How to Build an Affordable Green House

How to Build an Affordable Greenhouse

• 1). Locate a suitable area for the greenhouse. The area should have full exposure to sunlight and be close to a water source such as an outdoor faucet.
  
  
• 2). Level the ground of the area, clearing away all vegetation and debris from a 12-by-9-foot space. Cover the area with gravel, making a gravel floor of one to two inches. Rake to smooth and level. An alternative to gravel is a cement slab. This, however, requires more skill and labor.
  
  
• 3). Visit a scrap yard or recycling yard. Purchase 14 doors with large, clear glass windows. All the doors should be 36 inches wide and a standard height of 80 inches.
  
  
• 4). Purchase your roof at a scrap yard or recycling yard. You will need corrugated aluminum or fiberglass. Used awnings or roofing will work well. Buy enough pieces to measure 13 by 10 feet. This will create an overhang for rain runoff.
  
  
• 5). Connect the doors together using 2-by-4 pieces of lumber. Lay four of the doors down on the ground with the inside of each door facing upward. Nail one 2-by-4 across the doors near the bottom and one 2-by-4 near the top of the doors. This is one of the long walls. Repeat with four more doors to make the opposite wall.
  
  
• 6). Connect three of the doors together using 2-by-4 lumber in the same way. This is your back wall.
  
  
• 7). Drive rebar into each corner of your cleared area, leaving 18 to 24 inches exposed. Measure 54 inches from one corner of one of the 12-foot sides. Drive in a length of rebar at the 54-inch mark. Measure 54 inches from that mark and drive in a length of rebar. Repeat for the other 12-foot side.
  
  
• 8). Measure 54 inches from the corner along the 9-foot side. This is your back wall. Drive in a length of rebar.
  
  
• 9). Measure 18 inches from the corner at what will be the front wall. Drive in a length of rebar. Measure 18 inches from the opposite corner and drive in a length of rebar.
  
  
• 10
  
  Raise one of the four door lengths you made earlier and line it up along one of the 12-foot sides. Connect the doors to the rebar using pipe clamps. Repeat for the other 12-foot side. Repeat for the back wall.
  
  
• 11
  
  Select one of the remaining three doors and position it along the corner of the remaining 9-foot side. Butt it against the "corner" and nail together. Fasten it to the rebar using a pipe clamp. Repeat to place the other door at the opposite corner.
  
  
• 12
  
  Create a frame for the door using 2-by-4 lumber along the sides and top of the opening. Install the last door using appropriate hardware.
  
  
• 13
  
  Install your roof. If using one continuous piece, lay the corrugated aluminum across the top of the walls. There should be a 6-inch overhang on all sides. Secure to the walls using long roofing nails.
  
  
• 14
  
  If using several pieces, secure three to four 9-foot lengths of lumber across the top to create rafters, and use these to secure the corrugated aluminum with long roofing nails.