Industrial greenhouse removal
Discussion
Hi all
Time to ask a bit of an odd question. Any idea of rough cost and what would be the best method for removing a set of industrial greenhouses? The context is we're looking for a plot to build a self build house on. We've stumbled upon an old nursery which has shut down and now for sale. It's a cracking site, about 1.6 hectares. Only slight issue is there are multiple large, glass greenhouses.
The one in the picture is just one of about 8 that size. The way the site is laid out we wouldn't have to clear them all in one go so could clear them one by one over time. There is a mega oil boiler in a central building with tanks alongside.
Waiting for quotes back from industrial clearing firms but suspect we're going to be talking significant sums.
I'm just trying think logically though what it would take to do this ourselves. Or with a couple of labourers to speed things up.
1. Disconnect and remove all the irrigation, piping etc from the greenhouses.
2. Remove one pane of glass at a time. Probably sides and then ceiling using a scissor lift. Having a set of glass skips(or similar) on site with a telehandler or something to move it through the greenhouse as you go to make it safer and faster.
3. Get the right machinery on site to pull down all the metal frame and get it removed off site.
4. Knock down the breeze block walls and break up any concrete strip foundations. Crushing on site to reuse for hard standing etc.
Is there a better route for clearing the site, more efficient or just a totally different way of approaching this challenge.
Thanks in advance and feel free to tell me I'm crazy to consider this idea. My wife certainly thinks it's time for me to get back to work and stop having bright ideas...
Time to ask a bit of an odd question. Any idea of rough cost and what would be the best method for removing a set of industrial greenhouses? The context is we're looking for a plot to build a self build house on. We've stumbled upon an old nursery which has shut down and now for sale. It's a cracking site, about 1.6 hectares. Only slight issue is there are multiple large, glass greenhouses.
The one in the picture is just one of about 8 that size. The way the site is laid out we wouldn't have to clear them all in one go so could clear them one by one over time. There is a mega oil boiler in a central building with tanks alongside.
Waiting for quotes back from industrial clearing firms but suspect we're going to be talking significant sums.
I'm just trying think logically though what it would take to do this ourselves. Or with a couple of labourers to speed things up.
1. Disconnect and remove all the irrigation, piping etc from the greenhouses.
2. Remove one pane of glass at a time. Probably sides and then ceiling using a scissor lift. Having a set of glass skips(or similar) on site with a telehandler or something to move it through the greenhouse as you go to make it safer and faster.
3. Get the right machinery on site to pull down all the metal frame and get it removed off site.
4. Knock down the breeze block walls and break up any concrete strip foundations. Crushing on site to reuse for hard standing etc.
Is there a better route for clearing the site, more efficient or just a totally different way of approaching this challenge.
Thanks in advance and feel free to tell me I'm crazy to consider this idea. My wife certainly thinks it's time for me to get back to work and stop having bright ideas...
How quickly and how cleanly do you want it done?
There's a difference if you're just demolishing or looking at more of a strip & dismantle.
It's all lightweight and not too high and you could DIY it fairly rapidly too but depends what you want from it.
Biggest issue as I see it is if you want to avoid stray glass, beyond that it's likely simple with a bit of light-ish machinery and some skips.
There's a difference if you're just demolishing or looking at more of a strip & dismantle.
It's all lightweight and not too high and you could DIY it fairly rapidly too but depends what you want from it.
Biggest issue as I see it is if you want to avoid stray glass, beyond that it's likely simple with a bit of light-ish machinery and some skips.
JoshSm said:
How quickly and how cleanly do you want it done?
There's a difference if you're just demolishing or looking at more of a strip & dismantle.
It's all lightweight and not too high and you could DIY it fairly rapidly too but depends what you want from it.
Biggest issue as I see it is if you want to avoid stray glass, beyond that it's likely simple with a bit of light-ish machinery and some skips.
The main thing would be avoiding broken glass going into the soil. After the glass is out then should be pretty fast. There's a difference if you're just demolishing or looking at more of a strip & dismantle.
