Greenhouse roofing

jambaloney here!!

hey helga here is a nice pic for you!! this is grand river early in march

this was gonna be two posts but much work has been done since so i slammed it all into one... first off, you need glass for your roof - these are some choice bits...

and here is some more - these sliding glass windows have thick panes - great for roof glass. the big window is a large double paned windows that leaks - gonna split that sucker in two! (kymber washed ALL the glass for the roof - bless her heart and poor sore wrists! )

slider clips  off the panes...

many many slider clips - they will be handy for something!!

okay back to the double - paned window - it is big so we have to be careful..

actually, i'm not taking it apart right now, but i need to remove some frame to measure the exact size of the glass....... ( for a how-to i already posted about how to get a tempered double-paned window apart)

so i chipped out some frame - to measure - measure what?? - the size of the new frame of course!! that's what the raw 2x2 is for!!

and here is a finished frame!!

it's not really a frame, i opted to skip framing the stuff for the roof. i was going to cut a groove in wood and sit the glass in the groove, but that would require some real fine cutting  (i don't have a chop saw) and a lot of time... as the glass will be resting on the roof, i opted to build things for the glass to 'sit' on, relying on gravity and silicone to keep the glass in place - so the form is more like a bed... sounds crazy?? probably but what the heck - all in or bust!!!

so i made two..

and kymber painted them while i played with power tools!! these go on either end of the roof!!

now how to get them up?? i bought 10 foot 2x6 pt lumber - saves on paint times ;-)

we are STILL running out of time - let's cheat!!! these are simpson h1 hurricane ties..

which i used to put up the rafters without making birdsmouth cuts - sorry w! i will stuff some wedges in the gaps later - right now we need a roof!!

here are two rafters...

here is a window pane on a frame (or bed?)... sealed with silicone...

and here it is screwed in place!!!

now for the rest of the roof - we have these 1x2 rails - kymber painted them all!! i put all the screws in ahead of time...

for the front, i measured 7 inches in..

and then squared off the rail - screw in...

now the back...

and the middle..

to give a rafter/beam that has a rail one each side...

the weather was good so i put a whole pile up, but here is how it was done... last one!

glass that kymber cleaned - thank you baby !!!

bottom brace with two screws to hold the first pane of glass...

secured into place between railed rafters..

automagic caulking gun - i HATE caulking!!!!! silicone and roofing nails....

it is hard to see in this pic... i ran outta white silicone - this stuff is clear... there is a bead of silicone on both rails and the rafters!!!

first window in place, sitting on the rail, the screws keep it from sliding down..

next pane - if you look carefully, you can see the roofing nails providing a gap between panes of glass - this is to give some play for freezing/thawing , wind, etc. the silicone seals and seats the glass - gravity will do the rest (i HOPE!)

the rest of the glass goes in like that.. then i make 1x2 cross braces, that get dabbed with silicone...

and pressed into place - a bead of silicone goes all the way around on top...

finally these cross braces get further brace by pt 2x2s... cut and sealed...

and screwed in from the bottom - special added bonus!!! lateral bracing for the whole roof!!

all done - nearly killed me up, down, seal repeat - works well, a bit unorthodox, but hey!!!

pioneer preppy..
sandy...

you will have to fight over who gets what... virtually of course, we ate these last thursday ;-)))

cheers all thanks for dropping in more greenhouse to come!!