Blog from a greenhouse builder

Back to Teeside

23/7/2021

Amazing, scorching hot weather again all week. I was careful to leave out a few panes of glass whilst working in the heat - to give myself some breeze - and worked on into the cooler evenings to make up for all the times I ran to hide in the van to cool down.

This is the "Tim" greenhouse (4m long by 3.5m wide) built entirely in accoya with a 50 year guarantee. My customers chose the colour anthracite for the paint finish. The aim was to build a greenhouse which seems in place with the house and other buildings around it and we were all pleased with the end result.

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Somerset

15/7/2021

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This isn't a big garden, and there are a few neighbours, so we want to maximise the space but not build within 2m of the boundary so we don't get any planning issues. I'm building a "Mike" greenhouses - 2.2m wide by 2.8m long - but it's tall with a 2m high door and 45deg pitch roof so it's very spacious inside.

My first, of two, visits here is to build all the base - and the grounds was really hard going with loads of rubble. Thankfully, this rubble will make a useful base for pathways elsewhere in the garden so I bagged it up for use later.

My customer has asked for raised beds on both sides of a central pathway this time.

Now back to the workshop to build the front elevation and order up the glass. I'll return in a couple of weeks with the accoya structure, glass and shelving and complete the installation.

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Building an arched bridge for home

2/7/2021

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We have a small stream in the back garden, which occasionally becomes a raging torrent taking water off the mountains behind us.

I needed to replace the rotten bridge and wanted to build an arched brick bridge. I've used engineering bricks - it's probably too red for this garden but the plants and moss will soften it over time. The bricks need to be tough and water resistant to cope with heavy water flow at times though.

The first job was to dig down to the water level and lay two concrete slabs as foundations for the brickwork. These slabs are probably bigger than they need to be but, again, always better to play safe and over compensate.

I then built a timber frame to support the brick archway and the concrete pathway in the centre - before covering with soil and laying grass seed.

There is about 7 inches of concrete in the path - laid in 3 layers with rebar and mesh added. I waited a month before removing the formwork.