Anyone dismantled and moved a greenhouse before??

Hi All

We have just moved in to a new house and there is an old greenhouse which I want to dismantle, clean-up and move to a nicer spot at the top of my garden where we are going to grow veg and fruit.

Judging by the state of disrepair the house was in I would say it is probably 20 year old and is a full size greenhouse with sliding door and temperature-controlled pressure opening window.

Has anybody ever taken one of these to bits and if so which sides do I take off first? have you any tips to ensure I don't ruin any panes? Would a jet washer get the old moss off?

If you can give me any tips that would be great, thanks in advance!

Also if necessary I can upload some pics of it here tomorrow.

I've moved greenhouses three of four times in recent years so what's your problem? The first thing I would do is to make sure your new site is well and ready. Because of the low head room in my present greenhouse, and made shallow foundations and a rectangle of breeze blocks which raised the head room by 12". I then laid concrete on the floor. I presume you have an aluminium greenhouse; you didn't say. To clean the glass sponge over the glass with something like Jeyes Fluid then jet wash off or use a watering can. Much of the glass in my inherited greenhouse was smashed so I marked the survivors using a Chinagraph pencil so they would at least have a chance at going back in the same way. Remove glass and safely stack. Using something like a 10mm open ended spanner undo the connexting nuts and bolts one at a time. Being mad of aluminium, some will snap but never mind, they are cheap enough to buy packs of them. Move the empty greenhouse 'walls' to the new site and set down on a narrow bed of sealant. If laying on concrete or blocks, drill, Rawlplug and screw the walls down. Measure the diagonals to ensure it's square. Insert glass and use new W-clips. That's about it. I used old pieces of glass I found or were given to me but old glass is dreadful to cut accurately and is almost false economy. I made staging from 2"x1" and it's done pretty well over the last fifteen years but does now need a little work. When I fitted my glass I used long 'worms' of special putty-like stuff under the glass plus the clips but I now think this was not necessary.

Hi There

Yes greenhouse is aluminium, the area I am moving it to is already paved over and no weeds are getting through so it should be ok to just move over but I like the idea of raising it up a bit for extra height.

I was mainly wondering the best way to go about dismantling it, ie take door off first then could the 4 sides be taken off to be moved without dismantling every single pane of glass?

Thanks for the advice anyway.

If the sections can be moved without taking out the glass it will be so much quicker and easier and you are less likely to break the glass.

We have moved our wooden Alton 5 times and I should think the principle is the same.

Door first.  Then roof sections. Then sides.  Then ends. Have lengths of wood available to brace the bits when you remove sections.  Two people make it simple. Do not do it when the wind is blowing.  Do not leave it incomplete overnight. If the nuts and bolts are difficult to undo, apply oil to them and leave overnight for them to loosen.  Make sure you have plenty of new bolts, clips, etc before you start, so you don't have to go and get some more mid-construction

It is far easier to wash the glass at ground level, especially the inside of the roof sections.

When you reconstruct make sure everything is square.  Start by putting the end opposite the door in place and brace it firmly.  Then off you go.

In my experience it is inevitable you will hear the tinkle of broken glass. But with luck it will only be one sheet.

Welshonion wrote (see)

If the sections can be moved without taking out the glass it will be so much quicker and easier and you are less likely to break the glass.

We have moved our wooden Alton 5 times and I should think the principle is the same.

Door first.  Then roof sections. Then sides.  Then ends. Have lengths of wood available to brace the bits when you remove sections.  Two people make it simple. Do not do it when the wind is blowing.  Do not leave it incomplete overnight. If the nuts and bolts are difficult to undo, apply oil to them and leave overnight for them to loosen.  Make sure you have plenty of new bolts, clips, etc before you start, so you don't have to go and get some more mid-construction

It is far easier to wash the glass at ground level, especially the inside of the roof sections.

When you reconstruct make sure everything is square.  Start by putting the end opposite the door in place and brace it firmly.  Then off you go.

In my experience it is inevitable you will hear the tinkle of broken glass. But with luck it will only be one sheet.

Wonderful that is what I was wanting to know, thanks very much, I won't be doing it for a week or so until my dad is back home from the rigs but I will try and let you know how it goes!

Quick addition, take photos of the way it is put together before you start dismantling it, Makes it easier to remember.

Have to say that the last time we moved a small aluminium greenhouse, once the glass was out and it was detached from the base, 4 of us carried the whole thing to its new site without any dismantling at all.

Having moved greenhouses before the only thing I'd add to the above comments is make sure your new site is nice and level, other wise you'll  find getting the panes of glass back in  pretty tricky. I replaced all clips with new as the old ones once off were too far gone to try to salvage. 

We loved ours 30 miles from its first home to our garden so took photos, marked the structure and dismantled it completely.   Had to replace 3 panes of glass in the end.

Last autumn we moved it again to a sunnier site and that time we just took out the glass and moved the frame and roof pieces as whole panels without unscrewing them all.   We made sure we had a level site ready for it and some replacement clips for the panes and it all went very smoothly.

obelix that is what we did.. just took glass out and move the whole frame work.. got some mates round.. did bar-b-que for them and got concrete base down by 10am first day and moved frame following day.. didnt put glass in until net weekend thou as had to clean it all and get new clips for it.. and let the case go right off because of the weight.

sorry let the base go right off..