It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 17:36

Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Roll up, roll up. Here you will find everything from new workshop designs, through builds to completed workshop tours. All magnificently overseen by our own Mike G and his tremendously thorough 'Shed' design and generous advice.

Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby MikeJ460 » 11 Apr 2021, 15:33

As a concession to accepting the impending build of my expensive workshop, Mrs J has asked for a lean-to greenhouse. How could I refuse...

Here's the dwarf wall, It's 4725mm long by 2165mm wide made from coursed Northamptonshire ironstone and mortared with 2:1 sharp sand and NHL 3.5 hydraulic lime cement. It's not perfect as I'm no brickie but it's level and my wife is very pleased with it. It's on a re-enforced concrete foundation then a row of 7.3N blocks then a row of engineering bricks that I already had in.

Dwarf Wall.jpg
(1.33 MiB)

I doubled up the door gable walls rather than build pillars as it was easier and will be stronger still as I fitted a healthy number of ties betwixt both. The whole thing is fixed to our neighbours outbuilding using wall ties; This building is a converted pig sty that we rather bizarrely owned half of (it's all sited in their garden), so we did a deal with them to give them our half (we only stored logs in it) and blocked off the doorway. The whole building is a pig's ear of wonky brickwork (forgive the pun) and I had to rebuild the left hand corner which was badly damaged by rain ingress and subsequent frost blown bricks; I also had to replace the old Birtol guttering that had been fitted without seals, and also fit eaves protectors under the old slate work. So the lean-to wall looks a tad 'rugged' shall we say, but as it will soon be covered in Mrs J's lovely tomatoes I'm not too bothered.

I will lay a french drain in the trench below the front of the walls just to help take rainwater away, although gutters will be fitted.

I plan to lay a quality geotextile over the floor then sharp sand onto which will be old quarry tiles we rescued from an old 1980s fireplace (they were most probably original tiles from the old scullery (now utility room). Either side of the quarry tiles will be infilled with purple slate pieces rescued from the renovated garden.

So the next step is to fit the window sill tomorrow then build the front frame and openers as a solid frame to screw into the sill. To cut down on cost I'm using reclaimed 4mm horticultural glass so I'm dimensioning the whole thing in a way that keeps glass cutting to a minimum (except the openers of course). I am watching MikeGs post with great interest to see how he fits his glass.
User avatar
MikeJ460
Seedling
 
Posts: 43
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 23:19
Location: Wherever a job needs doing m'lady
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby Malc2098 » 11 Apr 2021, 15:40

I would say, 'rustic' rather than rugged. :)

Nice start. Lucky lady.
Malcolm
User avatar
Malc2098
Sequoia
 
Posts: 7208
Joined: 03 Jul 2016, 11:10
Location: Tiverton
Name: Malcolm

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby Mike G » 11 Apr 2021, 16:50

That's going to be beautiful. That old wall behind it is glorious. There's hardly anything more attractive than an old wall, in my view. Your plinth looks excellent. Yours is much the same sort of size as mine, and I can tell you it feels huge inside. Your wife will love it.

Have you given any thought to having some bare earth inside? We didn't have that option, really, but it would be nice to be able to plant directly into beds inside the greenhouse. Monty does this in some of his.

As it happens, I'll be posting the final post on the greenhouse this evening, which will include the glazing. There is an absolutely magic product which has saved my bacon on a number of builds over the years which made the roof extremely easy. The vertical glazing was puttied in in the traditional way.

On the glazing cost.....you'll be surprised. Mine cost £365, total. The whole build came in at about £1600 to £1700.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9833
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby MikeJ460 » 24 Apr 2021, 11:05

Bit more progress this week, I chamfered the sill ledges, routed a drip channel and mitred the corners which I strengthened with 3 x 60mm exterior pocket screws. The choice of Bedec colours didn't pass muster so Mrs J chose Sandtex 10 year old, so I slapped on a bit of undercoat. There's no fancy joints here, I don't have the time to hand cut loads of dovetails etc. I'm already under daily pressure from Mrs J as she frets over the rapid growth of her seedling tomatoes which have taken over our kitchen windows.
20210417_115353.jpg
Sill mitre
(1.07 MiB)

Followed MikeG's advice and used Hippo Pro 3 to stick the sills down onto the stone wall and for all joints, it is excellent stuff if a tad messy to use in joints.
20210416_114336.jpg
Hippo 3
(970.66 KiB)

I glued and screwed the 3 pieces of sill on my mft in the garage (used a piece of cling film under each corner to protect the table), braced the long end and after 24 hrs we eased it out of the old garage onto the wall. I tested for square and then ran 3 rows of adhesive, laid the sill and tapped level with a rubber mallet. The next day the sills were rock solid on the wall.

