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Greenhouse Recommendation

Jude20Jude20 Posts: 15
in Problem solving
Hi, this is my first post here though I’ve mooched for a while  :)

We currently have an old and leaky wooden greenhouse we inherited when we brought the house and want to replace it with a sparkly new one. The old one is 10 x 6 and we’ll stay with that size for the new one.

I’m thinking we will go with aluminium rather than wood so as to eliminate much of the maintenance. But which greenhouse to choose. I’m currently going round in circles with this!

I was going to go with an Elite as our local garden centre stock their range. Titan is the one I liked. I decided I should perhaps look around a bit first, online of course because of current restrictions. I discovered Halls, more specifically their new range called Qube. I was virtually on the point of ordering one but then looked closer at the measurements and wondered if the eves, at only 1.35cm, was a little low. 

So I looked some more and wondered if a Rhino Premium might do the job. As the name suggests they do seem very tough. Unfortunately they come with a hefty price tag. Of the three I’ve looked at Rhino are the most expensive, but is it a case of you get what pay for...

I wonder if anyone here might have any recommendations, I know it’s horse for courses and as I result I might find myself even more confused  :*
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  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I had a Rhino Premium installed 4 years ago.
    I couldn't be happier with it.
    With Rhino, louvres and plenty more are included as standard whereas others such things are extras.
    and they look good too


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Jude20Jude20 Posts: 15
    Hi Pete, that does look gorgeous. If I go with Rhino I was wondering if it the finials were just a bit of needless frippery, but they do look good on yours...

    Can I just ask what it’s built off? We had been thinking of concrete or pavings but the site I’m look at suggests straight off the soil.

    Also did you have it installed or put it up yourself? 
  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    I've got a 20x8 ft Rhino, which I self-installed in 2006, and it's still absolutely fine in 2021. Not sure they did 'Premium' or whatever back then, and there have probably been a few design changes. I went for most of the 'add-ons' at the time: the base; a partition door; and step-less doors (still a strut at ground level but I laid paving up to its level, so nothing to trip over); and green powder-coating. It has four of those huge roof ventilators, as in previous photo - 6 ft wide, with two auto-openers on each. The cylinders of the openers are still going strong after all this time, though I remove them into the house for winter. I don't know whether there's still the choice, but I went with the full-size toughened glass panes, so there's none of the overlaps (which moss grows in) of 2ft-square panes.

    A slight fault which I think they redesigned: the gutters aren't really deep enough, though fortunately I got it level enough that water still flows out the correct end into water-butts.

    I got some of Rhino's narrow 'upper level' shelving, but the main staging was from Two Wests (plus some home-made wooden stuff brought from my previous greenhouse).

    Plenty height - almost head-height at the eaves, and way above it at the ridge.

    So: indeed expensive, but I'm still pleased with it.
  • Jude20Jude20 Posts: 15
    Many thanks Clarke. This sounds like an excellent recommendation for a Rhino!

    The powder coating does add quite a bit to the price, but I think it would be worth it.

    I can only dream of a 20 x 8 foot. What a wonderful space to work in!

    Interesting you didn’t go for the Rhino staging. I’ll have a look at Two Wests.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited February 2021
    Hi Jude
    Yes, the finials are needless frippery (unless you use them for their intended purpose - to stop the devil sitting on your greenhouse roof!!)
    They are only powder coated plastic of some kind and were expensive for what they are, but in the end I thought they do look nice and give a finishing touch, so I got them.

    That part of my garden was a wilderness for many years and on a significant slope from left to right, so I had it all levelled, landscaped, raised fruit & veg beds and paved, then the greenhouse went on. The landscapers suggested the paving was done at a very slight angle (4°) so that rainwater doesn't puddle anywhere on the paving - it was a very good suggestion and 4° is not noticable - and no puddles anywhere.
    I had Rhino's installers put it up. It took 2 of them around 3-4 hours.

    I think (so don't take it as gospel) that Rhino greenhouses can be located on soil, but there are some caveats I believe, so I'd check first.

    I left an area unpaved inside the greenhouse so I can plant my tomatoes in the soil


    I hadn't planned that the greenhouse would be quite so close to the wildlife pond, but I've not fallen in yet..

    PS - if you haggle you may get a couple of hundred £ off!