It's all lightweight and not too high and you could DIY it fairly rapidly too but depends what you want from it.
Biggest issue as I see it is if you want to avoid stray glass, beyond that it's likely simple with a bit of light-ish machinery and some skips.
When taking the glass out the roof, have a forklift with a skip bin attached on the outside of the building, and throw the glass straight into it from the lift,
Depending on your appetite for risk you can build or dismantle these without the need of a lift.
Remove all glass
Remove Ali bars and gutters
Remove steel purlins
Remove trusses by unbolting at the top of the posts
Lift posts out of the ground with a forklift pulling up the wheelbarrow full of concrete with it, or cut the posts of at ground level.
Depending on your appetite for risk you can build or dismantle these without the need of a lift.
Remove all glass
Remove Ali bars and gutters
Remove steel purlins
Remove trusses by unbolting at the top of the posts
Lift posts out of the ground with a forklift pulling up the wheelbarrow full of concrete with it, or cut the posts of at ground level.
MorganMan89 said:
Thanks Andy. Was expecting to need to have the glass taken away for recycling due to the volume of it. Not sure how they would transport the large volume but didn't want a single large container in the center of site.
We are in the process of having a large agricultural shed taken down: the roofing panels present similar issues (but are higher up). Roll on/roll off skips take about 13t of material. Not sure how much glass is to get rid of (or even whether there might be cash your way) but your local demolition place will tell you. Hopefully less expensive than fibre cement! From a platform and then into a telehandler bucket to drop into skip doesn’t sound like a bad plan. Watch out for machine hire costs and be aware that hire shops should want drivers to have appropriate qualifications, especially where you have chaps working at any height. You’ll also be responsible for the tyres…
Our scrap metal place will provide skips then reimburse anything above the provision cost: that mens getting as much weight in as is sensible, taking into account the time it take to do so.
We are also having a load of crushing work done. It’s a strange market that, as some places will hire you a crusher with operator but still place responsibility on clearing blockages on the hirer. You also need a decent sized excavator and operator to load.
My advice would be as follows:
1) Definitely ask your local demolition place to give you ballpark figures. It’s not a complex demolition job that; but
2) Don’t be in a rush to take them all down. A 1.6 hectare site could give you the opportunity to trade off some of the structures against building more than one new one…; and
3) Horticultural use can be good grounds for getting permission to build a new dwelling.
Thanks all. Great advice as always!
Just in the early stages of trying to do a deal so hope you can understand I'm a little reluctant to put lots of details online at the moment. Looks like we're up against a developer. We'd be trying to buy it outright with equity from our house and then fund it to a point of getting planning permission then refinance it to allow building work.
The site could easily take 8 sizeable plots however our plan is to try and get planning for 2. One part would be ideal for planning and selling it off as it's the other side of the driveway and footpath. Then try and keep the rest as one big plot with the back up plan being to get planning for multiple plots and sell them off if financially we can't make our original plan work.
Due to how it's laid out we could get away with just removing a couple of the greenhouses before the build and then take the rest down slower time. The main priority would be getting rid of all the glass for safety reasons with two young kids.
My wife loves our current house and location due to proximity to the kids primary school and friends but something we build towards for a few years would work well.
Right time to research costs of machinery and do the man maths on how it will be much more cost efficient to buy Vs hire.
Just in the early stages of trying to do a deal so hope you can understand I'm a little reluctant to put lots of details online at the moment. Looks like we're up against a developer. We'd be trying to buy it outright with equity from our house and then fund it to a point of getting planning permission then refinance it to allow building work.
The site could easily take 8 sizeable plots however our plan is to try and get planning for 2. One part would be ideal for planning and selling it off as it's the other side of the driveway and footpath. Then try and keep the rest as one big plot with the back up plan being to get planning for multiple plots and sell them off if financially we can't make our original plan work.
Due to how it's laid out we could get away with just removing a couple of the greenhouses before the build and then take the rest down slower time. The main priority would be getting rid of all the glass for safety reasons with two young kids.
My wife loves our current house and location due to proximity to the kids primary school and friends but something we build towards for a few years would work well.
