The Greenhouse Effect

People always say that living on a boat in such close quarters must really test a relationship. While we have had some “moments” on the boat, what really tests a relationship is building a greenhouse kit! Since Jim has been busy building the expanded deck and roof (a project in which I don’t have the skill set to participate), Jim decided that I should put together the greenhouse. I was not confident I could do it but reluctantly agreed since he probably won’t have time to do it for me this season; and, I thought, how hard could it really be? It’s a kit with all the parts labeled and instructions included. Additionally, he agreed to build its foundation, to help me when I needed to muscle something together, and to help when it was time to stand the ends and put on the crossbar.

I started by watching several YouTube videos of the greenhouse being put together. It looked so easy in fast motion, and in spite of there being 3 to 5 people involved in each of the videos my self-confidence was growing. Then I opened and sorted all of the parts and hardware by part number. This was going to be a piece of cake. The instructions said I should become very familiar with all of the steps before beginning to assemble the greenhouse, so I read through the main instructions pamphlet and 3 supplemental instruction pamphlets (twice), before I began to suspect I was in over my head! Not wanting to disappoint Jim, who was overly confident in my construction abilities, I came up with a plan of attack. It really wasn’t that scientific or well thought out, but it was all I had so I went with it: Just Do It!

I set up a giant worktable and began with the front. The instructions for this section were mostly straightforward and understandable, and it went remarkably well (thank you Nike for your sage advise). There was a sticky spot at the peak of the front where it seemed I needed about five hands and some muscle to get all the parts held in place in order to put in the bolts—I called for Jim, and superhero that he is; he dropped everything to help me complete the task. My confidence in the project was growing again. Next, I put together the back of the greenhouse, which was much easier than the front (hindsight being 20/20 I should have started with the back). Okay, I’ve got this thing!

Side note: Not to mislead the readers, I should mention that I did need to call upon Jim’s expertise several time in the initial stages of construction. As it turns out, the instructions were not very well written or illustrated (just how poorly we would find out in the final stages of building), and, as I suspected, construction is not very intuitive for me—I’m a creator not a builder. But I called upon Jim freely since he kept telling me that building a greenhouse wasn’t rocket science, so it would be easy to figure it out—easy for him maybe!

With the front and back completed, it was time for Jim to help me stand the greenhouse ends and attach the crossbar. Here is where tempers were tested and we began to but heads (the 90+ degree temperature and blazing sun didn’t help any). Since I don’t have any practical knowledge to draw from, the instructions (poor as they were), is the only thing I have to rely on. Jim, who always has left-over parts (I hate that), and uses things from the garage that weren’t included when putting things together, knows that there is always more than one way to put something together and have it turn out right.

So our first disagreement was whether to take the base apart and switch them around once I discovered we attached them incorrectly, or continue and risk finding out later that it did matter which way they went and have to disassemble it all after several hours more of working in the mood altering heat. Jim won out on this one in the end, and he turned out to be right—it did not matter that the base pieces were in the wrong order. But did this stop me from questioning his judgment each time I felt he was straying from the instructions? (Well, at least how I interpreted these poorly written directions.) No, it did not. You think I would learn. I’m sure Jim wishes I would learn. But when I’m hot and tired, I’m grumpy and disagreeable. And I just want to get this awful project completed! Never mind that if I just went along with Jim’s approach (in spite of how misguided I may think it is), that things would probably move along much quicker!

Once the front and back were standing on their own with the crossbar attached, I was on my own again to attach the ribs and only calling upon Jim when I couldn’t get holes to match up and needed him to muscle it together to put in a bolt. Things were going great until it was time to put in the polycarbonate panels. The instructions made it seem so easy—just slide them into the tracks. Ha! It was clear that Jim and I would have to work together at what turned out to be a very difficult and frustrating task. We decided not to work on it until the shady and slightly cooler evening hours after dinner. (This was a wise decision.) Each of the bottom panels goes in smoothly, but the top, longer panel must be bent along the curve of the track and forced into the connector bar while trying to keep the bolts in place along the track even though the nut must be removed in order to get the panel into the track…whew! If that didn’t make sense, it is my fault for belaboring the point. Sufficient to say, it was incredibly more difficult than either of us would have ever imagined! There are 12 panels to each side and we put them in over the course of about 5 evenings.

If you have read this far, thank you for your patience and commitment to see how this all turns out. I am happy to inform you that both the greenhouse, and our relationship, stands sturdy on a strong foundation built with blood, sweat, tears, and a stubborn commitment to the promise of many years of enjoyment to come!

Created a level base with 2x6's on railroad ties.