Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse

This is the Banner for Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse. The title is at the top in bold green. There are four pictures, 3 lined up together near the top and the fourth larger, alone at the bottom. The pictures are four steps in Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse from empty ground to finished greenhouse. The background is white with a green trim.

Today, we have Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse. As you know from our other talks, we are always trying to be more self-sufficient by making, growing, or building the things for ourselves that we use every day. This includes growing much of our own food, like fruits and vegs. In order to extend our garden growing season, we have added a greenhouse to our farm. We already have a very small greenhouse that we use for starting plants and protecting them from chickens and cats. The small greenhouse is a great little fellow, but it does not have much room, so we decided we needed to build a larger greenhouse. So Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse will give you the step-by-step process of us building our new greenhouse.

Please note, this is general information. It is for information, education, and entertainment only. Whether it is gardening, farming, animal care, survival, emergency, self-sufficient lifestyle, DIY projects, or herbal preparations, this is for info-sharing only. It is not meant to replace urgent medical care. As we have said, we are not doctors, vets, or professionals of any kind. This info is not meant for medical diagnosis or as treatment advice. We do not guarantee any results that we have gotten for any of the projects that we share with you. We share info that has worked for us. For more info, please see the Out Standing in the Field disclaimer page.

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There are many ways and many different styles of greenhouse, but these are the steps we took in Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse.

1. Clear and level the ground.

Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse group one show the ground cleaned and being leveled where the greenhouse will be built. And picture two shows the level ground ready for cinder blocks.

2. Make a trench in the ground and lay the cinder blocks in it.

This picture group shows the ground level and the cinder block being put into a trough made for them and the cinder blocks all lain into their place. This finished the foundation.

3. Build the side walls. We built the walls on the ground for stability.

This group shows the first board being measured and ready to cut with Ducky the lab carefully watching; the first boards that will be the first wall lane out; the boards being put together on the foundation blocks.

This picture group shows the skeleton for the first wall put together.

4. Add corner braces to wall one.

This picture group shows stabilizers being put into the corners of the first wall skeleton.

5. Level the top of the cinder blocks.

This picture group shows the cinder blocks being ground to level and smooth.

6. Raise wall one.

This picture group shows the two walls ready to go up and the back wall being put up and getting ready for the second wall.

7. Level the cinder blocks for wall two.

This picture group shows the cinder block being ground for the corners.

This picture group shows the cinder blocks being leveled for the corners.

8. Raise wall two.

This picture group shows a rest after wall one goes up and before wall two; wall two going up; wall two up and in place.

9. Add corner braces to wall two.

This picture group shows the corners of the walls stabilized with corner braces.

10. Prep the wall foundations for the metal rods.

This picture group shows the huge metal rods that will be used to hold the foundation in place; drilling the foundation boards to put in the metal rods.

11. Hammer in metal rods through the boards and into the cinder blocks.

This picture group shows the metal rods being hammered into place and tacked down.

12. Fill the cinder blocks with sand. This will stabilize the blocks as well as help to insulate the greenhouse.

This picture shows the cinder blocks being filled with sand.

13. Prep the boards for the roof.

This picture group shows more boards being measured and cut; and boards ready to make the skeleton for the room.

14. Build the rafters and braces.

This picture group shows the roof boards being added.

15. Add the wall boards to the outer wall frames.

This picture group shows the first side wall boards being put on.

16. Place window one.

This picture shows the skeleton of two walls and the roof with the first window in place.

17. Add window two.

This picture shows the skeleton of a wall and the roof with the second window in place.

18. Put the door in place.

This picture shows the door put in place.

19. Finish the rafters.

This picture group shows the boards being added to the roof.

20. Frame for the clear panels.

This picture shows the stabilizing boards being added for the bottom of the panels.

21. Paint and seal the inside walls.

This picture group shows the side walls painted.

22. Paint the outside walls.

This picture group shows the outside walls painted.

23. Make sure the door hangs and closes correctly.

This picture group shows some sanding adjustments needed to make the door close right.

24. Be sure to have the correct “watching and sage advice”.

This picture shows Ducky the chocolate lab watching and giving “sage advise”.

25. Add the clear panels to the side walls and roof.

This picture group shows the clear panels for the sides and roof; the clear panels added to the sides.

This picture group shows the side walls finished with the clear panels.

26. Run electricity for lights, switches, and outlet plugs.

This picture group shows the top light inside the greenhouse; and the power outlets inside the greenhouse.

27. Open the windows.

This picture shows the window on one side wall.

28. Move the first plants into the new greenhouse.

This picture shows the two potted plants moved into the greenhouse.

And there you have the process for Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse.

Sure, you could buy a fancy, new greenhouse from one of the building stores, but then you would not be working on your self-sufficiency skills.

Plus, we reuse things around the farm, so the door and windows cost us nothing. The big light was also repurposed from a different project. The boards came from a local wood mill, and the panels we actually had to buy. So this new greenhouse cost us less to build by hand. With the whole family helping out, it took less than two weeks to build, even though we only did it a little at a time.

This is card one for Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse. The title is at the top in bold green. There are four pictures, 3 lined up together near the top and the fourth larger, alone at the bottom. The pictures are four steps in Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse from empty ground to finished greenhouse. The background is white with a green trim.

This is card two for Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse. The title is at the top in bold green. There is a summarized list of the 28 steps. The background is white with a green trim.

In case you do not know how to build a greenhouse or know little about building at all, there are all kinds of books on manual building. Of course, you can go online to get instructions, a parts list, and a materials list. With a few basic tools and a plan, you are ready to go.

Depending on the rules in your area, you may have to hire a real electrician to do the wiring for the lights and power outlets. Be sure to check your local rules before you start, so you have all the info you need and stay legal and safe.

We hope you have enjoyed this talk on Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse. Maybe you will want or need to build yourself a greenhouse, and now you at least know the process for Building a Simple DIY Greenhouse by hand.

If you are interested in some of our other self-sufficient talks, please see the ones below.

Teach Your Children to Take Care of Themselves

How to Build a DIY Smokehouse

Keep Your Leather Gear Happy This Winter with This DIY Recipe

Month 1: The Essentials

A Month-By-Month Plan To Go From Emergency Survival to Long-Term Self-Sufficiency

Thank you for visiting, and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.