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Cold Frames,


redial
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Simple, contact your local UPVC Window fitting firm and ask for an old one that they have removed.

Then build a simple four sided slopiing base for it to rest the window upon.

Make the base so that you can take it apart and store when not needed.

I have three made up in sowing season and then take them down when not required.

I am currently at work but will add pictures tomorrow.

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use cloches or make yourself minature polytunnels out of 4mm galvanized wire and thick opache plastic......we always had big glass cloches with handles on them.....not good when you have children with air rifles or catapults.........

it makes their bottoms sore..:mad:

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9 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

We had two sets at my parents house. Basically imagine a scalene triangle. Ours were brick. Then a wooden frame all around and the "window" hinged on the back the frame. And a prop at the front of the frame like a car's bonnet prop. 

Like these:

brick-built-open-cold-frames-with-flower

That is what you call a cold frame.

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Cheap and easy is old warehouse siding or roof sheets and polycarbonate roofing from conservatory. It's what my grandad used, easy to build and take downn to store.think he used the clear fiberglass filons for his top.

Another I seen used on an allotment was a glass topped chest freezer with the sliding tops.

Edited by figgy
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I agree with Figgy. Upvc doors and glass are heavy. I would screw polycarbonate twin wall to a wooden frame and the make the sides from exterior ply on a wooden frame. If you work out your sizes from a sheet of 8x4 ply a good timber merchant should be able to cut to shape and size so there is minimal work but sawing the frame and assembly.

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Just now, Dave at kelton said:

I agree with Figgy. Upvc doors and glass are heavy. I would screw polycarbonate twin wall to a wooden frame and the make the sides from exterior ply on a wooden frame. If you work out your sizes from a sheet of 8x4 ply a good timber merchant should be able to cut to shape and size so there is minimal work but sawing the frame and assembly.

But they are FREE and heavy enough not to lift in the wind!

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I made some cold frames with 45mm plastic pipe bent over in hoops with polytunnel plastic over the top, dig in one side and shut the other with sandbags..cheap and cheerful, [similar to pic]  but i tied 32mm water pipe along the length with bike inner tubes it resembled an upturned boat and was very wind resistant 

pr2000016067.jpg.8b5e2b607b00d518036bc3dafb7424ff.jpg

 

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4 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

No. That's a polytunnel. Same as the one on top is a proper aircraft carrier and the one below (no matter what Cameron and others would have you believe) and despite its cost isn't. USS Nimitz side by side with HMS Queen Elizabeth.

 

3sqmq0v1vxw11.jpg

Certainly looks like an aircraft carrier to me, I think the clue is in the picture as it appears to be carrying aircraft....

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I rent  an allotment from the parish council, the clerk is a proper jobs worth and the rules are enforced with threats of eviction once you have signed tenancy agreement. Only one 6 by 6 ft aluminium greenhouse etc. I managed to get one for free after daughter put an add on face ache for me, then couple of month later was given another so I made it into a 6x2 coldframe and kept the spare glass also made cloches from plastic pipe and scaffold debris net

IMG_20200415_154926_opt.jpg

IMG_20200404_140859_opt.jpg

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I made a cold frame from mainly plastic roof sheets.  If you have a double glazing  / window firm near you...get yourself down to them and ask if  / when they have any plastic roofing sheets.  Just remember that they have to pay to dispose of them...and you're doing them a favour by taking them away.  BUT you'll gladly contribute to their tea/ coffee fund in return for several 1 metre  X  2.4 metre sheets!  My frames were constructed using stripped down 'long' pallets (what you get plasterboard delivered on)...this was for the back...as the sun doesn't get round there!  The front, sides and top were plastic, twin wall sheets.  I have some long plastic pieces that the sheets fit into (hard to describe but here goes...)  they are an H shape, turned 90 degrees and the sheets slide up  / down.  Anyway, it's just a case of getting yourself round the firms that will come into contact / supply new sheets on a daily basis and politely ask them if they have any spare.   You can always (if you can keep your promises) bring them some 'produce' from your cold frame (in a few months) and this will hopefully help you to secure any more 'favours' in the future!  My cold frame, atm, has 21 courgette plants in it, all are thriving and flowers are due to appear soon.  I planted them in the frame as a friend suggested it was too cold to put them outside , as of 3 weeks ago.    Just remember....tea, coffee and biscuits go a long way to 'promoting' a healthy relationship regarding  your 'mutual' needs.  Hope this helps.

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10 hours ago, DoolinDalton said:

I made a cold frame from mainly plastic roof sheets.  If you have a double glazing  / window firm near you...get yourself down to them and ask if  / when they have any plastic roofing sheets.  Just remember that they have to pay to dispose of them...and you're doing them a favour by taking them away.  BUT you'll gladly contribute to their tea/ coffee fund in return for several 1 metre  X  2.4 metre sheets!  My frames were constructed using stripped down 'long' pallets (what you get plasterboard delivered on)...this was for the back...as the sun doesn't get round there!  The front, sides and top were plastic, twin wall sheets.  I have some long plastic pieces that the sheets fit into (hard to describe but here goes...)  they are an H shape, turned 90 degrees and the sheets slide up  / down.  Anyway, it's just a case of getting yourself round the firms that will come into contact / supply new sheets on a daily basis and politely ask them if they have any spare.   You can always (if you can keep your promises) bring them some 'produce' from your cold frame (in a few months) and this will hopefully help you to secure any more 'favours' in the future!  My cold frame, atm, has 21 courgette plants in it, all are thriving and flowers are due to appear soon.  I planted them in the frame as a friend suggested it was too cold to put them outside , as of 3 weeks ago.    Just remember....tea, coffee and biscuits go a long way to 'promoting' a healthy relationship regarding  your 'mutual' needs.  Hope this helps.

Indeed it does, thank you.

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19 hours ago, mrpip said:

I rent  an allotment from the parish council, the clerk is a proper jobs worth and the rules are enforced with threats of eviction once you have signed tenancy agreement. Only one 6 by 6 ft aluminium greenhouse etc. I managed to get one for free after daughter put an add on face ache for me, then couple of month later was given another so I made it into a 6x2 coldframe and kept the spare glass also made cloches from plastic pipe and scaffold debris net

IMG_20200415_154926_opt.jpg

IMG_20200404_140859_opt.jpg

I like the look of the pipe and netting idea, how do yo fix the netting to the 3x2 ?

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2 minutes ago, Mungler said:

I like the brick ones but reckon access and plant maintenance would be a faff.

The brick ones are OK but remember that inside that's damp soil against those bricks and long term that's not the best thing to have up against bricks. When my parent's house was sold after then having lived there for forty years those bricks were OK but I think would have needed re-pointing within a decade or so of that date. What they do do well of course is hold the heat as the bricks warm up during the day and slow release that warmth at night. Like a firebrick really in a night storage heater.

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4 hours ago, islandgun said:

I like the look of the pipe and netting idea, how do yo fix the netting to the 3x2 ?

Netting fixed to timber with a hammer stapler and 10 mms staples I also tacked a thin latte around the bottom, the timber is some I cleaned up and about 2x2, made a single row one with wilko netting with thin pipe and timber from a piece of decking I cut on saw bench

IMG_20200421_172256_opt.jpg

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