10 things(urgent update)you must do if your getting a Polycarbonate Greenhouse.

[@AlysUnchained2567]

Thanx very much for this advice. We are planning to build a small greenhouse on our deck this spring and now we know what to look out for. Who knew the polycarbonate is UV protected on one side only???

[@HomeGrownVeg]

If you know someone who's getting a Polycarbonate greenhouse you might save them lots of heartache by forwarding this video too them. Hit the 'Share' icon then chose your social media platform. It's what good friends do.

[@tannenbaumgirl3100]

Ok...but how to identify after the install whether it was done right? Looks like there is no way of telling?

[@emptynestgardens9057]

You'd think they would clearly indicate with a label "this side up" or something. Sorry you are going to have this challenge now. Thanks for the information 👍🏻

[@MariaSanchez-zf9cs]

So sorry. I can see that this is indeed a major problem. Thanks for the heads up on the greenhouse "must do" list. Good luck in replacing them. I look forward to the video of your wrestling them out!

[@HortiHugo]

Great list, reinforcements on these houses are a must 😊👍🏼

[@ityree2160]

This greenhouse has been quite a bear for you... Thank you for keeping us all updated on its escapades.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

The Polycarbonate sheet has a film covering on one side that is the UV stabilised side. The plan would be to keep this film on the sheets as you build the greenhouse so that you can see the UV stabalised side is on the outside. The trouble starts when you remove the film, part way through the build, and the build goes wrong and you need to do some dismantling to put it right. Take sheets out, put sheets back, in take sheets, out put sheets back in. It took all day to build, it started to rain, I was loosing the light, a wind got up and I was soaking wet. It wasn't straight forward and I didn't have someone 'off camera' handing me the component parts making it look easier than it is. Easy enough to get a few sheets in the wrong way round. Its just cost me £50 to replace 4 of them.

[@hamishmcloon8184]

Thakyou so much for this advice! Ive just bought a 2nd hand polycarbonate greenhouse, thankfully the film is still on! The last owner assembled it before bothering with the film and didnt want to loosen everything to get to the edges. I absolutely would've made this mistake without your help.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

In hind site when I took the film off I should have put a small cross of tape on that side of the sheet checking all the while that as I inserted the sheets the crosses were always on the outside. Once complete remove the crosses. Yep hind site's a wonderful thing. Jim.

[@glynisglynis8665]

Been contemplating a polycarbonate green house and been checking for potential problems and solutions. Being unable to tell which side is stabalised is a huge problem. As you have stated, problems occur, things get refitted, accidents happen, being unable to tell which way a pannel needs to go in should be a concern for the manufacturers. Thank you for the heads up.👍

[@HortiHugo]

Yes, good to take you’re time considering. Great tips here, and needless to say reinforcements are a must. All the best there, Hugh 😊👍🏼

[@valeriejenkins5011]

I’m so sorry. I had my own greenhouse nightmare last year so I can relate. 😮

[@judyofthewoods]

I wonder if some companies fib about "UV stable". I bought some clear tarps, the type with a polyethylene sheet fused to netting. After having a coloured version disintegrate into millions of tiny plastic fragments, I opted for a UV stabilised tarp. Well, I now have, after just a few years, millions of clear plastic fragments everywhere. One of those tarps was even folded into several layers and placed over a pile of timbers. The damage went all the way through the layers. On the other hand, I have a number of polycarbonate sheets stored outside, with the UV protected side facing out, and after a couple decades, they are still fine. Also, a corrugated polycarb roof on my porch, which is fine after maybe 10+ years. As an aside, I learned an interesting fact about roof lift in storms when a friend of mine had some damage to his roof. The insurance inspector told him that a gable roof does not get lifted up, but sucked up through pressure differential as the volume of air becomes more condensed in the increasingly narrowing space towards the apex.

[@linkylou13]

Oh no, Jim. That greenhouse has been a joy in your life. Many an informative and entertaining video have come out of there. I am so sorry for what you are going to have to do. I can't even figure how. My prayers are with you.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

So nice of you

[@HortiHugo]

Very interesting on the eleventh, well done on the addition, Hugh 😊👍🏼

[@christinebrooks6364]

Hello Jim, so sorry to see your greenhouse panes with holes in! Hope you can repair it ASAP. Thanks for sharing and take care 🙂

[@ultramagapatriot5874]

Great advise! Hello from Mississippi

[@steviebboy69]

my green house did that after 2 years, and the sheets WERE the right way around, I found the extreme UV rays in Australia just killed it. it has lasted for 10 years till a hail storm and broadbean size hail finished it on the roof. the wall on the non sun side aka south is as good as new. Mine has 10 panels for the roof 5 each side at $25 a panel or there abouts.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Nightmare! They should come with a health warning. Jim.

[@tannenbaumgirl3100]

How do you know which side is which? Plexi wasn't marked which side.

