Help me find the best greenhouse/sunroom, for me

[Rivka]

So i am moving and loosing my great covered porch and my orchid have gotten a taste of fresh humid DC air and i dont think they are going to speak to me if i drag them all indoors. I would like to figure out a way to keep them out for a very long as possible, though i realize that all winter is probably really if not totally pushing it.

here are the facts i have to work with:

1. i have a sturdy 10'x10' deck i would like to use, it has two tall brick walls on the south and east side.
2. I'm thinking lean too style to let the kitchen door(east wall) and or the office sliding door (south wall) open into the space.
   
3. i live in the DC metro area (7a i think) so it will get cold eventually, but no week long blizzards, usually. but yeah we get below freezing for at least one spell of not a few and it does snow from time to time (but not last year for instance)
4. i have a small collection of about 60 orchids and will work hard to control that number since i will be moving in a year or so across county and i already know how much of a hassle that is with 'chids
5. i still want to take up all the space i can so i can have it for multi use
6. most all are intermediate, not too cranky of plants
7. i am renting and cant trash the place or change thing up a lot
8. i hope to sell the greenhouse before i move in a year or so. though may get to sell it to the owners of the house if it works really well as a sunroom.
9. I'm not made of money, but do understand paying for something i really enjoy
10. i would like to use the space also as a warm mosquito free place for my soon to be 2 years olds to play, so i will be putting all plants up on counters and hopefully a sitting area in there.
11. i guess I'm looking for a sunroom to put orchids in really
12. im handy with tools, but don't have weeks and weeks to tinker on something, i have twin toddlers, yeah i know, im crazy for doing anything but the orchids need a bedroom too

so thoughts? links to awesome things? i have been searching the nets for a few days and I'm burned out, hoping folks know of great things i have missed. there have been some ones that may work if something better does not come along.

[Leafmite]

In the winter, I grow indoors by windows. I buy large, clear dropcloths (from the painting section) and put one over the south-facing glass sliding doors and cut it width-wise to fit but I use the extra length to cover the floor where I arrange the plants. It keeps the mess from getting on the carpet or messing up the doors. I use the other dropcloth to cover the plant table, bookshelf, and other floorspace I use for additional plants. As much as I would love a greenhouse, the expense doesn't justify it for me. With the three kids, our money has always gone to YMCA classes, dance, music lessons, their sports, and now, college expenses. Having the plants inside with the kids is a challenge, I know, as I went through it when my kids were little. If you go with an outdoor shelter, you will have to heat it and probably find a way to protect the decking. Good luck!

[Rivka]

If the decking is painted wood that has been made to be outdoors, would it not be fine?

Yeah up till now I have grown on a few metro shelves set up in the living room behind a baby gate. And I got some large shallow trays to catch water spills.

They just live the humid air so much and I love the carefree watering.
I had such a hard time with the super dry winter air the last two winters.

Add to that us reallllly wanting a sun room or screen room ever since we moved here and it got me thinking about the greenhouse.

I do expect that I will bring them in for maybe as long as 3-4 months depending on what I get set up. My new place has very few windows as its an old brick colonial, so my set up will never be great.

[Rivka]

has anyone had any experiance with a Royal Garden Blackline Greenhouse?

[dounoharm]

that looks sort of like the basic plan of my gh, the framework is powder coated aluminum with twin walled polycarbonate glazing.....i like mine real well, and it has been active for 5 years now.....very nice, if you can get one to fit your space, but very expensive.....gl

[Rivka]

yeah my deck is like 10'1" or 10"2", i'm thinking that i can take off the gable extension that goes to the door and instead just seal it up against the external brick wall of the house. there is a door y right there and it would just be able to walk directly in!
i actually have doors on both sides on the house that wrap around the deck and would love to have both of then to walk into the greenhouse/sunroom. the gable end seems a straight forward mod, will have to look at the structure and exactly where the door falls on the other side to see if that side was be retrofitted.

my original thought was to get a lean too style, that way it would just go directly over one door that goes to my kitchen and is up two steps so it 96" at the top of the framing and then just need to line the door that is usually on the flat side to the sliding door i have.

height is clearly an issue with that kitchen door, the office door is more simple.

