Foundations for a greenhouse: what they are and how to build

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27 August 2022, 16:24

Foundations for a greenhouse: what they are and how to build

Foundations for a greenhouse: what they are and how to build

If you are going to acquire a greenhouse on the site, you need to prepare for the fact that you will have to do construction work, such as, for example, building a foundation for a greenhouse.

Of course, everyone wants to invest a minimum of effort and money and get the maximum in the form of early vegetables or late autumn ones, when there are frosts and there is nothing in the garden. But this rarely happens. Most often, you need to work hard to have a comfortable, durable greenhouse. After all, a reliable foundation for a greenhouse will ultimately result in a longer service life than without a foundation at all.

Varieties of foundations for a greenhouse

For the construction of the foundation, you can use various materials, depending on the financial capabilities of the owner of the site and his preferences.

The most prefabricated can be called a foundation made of timber. In terms of cost, it is not much inferior to concrete, but in terms of labor costs and construction time, such a foundation, of course, is in the lead among the rest, more monumental. However, its service life will be short-lived, despite all the ongoing antiseptic treatments and waterproofing. The proximity of wet soil will quickly affect the foundation for a greenhouse made of timber by the appearance of rot.

Unlike a wooden foundation, a concrete strip foundation will probably last longer than the greenhouse itself. In terms of strength, no material can compare with concrete, even metal will collapse due to corrosion, and nothing will happen to concrete even after a hundred years. In addition, when the greenhouse becomes unusable or the question arises of moving it to another place, the strip foundation for the greenhouse can easily turn into a foundation for a gazebo, shed or other light structure. In terms of cost, such a foundation will not differ much from a foundation made of timber, and its strength should not even be compared with a wooden one.

There is an option for building a foundation for a polycarbonate greenhouse using bricks. It will be something between a wooden and concrete foundation in terms of strength. The service life of such a foundation will depend on the correct choice of material, since not every type of brick is suitable for foundations. In addition, the location of the greenhouse and the skill of the bricklayer affect the durability of the brick foundation.

You can make a foundation for a greenhouse with your own hands from stone, if there is one on the site, which will reduce the financial costs of cement and gravel or crushed stone. It is important that the stone is resistant to weather disasters. In the case of using weak types of stone, the foundation can be plastered, this will protect the stone from cracking and coloring. Working with stone is quite difficult and difficult, unlike brick. The stone needs to be given the appropriate shape, i.e. cut it off or cut it off. But if the stone is of high quality, then the greenhouse on such a foundation, in addition to its functional suitability, will also become an additional decoration of the site.

But the dimensions of the foundation depend on the size of the greenhouse itself. Therefore, before pouring the foundation under the greenhouse, you need to decide on the size of the greenhouse itself, the material for the frame. After all, the larger the greenhouse, the greater the strength of the foundation itself. That is, the height and width of the foundation will be greater for a 4x9 m greenhouse than for a 3x4 m greenhouse.

In each case, excluding only the wooden frame, special parts must be laid in the body of the foundation, at the installation sites of future vertical racks, to which the frame will be attached to the foundation.

This is a necessary condition for the greenhouse to stand securely on the foundation, not being afraid of strong winds and snowfalls.

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