Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

GoddESS. He's inflating MY thread, after all.

Ah yes, but posts to your thread don't bump up your post count. It does keep your thread active though.

And that's a good thing, 'cause I haven't had much going on to keep it active with. One more day of job #2, then I have to belatedly rest and recover from the evil crud virus my husband infected me with...and THEN we are gonna have some greenhouse-fixing and aquaponics-making happening around here!

Are we talking about me?

I just write it as it spills out of my head.


I can change, but I'd want to discuss it at great length first


If I wanted extra posts to my name I'd just invent something and contritbute it. much less imagination required

What exactly is wrong with the greenhouse?

+1 from all of the pictures, it looks good. What exactly did he do wrong?

Well...basically he ignored everything in the detailed instructions that came with it from the guy who's built scads of these and learned from experience what lasts and what doesn't.

He installed the purlin(?) pipes too close together, instead of using the spacing in the instructions which the guy I bought the kit from had figured out from experience to maximize strength and not create "puddling" space for rain or snow to accumulate. Mine's got a nice shelf down the center top for a good heavy layer of snow to accumulate. He also didn't put in the angled "knee braces" that are supposed to keep the ends square. (I should mention that the list of materials I provided and gave him money for is very underrepresented.) He used 1/4" plywood for the end panels instead of the pressure treated 3/4" I asked for, and it has already warped horribly. The door at one end is off-center, so there's not room for benches down the south side, although I'm not sure yet I'm going to build any, but I want to be able to should I decide to. The door at the other end wasn't cut square, so there's nearly a 4" gap between it and the frame at the top of the vertical opening, and it's warped so badly already that it won't open, even with that huge gap. There are only two hinges on each door, and they're small cheap ones; I asked for three, and expected them to be sturdy ones (the gates he put in my goat fence could probably withstand an elephant charge, so my expectations were not unfounded). He didn't install the base plates across the ends, so the bottom of the plywood just sits just above the ground, with nothing to support it except the un-knee-braced end hoops it's hanging from. You can wobble the whole end of the greenhouse by pushing it a little bit. He installed the base boards down the sides level (I haven't actually checked, but that's what I'm assuming), instead of on the grade, so there are 3"+ gaps at some points where they stair-step their way down the slope from one end to the other, for all the neighborhood night creatures to come parading in to eat my fish and plants, and he stapled the plastic directly to the ends and base boards instead of using strips of wood per the instructions, to keep the plastic from ripping out around the staples.

So, basically, he set the posts for me. Everything else I'm going to re-do. In its current condition, it won't last through the first bad windstorm!

I left a message saying I wasn't happy with the quality, and wondered where the rest of the materials were, and got one back saying only that he wasn't finished yet (he was gonna come make the plywood thicker?) and the rest of the stuff was in his van, and he'd deliver it that weekend. That was two weekends ago. I asked again for the rest of the materials, and got no response. I'm a very trusting person, but only until my trust is betrayed. Too bad, too, 'cause there's still at least one more fence I wanted built, and he did a good job on the fencing. Ah, well.

Don't EVER change. I like you just exactly the way you are!

Ok, that is a good reason to redo the greenhouse.

Do you know his address? I'd write a list of things that absolutely need to be fixed or changed, leaving off the list the items that you can easily change yourself. Mail it to him, followed up by a phone call or voicemail and see where that gets you. Try to leave out the emotion, just state the things that need to be fixed.
Sorry that happemed to you. And thank you for posting it here. Someone will be able to read this and know what not to do when building a GH
And hopefully others will read this and see the need for a written contract with half the money up front, and the other half when the job is complete.

And, as with getting money from people who are overdue, a phone call (as mentioned, without emotion) both morning and afternoon until the money is paid works a treat.

Just every morning and every night.

Something like...

"It's blah blah blah from blah blah blah, and I'm calling about the blah blah blah to schedule a time for it's resolution."

That really does work. You just have to say it as if it's the first time you've done it even when it's the 10th, and they get the feeling you are never going away. After a week introduce the words "debt collection agency", and or "incure further aditional costs a contractor may charge to repair the problems".

But it must be twice a day without fail.

It can actually be funny once you get into the groove

Every morning first thing, and every afternoon last thing.






.

Yeah, problem is I'm a soft touch. I know he's really struggling just to feed his family, and this was a small job for a little bit of extra income that he was fitting in between bigger jobs. And he charged me a mere pittance, which, to be honest, I would have probably happily paid JUST to have the poles put up. Which I got.

I'm out a little more for the supplies I didn't get, but I'd rather just suck it up than nag him about it. Did he do me wrong? Yes. Problem is, I can imagine how it happened, and I have a hard time being angry about it. Disappointed, yes, but not angry. Desperation just overcame good judgment. I can afford the loss a lot more easily than he can afford the time and materials it would take for him to fix what's wrong. It will cost him future income from me, but from where he's sitting, future income probably doesn't feel nearly as real as his current situation.

I would just phrase it like this to him: I would like to hire you for future work, however there are some things that need to be fixed with your current work first. It sounds like he has a lot on his plate. He my have meant well when he said he would be there. I, however, would probably just find another fence guy. Dependability is important for me, and it is not hard to find people with the skills necessary that are dependable.

My two week experement with opening this and my thread when my browser starts is a fail.

I'm going back to my old method where I'm totally confused all the time.

It was less confusing.

I think my subscriptions are working again, but if you ask me a question on this thread and I seem to ignore you, it's just because I havnt seen it.

So ask it again in my thread or pm me or something.

But I think everything works now.

What I'm trying to say is I'm no longer reading this thread by default because the board seems to be working.

At least I think I'm trying to say that.

Slime molds are so cool. Apparently they can even find their way through mazes.

I have two of them in my own back yard: One pure white, and one jet black, within inches of each other on the same tree trunk. Nature is so awesome!