A glasshouse question

Does anyone remember the days of actual glass houses and more specifically the metal glazing bars that held the glass in place?
I recall a metal Z section & a D section that was missing part of the back (sorry but i don't recall what they were called)

Would anybody know if these are still available anywhere or have enough of an idea about them that i could have them fabricated?

I Have a glass glasshouse that I bought 3rd hand from ebay. it has a few different profiles of metal but most of it is standard.

I would have thought a good metal supply (aluminium in my preference) would have a few useful profiles.

is there any reason you want to make a metal greenhouse? I made my own wooden one and very happy with it. although for the price I could have probably bought a new metal one. like these here http://www.edenglasshouses.com.au/

The idea is partly because i have a bit of 80 X 40 SH4 RHS tucked away, approx 2.6 km of it.
And partly because polycarb maybe lightweight but its pricey & i have access to reasonable amounts of 10.38 laminated safety glass from time to time, & while it is heavy it wont break down in a hurry.

The end lap clip looks like it would be worth either reproducing or find a similar but larger profile, their stock size seems to be 4mm so its not gonna look at 10mm
Not sure about the eden glazing clip, i might have ta try getting a sample piece & some spec's off them?

Ta for that its a good start at least

With a bit of welding experience you could make a great greenhouse. 80 x 40 RHS I think would be the ideal size. When it comes time to cover it you could use a plastic film. The wooden greenhouse I built has this and although it leaks through the staple holes I'm really happy with it.

With 10.38mm glass and 40 mm of frame to play with I would make some S clips that screw to the frame holding the glass in place. Along with some strategic use of silicone you would have the strongest greenhouse in town!
Rather than make the s clips I'm sure there would be some extrusion you could use.

Wish I had 2.6 km of it!

I was thinking of lapping each sheet like a shingle working up but using leaving a 1" gap between each sheet & the ones either side of it, with a covering plate holding it in place with sheet neoprene rubber to protect the glass & metal from each other.
The idea of the gap is so that it can slide & twist in high wind without breaking anything. at least that's the idea so far.

I was wondering if the holding plate would need to be spring steel or just mild or even Ally?

Or i suppose i could just glue & screw it all with silcone butt joints?

My boss wants an "aesthetically pleasing erection" no more poly tunnels where she can see it.
So that rules out the solarweave & reomesh which was my first thought.


The 80 X 40 is probably overkill but i don't have enough 35 X 65 to come even close, besides i'll only really notice it when i pay to have it gal dipped
I'm still reasonably handy with MIG & ARC but the hands are getting a bit shaky for gas these days:pale:

Yeah well it might sound nice to have a couple of kilometers of RHS up the back of your shed but that started out as "i'll just put there couple of lengths here" 12 years ago & when its in there with mountains of angle, REO mesh, deformed bar, pipes, UB's, PFC'c & even a few lengths of railway line. I haven't seen the back of my shed for a decade & i kinda need the space back.

I imagine the holding strip or strips could be anything as long as its weather proof. you may still need some thin s clips to hold the paines of glass in place - with the 'S' holding the next paine in place.


how big will it be? do you have a design?

I always get excited when someone says they are building their own greenhouse.




'Paine' spelling?

im loving this thread!!!

I have started collecting glass from the side of the road on hard waste removal day.
thought it may come in handy one day

i think i am turning into my dad

I have in mind a basic 30 degree pitch roof "studs" 900 between centres since the bulk of the glass i have access to is 10.38 laminated safety glass.
With as many louvers as i can scavenge galleries for and fixed louvers all around the bottom meter of so for ventilation
Cut, drilled & welded so that once its dipped it shouldn't ever rust. Pretty much like an over sized kit.
The erection will end up 9 X 12 X 4.5 to the eve, designed to bolt down onto a low block wall, 1 block high on the high side and 3 blocks high on the low side.

I expect it will take a good 6 - 8 months of work in bits & pieces to get it ready to stand up

I have S section and C section on order to be rolled from stratco, probably should chase the up.

I've been kinda busy with my new laminar flow cabinet so the glasshouse has made it as far as being a pile of black steel on the workshop floor

it sounds like quite a construction (!) but I would consider redesigning the greenhouse for its location and your location.

when I built mine I could only really put it in the corner of the yard against a shed. not the ideal location to catch sunlight I thought but given the sun only comes from roughly one direction and at certain angles at certain times of year the back half of the greenhouse would not actually accept (direct) light but give up heat. so I ended up building a greenhouse designed to take in the maximum amount of light in the middle of winter and have an insulated back wall which won't give up any valuable heat!.

I designed it based on my Latitude and Longitude and ended up with this...

https://i.servimg.com/u/f23/12/43/89/53/green211.jpg

That's an awesome greenhouse Watertrade I really like it. It looks like something you could travel through time in as well as grow cactus. Top marks!
It is definitly worth considering the effects of a greenhouse on the aesthetics of your yard. Having put a tunnel in a while back and spent the last years looking out my window at it I regret not constructing something that would be a bit more pleasing to the eye. It was the cheap and quick option at the time. I know I will have to move it sooner or later but it would have been easier to do it nicely at the start.
And again, gotta say, I love that greenhouse, modern art and cactus house in one facility!

Thanks cryptocarpa, the only real considerations I worked while designing it were placement in the yard and angle of sun in winter. I am happy with how it looks and works and have had some surprises since I built it. Like at the hottest part of summer the afternoon sun is partially blocked by a massive blue gum.

If I was to built it again I think I wouldn’t worry too much about angle of the front wall and make it a little more vertical. To reach things at the lowest point I have to lean over a number of spikey plants which will one day get their way when I slip and fall face first into them. Also the ‘ideal’ angle of the front wall lets in too much light so I have it covered in shade cloth most of the year.

The best bit of ‘art’ was the single bit of paper I used to design it, which had all the sketches and calculations of angles, all the joins were sketched out too. I hope I still have it someone.

To calculate the ideal angle of the front wall in a solar greenhouse…
http://www.macslab.com/optsolar.html

That is a nice neat design Watertrade
My design needs to be
1: aesthetically pleasing

2: well ventilated. cold and light aren't my problems, I doubt we've had a frost here since the last sea level rise at the end of the last ice age. My problem is WET & lots of it most summers

3: tall, i have a weakness for the monsters. besides its nice to have a quiet dry spot to sit & enjoy a coffee or three during the wet season.

4: Wind, we often get 120km/h + winds during summer so lots of cyclone rods & bracing.

5: did i say aesthetically pleasing

On the up side the brother in law droped off a 7 X 5 trailer full of louver galleries for me this morning.
I kinda get the impression that he needed some more room in his shed & now i have less in mine Oh well it'll get put to good use.