good you get, you’re still going to get it wrong sometimes and I am among the world’s best examples.

The whole thing is just a bunch of rectangles.

The front and back rectangles are slanted at the top.

Back

Front

Of course, if you have a Miter Saw, it’s all easier. Once you get your angle marked, you just set the saw and no more angle marking.

My angle turned out to be 38°.

When building for myself, a trick I use whenever possible is to design with precut (Factory) lengths. 2”x 4”s come in 8’, 10’, 12’ etc. lengths. If you make you thing (whatever it is) 8’, 10’ or 12’ long to start with, you make less cuts and end up with less waste. The Raised Bed box was already 8’ long so I had to buy 10’ pieces for the Greenhouse and do a lot of cutting.

All the other rectangles are just simple boxes.

The first thing I did was to build the front, back and sides. Yours may be different but the dimensions here are: Back Legs 4’-1 ½” long side, Side Legs 1’- 6”, Front Legs 1’- 10 ¾” long side, Back and Front Base & Top 8’ – 8” and Side Base & Top 2’-7”. The legs are all 2” x 4”. The Bases and Side Tops are all 1” x 4” and the back and front Tops are 1” x 6”.

The tops of the front and back rectangles form the top and bottom of the first layer of the roof. This goofy statement will be make sense later.

When using the bigger screws (http://www.phillipsfastener.com/), I predrilled the holes.

I built the whole thing in two days. Before power tools, it would probably have taken two weeks………..maybe a month.

Next I added the sides of the first layer of the roof. My dimension on these sides is 3’-2 1/8” but you should measure yours in place to be sure.

Possible mistake: I could have put these together with StrongTie Plates but I was too lazy to go back to the store so I just glued and “toe nailed” them together with screws.

Next I added the 2nd layer of the roof. In this picture I colored the 2nd Roof Layer Blue so you can see the difference between it and the 1st Layer. Whereas the 1st Layer is made of 1” x 6”s, the 2nd Layer is made with 1” x 4”s. It’s just glued and screwed down using the 1- ¼” Yellow Screws. Don’t go by my dimensions………..they are off the CAD drawing and allow no tolerance. Measure these pieces in place.

This shows the 1st and 2nd Layers of the Roof. The 1st Layer is 1” x 6” and the 2nd Layer is 1” x 4”.

Next I put the Lid together. It fits inside the 2nd Roof Layer and I have colored it purple so that you can see the difference between them. The Lid is also made of 1” x 4”s. Again, do not go by the Lid dimensions here. Measure your pieces in place.

This time I hauled my lazy butt up to the store and bought the Simpson StrongTie Angle Brackets to pin the Lid together.

I used a pencil for a spacer between the lid and the Second Roof Layer (all the way around) to be sure there would be enough clearance between them. This is why I said not to use my dimensions and to measure all the top parts in place.

When I got the Lid assembled, I added the Hinges. I put one in the center and one at each end.

I put the whole thing together in the garage first.

Leaving the rectangles and as much as possible intact, I took it apart and hauled it around to the back yard. The back sits on the Raised Bed Box and almost flush against the fence. You leave a small space (about ½” unless you buy thicker Foam Board) between the fence and back rectangle for the Foam Board which will be inserted later.

Now would have been the best time to do it…………..and when you should do it.

The Sides and Front are screwed into the Bed Box so that the insides of them are flush with the inside of the Bed Box.

This means the Sides and Front will overhang the Bed Box on the outside about 2”.

I was able to keep most of the front intact and still manage to move it to the backyard.

With the entire frame assembled, I inserted the lid and reattached the hinges.

After getting it all together, I noticed that when I propped the Lid up in the center, it sagged on the sides a little.

So I had to add a 1” x 4” to stiffen it.

Cutting the Plastic: You can reverse a fine tooth circular saw blade if you have a lot to cut and I have done it for bigger projects.

For something small like this, I find it’s less trouble to just use scissors.

I started with the front.

As unusual luck would have it, 4 pieces cut to length worked out just right for the front.

Set a board along the bottom and about 2” below the base, to rest the plastic on.

Put the top of the Plastic even with the top of the 1st Roof Layer and over hang it a little (1 ½” maybe) on the sides to wrap it around the corner. Here is another oversight: When I got to this point, I realized that I didn’t have anything to screw the plastic to.

So I had to add a 1” x 4”.

And offset the center post to accommodate it.

When you get your first piece measured and cut, use an ink marker like a Scripto or Sharpie to mark and cut the others.

Do the same for the angled pieces on the sides.

This time, mine didn’t work out like the front and I had to cut some odd pieces.

Now you need some kind of adhesive to attach the Foam Closure strips.

I put the adhesive on both these things (Square Horizontal Foam Closure) and whatever I was sticking them to.

Then you stick them all around the edges of the Plastic wherever the heat might escape.

I had to cut it into small pieces to fit on the angle sides.

Run a temporary board around the bottom and about 2” below the base to rest the plastic on while you screw it on.

Overlap, bend and screw the plastic around the corners.

Run the plastic long on the lid all the way around to completely cover the top and over hang an inch or so to prevent any water from getting in.

At the top, run the plastic to about the center of the top of the Lid and just low enough to be out of the way of the hinges. When the Lid is open, the plastic needs to be able to clear this piece of drip edge that I put there to keep leaves from accumulating in the crack.

When the plastic is all attached, add a short piece of wood at the bottom of the lid and attach the handle.

Well dumb me, here’s another screw up. It would have been easier to put the Foam Board in before attaching the Plastic.

But it’s not impossible; you just have to wiggle it around until you have it where you want it. Also, I forgot, I squirted the Foam Board Adhesive all over the fence before I added the Foam Board.

It wasn’t long enough so I had to cut another piece.

And tape the seam with this reflective tape.

When it started getting down to freezing, I decided to seal up all the cracks with Weather Strip.

I’m not going to try to tell you everyplace to put it. Just look around all over the thing for anyplace where heat might escape……..all around where the lid closes and any other spots you might notice. It’s all pretty well assembled now and this thing is getting to damn long so I think I’ll do it in three parts. Part Three