greenhouse design

I enjoy old-school mechanical drawing, drafting and design … with paper, pencil, T-square, triangles and such. Having a simple drawing board, perhaps even a genuine drafting desk has been on my short list every time I end up with a home that has space for it.

My new studio may well be the place this happens, but not until we are fully moved in and settled.

Meanwhile, I have a lot of projects that really require some planning and drawing to insure they fit together well, have the right materials, and in some cases, communicate to the builder when I am subcontracting the work out.

In other words, I have a lot of drawings to do before I can get a drafting station set up. After some searching and analysis of reviews received, I bought an inexpensive portable A3-sized Multi-Functional Drawing Board Set.

I couldn’t be happier.

Today I needed a more detailed end-view of the greenhouse project. The foundation is complete, leaving no doubt about those dimensions. What was crucial at this juncture was calculating the proper eve overhang. A few other details needed firming up while I was at it.

greenhouse half inch .pdf

Feel free to use my design with either the .pdf above or .jpg below. Bonus points for saying “Thank You” and linking to my site.

The floor plan was determined much by the available south-facing wall space of the existing house, combined with the way the sun works through the seasons. The drawing below shows the existing basement wall with its south-facing windows, the left-most of which is being cut into a door from the basement to the greenhouse with both floors being on the same level.

The greenhouse floor will be a boardwalk sitting on top of drain rock – there is nearly a foot of drain rock under the entire structure, including the new footings. We can hose down plants to our heart’s content without having water disposal problems.

Having my cheap drawing set perform well for me was very nice, but the real excitement is seeing the sun play on the interior. The place it had to fit with the existing house design was fixed. The deal I got on the mis-ordered windows I cleared out of the local building supply house fixed some other key dimensions.

To have them come together with sun all over my perennial planting beds as well as the bench for my early spring starts is just plain exciting.

I am READY to get some peppers, tomatoes, beans, peas and other fruiting plants started alongside the winter greens and herbs that I was confident in growing.

This is going to be fun.