Retire in Style

Randy Campbell is on the cusp of retirement. And it would seem that he has every last details of it carefully planned out. Rounds of golf. Wold travel. Gardening. 

And planning is key, because for a man who for decades has worked long days in a suit and tie, dutifully navigated every airport in the owner 48 states as the company required. Crossing the finish line into the quiet freedom of a well-earned retirement is no small task.

Quiet is good. Just not too quiet. His golf game will keep him out of the house. And there are still lots of fun places to visit at a more leisurely pace with his wife Daska  - relaxing trips that aren’t simply the company’s latest marching orders.

  

And then there’s gardening. Randy has been an enthusiastic gardener for a long time. But recently, the idea of growing plants all year long got a foothold and soon grew into a tangible plan to supplement all that time on the lkinks and sightseeing abroad with a large greenhouse in his South Charlotte backyard.

Now, the Campbells already had an organic garden in one corner of the backyard. Three 5’x10’ raised beds built with 6”x6” cedar timbers were neatly leveled into a sloping area, and tucked within a 4’ tall split rail fence. Pea stone pathways added charm to the garden, and an irrigation system with a dedicated zone had already been installed.

 What Randy envisioned was a large gable greenhouse to complement this existing organic garden ; a place where he could grow plants year round, in a climate-controlled environment that included supplemental lighting, a powerful ventilation system, and cedar raised beds with drip irrigation. 

And it was with much delight and enthusiasm that received our own marching orders to bring this wonderful idea into existence.

Now, the first step in any greenhouse project - before the first cedar board is ever cut - is to select the best site for the structure. Randy and his wife Daska had identified an area in another corner of their backyard that received plenty of direct sunlight, and also some shade from the hottest parts of the afternoon during summer. 

We find that full sun from Fall through Spring, with at least some, if not total shade during the summer moths are ideal conditions for a hobby greenhouse site here in Charlotte.

Randy had robust aspirations for his new greenhouse. Together we decided that a gable style structure that measured 16’ wide , 24’ long , and about 14’ tall at the ridge would deliver the needed space...room for all of the seed starting, edible plant growing, garden experimenting, large potted citrus trees, and even a small sitting area with comfy chairs and a table that Randy envisioned inside the greenhouse.

With the greenhouse site and dimensions selected, our next stop was the local sawmill - where we source rough sawn Eastern Red Cedar for our greenhouse frames.

 

Often, we’re asked if one of our cedar greenhouses, cedar chicken coops, cedar outdoor furniture, or other projects was purchased as a kit. Now, we take no insult from this question - in fact it’s even flattering ; the structure must be so straight, so plumb, so uniform, so visually appealing that it seems that only a series of computer-guided machines could possibly have cut, planed, crated, sanded, packed,  and shipped every part of that lovely structure.

But this greenhouse is no kit. And neither are our cedar-framed chicken coops, cedar compost bins, cedar outdoor furniture, and other handmade red cedar Microfarm products. 

Stout framing was mission-critical for for a greenhouse this size. Even with the 45-degree gable roof pitch, there’s still a lot of surface area on this structure that had to tame the heavy wind loads that tropical storms routinely bring through our area from late summer into fall, along with the occasional - but by no means rare - ice storms that snap power lines and send some of Charlotte’s most iconic and seemingly invincible ancient oak trees down to their doom.

To ensure a long and productive life for Randy’s greenhouse, we built a base of two courses of 4”x 4” red cedar timbers, joined together with 6” structural steel screws. To keep termites and any other hungry insects away from the wood base, we first applied several coats of Woodlife CreoCoat Black to the bottom of the cedar base, then placed the base on several inches of drainage stone, which helps keep the wood base drier and last longer.

With the cedar base perfectly squared up and leveled, it was time to build the two 24’ long sidewalls. These walls were made with a combination of red cedar 2”x4” sole and cap plates, 4”x4” studs, and red cedar tongue and groove boards, to create an attractive, 30” tall knee wall. Once anchored to the greenhouse base with 8” structural steel screws, plumbed and braced, the next step in the build was the 16’ gable walls, rafters, and ridge beam.

We found that 4”x4” studs on the two 16’-wide gable walls gave this greenhouse both the needed structural integrity visual appeal.

We extended the cedar tongue and groove knee wall around onto the gable walls, leaving a rather large a 42”-wide and 102”-tall opening for a single, hinged door, installed to open invitingly towards the home’s back porch. 

The goal with greenhouse frames is to strike the perfect balance between strength and light transmission. 

If the frame is flimsy, sooner or later it’ll have answer to Mother Nature. And when it does it’s not pretty. In sever weather, weak greenhouses are likely to buckle, warp, rack, collapse...or, perhaps all of these - plus tumble over into a neighbor’s yard, adding quite a bit to an already  embarrassing loss. 

 If the greenhouse frame is too heavy, or ‘overbuilt' it blocks too much sunlight from reaching the plants inside, somewhat defeating the whole purpose of the greenhouse.

