Greenhouse

[jonc]

It's all happening at the moment - got the chickens, and now have found a greenhouse to use next summer :) My gran has said I can use the one in her garden, which hasn't been used for many many years. I'll need to dig all the weeds out, but also there are several panes of glass that have been smashed at some point. I'm thinking I could replace this with the equivalent thickness of the perspex type stuff they sell in sheets at DIY stores. This would be pretty cheap, and has the advantage that I can cut it myself. The question is though, would this let sufficient light through, and is it equivalent to the production of glass in terms of environmental friendliness?

[Muddypause]

Greenhouse glass is probably the cheapest glass you can get. It's can be pretty pretty thin, but I would have though it is at least as cheap as the cheapest sheet plastic.

Cutting glass is easy enough once you have seen how to do it (use a new glass cutter), but most glaziers will cut to size at no extra cost.

If you think the glass is going to be vulnerable, plastic sheet may be a sensible option, though if the sheets are large, the thin plastic can sag under it's own weight, and pop out of the frame, particularly on the roof. The expensive option of twin- or triple-walled polycarbonate sheets (often use for conservatory roofs) would overcome this, and it is virtually indestructible (they make crash helmets out of the same stuff, and when I cut some with a circular saw once, it knocked all the tungsten teeth off the blade - but it cuts easily with a cheap handsaw).

I have heard that some clear plastic (can't remember specifically which) is more transparent to light than glass. This may be particularly true of horticultural glass. But I doubt it is more environmentally friendly. Glass is made from little more than sand, heated up. There is energy used in its manufacture, but no nasty chemicals. It's easily recycled, and even if it isn't, it doesn't really impose upon the environment for thousands of years in the way that plastic does.

[Ranter]

Thanks for the question jonc & thanks for the answer Muddy.

Our new greenhouse is still laying on the ground, in bits, but we can see that several of the panes are broken. I know what to do now.

Cheers

[jonc]

Thanks for the reply, I'm going to measure the broken panes and then get in touch with some glaziers :)

[the.fee.fairy]

you might be able to go to your local focus/do it all/b&q type place and get some there. The door fell off our greenhouse and smashed, and we got replacement glass at the local focus i think.

Might be worth a try (and cheaper than a glazier!).