Yep..I am going to get a greenhouse kit 12 X 15..It is an all metal frame..I have read about many different ways to secure the greenhouse to the ground..All methods have pros and cons..The greenhouse will be in a high wind warning area..depending on time of year..Wind gusts as high as 60 mph..I have read that a concrete slab is really not the way to go because it has a few cons with the overall idea of what the greenhouse is all about in the first place..such as heating and cooling...I see quite a few of you have wonderful outside gardens..I wish it were that way here..but I only have a 90 day growing season (more or less)..Anyways if you have suggestions about a foundation that has worked let us know..Thanks

here in ks mobile are homes secured with steel straps attached to an auger in the earth that looks a lot like a long dirt hole tool. you might could use some old railroad ties for a foundation and these tornado straps

We just put up a kit this spring. We used railroad ties that I drove 2' rebar stakes through. We also made a wind break on the sw side out of sun tuf clear panels. The wind break cost a extra$500 but should keep our 3 thousand dollar greenhouse in one piece for a few more years. The greenhouse was worth it for us so far.

Maybe just do concrete footings at every post at least 2' deep. Bolt the posts to the footings.

Yep...I'm understanding that you did not drill a pilot hole first through the railroad tie...If you did drill a hole in the railroad tie did you have trouble with the creasote that is in the tie?

Yep maybe I can do that and use those sauna tubes filled with concrete and rebar like 30 inches deep and use railroad ties like jackdale is talking about between the sauna tube corners and middle of of the 12 X 15...maybe...These manufactures of greenhouse kits don't get into the foundation at all..In fact they point out that there greenhouse kit is not an engineered strutcure

Yep..I looked at some of those applications Danny...I think once I get the whole greenhouse done go over the top of the structure with a 2 inch nylon strap in two places and use those tornado earth anchors to help hold it down..It only gets like that maybe 7-10 days out of the year..One year I was outside goofing around and I could lean into the wind maybe 30 degees or so..then jump up and move a foot or two..I know it gets windy in your neck of the woods also..LOL

I actually used rebar stakes that I use for trapping with a nut welded on the top. I did drill a pilot hole through the railroad tie and countersunk the nut to be flush. Our ground is pretty hard, I think I have 12 stakes in total for a 8*12 structure. If it blows away I think I'll have bigger problems.

Those kit companies do a pretty good job of covering their butts. I wish I would have just built my own out of 2*4s if materials weren't so expensive.

I have been planning on building a lean to green house on the south side of my house something like 8"×16'. I was debating building with wood or buying/having a kit made.

In the location beside the house I'm think I will get 4 season growing. It will be 6 feet from where my hot water goes into my furnace from the outdoor wood stove. There are exterior window it will cover so I think I can just open them and put a fan in to blow hot air in to heat during the cold winter and if that dose not work well it would be easy enough to run and tap into the hot water and electric and install a small thermostat controlled heater.

Designing ventilation for summer is more of a concern for me. I prefer auto.

It would really get us a head start growing seedlings to transplant into our high tunnel.

Thinking about it is as far as I have got. I meet to research available materials so I know sizes and can design the structure.