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Jude20Jude20 Posts: 15
    Pete.8 said:
    Hi Jude
    Yes, the finials are needless frippery (unless you use them for their intended purpose - to stop the devil sitting on your greenhouse roof!!)
    They are only powder coated plastic of some kind and were expensive for what they are, but in the end I thought they do look nice and give a finishing touch, so I got them.

    That part of my garden was a wilderness for many years and on a significant slope from left to right, so I had it all levelled, landscaped, raised fruit & veg beds and paved, then the greenhouse went on. The landscapers suggested the paving was done at a very slight angle (4°) so that rainwater doesn't puddle anywhere on the paving - it was a very good suggestion and 4° is not noticable - and no puddles anywhere.
    I had Rhino's installers put it up. It took 2 of them around 3-4 hours.

    I think (so don't take it as gospel) that Rhino greenhouses can be located on soil, but there are some caveats I believe, so I'd check first.

    I left an area unpaved inside the greenhouse so I can plant my tomatoes in the soil


    I hadn't planned that the greenhouse would be quite so close to the wildlife pond, but I've not fallen in yet..

    PS - if you haggle you may get a couple of hundred £ off!
    Thank you Pete, this is all such useful information. I was thinking of paving with a planting border such as you’ve done. 

    I may forgo the finials and get roof and side blinds instead. I thing they will prove useful.

    Your garden looks wonderful with what you’ve done to it. Very glad you haven’t fallen into your wildlife pond....  :D

    I’ll be sure to have a go at haggling!
  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    I was going to go on about what surface to put the greenhouse on, but I'd written enough in one message! Given that I was going to do it myself, I originally thought soil, but glad I didn't go down that route. The 'weight-lifting champion' who delivered it even said "I wouldn't get an expensive greenhouse, then not have a proper base.". Of course depends on whether you want to grow things in the soil. Mine has a majority of cacti and succulents, plus anything else that interests me.

    So I laid my own slabs, like in @Jude20's photo. Ideally the slabs would have a proper sub-base under them, but I didn't trust myself to do that properly, so they're just on a relatively thin layer (though was still 2 ton bags!) of sand. It's sunk a little here and there, but still fine. It does mean that ants like to excavate the sand!

    I'm sure the Rhino staging is fine (as is my shelving from them). I can't really remember, but maybe I wanted it 'deeper' than Rhino did? I wouldn't like to put a really heavy plant in the middle of the Two Wests stuff I've got - think the aluminium 'slats' would buckle.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited February 2021
    I've got the blinds on mine on the south side - essential to have something to protect plants from the full summer sun
    They just give some light shade-


    The Rhino aluminium staging in mine is really sturdy - 60cm deep on the lower level and 30cm on the shelf

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    Indeed I must have wanted something deeper than the Rhino 60cm staging. With an 8ft wide greenhouse, then staging of only 2ft each side leaves a very wide aisle. So I have 90cm staging one side and 60cm the other. I don't have it the full length - leaving some areas with full floor to roof height available. It's difficult to reach the back of very deep staging, so beware that. Looks like I 'spun out' my Rhino 30cm shelving (which indeed is extremely sturdy). I think it was designed to have 3 slats, which would have abutted, but I stretched it further than it was designed for by only using two slats (leaving gaps) and having it overhang the brackets at the ends.

    The blinds look nice. I generally go without shading, but needs some ad-hoc moving of plants around depending on their needs. And if desperate (some of last summer) I was clothes-pegging a sheet to areas of the outside. Cacti and succulents aren't immune from scorch - they can grow rather 'soft' in our climate, and then be hit by bursts of strong sun esp. in the spring. Some of the summer-dormant succulents can be 'boiled', even though sheathed over by their dead leaves. In their natural (outdoor) habitats, they would grow 'harder' in the first place, and have the benefit of air-circulation to take the heat away.
  • Jude20Jude20 Posts: 15
    Thank you both again. This is all really helpful.

    I think I am going to opt for a Rhino. The Premium, as the classic is unavailable at the moment. I’ll have their staging and shelf too on one side with a planting border to the other for my tomatoes. As you have done Pete, I’ll have blinds and shading to the sunny side of the greenhouse. I like the idea of having it outside so as not to take up precious space inside. 
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