I then set about making tenons on 9 mullions on my router table after making a simple jig for the table and another for the plunge routed mortises in the frame bottom (I decided to make separate frames to glue and screw to the sills as I could do this on a nice flat, square table, albeit a bit to big for said table).
20210419_145027.jpg
Tenons
(251.59 KiB)

Getting jiggy with it
20210421_144423.jpg
Jig
(1.05 MiB)

20210421_163550.jpg
Chopping out
(258.81 KiB)

20210421_162126.jpg
Mullion joint
(264.22 KiB)


I then dry fitted the bottom of the front frame and mullions onto the sills more to show Mrs J what it would look like, several brownie points..
20210422_132347.jpg
Dry fit 1
(1.03 MiB)

Then I made the top mortise and tenons and dry fitted the complete front frame on the table and supported one end on a portable work bench.
20210423_171808.jpg
Front dry fit 2
(1.05 MiB)

I'm now at the stage of rebating the mullions for glass and openers. I'm going to use rubber seal and clamp the glass in place using chamfered capping screwed into each mullion. However I have a couple of questions for MikeG. I'm allowing 2mm clearance all the way round for the glass but how do I achieve this at the bottom of these vertical panes? Do the panes need support clear of the frame bottom or just sit on the rubber seal? I don't know whether to clamp across the bottom of each pane or leave open?
User avatar
MikeJ460
Seedling
 
Posts: 43
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 23:19
Location: Wherever a job needs doing m'lady
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby Mike G » 24 Apr 2021, 14:10

I'd allow a little more than 2mm, Mike. Margin for error with the cutting, plus warpage of the timber, and that 2mm will soon be gone. I allowed 4 or 5mm all round. The bottom edge is supported on a couple of pins, tapped in after a test fit of the glass.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9833
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby MikeJ460 » 29 Apr 2021, 18:02

After 5 days of testing and enough routing passes to make my head spin I've finally made the 9 front mullions.

The doubled up feather boards worked very well in the router table and the 50mm cutter from Wealden did a great job. I still had to perform numerous passes though, as my dust collector hole clogged up otherwise.
20210429_130800.jpg
Routing both sides of a mullion
(1.01 MiB)

Here are the finished mullions, I'm fitting 4 front openers made from 45x45 timber so the corresponding rebates had to be carefully marked to ensure I rebated the correct edge to the correct depth dependant on its position in the frame. I setup a rough model of the fixed glass panels to measure the correct depth allowing for the 4mm glass, glazing strip and quadrant.
20210429_133338.jpg
Routed mullions
(309.81 KiB)

I then glued and screwed up the joints of 5 of the mullions to the bottom plate. I can only do 5 at a time as it's too long for the table and I didn't fancy wrestling with it outside in situ.
20210429_165509.jpg
Phase 1 glue up
(1.02 MiB)

The only cockup so far was cutting the mortises before routing the mullions so I ended up with a small gap on one side of each mortise, but this was soon filled with Hippo.
User avatar
MikeJ460
Seedling
 
Posts: 43
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 23:19
Location: Wherever a job needs doing m'lady
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby AJB Temple » 30 Apr 2021, 09:07

I must admit I admire you guys for doing this, but making a greenhouse seems very fiddly to me. That's a lot of work.
Don't like: wood, engines, electrickery, decorating, tiling, laying stone, plumbing, gardening or any kind of DIY. Not wild about spiders either.
User avatar
AJB Temple
Sequoia
 
Posts: 5431
Joined: 15 Apr 2019, 09:04
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby MikeJ460 » 11 May 2021, 19:50

All the sides are now constructed and today I did a dry fit to ensure it was square and level. I was pleased with the result so can now measure up and build the roof then glue and screw it all together.
Dry Fit.jpg
Dry Fit
(1.03 MiB)

Due to the wonky old wall it leans on I will need to make some tricky fillets.
Gap 1.jpg
Mind the gap
(994.38 KiB)

Also before I can build the roof I need to fix a problem with my neighbour's slate roof. I installed new guttering above the greenhouse but the slates are pretty shot so rain water isn't getting to the gutter and is simply running down the wall, so I'm planning to fit eaves protectors and flashing. I much prefer lead flashing but due to the lack of wall height I need to use adhesive flashing that I can fit behind the facia (which will also need to be replaced).
User avatar
MikeJ460
Seedling
 
Posts: 43
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 23:19
Location: Wherever a job needs doing m'lady
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby Cabinetman » 12 May 2021, 15:11

It’s coming on very nicely, I’m jealous it’s a long time since I did anything like that. And a greenhouse is one of the last things I actually need lol.
Cabinetman
Old Oak
 
Posts: 3195
Joined: 11 Oct 2020, 07:32
Location: Lincolnshire Wolds + Pennsylvania
Name: Ian

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby MikeJ460 » 22 May 2021, 18:49

Progress has been slower than I hoped due this awful weather but I've now glued and screwed the front and side frames. I've also routed out all the rebates on the rafters.

