Greenhouse - Goodbye Old Friend, Hello New

It will be bolted to the paving and we need to make sure the paving is 2" bigger all round because the bolts get put in at a slight angle and it should stop the paving shattering.

 

Carrying on with the deconstruction:-

The site as it was earlier


Before taking down the rest of the framework we needed to remove, from the far end, the armoured electricity cable and catenary cable it is fixed to that is attached to to the pole that is holding it level with the loft.

As usual, these things don't go too easily. Unscrewing the brackets that held the cable to the timber was quite easy but not the screws that held the metal supporting pole to the framework. Those screws wouldn't budge! So we needed the angle grinder again. The heads were very tight up against the metal pole and that made it difficult to work without damaging the pole but we got it done.







We were then able to saw and break up the rest of the greenhouse and dump it in the skip.



The staging that we had in there was carried to the skip but was being left until we had been able to put the concrete supporting blocks that the greenhouse had been bolted to were put in.

 

The concrete blocks were very heavy so I couldn't (not allowed to) lift them but could help with levering them away from the paving. Whilst Simon was doing the blocks I was transporting all the timber to the skip - so was of some help.



The side blocks were longer and wider than the end ones






Side block


End block






He's The Man


Simon then went and it is my job finish clearing all the soil and rubbish from around the sides. The original site was all crazy paving (together with all the large patio it is 2,000 sq ft) and about 25 years ago we had Indian sandstone slabs put on top of it. So, of course, the greenhouse area appears lower than the surrounds.


The soil around the sides is only what has accumulated over the last 50 years and I needed to clear it to see the condition of the crazy paving and to take the new greenhouse.


When we measured up, after removing the concrete blocks, we found that the new greenhouse is wider than the old one. Both were officially listed as 20' x 10'. They lied! So we have had to remove the whole row of slabs on the righthand side. They are also now on the skip.


I was going to remove all the soil and rubbish and then pressure wash. I removed most of the soil and then got the washer out, connected it up to the hose and electrics and the heavens opened

So it will have to wait for another day

 

Slabs removed and the worst of the muck cleared.
In the bottom right of this picture there is a slab that wasn't crazy paving and is higher than the paving around it so we shall need to lift it out and make it lower.

The muck/soil where the slabs were is because the slabs were obviously put down using the dot and dab method. So there was room for soil to seep underneath the slabs.

 

We still have to work out whether the base will be considered flat enough. It's a worry.

 

I think it is level for the length of the run of the base, separately on each side but more or less level all round.

I have no idea but expect the fitters to sort that out. A minor problem as we use much more water than can be collected by the greenhouse.

That area is lower, no paving but soil underneath, as we use it for placing potted plants on such as tomatoes. We originally used to plant the tomatoes in the soil but stopped that years ago. The material is porous matting so that any water inside the greenhouse drains away. It works well because we water the plants in the greenhouse with the hose.

 

Yes, I told them it would be crazy paving. If there is some unevenness would could put a skim of cement on it but there must be some leeway seeing it is going in a garden.

 

It just needs to be flat corner to corner, it can be 'on the tilt' but I doubt it will be an issue, the installers will sort it

 

It was on the equivalent of the crazy paving as the concrete blocks were the standard size for greenhouses (all the same height) and they just stood on the paving.

The installers are the ones recommended by the manufacturers.