Greenehouse

We moved to Kilmarnock, on the Northern Neck of Virginia (being the peninsula of land between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers) in 2019. One of the attractions of the property was a large, fenced in garden and a greenhouse, made from 2 x 4’s and covered with plastic. The rafters, placed on three foot centers, were starting to sag and the house was leaning about 5” on the garden, or west side. Probably the most senisble thing would have been to tear the whole thing down and start over. However, that would be difficult to do by myself so I opted to use the existing walls (reinforced) and the original roof beam and replaced the 2 x 4 rafters on three foot centers with 2 x 6’s on two foot centers. I tried to pull the house straight with a come-along and was able to pull it over by about three inches and decided that was close enough. (You can see, in this photo, the first replacement rafters in the top left corner and the come-along I used to try and pull the house straight).

Here is the house nearly framed up. My wife, Denise, volunteered to install the last of the purlins to carry the roof panels.

And here it is, framed and painted to accept the polycarbonate panels on the south side and the Ondura roof panels on the north.

My friend and neighbor, Alex, helped me install the Ondura panels after Denise installed the polycarbonate panels.

Once the roof was on, I purchased 28, six pane window sashes from a reclamation business in Richmond and reused 4 large glass doors,a storm door and several other windows on the ends. Here it is with the windows installed and the ends on with a ventilation fan in the peak.

I finished the exterior with Hardy Plank and neighbor Clair, made me two stained glass windows.

Now I am working on the interior, including wiring, lighting {already installed in this photo), plumbing and installing the beds and benches, as well as finishing the ceilings and walls (notice Holly, our labradoodle and my constant companion, looking through the door at me).