I have an old shed in such disrepair that FHA said it had to be removed before we could buy the house — so we switched to a conventional loan, and now I’ve gotta figure out what to do with this shed. Money is tight, and hauling it off ain’t free. We also have no need for the storage space, as we have plenty elsewhere — but we do need space for veggie plants!
The inside is pretty good. The floor is wood and will eventually need replaced, but it’s stable for now. The studs and rafters look fine. The roof is good. The walls are rotting on the outside from weather exposure and improper landscaping bringing soil erosion to the bottom of the structure.
The South side is all shaded heavily by forest. The north side (front) gets all the sun.
I’m thinking about replacing the exterior walls with clear panels, and chicken wire for ventilation, to make it a place for growing plants safe from the deer.
What would you do?
by Heartfelt7
11 Comments
What zone are you in?
You could remove everything except for the inner bones and lay a large piece of tarp over the side and seal it up good.
It wouldn’t be a “greenhouse” but a functioning hoop house… As you wouldn’t be able to grow crops in the winter, but could start them in spring and last through the fall.
Google barn style greenhouse. Won’t be that bad but double wall poly is pricey.
FHA what? Jesus what a busybody pencil nerd. Wait until they realize those leaves are a slipping hazard.
It would need work…but ***maybe***???
Does it have a foundation?
I wouldn’t recommend it. The plywood is keeping the sun out and the structure solid. Remove it for sun and it will wobble like hell.
If you replaced the ply with polycarbonate sheets, it could work, but then you need good ventilation to prevent the humidity from rotting the structure.
Looks like a good chicken 🐔 coop
You would need to add in a fair amount of bracing if you remove the sheathing. The fact that it is primarily shaded from the south and has almost exclusively Northern exposure also is less than ideal for a greenhouse since you mention FHA loans you are in the northern hemisphere and as such your sunlight is coming from the south
Grow mushrooms in it. They are delicious and don’t need sun. Probably like the humidity
You’ll need to add roof purlins for wind resistance. Sheds rely on the composite strength of the roof for structural rigidity. Can’t do that as easily with a greenhouse as adding stress on the materials usually reduces their lifespans
Imo you will run into a lot of issues using this to grow plants and could put your efforts into something more efficient. The structure is in pretty bad shape so you’ll have to invest some money into replace the issues before it’s ready for plants. The Polycarbonate panels you speak of are pretty expensive and even the chicken wiring gets pricy depending on how much you use.
When you mentioned money was tight I thought Maybe you could rent the structure out to someone else to store their items in it or also thought it would make a great chicken coop with some minor adjustments. Grow eggs, sell eggs at farmers market for some extra cash. 🤙🏾