How To Build A Greenhouse Frame

Wood is an ideal material for building your greenhouse frame, providing you with a practical, effective and attractive finish. Our guide takes you through each step of building your greenhouse frame from timber and describes how this the best choice of material.

Building a Wooden Greenhouse Frame

A greenhouse is fantastic for cultivating all your flowers, fruits and vegetables as well as protecting plants and seedlings from insects and frosts. They allow you to monitor and adjust the temperature, humidity, drainage and soil moisture to create the ideal growing environment.

Building your own wooden greenhouse is a great DIY project, and all you need are the right materials, some tools and simple instructions.

The Materials

You’ll need timber in a range of sizes to construct the frame and base. Pressure-treated wood or cedar are the best choices for protecting against bugs and the elements and providing you with a long-lasting solution. Using pre-engineered wood trusses will save time when building the roof, and these can easily be fixed to the frame with the use of metal roof anchors.

The tools that you’ll require include a sledge hammer, circular saw, cordless screwdriver, ratchet, wood screws, measuring tape and level.

The Foundations

The first stage is to create a solid base for the greenhouse. Start by locating a flat section of the garden, measuring out the required space and then removing any rocks, grass, roots or other debris that can affect plant growth.

Constructing the Frame

When you’ve finished the foundations, you can start by installing the posts in the corners with stainless steel ground anchors. The bottom of the frame can then be built around this.

To construct the walls you’ll need some assistance to fit the vertical sections into position – not forgetting to leave a doorway in one of the sides. A pre-fabricated metal door will be easy to attach to the frame.

Once you’ve constructed the frame, you can cover it in polyethylene film, using a heavy-duty stapler to keep it in position. This will retain the moisture and heat. There will be a small area along the base that is still exposed, but you can lay crushed rocks around it to reduce the air flow.

Why Should You Use Wood for Your Greenhouse?

As well as timber, plastic or metal could also be used to construct a greenhouse, but here we look at why wood is the best choice.

Better Thermal Efficiency

Wood is a natural thermal insulator, which makes it more efficient than other materials and allows you to keep the temperature consistent to provide a better growing environment.

More Practical

Greenhouses can soon become cluttered and untidy when you start storing all your tools, plants and compost in them, so it’s important to include enough storage space. A wooden frame is more practical, as you can easily attach hooks to it for storing all your tools and keeping them out of the way but within easy reach.

More Attractive

Along with being practical, you want your new greenhouse to be attractive, and timber certainly shines in this category, particularly if you paint it. It also complements the surroundings better, as it’s a natural material.