Software
Houzz Logo Print
troykd

HFGH Door Modification & Reinforcement

17 years ago

Hello Everyone,

Finally finished my door mod on the HFGH. As I posted earlier, my sliding doors were blown out along with a roof window during a storm. Nothing was really damaged but I wanted to make it better. My HFGH has the additional reinforcement outlined by gardnerwannabe in his excellent FAQ.

We installed a storm door from Lowes and fixed it to 4x4's sunk in concrete. It's not a simple project but if you've put together an HFGH, you can handle this no problem. Pic's of the project are at

http://picasaweb.google.com/troy.deierling/HFGHGreenhouseDoorModifications

The front of my greenhouse is not solid. I always felt that was the weakest point of the HFGH 10x12. The sliding doors are crap and the whole front was a bit wobbly even after adding the 3/4" EMT to the peak. I think this thing can take just about any wind now.

Still need to silicone in the bottom of the roof panels and trim out the sidelight panels next to the storm door. Also added an 18" wide x 10' long vinyl coated wire shelving to the top of the EMT cross bars.

Any questions, shoot me an email.

Troy
{{gwi:296458}}From HFGH Greenhou...

Here is a link that might be useful: HFGH Door Mod Pic's

Comments (11)

  • 17 years ago

    Hi Troy,

    I was just about to email you the other day to see how your door project was coming along. Looks great! I know it's a lot of work, well, I should say my husband knows it's a lot of work. :) It took him some time to get it tweaked just right. Well worth it though! I'm sure you'd agree. Having a door that actually stays shut is nice. I hated those doors on the tracks. We tried clamping them closed too, and that didn't work too well either. (Too much air came through the crack) What a pain....

    Well, I told you in my last post that we plan to add a second HFGH onto our existing one. We are now planning on add 2 more to the existing. For a total of 3 HFGH's. It was really a last minute thought that my husband had while he was working on digging out some of the foundation for the second one. He said "Why don't we just get a third one since you know this won't be big enough? (Half way joking with me) It would save me from having to do this all over again." I told him I couldn't passed that up if he was offering. :) Now if it would just stop raining long enough so he could work on it while he's home! I will be sure and post pictures as we get further along with our project.

    Again, Good job on the door. I'm sure it was a lot of work, but soooo worth it. Looks nice.

    Have a good one!
    Amber

  • 17 years ago

    That looks great Troy, and it sure does look STOUT. Nice of you to do such a good job of documenting all the steps and materials with nice clear photos, I'm sure that will really help folks wanting to tackle this.
    Sheri

  • 17 years ago

    Yorkie are you going to attach the HFGH's end to end or have them stand alone?

    I agree those sliding doors are a weak point, even when I had them clamped they still were blown out. They aren't going anywhere now though :-)

  • 17 years ago

    Hi Troy,

    The greenhouses will be end to end, becoming all one long greenhouse, 10' X 36'. We had already bought the second one last October, but hadn't started to assemble it due to the cold winter months. We just went and bought the third one about two weeks ago. So far the only thing my husband has been able to work on is the foundation. Will keep you posted on the progress. It may take a while to build with this on and off rainy weather we've been having lately.

    Amber

  • 17 years ago

    Amber
    I have 2- 10X12 HFGH together and love it. Want to do a 3rd on but would have to take out a tree, so I guess that will never happen. But with the 2 together there is so much more area that it's like heaven. I have doors at both ends so I don't have to walk around in circles to get to my other 2 GH's. I started 40 trays of plants this spring and am have a sale this weekend. DH says that I live out in the GH's, well I almost do. It's different world out there, the time goes so fast.
    If you have any ? about joining the GH's ask. It wasn't that hard. This crazy woman did it alone. DH finaly got in on it when I was almost done. And he did put the electrical in when I said I would do it myself.
    There are some photos on there that mudhouse posted for me. I had trouble trying to post them.

    Carol

  • 17 years ago

    Troy
    Your door turned out nice. I bet you are lovin it. Amber three gh's you are spoiled rotten LOL. We will be on your shirt tails adding only one more and a door. I need more room Carol also with a plant sale in May. Carol I have to cut down a beutiful huge maple tree. It makes me sad to think about it. It is one of the prettiest trees on our land. I still have another 100 or so trees to look at though on the positive. My datura that I started from seed started bloomimg this weekend. What a rush... Just wanted to share.... Barb

  • 17 years ago

    What is the rough opening of the HF doors (LxH)? I can get my hands on some free patio doors if the size right. My HF is not assembled yet.

  • 17 years ago

    Hi Carol,

    I bet you are loving having the 2 HFGH joined together. The one I have quickly filled up with my tropical plants in no time. I actually have had to overwinter plants at my mom's house because I ran out of room! LOL She's ready for me to get the greenhouse done. :) My husband plans on doing some work on it this evening since it's not raining right now. I think he has it in his mind how he's wanting to join them together, something like you did I believe. I won't be having doors at both ends since we are putting the gas heater and exhaust fan on one end. That was the reason that my DH allowed me a third GH now, so he wouldn't have to move the heater & fan later on down the road when I say that 2 aren't enough. :0) He's knows me well! I'll be sure and ask any ? if we get stumped on joining the three. Thanks for offering.

    Hi Barb,

    You will love having a single door on the harbor freight. What a pain those sliding doors were! If they weren't coming off of the track when I was trying to open them, then the wind was blowing them open. And where the doors met there was always a small gap between them. I love my greenhouse now, but it will be even better when it's bigger. Too bad you will have to cut down your maple tree. But in the long run you aren't going to miss it that much. ;)

    Amber

  • 17 years ago

    Here's a link to Carol's thread about joining her two greenhouses together:
    Joining Two HFGH 10x12s Together

  • 17 years ago

    The opening where the HFGH doors were is 68"wide by 751/2" high. Kind of an oddball size.

  • 17 years ago

    Thank you troy, I will measure the doors today. Hopefully they will work.

Sponsored
More Discussions