Greenhouse setting

[HeathenWoods]

Hi,

As way of introducing myself (I'm Andrew, by the way), I thought I'd ask a question (sorry if it's poor etiquette).

At the bottom of my garden is a greenhouse frame which is standing on a wooden base. Neither are secured. I want to shift the greenhouse to the area of cleared ground you can see in the photo; following a tip-off I received I've got some halved paving slabs as a base for the greenhouse (I want to use the wood to make a couple of raised beds).

Before I go mad and spend money on getting someone to lay the slabs level for me, is there an easy way to lay them, make sure they're level, and not have to mix concrete if I can help it?

Or am I asking the impossible?

Thanks for your time :-)

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[Higgs Boson]

You might also inquire on . Some knowledgeable people on that NG.

HB

[lannerman]

hi Andrew and welcome, No, its not impossible to lay slabs without mixing concrete, you could just lay them on a bed of sand but they will never be either firm or secure and you will always have a problem with weeds growing up through them ! Even it you first put a layer of weed fabric under the slabs, that wont stop weeds in the cracks !! Slabs on thier flat are not the best things to erect a greenhouse on, they are fine for the floor of the greenhouse but i would advise you either lay 2 rows of bricks or ideally a row of 4" concrete blocks (laid on thier edge) on which the frame will sit ! This will have 2 main advantages, firstly it gives you much more headroom and secondly the weight of the concreted in blocks will anchor the greenhouse in the event of a gale (which the slabs wont do) The easiest way to put the base in is to scratch out a shallow foundation (the size of the greenhouse) lay the blocks on a shallow bed of concrete, you only really need enough under them to level them as the strength is when the blocks are pointed in ? make sure the base is square, do this by getting the diagonal measurements the same length, put the greenhouse on the base and them you can point the blocks in. If the base is not square, you might find the roof glass wont fit ?? doing it this way, its not then so important to lay the slabs on concrete, sand will then be fine ! Hope this helps, Lannerman

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[HeathenWoods]

Thanks to you both.

I had considered making a shallow foundation, filled with sand, over a layer of tough, builders' grade plastic, with some cement spread on the sand to then allow ground moisture to set the cement. But it all seemed a bit chancey! Especially as the layer of plastic would, presumably, prevent the incursion of the ground moisture! I think my main concern is getting everything level.

I'm wary of using slabs as flooring as I've been warned about, "dry heat," being a distinct problem.

Much food for thought!

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[Fran]

I moved my fathers greenhouse to my house after he passed. I prepped the ground by digging a ditch where the walls would be about 6" deep and filling with gravel. Ithen laid a ring of solid concrete blocks that are 10" X 6" X 4". The bottom of the frame sits on these.

I anchored the frame of my greenhouse with heavy bolts attached to very strong pieces of metal (not sure what they are called, but they are long narrow pieces that form a right angle and have holes in them). These pieces of metal were driven about 18" into the ground, and then the green house frame was attached. It's withstood some major winds in the 8 yrs I've had it.

I prepped the floor of the green house with several layers of weed-stop fabric, then about 6" of mulch, renewed occasionally. Weeds rarely show up as there is no rain to keep the ground from completely drying up. I have more issues with chipmunks and spiders than weeds :)

HTH, Fran