Tropical Fruit > Tropical Fruit Discussion
Greenhouses: Who the heck builds/installs them?
kybishop:
I'm finally getting to the point where I'll be able to put a greenhouse on my property... now if only I could figure out who the heck to call to get one built! ;D
Who builds these greenhouses for nurseries, farmers, etc? I want something a bit higher end: metal frame, very tall (15-20 ft) and polycarbonate, not just a low tunnel. Hoping to grow some dwarf bananas and such that will push up to 12ft or so.
FWIW I'm in the Asheville area of NC.
brian:
Overpriced contractors. I think I got a quote for around 15k to assemble a 32x18 kit when I bought mine from greenhousemegastore.com, plus foundation cost which probably would have been another 10k or so. The greenhouse Kit itself was about 15k. This was 6yrs ago before costs skyrocketed. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to hire electrician, plumber, and hvac people to do elec, water, and heating setup.
I ended up doing the entire thing myself w/ friends. Hell of a learning experience.
kybishop:
Oof, that's kind of what I'm afraid of.
Maybe I'll just have a carpenter friend do an all wood one if those are the prices I'd be looking at just to assemble a kit.
Jaboticaba45:
It’s good to do it yourself! Polycarbonate is nice, but at least doubles or triples the greenhouse cost all together. I was able to get large sq ft for good price by saying no to polycarbonate.
It took me and my dad like two months of on and off work to get the greenhouse up. It’s a major job!
brian:
The kit itself isn't too bad, but contractors will kill you. Realistically you want water, which means a below frost line trench. Electricity, which means buried or overhead lines and a new circuit, subpanel, grounding rods. Heating, which means either propane tanks, natural gas line, or electric heaters.
If you're gonna grow perennials over winter in-ground, you probably want an insulated foundation, which means an insulated stem wall that goes down below grade a couple feet, which means excavation, concrete forms or masonry block.
I could easily see this running 100k total to "do it right" if you hire out everything.
The cheapest route would be to build a foundation of something like railroad ties/big pressure treated wood or some concrete blocks. If you grow in containers you can get away with uninsulated ground/cold floor. An extension cord or some fat romex or ufb for power... run across the yard from your house. Heating depends on your fuel source. A problem you'll run into is with water. If you just run a garden hose it'll freeze solid in winter, and then you will be stuck running bucket of water from house to yard. I have been through all this with my last house/greenhouse.
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