big score!. salvaging some commercial greenhouses ~

some friends of mine recently struck gold .
backstory:
we'd built a pvc hoophouse for them almost 2 years ago.pretty sturdy with two 4x center posts etc. well last week though we got dumped on with about 30" of snow. the lil hoophouse held in there for a good while but finally collapsed..
they posted pics of it on their facebook page. another mutual acquaintance saw and contacted them, she works for the town and knew of a landlord who had a property with a defunct nursery business on it and was ordered to demolish the abandoned structures.

here are the pics he took yesterday. (couldnt figure out how to embed without making this thread huge)

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0BwiS4J_bycoPNHlURnZVYTVEVms/edit?usp=sharing


the biggest score for us will be the twin-wall polycarbonate panels,of which there appear to be hundreds of 4x8 sheets.
also the 6' fuorescent lighting fixtres, soem misc hand trucks and other equipment laying around. there are 100's of tubs alongside one building,those may belong to the bath-fitter that occupies the front office
so may not be in the deal,not much use for them anyways. my best thought on those were maybe as small ponds for aquatic plants.

he has a very small 1/8th acre yard if that. but still wants to salvage at least one of these 20 or 30'x100' high tunnels for use on some future property.


if anyone has suggestions on going about the dismantling of this behemoth please chime in!
i hope to use a bunch of panels for building a passive-solar greenhouse . lean-to style with the glazing on south and east side. similar to this http://aes.missouri.edu/bradford/education/solar-greenhouse/solar-greenhouse.php
maybe save a few for cold frames and a solar dehydrator, window box heater; hm , what else?

Wow. That is a beyond impressive score! I am a bit jealous.

thanks jen!

shoulda reread my post, i didnt mean it to come off as a bragging rights post!
actually hoping to get some ideas and such from folks on how to best utilize this all and proceeed witht he undertaking !

Sounds like a Win/Win situation.

You get a fortune in (used) materials, and the landlord saves $thousands on demolition/dumping fees.

In case you don't already know, check out these prices:

I didn't take it as bragging. Just that you got lucky in a very, very good way.

You could possibly sell some of the parts. If you have an agricultural college near you, you could see if they would take some of it on donation. I am not sure, but you might be able to get a tax credit possibly if you go that route.

You could ship the extras to PA too!!!

Yep i knew the paneling was pricey, lowest i've seen is around $30 or so.

we went to get started yesterday , got the roof and wall panels off of one greenhouse, were getting ready to remove soem of the 8' fluorescent lighting fixtures when it began to rain.
Here are a few pictures from Tuesday

we'll be going back this sunday to get the other side done,
then to start on the lighting,fans,shed/utility doors, framework and heater/blowers etc.


there are a hundred or two cement blocks, standard size and some double-wide variety.... i am considering using these for the northern wall of the passive-solar greenhouse once i get going on that. maybe packing with dirt to act as thermal mass battery .rather than a whole wall of blue plastic drums full of water taking up space inside. i also think they could be used for a waist-high wall inside to form a hot-composting bin ,with the above area serving as grow-beds for lettuce etc and a starting bed for transplants.
the central path could be used for vermicomposting , blocks in-ground with plywood cover/floor every few feet. ie : " the Boxwood vermicomposting system "
http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Boxwood+Vermicomposting.html

I'd think you'd be getting on craigslist in the "free" section
and offer to split the recycling profit of all that hard cast aluminum
for anyone who wants to help dismantle it.

Linda Sefcik wrote:I'd think you'd be getting on craigslist in the "free" section
and offer to split the recycling profit of all that hard cast aluminum
for anyone who wants to help dismantle it.

yes some friends of my friend who helped out took all the aluminum to scrap, they brought a concrete saw with metal cutting blades and cut out all the a-frame trusses for him.
i hope they made a mint on it.i think it's arround 70 cents a pound by us.

we had about a dozen people helping on the project sunday. i returned with 1 friend yesterday for more.
for me i managed to salvage about 60 4x8ish greenhouse panels, 300' or so of 3/4" black water pipe with hardware, nearly all the cross and horizontal beams of the pergola, a dozen 8' light fixtures. plenty extra bulbs.
and a few other items. everyone who pitched in was greatly rewarded. it was a really good community effort and all had fun,despite it being grueling work. my 'everything' is a wreck now and i just picked up some side work with a contractor friend down the block,so no resting till the weekend

these are the shots from sunday ~