Greenhouse Maintenance

Hi, We inherited a wood frame greenhouse when we brought the house a couple of years ago. Work on house and garden have meant that although I’ve used the greenhouse to grow tomatoes etc there has been no time to do anything to it in the way of maintenance. This spring I’d like to remedy that. The wood looks sound, other than the strip the door runs on which need replacing, but it does leak. It has two opening windows in the roof. They seem to shut tight but still let rain in. It’s also leaking a bit in a couple of other areas. If I can make it water tight I’d much rather keep it than replace it with a new one, but what do I do to stop the rain getting in... I know it needs a good clean down. Soft wire brush and sand paper I presume, but what treatment should I then use on it? I don’t know what the wood is or what it may have had used on it in the past. .[epzimg]169003_1612611485.jpg[/epzimg] [epzimg]169003_1612611501.jpg[/epzimg]

Hi,

We inherited a wood frame greenhouse when we brought the house a couple of years ago. Work on house and garden have meant that although I’ve used the greenhouse to grow tomatoes etc there has been no time to do anything to it in the way of maintenance. This spring I’d like to remedy that.

The wood looks sound, other than the strip the door runs on which need replacing, but it does leak. It has two opening windows in the roof. They seem to shut tight but still let rain in. It’s also leaking a bit in a couple of other areas.

If I can make it water tight I’d much rather keep it than replace it with a new one, but what do I do to stop the rain getting in...

I know it needs a good clean down. Soft wire brush and sand paper I presume, but what treatment should I then use on it? I don’t know what the wood is or what it may have had used on it in the past.

.

Once an old wooden greenhouse starts to leak they can be a pain to sort out. You will probably find that some of the timber is rotting on the roof sections especially if it has been neglected. Its probably getting on like the rest of us and producing greenhouse gas Steve:)

Once an old wooden greenhouse starts to leak they can be a pain to sort out. You will probably find that some of the timber is rotting on the roof sections especially if it has been neglected.

Its probably getting on like the rest of us and producing greenhouse gas

Steve

Many thanks Steve. Sounds as though I might, regrettably, be better off looking at replacing rather than spending out on this one :(

Many thanks Steve. Sounds as though I might, regrettably, be better off looking at replacing rather than spending out on this one

Knock it down, have a patio and get your tomatoes from Asda

Knock it down, have a patio and get your tomatoes from Asda

Surely the leak doesn't matter...it would save you having to water anything :P

Surely the leak doesn't matter...it would save you having to water anything

As above :)

As above

For a reasonable repair I would use glaziers QUICK DRY putty that you can get in a tube such as ' U can' , you can get the job done in an hour. Ken

For a reasonable repair I would use glaziers QUICK DRY putty that you can get in a tube such as ' U can' , you can get the job done in an hour.

Ken

[quote]For a reasonable repair I would use glaziers QUICK DRY putty that you can get in a tube such as ' U can' , you can get the job done in an hour. Ken [/quote] Many thanks. I’ll get some and give it a try when the weather improves.

Quote:For a reasonable repair I would use glaziers QUICK DRY putty that you can get in a tube such as ' U can' , you can get the job done in an hour.

Ken


Many thanks. I’ll get some and give it a try when the weather improves.

The silicon that you put around the bath will do the trick but you'll need to prepare everything before you start. All the areas that you're going to (try to) seal will need to be squeaky clean. In the days when I worked for a living, I bodged, sorry, repaired, several leaks that way.

The silicon that you put around the bath will do the trick but you'll need to prepare everything before you start.

All the areas that you're going to (try to) seal will need to be squeaky clean.

In the days when I worked for a living, I bodged, sorry, repaired, several leaks that way.

Looks like an Alton? The glass panes in the roof panels are probably held in place by little bits of plastic at the bottom, which may have moved, letting the glass slide down a little, letting water leak in at the top. Try pushing the glass up, from the bottom, if this is the case. You can buy new plastic stops, or if you don't care too much about it looking perfect, just pop a screw into the wood to hold the glass up. Make sure the wood is in good condition first. We treat ours with Alton's own greenhouse preservative, but any normal brand would probably be fine.