I then did a bit of filleting to fill the gaps created by the wonky wall.
20210522_182057.jpg
One of two fillets made
(1.06 MiB)

Then, after yet another downpour I glued and screwed the rafter plate onto the wall, it took 1.5 Hippo adhesive sausages to fix it and no squeeze out. I used stainless steel screws into fischer plugs and it's as solid as a rock and perfectly level (unlike the brickline behind it!).
20210522_135109.jpg
Rafter plate fitted
(1003.14 KiB)

I then set about trying to repair the neighbour's slate roof but when I removed the old facia it was riddled with woodworm and I found one section of the wall plate was so rotten it couldn't support new slates
20210522_143219.jpg
Rotten wall plate
(1.02 MiB)

So I wedged in an eaves protector under the damaged slates to ensure rain water went into the gutter and not down into my greenhouse. Our neighbours have assured me they will be renovating this building soon so I screwed the new facia in place to allow easy removal when the roof is renovated. As the wall plate was so poor I decided to leave the lead flashing until the building is finally renovated. Likewise I couldn't use flashbond either. Refitted the new gutters and it all looks much better.
20210522_182044.jpg
Ready for rafters
(1019.89 KiB)

I've made a rafter template so I can crack on and finish the rafters and fit them next week. I then need to devise a way to keep any wind blown rain from getting into the greenhouse through the wall/roof join as it won't have flashing for an while yet. I'm aiming to paint it the week after next as the latest forecast is for drier and warmer weather.
User avatar
MikeJ460
Seedling
 
Posts: 43
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 23:19
Location: Wherever a job needs doing m'lady
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby MikeJ460 » 02 Apr 2022, 22:09

Well it's been a while so I thought I'd bring you up to speed with progress on this greenhouse. June 2021 was a bit of a washout due to the bad weather followed by a severe throat infection but I made the upstands for the roof lights and decided to box joint them as they will be recessed into the rafters.

Upstands.jpg
(251.96 KiB)


I also made the casements:

Casements 1.jpg
(251.31 KiB)


I finished the gables, made and fitted the rafters, then the rooflights and then spent a long, boring time painting using one coat of Sandtex 10 year old primer/undercoat and 2 coats of Sandtex 10 year satin 'Bay Tree' but was pleased with the progress; sadly, my wife doesn't paint.

20210907_190130.jpg
(380.68 KiB)


I painted and fitted the casements using MikeG's technique which worked very well

Casements.jpg
(1.05 MiB)


After a long time painting I needed a break so spent a bit of time on building my drystone wall, ably supervised by the other female in my life...

Wall 2.jpg
(1.09 MiB)


wall 1.jpg
(1.1 MiB)


Back to the greenhouse:
Then came a big disaster, and one of my own making. After receiving a horrendous £1,560 quote for 4mm horticultural glass (cut to size mind you) I thought, in a moment of monumental stupidity, that it would be a wizard wheeze to buy a load of 2nd hand horticultural glass from a bloke on eBay who was demolishing his late father's nursery greenhouses and cut it myself. It was an absolute nightmare as, even after following advice to clean it thoroughly, warm it and cut it using a good quality Toyo cutter with inbuilt oiler, I rapidly broke enough to use up my spare panes before I developed a technique that worked. The other downside was that it was hellishly time consuming and I was only able to cut and fit one pane a day! I installed them using glazing tape and hardwood beading (with pre-applied glazing tape) nailed in with my 18g air gun.

Working at a snail's pace through the winter (the temperature needs to be above 10 degrees to fit the glazing tape and paint the beading) I managed to get most of it glazed and beading painted just as our neighbours announced that after years of mulling over converting their outbuilding to a studio, a builder was starting the following week and would I mind if they installed a scaffold across our greenhouse so the roof could be stripped and re-slated :o I was so worried they might damage the greenhouse but the builder did a great job, protecting the roof with a decorating sheet overlaid with plywood. This is what we had for 4 weeks (this doesn't show the protective sheeting):

Scaffold.jpg
(1.41 MiB)


More later..
User avatar
MikeJ460
Seedling
 
Posts: 43
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 23:19
Location: Wherever a job needs doing m'lady
Name:

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby Cabinetman » 02 Apr 2022, 22:27

Looks wonderful Mike, just been thinking that I’ve never made a window frame and I think I would really have to put my thinking cap on to do something like what you’ve just done. Ian
Cabinetman
Old Oak
 
Posts: 3195
Joined: 11 Oct 2020, 07:32
Location: Lincolnshire Wolds + Pennsylvania
Name: Ian

Re: Mike J's Lean-to Greenhouse (aka Workshop peacemaker)

Postby NickM » 03 Apr 2022, 07:22

It looks lovely. It sounds like hard work, but it will be worth the effort.

My Dad was a commercial flower grower (in Guernsey) and he tells me that the guy who did repairs on the greenhouses would hold a pane in one hand and freehand the cut with the other, all whilst perched 30 feet up in the air. :shock:
NickM
Nordic Pine
 
Posts: 905
Joined: 08 Dec 2020, 10:13
Name:


Return to Workshop Builds

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests