Following Storm Chandra destroying my Vitavia greenhouse, I’ve chosen a replacement, and it’s now on order. With a little luck and a following wind, it will be operational in April.
The greenhouse is cleared and next we’ll be preparing the base for the new house.
Vitavia
Firstly, my Vitavia Jupiter greenhouse has served me well for some years. Having said that, it’s really not tough enough to cope with the conditions here. We live 200 metres above sea level, on a hillside that’s open to the Irish Sea. The winter storm winds just whip in from the Atlantic and rage around. Exposed, hardly covers it!
The other thing on my mind is that we seem to have more powerful storms than we used to and more of them every year. I think it most likely to get worse in years to come. So, I think it best to go for something stronger to replace it.
I must admit that, looking at the twisted metal and broken glass after Chandra had had its fun, I wondered whether to just give up. It only took an hour of sunshine to put that thought back in the box.
I did think about replacing it with a polytunnel as, properly built, they’re very storm resistant. But, whilst a polytunnel can do most of what a greenhouse can, a greenhouse is superior for some things. Tomatoes in particular are faster in a greenhouse.
Decisions, decisions
I spent ages looking online at different greenhouse makes to the point where I got totally confused. Not quite as bad as that sinking feeling you get when your Amazon search returns 10,000 results, but getting there. So, stripped it back down to the minimum. I want a greenhouse that will most likely survive the storms and last me out.
Wooden Greenhouse
I looked at a wooden greenhouse from the same people who made my potting shed, Swallow. Excellent quality and service, but a bit beyond my budget for an 8×14 greenhouse.
Aluminium Greenhouse
I narrowed things down to three makes that I felt would do the job. A Rhino, Janssens and Elite. However, only the Elite seems to have the size I require and, whilst it’s not cheap, it’s not ludicrously expensive.
The Elite Titan is built and tested to survive 85mph winds gusting to 100mph. Looking at the aluminium bars, with their box section rather than the T section most greenhouses have, I can see why.
The toughened glass is 4mm, cheaper greenhouses usually use 3mm toughened glass. 4mm glass is 25% thicker but around 75% stronger. Furthermore, the screwed bar capping that holds the glass in place should prevent blow outs.
One other thing I noticed, some of the bolts holding the old greenhouse together had sheared in the storm. The Elite’s bolts are claimed to be high tensile and scientifically tested to be 2 1/2 times stronger than standard aluminium bolts. Hope so!
Installation
Whilst installing a domestic greenhouse isn’t hugely challenging, so long as you’ve some basic DIY type skills, it does take time and effort. I’m afraid I don’t feel capable of lugging around a large number of large sheets of glass. A professional, who can probably erect a greenhouse in his sleep, is bound to do a faster, better job.
Happily the firm supplying the greenhouse, Greenhouse Stores, have an installation service. It will be interesting to pick the installers brain, I bet he knows some useful tips and tricks that aren’t in the manual.
Preparation
Before the new greenhouse goes up, the old had to come down. So sad seeing it turned into a pile of scrap metal, but has to be. The next job is to lay a new base. Just like a house, a greenhouse needs a good foundation.
The existing base, on which the greenhouse frame sits, is constructed from treated fencing posts, laid on their side. Quick and easy, but not as permanent as brick or concrete. So my builder will be laying a permanent base to support the frame that will last the life of the greenhouse. The old posts will be heating the house!
Guarantee
The greenhouse comes with a twenty-year frame guarantee, but that begs two questions. If something goes wrong, will the manufacturer still be around to honour a claim, and will I still be around to claim?
Photographs
I did hope to pop a couple of photos of the new greenhouse in this article, but despite numerous calls and emails, Elite’s marketing department haven’t managed to respond. You can see a photo of the Elite Titan 8 x 14 Greenhouse here and an image of the box section aluminium and bar capping here (scroll click down to secondary images below the main image)
Hi John, yes the storms are a problem, here in the west of Ireland we get our share. I live in County Roscommon, & when I moved here I had Keder come out & build a poly tunnel/growhouse. They also do a self build greenhouse & not of glass. They aren’t cheap but certainly stand up to the weather. Hope this one survives the coming years for you.
Kindest regards,Linda
Hi John, It looks good. I noticed the extra angled ‘struts’ which should give the frame much more strength. All the best with your purchase and enjoying your years of fun using your new greenhouse. All the best Marcus Cleathero.
I bought an Elite greenhouse last year in an end of range and season sale. We had 99mph wind here in Camborne, Cornwall in Storm Goretti. Not only did the greenhouse frame survive unscathed, but a 4’x2′ pane of 4mm glass was lifted out by the wind and left leaning against a concrete wall… completely undamaged! Not a scratch… incredible. So I’m now quite relaxed letting the grandchildren tear around the garden knowing they’ll be very unlikely to break any glass
Looks like a nice piece of engineering. We too are at 600ft and have a Cotswold valley to direct winds at us. My choice was a Rhino and even with a few near miss small tornadoes it has been a brilliant addition and would recommend it to anyone with wind resistance needs.
Thank you for your informaton sheets – very helpful. Do you have any advice on making home made seed compost. I had very little success last year with bags of peat free compost that I purchased. I make my own compost during the year but think this might be a bit strong for seedlings? Advice would be appreciated.