Hardy Tropicals UK

Having built my polytunnel I had to think about staging. Wooden staging can be quite expensive, so I looked at building my own. My research showed I could build 2.4m of slatted staging for around £25. I got the wood from Wickes and came to £24.89 with screws.

It was to be constructed from 50mm x 22mm frame with 100mm x 19 slats on tops. I am not a carpenter so was not looking to do any fancy joinery. Basically I looked at all joints being basic but with no screwing into grain ends of wood. The joints were to be screwed together as things I have nailed together in the past, have pulled apart on occasion.

The construction is using sawn, treated timber. The legs are 80cm lengths. and the overall width can be up to 60cm with no additional wood. However mine is 50cm to fit in with my poly.The length of the staging is 2.4m as that is the length of the timber, no unnecessary sawing

The project was carried out using
140 galvanised No4 x 50mm screws
9 x 2.4m lengths of 50mm x 22mm - 8 pack + 1
5 x 2.4m lengths of 100mm x 19mm – 5 pack Tools
Saw, also acted as set square
Tape Measure
Pencil
Ratchet screwdriver
Power drill

The staging was constructed by building the 2 sides then jointing them at the bottom, then adding the slats, forming a box section. Then finally adding 4 cross braces to make rock solid.

As I said I’m not a carpenter,so if there is a better way of constructing this, perhaps someone could tell us.

Firstly I cut the 8 legs to 80cm lengths. 4 of these per side were screwed to 2 x 2.4m lengths. The repeated for the second side. Then 4 x 45.6cm lengths were cut to make the bottom part or the box section. These were screwed on one side first and then the other side w\as added and screwed into place. This leaves you with a flimsy 3 sided box section. Then 20 slats were cut from the 100mm x 19mm in 50cm lengths. One slat was screwed to each end of the frame to give a sturdy platform for construction to continue. The slats have a gap of 22mm, and one of the cross braces was used to place between the slats while screwing into place. Finally once all 20 slats and 80 screws were in place the cross braces were added. These are important for giving the box section stability and strength. Where as the construction was fairly wobbly before, after the braces were added it was rock solid Then all that needed to be done was to add some plants Voila 2.4m greenhouse staging for under £25 quid

good effort dave looks great and should last a long time too!!!

we're gonna have to call you Tommy Walsh.....

dave2166 wrote:we're gonna have to call you Tommy Walsh.....

Never thought I'd hear that.

I was just amazed at how it turned out. and only took about 4 hours. The only thing I did was to invest in a new saw, and what a difference a sharp saw made. I've had the old saw for about 28 years when I bought my first house In terms of time taken I think I could have halved it by using a power screwdriver. Instead I have forearms like Popeye now Needed lot of spinach.

The other thing I have learned is that by folding the small section of rear seat forward in the MG, removing the passenger head rest, and reclining the front passenger seat, I can get 2.4m lengths of timber in the car with no hassle. This has been a major issue in the past trying to tie the tailgate down.

I can feel a lot more wood projects coming on now over the winter. I like wood far more than aluminimum.

Wow, I'm impressed. I wonder if my OH might be so inclined! I can't imagine having somewhere safe to put my plants for the winter!

Nicely done Dave.
I did something similar made from old pallets and a few bits i had lying around the garage. Taking the pallets to bits was the worst bit but with some patience i ended up with 6ft of very nearly free staging. Not as pretty as yours though

Here it is being put to good use earlier in the year

While you're in the creative mood you're most welcome to come round to mine

musa monkey ,you can be handy andy.all we need now is a female with big mallets who can be charlie dimmock

come on girls.... who's gonna go for this one???

Dave, how did your P/T fare in the snow? Mine (looks to be the same as yours) completely collapsed under the weight of it. I'm now on the lookout for some water pipe to build my own for the coming year. I won't bother with another cheap one, so if anyone knows of any pipe going spare round here, please let me know.

marie06 wrote:Dave, how did your P/T fare in the snow? Mine (looks to be the same as yours) completely collapsed under the weight of it. I'm now on the lookout for some water pipe to build my own for the coming year. I won't bother with another cheap one, so if anyone knows of any pipe going spare round here, please let me know.

I went out and punched it off at least once a day. It is kept frost free so there was a certain amount of melt which helps shed snow. I admit the strength of the poly leaves a lot to be desired, however, the cover is fitted unlike the proper polytunnel I had many years ago. Also the webbing makes it tear proof. Just such a shame they don't offer an upgrade to a thicker steel frame.

Dave
i just wanted to thank you for your step by step instructions for building staging for the greenhouse. I am a complete DIY novice but with your help I managed to make a very sturdy set of staging - with added lower shelf - much cheaper than I could ever buy and exactly fitted the space I had - thanks again.

Hi Philippa, and welcome

Thanks, glad it was of some use. Very basic, but as you say it will fit your space exactly.

I'm toying with a tiered one now. with a taller half, or third width shelf above. Better for catching winter sunlight and for summer displays

Not sure of my timber costs,icon_scratch but definately purchased from Wickes. Knocked mine up first week of February 2009. Probably a little over elaborate for the job it has to do, but not much else to do in Feb.

nice.....