Looks like an Alton?
The glass panes in the roof panels are probably held in place by little bits of plastic at the bottom, which may have moved, letting the glass slide down a little, letting water leak in at the top.
Try pushing the glass up, from the bottom, if this is the case. You can buy new plastic stops, or if you don't care too much about it looking perfect, just pop a screw into the wood to hold the glass up. Make sure the wood is in good condition first.

We treat ours with Alton's own greenhouse preservative, but any normal brand would probably be fine.

We have always had an Aluminium Greenhouse. The current Greenhouse I bought new and assembled it in 1988 and it is operating perfectly. Over the years I have had to replace a few pieces of cracked glass and fitted automatic opening devices to the window and rear vent and these all work fine. Some years ago I added a plastic windows on top of the glass for the side facing into the garden. This was when my children might be throwing or kicking a ball. It did the job as we had no panes broken due to kids playing. The glass is just held in with clips and relies on a rubber seal in the aluminium; never had a leak in over 30 years. A couple of years ago, my wife decided that she would like a wooden greenhouse. We went to garden centre that specialised in such greenhouses. We could not open the door of the demonstration greenhouse due to it being distorted etc. so that was that; we have continued with our maintenance free Aluminium with the smooth sliding door. I was quite relieved not to take on this extra unnecessary work. Dave

We have always had an Aluminium Greenhouse. The current Greenhouse I bought new and assembled it in 1988 and it is operating perfectly. Over the years I have had to replace a few pieces of cracked glass and fitted automatic opening devices to the window and rear vent and these all work fine. Some years ago I added a plastic windows on top of the glass for the side facing into the garden. This was when my children might be throwing or kicking a ball. It did the job as we had no panes broken due to kids playing. The glass is just held in with clips and relies on a rubber seal in the aluminium; never had a leak in over 30 years.

A couple of years ago, my wife decided that she would like a wooden greenhouse. We went to garden centre that specialised in such greenhouses. We could not open the door of the demonstration greenhouse due to it being distorted etc. so that was that; we have continued with our maintenance free Aluminium with the smooth sliding door. I was quite relieved not to take on this extra unnecessary work.

Dave

[quote]We have always had an Aluminium Greenhouse. The current Greenhouse I bought new and assembled it in 1988 and it is operating perfectly. Over the years I have had to replace a few pieces of cracked glass and fitted automatic opening devices to the window and rear vent and these all work fine. Some years ago I added a plastic windows on top of the glass for the side facing into the garden. This was when my children might be throwing or kicking a ball. It did the job as we had no panes broken due to kids playing. The glass is just held in with clips and relies on a rubber seal in the aluminium; never had a leak in over 30 years. A couple of years ago, my wife decided that she would like a wooden greenhouse. We went to garden centre that specialised in such greenhouses. We could not open the door of the demonstration greenhouse due to it being distorted etc. so that was that; we have continued with our maintenance free Aluminium with the smooth sliding door. I was quite relieved not to take on this extra unnecessary work. Dave[/quote] I probably wouldn't get another wooden one. My father in law used to have a plant nursery, with a 40 foot long Alton wooden greenhouse, which over its final few years lost every glass panel and fell to pieces. A couple of years ago we built him a new aluminium one (much smaller, I should add) which is doing a great job.

Quote:We have always had an Aluminium Greenhouse. The current Greenhouse I bought new and assembled it in 1988 and it is operating perfectly. Over the years I have had to replace a few pieces of cracked glass and fitted automatic opening devices to the window and rear vent and these all work fine. Some years ago I added a plastic windows on top of the glass for the side facing into the garden. This was when my children might be throwing or kicking a ball. It did the job as we had no panes broken due to kids playing. The glass is just held in with clips and relies on a rubber seal in the aluminium; never had a leak in over 30 years.

A couple of years ago, my wife decided that she would like a wooden greenhouse. We went to garden centre that specialised in such greenhouses. We could not open the door of the demonstration greenhouse due to it being distorted etc. so that was that; we have continued with our maintenance free Aluminium with the smooth sliding door. I was quite relieved not to take on this extra unnecessary work.

Dave


I probably wouldn't get another wooden one. My father in law used to have a plant nursery, with a 40 foot long Alton wooden greenhouse, which over its final few years lost every glass panel and fell to pieces. A couple of years ago we built him a new aluminium one (much smaller, I should add) which is doing a great job.