THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONSERVATORIES AND SMALL GREENHOUSES
Have you ever stepped from the chill and dreariness of a windy day, when
it seems as if the very life of all things growing were shrunk to
absolute desolation, into the welcome warmth and light and fragrance,
the beauty and joy of a glass house full of green and blossoming plants?
No matter how small it was, even though you had to stoop to enter the
door, and mind your elbows as you went along, what a good, glad
comfortable feeling flooded in to you with the captive sunlight! What a
world of difference was made by that sheet of glass between you and the
outer bitterness and blankness. Doubtless such an experience has been
yours. Doubtless, too, you wished vaguely that you could have some such
little corner to escape to, a stronghold to fly to when old winter lays
waste the countryside. But April came with birds, and May with flowers,
and months before the first dark, shivery days of the following autumn,
you had forgotten that another winter would come on, with weeks of
cheerless, uncomfortable weather. Or possibly you did not forget, until
you had investigated the matter of greenhouse building and found that
even a very small house, built to order, was far beyond your means.
Do not misunderstand me as disparaging the construction companies: they
do excellent work--and get excellent prices. You may not be able to
afford an Italian garden, with hundreds of dollars' worth of rare
plants, but that does not prevent your having a more modest garden spot,
in which you have planned and worked yourself. Just so, though one of
these beautiful glass structures may be beyond your purse, you may yet
have one that will serve your purpose just as practically. The fact of
the matter is, you can have a small house at a very small outlay, which
will pay a good, very good interest on your investment. With it you will
be able to have flowers all the year round, set both your flower and
vegetable garden weeks ahead in the spring, save many cherished plants
from the garden, and have fresh green vegetables, such as lettuce,
radishes, tomatoes and cucumbers that can readily be grown under glass.
And you will be surprised, if you can give the work some personal
attention, or, better still, have the fun of doing a little of the
actual building yourself, at how small an outlay you can put up a
substantial structure of practical size, say 20 feet by 10--of the
"lean-to" form.
By way of illustration let us see what the material for such a house
would cost, and how to erect it. Almost every dwelling house has some
sheltered corner or wall where some glass "lean-to" could easily be
added, and the shape and dimensions can be made to suit the special
advantages offered. We will consider a simple house of the lean-to type,
requiring a wall, to begin with, 20 feet long and 7 feet high, down to
the ground, or a foot or so below it, if you can dig out. Below is
listed the material such a house would require. With modern patented
framing methods such a house has been estimated by greenhouse building
companies to cost, for the material only, from $325 to $400. Yet you can
have a wooden house that will serve your purpose at a cost for materials
of $61 and, if you do not care to put it together yourself, a labor cost
of, say, one-third more.
[Illustration: Fig. 2--Floor plan of the lean-to type of greenhouse
shown in section on the opposite page.]
As our north wall is already in place, we have only four surfaces to
consider, as the accompanying diagram shows--namely, south wall, gable
ends, roof and openings. For the roof we will require a ridge against
the wall of the dwelling house, sash-bars running at right angles to
this, a "purlin," or support, midway of these, and a sill for the lower
ends. For the south wall we will need posts, one row of glass, and
boards and "sheathing." For the gable ends, a board and sheathing wall
to the same height, and for the balance, sash-bars and glass. The
required openings will be a door or doors, and three ventilators, to
give a sufficient supply of fresh air.
[Illustration: Fig. 3--A sectional view of a two-bench, 10 X 20 ft.
house built against the dwelling wall. If possible it would be well to
gain a steeper slope for the glass and better headroom. The detail in
the upper right hand corner shows, at larger scale, the plate and front
lights, indicated just below in the main section.]
