This is page 3 of a multi page write up. You can find page 1 here.

Our Story So Far

When we last quit we had assembled the entire greenhouse structure and anchored it to the ground. It seemed like all we had left to do was install the weather stripping and the trim.

Weather Stripping

The black rubber weather stripping was by far the most disappointing part of the entire greenhouse kit. It was impossible to install, even with a free weather stripping install tool, which is basically the same tool you'd use to install a new screen in a screen door.

It took so much force to install that there was no way we could install it all. Many times the installer would simply tear through the rubber. The manufacturer suggests that if the weather stripping is too difficult to install that you can seal the greenhouse up with 100% silicone caulking.

After a lot of research, we decided to give GE Silicone II a try because it is a high quality, polycarbonate safe 100% silicone. We tested on a small area and let it cure overnight to make sure that it wasn't going to fog up the polycarbonate; something that an acid curing silicone can do. This means day 4 is over and we had to wait until day 5 to finish up.

Day 5

The next morning the silicone was dry and clear and the polycarbonate looked great. GE Silicone II is definitely the way to go. In the end we used 7 tubes, at $4 each.

Here are some comparison shots of the rubber weather stripping installed in case you are curious.

It looks like a great way to weather strip the polycarbonate panels in but it was just too difficult to install. Here's a shot of the silicone in place.

It took about 2 hours to seal every joint. The roof was the hardest. It was so hard that I can't imagine how the manufacturer expects you to install the weather stripping up there. You'd have to get your entire body weight up there on top of the greenhouse. Maybe they expect you to build a scaffolding and stand on that? It is borderline ridiculous.

In any case, even installing the silicone up there was a challenge, and quite dangerous. We found that leaning a 6' step ladder on the side wall and carefully climbing to the 4th step got us high enough that the tip of the caulking tube just reached the peak. Just don't make a mess up there because it will be awfully hard to clean up. Cut the tip of the caulking a little big and at and angle and you can really fill in the gaps well in just one pass.

Once the silicone finished curing, structurally the greenhouse was much more stable. In fact it's just about rock solid now with almost no movement when you lean on it.

The Last Piece

It's finally time to install the last 4 pieces of trim. Surprise! They're bent!

We hadn't noticed this when unpacking the greenhouse because they were wrapped in plastic. We bent them back straight but they look awful. We went ahead and installed them just to get the project looking completed, and then called the manufacturer to get some replacements sent out.

Note: The manufacturers phone number has changed from the one that is printed on the newest revision manual. The correct phone number for EasyGrow customer service is: 1-877-782-4482

I got a real live person on the phone right away and told her my problem. She took my name and address and the list of 4 bent part numbers and said replacements would ship out FedEx the next day. Quick and easy. Good customer service!

Completed Greenhouse Photos

Here are some completed photos. We haven't washed it yet because the caulking was still curing when these pictures were taken, so the polycarbonate is still dusty looking.

Here's a shot from the inside looking out.

And here is what it looks like looking in to the right with both doors open.

Summary

All in all, this is an excellent greenhouse kit. Our total time spent working on the kit was approximately 13 hours, and it spanned 5 days. The final product is incredibly nice; much nicer than I expected it to be. The benches are solid and spacious and everything like the doors and the vents seem to function very well. The structure is nice and solid and very well designed. Assembly was straightforward and quite simple. The instructions were easy to read, and all of the parts fit together very nicely.

This kit has a few gotcha's, though, so consider yourself warned. You have to buy 10 bags of Sakrete to properly anchor it into the ground, and you should buy 7 tubes of silicone to seal in the polycarbonate panels. Installation took almost twice as long as the instruction manual suggested, too, so don't plan on finishing this kit in a weekend. Plan on two weekends at least.

All in all, I would definitely recommend an Easy Grow Greenhouse to just about anybody who wanted to set up a hobby greenhouse. I can't wait to start using it.

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