Acrylic Greenhouse glazing

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Acrylic Greenhouse glazing
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wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 16 6:19 pm Post subject: Acrylic Greenhouse glazing
A quick search for replacement greenhouse glazing (I accidentally surprised a snoozing cat, which went ballistic) brings up lots of acrylic options. Are they any better or worse than glass? They seem to be cheaper, and hopefully more cat proof...

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46231
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 16 7:24 pm Post subject:
stronger than glass, easier to scratch, last fairly well.

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 7:26 am Post subject:
its really popular here. take of that what you will. we live in a rural community, most people have veg gardens. it may be cost or practicality. there is a lot less risk of the panes being smashed in storms or by the children they don't look as pretty so it depends where you want to put it and if that bothers you. part of me wants to say glass is more environmentally friendly...

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15981

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 8:04 am Post subject:
Some of the panes in our green house are acrylic or similar I think, and they seem to be doing as well as the glass ones. We have louvre ventilators low down, so cats tend to use them as an exit rather than going through the glass.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 12:09 pm Post subject:

Woo wrote:

part of me wants to say glass is more environmentally friendly...

I understand that want, but I imagine that a pane of acrylic could be made many times over for the same amount of fossil fuel as a pane of glass. (plus shipping weight and its associated fuel usage)

Over here glasshouses are very rare. When solid, and not inflated double film, I would wager that double-walled polycarbonate sheets are the most popular

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46231
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 12:31 pm Post subject:
twin and triple poly carbonate is pretty good and going by the roof of my mum and dad's greenhouse even the 1980's stuff is still serving it's purpose despite severe winds and a fire from an oil filled heater having eyeballed it from a distance fairly recently. perhaps not ideal for windows if you want to look out or in but if visability isnt an issue tis perhaps a very good option.

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 1:02 pm Post subject:
It requires at least twice as many clips to hold it in place, compared with glass

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 2:29 pm Post subject:

Useful to know, thanks. Prettiness doesn't matter. I just like to keep the glasshouses functional and stop glass smashing all over the place.

Woo wrote:

part of me wants to say glass is more environmentally friendly...

That possibly depends how many times one has to replace the glass panes. I've now more panels to replace, on the potting shed. These are a non standard size and I recall the were expensive this time last year. So I now have 7 panes to replace.

I'll give them a go. At a fiver each delivered, its worth a go. I might even remember to report back.

I've got a load of that corrugated-plastic-between-two-flat-bits (does it have a proper name?!) kicking about. I'm vaguely thinking of building some sort of shed out of it, at least the roof. Except I've zero experience of this sort of thing, as usual.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 2:35 pm Post subject:

wellington womble wrote:

I've got a load of that corrugated-plastic-between-two-flat-bits (does it have a proper name?!) kicking about. I'm vaguely thinking of building some sort of shed out of it, at least the roof. Except I've zero experience of this sort of thing, as usual.

Possibly the twin wall polycarbonate I was referencing? I believe it can be had in acrylic as well.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46231
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 16 9:26 pm Post subject:
poly carbonate is more heat resistant than acrylic so a flame test on a corner will tell them apart. iirc most twin wall in the uk is polycarbonate.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15981

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 16 7:58 am Post subject:
Polycarbonate is very good against impact. Sadly it scratches rather easily. They used to make laboratory safety glasses out of it, may still do so. It was fine if you kept your own and stored them in a packet between uses, but just used communally and thrown in a box, they became unusable within a few weeks. So very good at resisting demented cats impact, but not so good against the claw marks.

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 16 8:55 am Post subject:

wellington womble wrote:

I'm vaguely thinking of building some sort of shed out of it, at least the roof. Except I've zero experience of this sort of thing, as usual.

I doubt you will let that stop you. a admire your tenacity. one of my neighbours have constructed their own green house out of plastic panels. it looks functional and she defiantly grows plenty of toms in it.
bon courage.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 16 10:13 am Post subject:

I just end up looking like an idiot when I don't know what things are called. I have about a zillion polycarbonate type panels (some are opaque) and a big pile of railway sleepers (actually, I think they might be roof beams, but they are just lying in a corner growing brambles) I was vaguely thinking of stacking the sleepers in a log cabin pattern, alternating corners and screwing batons down on top with the polywotsit sandwiched between. If I screwed each course of sleepers down, I can't see any reason why that wouldn't be stable. Presumably it would be heavy enough not to blow away, and I would have a cheap outbuilding that isn't (yet) filled with someone else's crap. The only problem would be extracting the things and lifting them. I assume they are insanely heavy!

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 16 12:44 pm Post subject:

wellington womble wrote:

If I screwed each course of sleepers down, I can't see any reason why that wouldn't be stable.

Only if that first one is really well anchored, and your screws are truly long enough and strong enough to hold up. Otherwise you've made a very heavy, and fairly top heavy block that could come down and squish toes if nothing else.

Fairly Cheap solution is to buy a big long drill bit and drill holes through the timbers, and pound long re-bar stakes all the way through and a couple feet into the ground, particularly where pieces overlap (corners). Additional layers can be spiked together

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 16 1:17 pm Post subject:
I'm wonder if they'd still be drillable? I know they're oak, and I think they came out of an old barn. The house was built in 1878, and I've no reason to suppose the barn was much younger! Still, I can see it would be a good method.

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