For these the material required will be:
10 ft. of 2-in. x 4-in. ridge $ 0.80
13 10-ft. drip bars 3.25
2 10-ft. end bars 1.00
5 6-ft. x 1-1/4-in. second-hand pipe posts .50
20 ft. 1-in, second-hand iron pipe 1.00
4 1-1/4-in. x 1-in. clamps .50
20 ft. 2-in. x 4-in. eaves plate 1.60
20 ft. 2-in. x 6-in. sill 2.20
15 1-in. pipe straps .50
18 ft. 2-in. x 4-in. sill, for gables 1.50
40 ft. side bars, random lengths, for gables 1.00
3 ventilating sash for 3 24-in. x 16-in. lights 3.00
9 16-in. headers for ventilators .40
6 hinges with screws for ventilators .75
1 roll tar paper, single-ply 2.00
6 boxes 24-in. x 16-in. glass, B double thick 24.00
75 lbs. good greenhouse putty 2.50
------
Total of items listed above $46.50
All of the above will have to come from a greenhouse material supply
company, and prices given do not include freight charges. The following
items may probably be bought more economically in your immediate
vicinity, and the prices will vary in different sections of the
country:--
Total of items listed above $46.50
240 ft. rough 1-in. boards 7.50
6 posts, 4 in. thick, 6 ft. long, planed on one side} 3.00
2 posts. 4 in. thick, 8 ft. long, planed on one side}
1000 shingles 4.00
------
Total cost of materials $61.00
Estimate of labor 20.00
------
Total cost of greenhouse $81.00
Level off a place about 22 x 12 feet, and set in the posts as indicated
in the plan on page 158, taking care to get the lines for the ends of
the house perfectly square with the wall, and exact in length. This is
best done by laying out your lines first with stout string, and making
your measurements accurately on these. Then put in the posts for sides
and ends, setting these about three feet into the ground, or, better
still, in concrete. Put in the two corner posts, which should be square
first. Next saw off all posts level at the proper height, and put in
place the 2 x 4 in. eaves plate on top of these and the 2 x 6 in. sill
just far enough below to take a 16 x 24 in. light of glass, with its
upper edge snug in the groove in lower side of plate, as shown in detail
of section on page 159. Fit the 2 x 6 in. sill about the posts so that
the mortice on same will just clear the outside of posts. Then put on
the siding on sides and ends--first a layer of rough inch-boards,
running vertically, a layer, single or double, of tar paper, and a
second layer of boards, laid horizontally, covering on the outside with
shingles, clapboards or roofing paper. The five 7 ft. x 1-1/4 in. pipe
posts may now be placed loose in their holes, and a walk dug out of
sufficient depth to allow passage through the middle of the house. Rough
boards nailed to stakes driven into the ground, will hold the earth
sides of this in place.
Next, after having it sawed in two vertically (thus making 20 ft), screw
the ridge securely to side of house at proper height, giving a thick
coat of white lead at top to insure a tight joint with house. Now put
one of the end bars in place, taking care to get it exactly at right
angles with ridge, and then lay down the sash-bars, enough more than 16
in. apart to allow the glass to slip into place readily. Take a light of
glass and try it between every fourth or fifth bar put into position,
_at both ridge and eave_, as this is much easier than trying to remedy
an error when half the glass is laid. Use "finishing" nails for securing
the sash-bars, as they are easily split. Next, with chalk line mark the
middle of the roof sash-bars, and secure to them the one-inch pipe
purlin, which will then be ready to fasten to the uprights already in
place. Next, make concrete by mixing two parts Portland cement, two of
sand and four of gravel or crushed stone with sufficient water to make a
mixture that will pour like thick mud, and put the iron pipe posts in
their permanent positions, seeing that the purlin is level and the posts
upright. (If necessary, the purlin can be weighted down until the
concrete sets.) Then put into place the ventilators, glazed, and the
headers for the same--short pieces of wood, cut to go in between the
sash-bars,--and fit these up snugly against the lower edge of the
ventilator sash.