 

For Randy’s greenhouse, rough sawn red cedar 2”x6” rafters spaced 24” apart on center, anchored to a 2”x8” red cedar ridge beam, provided the right balance of strength and light transmission. This greenhouse features a high-volume airflow system combining two 

24” exhaust fans installed above the door that draw fresh air through the greenhouse via two 36” automated aluminum shutters installed in the opposite gable wall. 

This automated ventilation system delivers outstanding air exchange, making traditional roof vent windows unnecessary. In fact this set up was preferable as it allowed us to fully seal the roof seams with a combination of Tyvek tape, cedar trip and high-performance exterior grade silicone. With the addition of the Black-colored steel ridge cap and rake trim, this greenhouse’s roof falls somewhere way beyond waterproof. Maybe NASA has some scientific term for this extreme level of watertightness.

At Microfarm we work exclusively with polycarbonate glazing, and if you’ve stuck with us this far through the story you may as well stick around and read our short ‘elevator pitch’ on why we like polycarbonate greenhouse glazing so much.

Polycarbonate is virtually impossible to shatter - unlike glass. You or your loved ones won’t risk being cut with shards of broken shards glass if a branch falls on the greenhouse while you’re working inside.

You won’t have to clean up a million tiny shards of broken glass if you wake up to find a tree fell on your greenhouse during a storm overnight.

Polycarbonate can certainly be cracked or punctured by an object falling from high above the greenhouse. But if this does happen, it’s far easier and safer  to remove and replace the damaged polycarbonate sheet than a pane of shattered glass glazing.

Double and triple-wall polycarbonate glazing has jaw-droopingly good insulation value - and at a fraction of the cost of double and triple pane glass.

Polycarbonate greenhouse glazing has a special UV protectant and comes with a 10+ year guarantee against any discoloration. But, we’ve found that it typically takes much longer than ten years to see even the smallest change in appearance from UV exposure to multi wall polycarbonate glazing.

And so the decision to use polycarbonate glazing was an easy one for Randy. He prudently selected 16mm, triple wall, clear polycarbonate, which has epic wind, snow, and ice load ratings, outstanding insulation value, and 72% light transmission. 

And it isn’t just polycarbonate greenhouse glazing that we have such strong opinions about here here at Microfarm, either.

What makes the best greenhouse floor? Concrete slab? pea stone? landscape fabric?

 

We say decorative pea stone or river pebbles beats concrete, hands down.

Here’s why:

Excess water drains right through the pebbles into the ground - anywhere inside the greenhouse. There’s no central drain responsible for channeling away all of that water....a hard-working and important single outlet for alll that water runoff, that’ll hopefully never clog up.

Pea stone won’t accumulate algae growth or become slimy and slippery and over time the way perpetually-wet concrete often does.

One advantage of a concrete greenhouse slab is that it does keep rodents from digging inside your greenhouse. And of course if blocks weeds from growing.

To prevent these common annoyances, we carefully install layers of 1/2” galvanized hardware cloth steel mesh in the bottom of our greenhouse, then cover the steel mesh with several layers of commercial grade landscape fabric, followed by several inches of pea stone or river pebbles. Water run off easily drains through this greenhouse floor design - right into the ground or into a French drain that channels runoff water outside the structure, if needed.

With the base, floor, frame, glazing, and ventilation system fully dialed in, it was now time to shift gears for a little greenhouse interior design work. 

 

Randy requested that the rather spacious interior be fitted out with a combination of cedar garden beds, with drip irrigation, an 8’ wide cedar potting table, and a tiered cedar shelf that he could use for growing seedlings.

Randy also asked that we install two 700 watt LED grow lights in the ceiling of the greenhouse, along with a smaller, 400 watt grow light placed right above the tiered cedar shelf.

 

The supplemental lights placed near the ceiling can be times to complement natural daylight, induce plant growth during the winter months, while the smaller grow light will be used to germinate seeds and grow seedlings that will be later transplanted into the cedar garden beds.

Nearly complete both inside and out, just a few small -  but important - touches now remained.

We built and installed a large screen with cedar frame and aluminum mesh, and mounted it on the rear gable wall around the two 36” aluminum shutters. This will help keep swarms of insects from being sucked inside the greenhouse ( or just buzzing in on their own ) during the warmer months, when the ventilation system runs frequently.

 

And with every other small detail seemingly now addressed...every feature thoughtfully considered and carefully set into place, What could possibly remain?

Why not have a sink to wash up after each greenhouse gardening session. It’s no trifling greenhouse. It’s not some rickety, ramshackle, greenhouse kit.

 

Randy’s greenhouse definitely needs a sink. And it can’t be some generic, plastic laundry sink from the local big box store, either.

That’d be like finding a cigarette butt on your 5 layer custom wedding cake. 

Yikes! No way!!

This sink had to keep pace with all the other fine features of Randy’s greenhouse project and with a little red cedar, and plenty of patience, we made it happen.

 

if the greenhouse is the cake, then let our little custom cedar sink stand be the elegant icing on that cake.