The title doesn't refer to me although I guess some may say it could! If you follow either Martyn's or my blog you will know that one of our major tasks of the year was to renovate our 25ish year old cedar greenhouse.
(I posted about the history of the greenhouse here and the pre-renovation state of things here).
Since announcing our intentions, we have been been busy. One of the first tasks was to restain the outside of the greenhouse. We chose a fine still day and both set to with brushes and red cedar wood stain. It took us a long afternoon to give the whole of the outside a coat. It also involved a bit of inventiveness on Martyn's part in order to reach all the roof struts.
He screwed a paint brush onto a long piece of wood. Manipulating the long paintbrush may not have produced the neatest job but it was definitely better than the alternatives which were either to leave the wood unstained or to remove all the glass sheets from the roof.
Just a coat of stain and a few loose bits screwed down and things were already looking much better. Before and after shots below - don't dare say that you can't tell the difference!
This task was held up as the sheets of polycarbonate that we ordered to replace the broken glass just didn't seem to want to arrive. A month after ordering it took a telephone assault on the company and the threat that we wanted our money back to get some action. Earlier Martyn had to fix temporary sheets of wood over the holes in the roof or the wind and rain would have caused havoc. Unfortunately this temporary job wasn't a watertight solution and it rendered almost half of the greenhouse unuseable.
Eventually the polycarbonate arrived and we could fix the roof.
This was anything but uneventful. Let's just say here that it involved a large splash, the two of us frozen on the spot staring at each other in disbelief and some vigorous scrubbing. If that has pricked your curiosity then you can read more on Martyn's blog here, Some areas of the inside of the greenhouse still need staining but that may have to wait until autumn/winter when the greenhouse is less full.
There are still one or two bits to deal with - for instance the difficult door needs some parts replacing and there needs to be some tweaking where glass has slipped and needs adjusting but at least now the whole of the greenhouse can be used and these 'small' jobs can be fitted in between the larger garden jobs on our list.
Now we need to either hide the existing water butts or to replace them with something more aesthetically pleasing.
Now we need to either hide the existing water butts or to replace them with something more aesthetically pleasing.
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Well, you have done a good job. It looks very nice!
ReplyDeleteThank you Aga
DeletePhew, I'm exhausted just reading this! I had to re-read the first paragraph because I didn't understand the concept of "restraining" the greenhouse. Doh!
ReplyDeleteYou had me going back to check what I had written, Mark/
DeleteI admire both your efforts to make do and mend rather than demolish, it`s clearly worth it
ReplyDeleteIt was the lesser of two evils, David.
DeleteWell what a difference your hard work has made. It does look good and you should get many years from your efforts. I do like the wooden greenhouses.xxx
ReplyDeleteHopefully, Snowbird.
Deletehusband has spent the last two weekends removing moss from between the panes of glass, washing them all down and replacing lost clips - in the process he managed to take a nice slice out of his arm and break one or two panes which have now been replaced. ours is only an aluminium one but it does the job although I think cedar ones are more aesthetically pleasing. You have done a good job repairing yours, still plenty of life left in it yet.
ReplyDeleteHandling glass is always dodgy, Elaine and the panes in this one are enormous.
DeleteThe larger of our two aluminium ones is now at the plot and the glass had to be transported twice in the car - scary journeys!
Brilliant job. Very impressed with the 'long reach' paintbrush!
ReplyDeleteMaybe he should patent it, Jessica.
DeleteA really good job, especially the scrubbing! It is such a beautiful greenhouse, no doubt incredibly useful as well. Glad you've finally got the roof sorted. Just in time for spring planting.
ReplyDeleteI know my role in life, CJ
DeleteIt looks as good as new. What a great size for pottering. We had a cedar one in our last house and I used to love being in there just for the smell of the wood! xx
ReplyDeleteWe went for as large a greenhouse as we thought we could fit. It's funny how they always end up full whatever the size, Debbie
DeleteLooking good Sue :) It always makes us feel better when we finish a renovation doesn't it!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately you've now made me feel like I should be doing the same to my greenhouse/workshop and addressing the tears that have appeared in the polytunnel - dang it! lol
And yes, you are quite right - no matter what size we buy it's never big enough. My PT is 40ftish and yet there is no room to swing a cat in there.
BTW I think Martyns brush adapter is genius :) I wouldn't have thought of that and would probably have used Mr TGs crawler ladder and ended up going through the glass roof lol.
Martyn's the science half of our partnership (civil engineer) and I am the arty side although I can do practical too
DeleteNot quite finished yet but the rest will have to be on hold as there are more urgent jobs now.
Following your posts about green house is really exciting. It's a good lesson, so inspiring. You save the rain water through the gutter, so interesting. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the posts, Endah.
DeleteI can definitely tell the difference, it looks great. That's a job very well done and it should last you many more years now.
ReplyDeleteGlad you can see a difference , Jo.
DeleteWhat a transformation and a lovely looking greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Damo
DeleteYou sure have been working hard! What a different it has made and you'll enjoy all the hard work you've put in over the coming months.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, Kelli
DeleteHard work ! The greenhouse look so good now!
ReplyDeleteThanks Malar,
DeleteI never realised your greenhouse was wooden framework. Looks great for it's 'facelift'!!
ReplyDeleteThis one is Tanya - the plot one is aluminium. Facelifts are supposed to work wonders aren't they?
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