Well I can just offer you one piece of advice, take your time, throw away any expectations you had before you started (as far as timelines etc) Take it day by day and you WILL see it come together, and even when you think that you have done something wrong, or maybe not so right, it will come together and it will be ok.

I had a team of professional handy men come and GO during the very long and painful construction process. It ended up that my older, retired neighbor and I were able to pick up the pieces and get it done.

And you will too :) stay positive, it will be so worth the effort when you are done. I promise!!

Think outside the box, or in this case, outside the little house.

You can buy bolts at the hardware or big box store that will slide into the slots of the uprights before they're secured. The bolts included with the GH are metric -- American bolts will fit in the slots, just use different wrenches.

Adding extra, longer, bolts will allow you to secure things like shelves. The GH walls will not support a shelf, but the bolts are handy for securing a shelf that is supported by 4x4 or 2x4 to or in the ground. In turn, a sturdy shelf will strengthen the walls of the GH.

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Before we assembled ours, I went back several years' worth of posts and copied the best of ideas, downloaded the instruction sheets, and DH had some notions of his own as well. It took a long time, and this is not the first project we had ever assembled.

Good luck.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: HFGH

Thank you all for your comments. Yes, we are doing better.
Now we are about to do the doors, I plan to look up comments on this site about them. Hope it will help. Thanks for all the support.......

You are in zone 8 I hope you do not get snow or freezing ice. They are a pain in the behind! I am sure there are other gh's with al. doors that are to. Not to make anybody mad. But get rid of the doors. They will freeze on you..... That is the truth. Barb

Hang in there persiancat gardener, and be sure to post back here if you get stuck on a detail. Lots of good folks here ready to help if they can (they sure have helped me.)

I agree with Barb, others have also said the HFGH doors and freezing climates are not a good combination at all. Mine don't freeze here, but the sand blowing into the tracks is a nuisance!

If it helps, here is my info on how we assembled the doors to our HFGH 10x12. (I found that page of the manual to be especially hopeless!)
Assembling the Roof, Windows, and Doors

The instructions do stimk, but after a while, it all falls into place. Mudhouse has very good details in their blog. I've made a few notes in mine. Good luck and enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

OK, frame is up, doors are hung, roof vents are in, almost ready for panels to go in next weekend. Question is on weather stripping or caulking. How to do it and if I caulk what type and where to put it? I think we just might survive this after all, LOL!!!

IT'S FINISHED!!!! Thanks to my son....he figured it all out and did most of the work.......Bring winter on, I'm ready....Heater, fan, lights, heat pads, and heat cables....Oh yes, I've got me seeds.....ready to go......
THIS IS JUST TOOOO EXCITING.....

Pictures?

Congrats! Welcome to the gh world....Make sure you study up on bugs in the gh. Last winter was my first and had a infestation and no idea what to do. I am all prepped this year. Oh and make sure you have enough ventilation. Fans so forth. Gotta keep the air circulating. Have fun and enjot your new toy!! Barb

What insecticides did you find worked? It seems the spider mites and white flies here are immune to just about everything but systemic. And the WF are showing resistance to that! It can't be used on my peppers and tomatoes.

Just want to say thank you for all who respond to the HFGH. It is December and HF has a 10 x 12 GH on sale I just about bought. Read a lot of these post and went back to do some more checking about the GH. It only has a 90 day warranty. so if anything was missing or wrong I more than likely would of been screwed cause the warranty would of been long expired before I opened the box up in the spring. So thank all of you again.

Just want to say thank you for all who respond to the HFGH. It is December and HF has a 10 x 12 GH on sale I just about bought. Read a lot of these post and went back to do some more checking about the GH. It only has a 90 day warranty. so if anything was missing or wrong I more than likely would of been screwed cause the warranty would of been long expired before I opened the box up in the spring. So thank all of you again.

Just want to say thank you for all who respond to the HFGH. It is December and HF has a 10 x 12 GH on sale I just about bought. Read a lot of these post and went back to do some more checking about the GH. It only has a 90 day warranty. so if anything was missing or wrong I more than likely would of been screwed cause the warranty would of been long expired before I opened the box up in the spring. So thank all of you again.

Please take the time to read the most excellent blog by mudhouse. The re-enforcement ideas are absolutely necessary. I put 5 emt tubes up to stabilize the walls and 2 on each end to stabalize the end walls and gable ends. I may add more because mine still shakes like a leaf in strong winds. I caulked the exterior of the roof panels. I I I put up the wall and end panels using backing rod on the top and bottom of the panels. Not good enough. I will be taking each panel out and installing weatherstripping. Be sure and screw all the panels to the tubes or you will lose some in the forst strong wind.

Yes thank you mud house. Built mine about 3 yrs ago and it is holding up great. I added extra reinforcements do to 100mph winds here. Use all of mud houses suggestions, and go beyond with thick 90 degree aluminum angle running the interior length of the peak (if you feel it is needed in your area), this was a little tricky but well worth it. Also reinforced all walls with more aluminum angle. It stands up to the wind and does not move or twist at all. I have never lost a panel do to the extra clips, self taping screws, and neoprene washers. Also very important if the uvs are high in your area use the 'top secret coating' and suggested thinner (see link below on this post topic). I look around town and see the same model hfgh with missing and yellow panels everywhere. Take your time and do it right the first time, you will be rewarded greatly. With proper insulation and a $20 space heater you can grow tomatoes and peppers year round. We just had 6 days in a row here below 0f, -15 one night and all my plants are fine. Current soil temp in gh holds at 55 f all winter, which means you can continue to plant cold season crops in secession, and they will sprout and grow well. Asked my wife for 2 fig trees for Christmas they should do well all year in the gh, I will keep them small through pruning and root constriction with flagstone, which makes them more fruitful anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poly carb pannles failing

Thanks so much treed1304 and rtyu. Really glad the blog helped.

oldlady59, good luck with your build, and let us know how it goes. Here is a link to the blog I put together when we built our HF 10x12 greenhouse, over six years ago. Since then they've made a few changes to the kit, and manual, so don't worry if parts of my blog don't quite seem to match your kit. Most of it still applies, I think.
Building our Harbor Freight greenhouse

treed1304, I have been preaching about using screws to secure the panels to the frame for years, just as you mentioned. Earlier this summer I was shocked to have a roof panel blow off in a slight wind. We discovered that we had missed screwing that panel in (oops) when we replaced the roof panels two years ago. So I guess I accidentally proved (through carelessness) that screws do indeed make all the difference in the world. Needless to say we screwed that panel down promptly, and all was well.

rtyu, I'm very excited that the Top Secret coating product (available online at their website) has worked well for you. I posted back in the other threads that I used the Top Secret TS-100 product, with thinner, two years ago when we had to replace our deteriorated roof panels. So far so good, no signs of holes or yellowing, but my roof stays under shadecloth year round, so I did not know if it was a good test of the coating. Glad to have your feedback.

Hope you get your two fig trees for Christmas!