Right time to research costs of machinery and do the man maths on how it will be much more cost efficient to buy Vs hire.
allegro said:
why are you not looking to gift them to someone? all the work done and no hassle. plus if you played your cards right you could get a decent discount when you come to landscape if you gave them to a nursery/garden centre
You will be lucky to get someone who wants them, it’s all poly tunnels now.allegro said:
why are you not looking to gift them to someone? all the work done and no hassle. plus if you played your cards right you could get a decent discount when you come to landscape if you gave them to a nursery/garden centre
Must admit. Had assumed the difficulty of getting them down and moved would make it non economical for them but it's a fair challenge. There is definitely value in them and it's a real shame that the business has run it's course. That's a job and a half 
It seems like finding a glass recyclers would be the most cost effective method, eg https://mayglassrecycling.co.uk/ but still not cheap though I bet.
It seems like finding a glass recyclers would be the most cost effective method, eg https://mayglassrecycling.co.uk/ but still not cheap though I bet.MorganMan89 said:
The main priority would be getting rid of all the glass for safety reasons with two young kids.
<snip>
Right time to research costs of machinery and do the man maths on how it will be much more cost efficient to buy Vs hire.
Site fencing isn’t that expensive to buy and holds some value. IIRC, I paid about £25/panel recently. <snip>
Right time to research costs of machinery and do the man maths on how it will be much more cost efficient to buy Vs hire.
Buying plant is definitely an attractive option for a long term project, but don’t buy crap (i.e. stick to the big brands).
The advantage of being up against a developer is that they need to turn a profit. The drawback is that they’ll know what\s actually involved in developing the site…
Worth being aware that planning application costs can be non-trivial. And there’s the cost of the various reports needed to support the application. A whole industry around it…
What are you thinking of building by way of a house (approx size/construction method)? Are you planning on project managing yourself?
LooneyTunes said:
Site fencing isn t that expensive to buy and holds some value. IIRC, I paid about £25/panel recently.
Buying plant is definitely an attractive option for a long term project, but don t buy crap (i.e. stick to the big brands).
The advantage of being up against a developer is that they need to turn a profit. The drawback is that they ll know what\s actually involved in developing the site
Worth being aware that planning application costs can be non-trivial. And there s the cost of the various reports needed to support the application. A whole industry around it
What are you thinking of building by way of a house (approx size/construction method)? Are you planning on project managing yourself?
Looking to build an oak framed house. Ideally 250-300sqm with a double or triple garage. Would love to project manage it but would need to balance it with family and work at that time in the future. Buying plant is definitely an attractive option for a long term project, but don t buy crap (i.e. stick to the big brands).
The advantage of being up against a developer is that they need to turn a profit. The drawback is that they ll know what\s actually involved in developing the site
Worth being aware that planning application costs can be non-trivial. And there s the cost of the various reports needed to support the application. A whole industry around it
What are you thinking of building by way of a house (approx size/construction method)? Are you planning on project managing yourself?
Was about to say it could be possible (as is everything) although it would take forever to do it yourself pane by pane or expensive to employ a third party.
Then I looked back at the OP & noticed this:
Then I looked back at the OP & noticed this:
MorganMan89 said:
MorganMan89 said:
feel free to tell me I'm crazy to consider this idea
You are crazy to consider this idea.MorganMan89 said:
Looking to build an oak framed house. Ideally 250-300sqm with a double or triple garage. Would love to project manage it but would need to balance it with family and work at that time in the future.
Nice. We were speaking to Border Oak a few years ago about doing a new build but unfortunately couldn’t make it happen on the plot we had access to at the time. Might yet do one In the future but, knowing what we now know (quite a bit more property experience since then), would seriously consider hybrid construction methods, for example some block/brick or block/block sections and greater use of steel to increase spans.Without wanting to put you off, self-building is a hell of a journey and even with a main contractor making most of the decisions there are still a lot of things that you’ll need to work through and the sequencing of decisions can be unnerving at first. It can also be addictive.
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