[@stuart7999]

This happened to mine last year the greenhouse was only 2 1/2 years old at the time so it must be a common issue and I put my panels in as per the instructions, i didn`t replace mine with the same rubbish poly panels I used 4mm solid Lexan found a company online that cut them to size i just drilled and fixed them down with nuts and bold and plenty of silicone this also fixed all the issues you had in the video its now as solid as a glass greenhouse, the only thing I did was scratch the roof Lexan with a scotch pad to block out some of the sun..

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Thing is Stuart. We shouldn't have to do this. Jim.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

This greenhouse took on a life of its own: kzbin.info/aero/PLrdJ3rKwLaer4SU3gVuKE_jf_abuhmE2K

[@norton750cc]

Aye Jim, here is a verification for the naysayers. "4mm Twinwall Polycarbonate Sheeting Has a coextruded UV protection layer on one side. This is under the branded film and must be installed facing outside."( From a manufacturers website)

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Hello Norton 750. Bit of mental arithmetic, 24 sheets total in my 6x8 greenhouse. All have to be fitted the right way round. Building was stressful lots of sheets 'in out shake it all about' as mistakes were made. A common mistake is to watch the manufacturers build videos to see just how easy they are to build. My guess would be the guy building it is half my age with a lot more build experience under is belt, an expert with several helpers 'off camera'. I've only built the one and it was a nightmare to build and hold down when the 1st storms arrived. Telling it how it is. Jim.

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

That's good info Norman, but does it say it in the directions that should have come with the kit? How many people do you know that just look at the pictures and never read the part that say's "IMPORTANT, or CAUTION". "Has a coextruded UV protection layer on one side. This is "under the branded film" and must be installed facing outside." Similar to what is on new flatscreen TV's, I pads, and phone screens. To protect them from damage during packaging, shipping, and unboxing. Your comment, and Jim's description of what happened, tells me this was simply an honest mistake made under duress of deteriorating weather conditions and darkness coming on. Anyone considering buying one of these kits would do well to watch this video. TYFS Jim, and TY for your comment Norman.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

@@marktoldgardengnome4110 Once the film is removed there is no way of telling which side is UV stabilized and which isn't. Comments on this and previous videos talk about panels being blown out, recovered, and refitted. There's got to be a 50/50 chance that a panel is refitted 'the wrong way round', there is no way of telling, other than in a year or two's time holes might start to appear in the outer wall of the sheet.

[@micktepolt6276]

well that is the pits, how about taping UV Resistant Clear Polyethylene Film over the top ,, sorry about the green house

[@1is7ener65]

I had that happen to my gazebo build. Pulled off uv film and lost track which side was which. Years later a hail storm put holes in my roof, especially on the flipped panels. I used uv tape to cover holes. Not sure how long that will last?

[@susangarner9290]

My polycarbonate sheets came with a sticker to say which side faces the sunlight. I live in the desert and after 3yrs so far so good. Sorry your going through this.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Hello Susan. It would seem its a common problem. Hope you have better luck than some of us. Jim.

[@gambitsfox4216]

I remember when you put that greenhouse up. Didn't you have to get some clips or something to make it more sturdy? Sorry it's giving you trouble.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Everywhere I could add strength and security, I did. So far so good, Its still standing but sheets disintegrating was something I hadn't bargained for. Jim.

[@ianemery2925]

I understand that some panel makers now have the UV protective layer not only on both sides, but the intervening spacers as well; however it is suggested in most of the videos I have watched, that you immediately mark which side is the outside with a marker pen, at the time you are removing the protective film. We all make fuck-ups; it is just that not all of us are brave enough to film and post them online - I am currently bodging an underfloor heater install - no way I am going to film myself being an idiot and making an obvious mistake :-0 I actually see poly as a step along the road to glass; could you not replace the damaged poly with glass at this point? The primary reasons to buy poly are cost; weight MIGHT be an issue, but the thickness of glass required for the same performance levels is a lot thinner (2mm?). Perhaps try buying a single glass panel and see how fitting it goes.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Hello Ian The greenhouse was an internet purchase so I hadn't seen it until the boxes arrived. Little did I know that all the 8 foot lengths had been cut in half and that once you start building you can't stop because the greenhouse is so flimsy half built it would just fall over. The build was just one problem after another and took forever. I did this series of videos so that others might be warned of what to expect and to show the additional work I put in to keep the thing in one piece and on the ground. "It is what it is" that's a popular expression these days and just about sum's up Polycarbonate greenhouses. Jim.

[@ianemery2925]

@@HomeGrownVeg I havent built a poly greenhouse, but it does sound very similar to a self-build kit garage I built 10 years ago; the IKEA design philosophy - weak as piss until the second it is completed. I actually had an Ikea wardrobe snap in half as I tried to lift the half-built carcass into place, to fit the shelf - Ikea tried to get out of a refund - until I showed them I was following the exact instructions in their assembly booklet (since changed).

[@myrubycountry2233]

I brought my polycarbonate greenhouse 6 years ago it was so flimsy my husband used mastic to hold all the sheets in to stop them blowing out with the wind. I have also got holes rotting like yours all over and the sheets were defiantly the right way around. very poor quality i would never buy another one again.

[@HomeGrownVeg]

It's been a battle. Jim.

[@kathymc234]

This had been a nightmare for you.