Greenhouse setting

 
Hi,

As way of introducing myself (I'm Andrew, by the way), I thought I'd ask
a question (sorry if it's poor etiquette).

At the bottom of my garden is a greenhouse frame which is standing on a
wooden base. Neither are secured. I want to shift the greenhouse to the
area of cleared ground you can see in the photo; following a tip-off I
received I've got some halved paving slabs as a base for the greenhouse
(I want to use the wood to make a couple of raised beds).

Before I go mad and spend money on getting someone to lay the slabs
level for me, is there an easy way to lay them, make sure they're level,
and not have to mix concrete if I can help it?

Or am I asking the impossible?

Thanks for your time :-)


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HeathenWoods

 On Feb 25, 6:09 am, HeathenWoods <HeathenWoods.
7dd7...@gardenbanter.co.uk> wrote:

You might also inquire on <alt.home.repair>. Some knowledgeable people
on that NG.

HB

 
HeathenWoods;913686 Wrote:

hi Andrew and welcome, No, its not impossible to lay slabs without
mixing concrete, you could just lay them on a bed of sand but they will
never be either firm or secure and you will always have a problem with
weeds growing up through them ! Even it you first put a layer of weed
fabric under the slabs, that wont stop weeds in the cracks !! Slabs on
thier flat are not the best things to erect a greenhouse on, they are
fine for the floor of the greenhouse but i would advise you either lay 2
rows of bricks or ideally a row of 4" concrete blocks (laid on thier
edge) on which the frame will sit ! This will have 2 main advantages,
firstly it gives you much more headroom and secondly the weight of the
concreted in blocks will anchor the greenhouse in the event of a gale
(which the slabs wont do)
The easiest way to put the base in is to scratch out a shallow
foundation (the size of the greenhouse) lay the blocks on a shallow bed
of concrete, you only really need enough under them to level them as the
strength is when the blocks are pointed in ? make sure the base is
square, do this by getting the diagonal measurements the same length,
put the greenhouse on the base and them you can point the blocks in. If
the base is not square, you might find the roof glass wont fit ?? doing
it this way, its not then so important to lay the slabs on concrete,
sand will then be fine !
Hope this helps, Lannerman


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lannerman

 
Thanks to you both.

I had considered making a shallow foundation, filled with sand, over a
layer of tough, builders' grade plastic, with some cement spread on the
sand to then allow ground moisture to set the cement. But it all seemed
a bit chancey! Especially as the layer of plastic would, presumably,
prevent the incursion of the ground moisture! I think my main concern is
getting everything level.

I'm wary of using slabs as flooring as I've been warned about, "dry
heat," being a distinct problem.

Much food for thought!


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HeathenWoods

 I moved my fathers greenhouse to my house after he passed. I prepped
the ground by digging a ditch where the walls would be about 6" deep
and filling with gravel.   Ithen  laid a ring of solid concrete blocks
that are 10" X 6" X 4".  The bottom of the frame sits on these.

I anchored the frame of my greenhouse with heavy bolts attached to
very strong pieces of metal (not sure what they are called, but they
are long narrow pieces that form a right angle and have holes in
them).  These pieces of metal were driven about 18" into the ground,
and then the green house frame was attached.  It's withstood some
major winds in the 8 yrs I've had it.  

I prepped the floor of the green house with several layers of
weed-stop fabric, then about 6" of mulch, renewed occasionally.  Weeds
rarely show up as there is no rain to keep the ground from completely
drying up.  I have more issues with chipmunks and spiders than weeds
:)

HTH,
Fran



On Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:09:22 +0000, HeathenWoods