What's Clearer than Crystal-Clear?

When Gordon and Krista McClellan moved to Charlotte from Vermont, their very first task... well, their very first task right after unpacking all the furniture, housewares, and clothes... was to to recreate the organic garden and greenhouse that they had to leave behind in Vermont. 

The couple liked our Kitchen Garden raised bed design, especially the 19” height, which was taller than their previous raised beds. Three 4’x8’ Kitchen Garden raised beds were requested and promptly installed in a semi circle arrangement, on a sunny rise towards the back of their backyard. The three cedar garden beds were filled with a premium organic soil blend and ready for the flats of seedlings that the couple had already purchased, and were sitting outside on the deck, waiting to be planted. 

 

Once the three cedar raised beds were installed and filled with soil, we then turned our full attention to the couple’s new greenhouse. 

Now, the greenhouse that the McClellans had back in Vermont was actually a kit, which Gordon assembled himself. We know from experience how tricky assembling greenhouse kits can be, and Gordon’s description of his greenhouse kit experience ( which, thankfully, did eventually result in a satisfactory finished product ) seemed consistent with what we’ve found ; huge, heavy boxes delivered by motor freight, filled with hundreds of similar looking pieces. Bewildering labeling systems that sometimes seem to pair with the thick assembly instruction manual(s). Other times, the many parts and their labels seem to dance to a very different tune than the cryptic reams of assembly instructions.

By now, the McClellan’s had already reviewed many photos of examples of our cedar-framed greenhouse designs, and the pair loved our gable greenhouse design, which closely resembled the greenhouse they had at their previous home. And they were certain that they weren’t up for another greenhouse kit adventure like the one back in Vermont.

 

Gordon and Krista had already decided on 8’x10’ as the size of their new greenhouse, and had also selected a site for it, in the back, right corner of their backyard. They agreed that the base of 4”x4” cedar timbers, leveled into the sloping greenhouse site, and filled in with decorative pebbles would make an excellent, attractive base. And this greenhouse base design would also ensure that the appearance of the completed structure was would easily meet their neighborhood’s guidelines on the aesthetics of structures like this.

The McClellans also requested cedar potting tables with upper and lower shelving - placed together in an L-shaped arrangement that would fit neatly inside their greenhouse. “Consider it done”, we said.

And the couple even liked the look and feel of the 8mm twin-wall polycarbonate glazing that comes standard on for cedar-framed greenhouse designs. This high-performance, lightweight greenhouse glazing has excellent insulation value, is easy to cut, handle, and install, and is virtually shatterproof. Twin-wall polycarbonate greenhouse glazing costs less, insulates better, and is safer to transport, handle, install, and work under, than single-pane glass glazing. 

But the couple’s previous greenhouse had single pane, clear polycarbonate glazing. And this was, perhaps, the trait that they loved most about that greenhouse. If possible, they wanted the same look and feel of crystal-clear glazing on the new greenhouse. So they gently asked us if single-pane glazing was an option, instead of the twin-wall polycarbonate - even with the slight loss of insulation value.

“Of course it’s an option”, we replied. In fact, we’ll gladly install single-pane, clear polycarbonate glazing on any cedar-framed greenhouse we build. There’s a little more to it, though, and we explained the additional cost, and additional time needed to work with the more delicate, single-pane, clear polycarbonate material. Although it’s far, far less likely to shatter the way a similar-sized sheet of glass might, single-pane polycarbonate still requires much more care and special handling than its twin-wall polycarbonate cousin.

Pilot holes must be patiently drilled close to the edges of each sheet (where the single pane material is most vulnerable to cracking) , and mounting screws and cedar trim very, very gently installed. This process requires patience, skill ,finesse, more patience, additional time on site, and thus, adds a little cost to the project.

 

So, after the couple happily agreed to the small charge to cover the cost and longer installation process of the single pane, polycarbonate  glazing, we promptly ordered the material and soon installed the 1/4”-thick, single-pane, clear polycarbonate glazing onto the rough sawn red cedar greenhouse frame.

The words crystal-clear hardly seem adequate to describe the end result. And if it weren’t for the few, small reflected areas on the glazed roof that appear in the photos, it might even seem like the frame hasn’t yet been glazed.

We were glad to see how delighted Gordon and Krista were with their new cedar-framed greenhouse. 

We were delighted, too.

The striking beauty of the finished product, and our now delighted customers, made all the extra time and attention spent working with the heavy - and sometimes finicky - single-pane, polycarbonate glazing well worth it.