First off, I don't recommend building a greenhouse with all treated lumber. The chemicals in the wood continue to vaporize over time, and and are probably not good for the plants. Its ok for the foundation.

Buying aluminum at Lowes will cost you more than you think for the framing. And the aluminum pieces that come with the kit are specifically designed for inserting panels of glass or twinwall in them.

Not to worry, even if you get a HFGH there will be lots of things that your DH can do to it. Check my link below.

marbs

Here is a link that might be useful: HFGH Add-Ons

I think it would be hard to make a nicer greenhouse cheaper than the Harbor Freight for the money. ($300) I have one and everyone that sees it thought it cost over a grand.

thanks.If your not going to save it aint worth the effort.Now to talk my husband into buying the HF greenhouse.Marbs, I visited your site this morning.Great site.By the way,mabs what kind of uses did you find for the bolts you put into the track? Is the roof really strong enough to hold planters.
Tammy

I just put up my HFGF and I agree that it would be more expensive to try to build one from scratch. The instructions are poor, but the greenhouse is very nice.

The Harbor Freight (HF) greenhouse kit is indeed one good way to go, but if you have basic carpentry skills and can work PVC pipe, there is a whole world full of schemes one could employ to build a less expensive greenhouse. The question that remains is who got the best bang for their buck after four or more years. Plastic pipe tends to break down with age and become easy to damage, but replacing the plastic pipe is easy and cheap when needed since the materials are off-the-shelf of any commonly available store. On the other hand, the HF kit parts are a tad harder to come by, and often cost more as separate parts once shipping is included. Pros and cons can get dicey and hard to agree on among disciples of either concept and design.

Another wrinkle one should consider is if you build it from scratch you learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of the design, and might decide to use a different scheme the next time, after some sort of disaster or decision to "do again". Doing a little dumpster diving also makes it possible to collect enough resources to build a greenhouse or other type of shelter for almost no cash layout. One drawback to finding your materials is you will be forced to be more creative, and learn a few new skills, like in my case; welding.

If I had of stayed with available greenhouse kits, I would never have had a reason to try and learn the art of welding, and now that I have a clue from taking a Tech Center (old Voc Ed) class, I have all sorts of new dreams of possible projects for the future. Of course it is true my desire to make home-made tent frames from commonly available materials played a huge part in my progression to learning new skills and seeking other options. One of those other options was to keep my eye out for basic carport kits on discount, as in closeout priced.

I now have three carport kits made of 2" steel pipe, which I plan to modify into one greenhouse structure, much stronger then the original carport kit with a very small investment. Dare I say I will have a larger, stronger steel tube frame for less money then the HF kit? No, I had better not since I have yet to buy the greenhouse "skin" material, but the finished shelter will be more then twice the size of the HF kit. Options, it all comes down to options and how quickly you want something done. I have already learned I would outgrow the HF kit in less then two seasons, hence my decision to go a different route. I am sharing my thoughts, experiences, and projects through a MSN.com webgroup; No-Till Gardening.