All For Gardening
Advice on polycarbonate thickness
In Greenhouses

Advice on polycarbonate thickness


Hi all. I have a 6×10 greenhouse which was originally toughened glass. In a storm, around half of the panels got smashed. I was originally going to replace them with the same again but to be honest I now have ptsd every time the wind blows so I think I would prefer a less breakable option.

I would like to replace it with the glass effect plastic instead of the double later stuff. My issue is the original glass was just 3mm thick. I can't go an awful lot thicker than this or it won't fit very well into the frame. My question is, what is your opinion on glass alternatives and the thickness of them? If I was to buy 3 or 4mm plastic, what would the disadvantage be? Is polycarbonate the way to go?

I'm not a hardcore greenhouse grower so I'm not overly fussed about it being the absolute best, but it will cost a bit to replace all of this so I'd like it to be decent.

Please let me know your opinions 🙂

by tits-n-teeth

4 Comments

  1. Optimoprimo

    Single wall polycarbonate panels will work fine if you don’t care about the actual insulation quality. They’ll barely insulate at all. Most serious greenhouses with polycarbonate use 10+mm double or even triple walled panels.

    The challenges you’re going to have with thin poly panels is they arent very strong. They may bow or wiggle a lot in the wind. They can also scratch or yellow over time.

    I’d personally just replace the glass. Glass panels aren’t crazy expensive and there are ways to protect the glass from hail, like simply putting up a cover during bad storms or adding reinforcement beams. You can also get higher rated glass that’s a bit stronger to damage. The stuff they make windshields out of.

  3. t0mt0mt0m

    What’s your garden zone and what are your goals with your greenhouse.

  4. ramkitty

    I was thinking beefy 16mm triple wall. 4′ wide on timber frame.

Write A Comment

Pin