New greenhouse advice

[Leif]

I’m looking for a new greenhouse, maybe 8 by 6, with toughened glass, which I will put on a brick base. It looks like Vitavia and Halls Popular are the same. Then there is the Simplicity Classic. The Halls is much cheaper. Does anyone have feedback on the quality of Halls and Simplicity? Hallsgreenhouses.co.uk has appalling reviews, Hallsgreenhouses.com has excellent reviews !! They are the same company too. Simplicity has excellent reviews. They use slightly different glazing seals and clips but otherwise are similar.

I have a Halls coldframe which has a serious design flaw as the top windows fly open in strong winds, destroying the frame.

I wonder if they are all made in China?

 

[Tetters]

Hello from Kent, and welcome to the forums These greenhouses are something I would personally never even consider, as they are metal. Fixing anything inside a metal greenhouse is always a problem.
My dream greenhouse would have to be timber framed, which is a much more friendly and useful type of construction.
All of my own houses over the years have been timber built for this reason, and mine were all DIY jobs. Mine were covered with tunnel polythene, which I found to be excellent, with a long guarantee. The posh ones though have toughened glass....I wish!

 

[Mike Allen]

I have a Halls cedar-wood greenhouse 8x12. Purchased second hand in 1984 for £100 Still serving me well.

 

[Leif]

I certainly don’t have the money for a wooden greenhouse. Aluminium with toughened glass is more than good enough. Fixing items to the frame is fine, as the uprights have grooves which allow bolts to be attached. That said, they can’t take a lot of weight.

I found assembly instructions for the Halls Popular and Simplicity Classic. They are almost identical. The Simplicity has a slightly different crosssection to the uprights, and the corner uprights have a small box section running along the length which is claimed to add strength, but I can’t see it adding much. The Simplicity uses stainless steel retaining clips and foam seals between the glass and frame, the Halls uses steel W shaped retaining clips and rubber seals. The Simplicity has door wheels with roller bearings. And the Simplicity includes a galvanised steel base. My opinion is that the difference does not justify the significant price difference.

 

[Tetters]

We made ours ourselves, but they were very big - 4 of them. Have you seen these ones I looked at on ebay - they seem to meet people's approval

Evesham Apex Roof Wooden Greenhouse - Three Sizes | eBay

Evesham Wooden Greenhouse is ideal for any avid gardener. The interior provides room for potting benches and shelving. Tall eaves and apex height allow space for taller, vine plants to grow and for working headroom.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Leif]

Unfortunately that is twice the price of a 10 by 6 foot aluminium GH with toughened glass. Also it would shade all of my plants due to the wooden side walls. I intend to grow beetroot, carrots etc in beds alongside tomatoes and hot peppers.

However, thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Leif]

I have a Halls cedar-wood greenhouse 8x12. Purchased second hand in 1984 for £100 Still serving me well.

That is good value. I have seen a used one for £800, and the wood was not in the best of condition. I am surprised yours has lasted so long.

 

[Tetters]

I think you should go straight out and buy a nice Halls greenhouse.

 

[Leif]

I think you should go straight out and buy a nice Halls greenhouse.

I am going to buy a Halls Popular 10 by 6 foot, £500 including delivery. I posted earlier that the wooden one is too expensive, but the post is still pending approval by a moderator.

 

[zigs]

I am going to buy a Halls Popular 10 by 6 foot, £500 including delivery. I posted earlier that the wooden one is too expensive, but the post is still pending approval by a moderator.

No idea why that post got caught in the spam filter Afraid the software has a mind of it's own, good job it doesn't have the nuclear launch codes yet

 

[Leif]

No idea why that post got caught in the spam filter Afraid the software has a mind of it's own, good job it doesn't have the nuclear launch codes yet

Probably because I quoted a post with a link, and being new it thought I was spamming. I removed the link, but that didn’t fix it. Once a bad ‘un, always a bad ‘un, I guess.

 

[zigs]

Probably because I quoted a post with a link, and being new it thought I was spamming. I removed the link, but that didn’t fix it. Once a bad ‘un, always a bad ‘un, I guess.

Aah, you know I looked at that post over and over and couldn't for the life of me work out why it had been caught in the filter

If it happens again it's best to send me a pm as I don't get notifications of stuff in the spam filter. No good asking the other staff as they don't seem to do anything

 

[GFTL]

I’m looking for a new greenhouse, maybe 8 by 6, with toughened glass, which I will put on a brick base. It looks like Vitavia and Halls Popular are the same. Then there is the Simplicity Classic. The Halls is much cheaper. Does anyone have feedback on the quality of Halls and Simplicity? Hallsgreenhouses.co.uk has appalling reviews, Hallsgreenhouses.com has excellent reviews !! They are the same company too. Simplicity has excellent reviews. They use slightly different glazing seals and clips but otherwise are similar.

I have a Halls coldframe which has a serious design flaw as the top windows fly open in strong winds, destroying the frame.

I wonder if they are all made in China?

I usually don't make recommendations but I feel strongly about what I'm about to tell you. I built an 8X10 wood frame greenhouse 10 years ago and covered it with greenhouse plastic, 2 layers. Since the original building I've easily extended it twice and it is now 8X32. This year I'm going to upgrade the exterior to double wall polycarbonate with 4' half walls (want it to look a little nicer). My only regret was not making it 10-12 feet wide originally and widing it now would be a lot of work. The 2X4 frame is like new even after 10 years and easy to attach things to.

 

[Tetters]

I usually don't make recommendations but I feel strongly about what I'm about to tell you. I built an 8X10 wood frame greenhouse 10 years ago and covered it with greenhouse plastic, 2 layers. Since the original building I've easily extended it twice and it is now 8X32. This year I'm going to upgrade the exterior to double wall polycarbonate with 4' half walls (want it to look a little nicer). My only regret was not making it 10-12 feet wide originally and widing it now would be a lot of work. The 2X4 frame is like new even after 10 years and easy to attach things to.

You have done, and are clearly going to continue doing, exactly the same as we did. The only difference is that we didn't feel the need to double up on the polythene, The stuff we bought was solely for poly tunnels, and made precisely for that job. We fixed it to each timber using timber batten, and the four big houses, built in x2 sections each stayed put for many years. The odd tear in the polythene (which carried a guarantee of 25 years) was easily repaired with special tape which came with the polythene. Over the years one or two battens began to rot, so they were easily replaced. All in all these fantastic houses were a total success. I ran a very successful business using these houses as a propagation unit for shrubs, and they lasted a lot longer than 25 years (yes, I am that old)

PS I used double walled bubble wrap for very cold weather to pin up inside my houses which raised the inside temperature by 2 degrees celsius, or 32 F

 

[Meadowlark]

I usually don't make recommendations but I feel strongly about what I'm about to tell you.

Based on what I have seen, you definitely should make more...very helpful recommendations that benefit a lot of readers.

Recommendations, like yours, based on actual experience are the absolute best IMO.