When laying the glass in the roof, which will now be ready, use _plenty_
of putty, worked sufficiently soft for the glass to be thoroughly bedded
in it, and leaving no air-spaces or crevices for the rain to leak
through later. If this work is carefully done, it will not be necessary
to putty again on the outside of the glass, but it should be gone over
with white lead and linseed oil. Be sure to place the _convex_ surface
of every light up. The panes should be lapped from 1/6 to 1/4 of an
inch, and held securely in place with greenhouse glazing points, the
double-pointed _bent_ ones being generally used. The lights for the ends
of the house may be "butted," that is, placed edge to edge, if you
happen to strike good edges, but as a general thing, it will be more
satisfactory to lap them a little. The woodwork, before being put
together, should all receive a good priming coat of linseed oil in which
a little ochre has been mixed, and a second coat after erection. I have
suggested putting the glass in roof and sides before touching the
benches, because this work can then be done under shelter in case bad
weather is encountered. The benches can be arranged in any way that will
be convenient, but should be about waist-high, and not over four or four
and a half feet across, to insure easy handling of plants, watering,
etc. Rough boards will do for their construction, and they should not be
made so tight as to prevent the ready drainage of water. The doors may
be bought, or made of boards covered with tar paper and shingles or
roofing paper.
The house suggested above is used only by way of illustration. It may
be either too large or too small for the purposes of some of the readers
of this book, and I shall therefore give very briefly descriptions of
several other types of small houses, some of which may be put up even
more cheaply than the above. The plainest is the sash lean-to somewhat
like Fig. 3, which is made by simply securing to a suitable wall a
ridge-piece to hold one end of the sashes for the roof, and erecting a
wall, similar to the one described above, but without glass, and with a
plain, 2 x 4 in. piece for a sill, to support the other ends. Either a
single or double row of sashes may be used, of the ordinary 3 x 6 foot
size. In the latter case, of course, a purlin and supporting posts, as
shown in diagram, must be supplied. Every second or third top sash
should be hinged, to open for ventilation, and by tacking strips over
the edges of the sash where they come together, a very tight and roomy
little house can be put up quickly, easily and very cheaply. New sash,
glazed and painted one coat, can be bought for $3 to $3.50 each. Ten of
these would make a very practical little house, fifteen feet long, and
over ten feet wide.
[Illustration: Sash and frames for a coldframe or hotbed cost only about
$3.00 per frame, 3 x 6 ft., and will serve to raise thousands of young
plants for setting out in the spring]
[Illustration: A simple and ingenious type of window greenhouse made
from a single coldframe sash with side glazing and a shelf]
[Illustration: An inside view of the same. Three shelves are available
for plants in addition to the main shelf at the bottom]
Another form of lean-to where there are windows is shown in another
diagram. The even-span house, of which type there are more erected than
of any other, is also shown. The cost of such a house, say 21 feet wide,
can be easily computed from the figures given in the first part of
this chapter, the north wall, and purlin braces from the ridge posts,
being the only details of construction not included there.
[Illustration: Fig. 4--A simple form of lean-to greenhouse where there
is an available sheltering wall but with first-story windows. The inner
slope or valley should be drained]
[Illustration: Fig. 5--The simplest of all "greenhouses," which is in
reality little more than a deep coldframe with an opening into the
cellar]
A simple way of greatly increasing the capacity of the ordinary hotbed
or coldframe, is to build it next to a cellar window, so that it will
receive some artificial heat, and can be got at, from the inside, in any
weather. Several sashes can be used, and the window extend to include
as many of them as desired.
By all means get a little glass to use in connection with your garden
this coming year. Put up one of these small greenhouses, if you can: if
not, get a few sash, at least. Don't put it off till next year; do it
now!
[Illustration: Fig. 6--The regular even-span type. A indicates a row of
pipe standards; BB, braces from these to the purlins. There is a fitting
made for the junction C.]
In the next chapter we will take up the handling of vegetables and
flowers in the small greenhouse. But don't be content to _read_ about
it. It's the pleasantest kind of _work_--try it yourself!