The Greenhouse of Azkaban

An allotment in my simple eyes consists of three things: a shed, a greenhouse and a garden in that

order!

What would my new allotment have for the second most important item on my list, Oh Dear! even

worse than the Shed from Hell!

Seemingly this had been a functioning greenhouse until the neighbours got new fences and the

workmen dumped all the rubbish in the greenhouse smashing all the panes of glass at the back of

the greenhouse and the working area, heartless vandalism!

Your mission Jim, should you decide to accept it ... See if it can be repaired or just knock it down, or

just let nature finish it off? A pane of a dilemma.

I started to clear the outside, it seems to have greenhouse like shape after all!

Some panes still have W clips holding them in.

Skylight still functions.

I cleared a lot of rubbish away. There are some potted plants proving it was a greenhouse in a

former (happier) life.

It has a wooden floor once half a ton of broken glass was cleared off it!

No glass at all at the back.

Next task get my hands on some greenhouse glass, lots of it! I reckon at least 30 pieces of 24 inch

width.

My saviour came about in the unlikely shape of Harry Lincoln, Harry has a posh new double glazed

palace so kindly gave me his old glass.

The glass needs to be cleaned up and cut to length.

I used a glass scraper to clean most of the crap off: moss, dirt and mastic then used acetone (nail

varnish remover) and finally meths.

To aid in cutting the glass I made a simple jig which consisted of a piece of melamine with 2 pieces of

wood at right angles measured to 24" (standard greenhouse glass width).

Cutting glass is not difficult but is a bit of a knack. Tips: clean the scoring area well, use a good cutter

diamonds are better than tungsten carbide wheels, use one continuous scoring motion (not stopping

and starting), break the glass after scoring with a quick break, 3mm glass is easier to cut than 4mm,

long narrow pieces are very difficult to cut, wear gloves to protect your hands and more importantly

wrists!

After cleaning the aluminium frame the glass is held in place by W clips, the more you use the more

secure the glass will be and they are cheap. Some people use mastic to help secure the glass.

One section done only another 8 to go.

To be continued ... in the next exciting instalment of The Greenhouse of Azkaban.