my 3rd option is to get a smaller lean to style and put it over my office sliding door, that would give me the best view into the greenhouse and then leave a walkway around the greenhouse on the deck so that my kitchen door is still functional, good for taking out the trash. (cause apparently there is more to living that orchids)

[Rivka]

ok so i think i settles on a small lean too, it wont work as a play room or a sitting room, but it leaves 6x10 left of the deck to do something else with like that. and this seems the best balance of features and cost and it fits exactly on my deck and right up to the kitchen door. (it will attach to the wall with the office sliding glass door)
EarthCare Aluminum Lean to 4' x 10' Hobby Greenhouse

So now im off to figure out heating and watering set up. i have 2 porch lights that are on the exterior wall, im pondering if i can use one of them to make myself an outlet instead? the breaker box to the house is right there in that office, so i may talk to a electrician and find out what sort of power outlets i can get put in.

anyone got a heater suggestions or things to avoid? i calculate that i will need about 10-11k BTU's maybe will get 2 heaters since the greenhouse is so long and narrow. will probably want to go with 120v electric

[Leafmite]

I am a cautious person so I have a few thoughts: Is your landlord okay with the idea of the work you plan on doing (he might be required to buy extra insurance or check rules or codes for your neighborhood)? If going the electric route and landlord gives the okay, make certain the heater is approved for greenhouse use (you wouldn't want it to cause a fire or shock) and that your electrition truly understands what you plan to do so the wiring can handle the load of the heater, which might be heavy if the weather gets cold. Just a few safety issues that you have probably already cleared. We had friends who had an electrical fire in their home and it caused tremendous damage. They were lucky to get out alive. We also heard of a couple that poured quite a bit of money into a rented home to greatly improve it (but didn't get explicit permission) and the landlord was furious and sued! So, yes, just wanted to make certain you didn't have either problem. The greenhouse looks very nice by the way. Good luck!

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I am a cautious person so I have a few thoughts: Is your landlord okay with the idea of the work you plan on doing (he might be required to buy extra insurance or check rules or codes for your neighborhood)?

yeah i am a experienced renter and would never do anything permanent or serious without written permission. I have already gotten it to place the small removable greenhouse on the deck.

If going the electric route and landlord gives the okay, make certain the heater is approved for greenhouse use (you wouldn't want it to cause a fire or shock) and that your electrition truly understands what you plan to do so the wiring can handle the load of the heater, which might be heavy if the weather gets cold.

i do not believe the load on an outlet is not determimed by the weather.
the heater is either on or off, it can't suddenly draw more power than it is made to draw, it can just stay on for a longer period of time. certainly i would be aware of the rating of a heater and get one that was rated for outdoor use of sorts so that it can handle the humidity of the greenhouse. I would love to use a 220v heater, but i doubt i wan to go thru ok'ing and installing a external 22v plug, a pretty big undertaking.

Just a few safety issues that you have probably already cleared. We had friends who had an electrical fire in their home and it caused tremendous damage. They were lucky to get out alive. We also heard of a couple that poured quite a bit of money into a rented home to greatly improve it (but didn't get explicit permission) and the landlord was furious and sued! So, yes, just wanted to make certain you didn't have either problem. The greenhouse looks very nice by the way. Good luck!

yeah i am a metalsmith and welder as well and so have a lot of experience using potentially dangerous things in a residential setting, I'm very respectful of the fact that i could blow up my house if my craft is done wrong. Folks usually go wrong overloading single circuits or bypassing safety features.

oh and on the "bettering a place only to get in trouble for it later"..... i once got EVICTED, yeah i said evicted, for planting flowers in a bare dirt flowerbed on a rental house. I now get it in every lease that I am allowed to plant seasonal flowers and bulbs in otherwise unused areas. Nearly every house i live in ( i lot cause we are military) ends up with crocuses naturalizing in drifts in the corners of the lawn.

[Leafmite]

I am glad to hear your reply. Sounds like you know what you are doing, then. My father was an EE so I grew up with all those booklets on electrical safety and tons of reminders. I always unplug the toaster after the kids use it.
I bet you are looking forward to the day when you don't need to keep moving and renting. Our friends have told us horror stories of landlords. Really, no flowers? Glad you get that in your contract. Spring bulbs are always a sign of hope. Good luck with your greenhouse!