Oh boy, this post comes with some trepidation but here goes…
We took the plunge and were looking for a kit greenhouse. We did some excavation work in early spring to run a drainage ditch and some culverts and also had a space for our future greenhouse dug out and leveled at the same time.
We initially wanted to save some money and do install ourselves so we did a little online homework and found LOTS of options for greenhouses. The thing is, with our size desires (10′ x 20′) we were looking at dropping a fat stack of cash any way you put it. So we looked and we researched Google reviews and I saw one and I’d worked with a vendor they employed for review management and that felt like a pretty good match. WE GOT TAKEN!
When I say we got taken I don’t mean we lost money. I mean we waited nearly 90 days for them to give us some cock-and-bull story about how the greenhouse kit we wanted was severely backed up due to shipping constraints. Could we please wait an additional 30 days? Meanwhile I’m calling customer service (No answer.) every day. Sending emails every day and saved my receipts.
So what did I do? I had my credit card company issue a chargeback. And reader, all I can say is KNOW YOUR TERMS! We were within the 120 day window, which meant that we were due a full refund for failure to deliver on the terms the vendor had as a payment recipient. That means the credit card company could basically go in and say, (FUCK YOU. PAY THEM BACK OR WE SHUT YOU DOWN AND WE REIMBURSE THEM BUT YOU’LL NEVER GET A PAYMENT FROM (CC COMPANY HERE)!)
It worked. We got our money back. Regardless, when looking at a Greenhouse here are my buying tips so that hopefully you don’t make the same initial mistake.
Find Inspiration Online
Look at photos. Look at what’s in the marketplace of imagination. Be ambitious here. Get all your wants down on paper based on what you’re seeing, but remember some of this is AI generated slop and balance wants with what you can reasonably receive. That’s hard for a lot of gardeners with dreams of being the next Monty Don. Remember, you don’t have a staff to help maintain your estate.
GET REAL
Consider what you NEED vs. want. Some people only need a tiny poly greenhouse to meet their needs. We went with a 12′ x 20′ glass behemoth because we wanted a place to handle a whole ass lemon tree, a live-in jasmine vine, and maybe a potted bears lime + space to handle myriad annual starts. It’s still slightly small for what we’re HOPING to do but it will meet needs + a few wants for us.
We negotiated with each other on this big ticket item. Neither one of us got EVERYTHING we wanted in the negotiation but we did get what we needed the greenhouse to be so that’s what I mean by GET REAL. Discuss wants, agree on needs, and buy accordingly.
Things to Consider:
- Purpose (You need an orangerie, or is this for a few garden starts) GET CLEAR HERE FIRST!
- Who’s Installing this? (Do we have the know how? Do we have the time? Do we WANT to do this? How much money will this save us?)
- Size (How many square feet?)
- Footprint Constraints (Is this going to be tucked into a hillside for thermal reasons? Are we building this around a small pond?)
- Material (Poly? Glass Only? A Mix?)’
- $$$ The Ever Important Dollar
I put money last because in all honesty, this isn’t a cheap project and maybe you find that glass only isn’t feasible because it’s just too expensive. Maybe the look you want is never going to match the price, and the dream has to shift slightly. All of these are valid lenses to view this problem through but I like to dream big and let money be a constraint so money is always a comfortable rewind, revise, and reactualize. For some it should be a starting point guiding the dream stopping them from getting disappointed before the project even begins to emerge from a kernel of hope. Put it where it makes sense for your conversation.
Get Researching
Look at Big Box home improvement stores. They have options. Depending on what you’re looking for they might be viable and as retailers they’re VERY dependable.
Look at local producers/builders. We went with someone hyper local after getting burned by a disreputable national kit seller that presented well. This local seller made sense for us for two reasons:
- Local gave us a sense of accountability. If something goes wrong we have a local court we can take the issue to. Some of these internet companies (not the one we initially went with) operate out of crime havens in Europe. Good luck in international court!
- We got to see the models they stock in-person. We could judge exactly what we will be getting.
- We spoke to the owner of the company. I don’t know about you, but I think most people have a harder time lying to people’s faces and meeting and talking with the owner I got a sense of who he was as a business person. That won’t make things better necessarily but it gives me some peace of mind.
One final note: The evils of AI are many but the ability to enable the unscrupulous to quickly toss up a reputable looking site where the AI company has 0 accountability for enabling startlingly easy entry into the marketplace makes me want to push for increased legislation around AI generated content and I already hated data centers so as always…
Caveat Emptor!
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