wooden or aluminium greenhouse

[JustJam4Tea]

Used to have a black coated aluminium greenhouse, lean to, no maintenance.

New house and the greenhouse is the first thing you see in the garden so thinking of getting a wooden one (cedar). Anyone any experience?

I was looking at getting cappings to cover the glazing bars and cover with clear wood preserver every couple of years. I'd like it to go a bit silvery.

My dad had a cedar greenhouse when I was a kid. I seem to remember that it was rather a faff having to use the wood preserver every couple of years, and if you get mildew or moss on the inside it is an absolute pain to get rid of.

It did look lovely though, and I think being wooden made it slightly warmer in the winter.

Aluminium every time. Although Cedar greenhouses look nice, the upkeep and maintenance can be a pain in the neck. Eventually the roof starts to sag (after many years, admittedly) which would be difficult to remedy.

I have an Alton cedar greenhouse with aluminium capping and it looks great. I think they look much better than aluminium ones. I am happy to accept that it will probably have a shorter life span.

@Sprig1 that's exactly the one I was looking at. An Alton one.

Do you use a protective paint on it of any kind? And does it feel sturdy?

We have had it coming up for 4yrs and haven't treated it yet. It is extremely sturdy, it is like having another room really. I was sitting in there with a coffee and Mumsnet earlier, out of the wind.

Thanks Sprig. I so miss having a greenhouse.

We bought a wooden greenhouse from Waltons. It was a nightmare to put together as none of the pieces were labelled and had to measure every piece to identity it according to the instructions. It looks beautiful and we have stained it and will continue to do so every couple of years. It also has perspex windows, important to us as we have grandchildren so no worries about ball games and broken glass.

I'm just about to replace my Alton, been here 15 years, it is a few years older than that. Never treated it and I think the main reason it's starting to fall apart is that rats chewed a hole in the panel which then means everything has shifted.
I am replacing it with aluminium for this reason and because Alton have changed their sizes and it would no longer fit

We’ve got an Alton cedar greenhouse. 5 years old and no problems. It’s never been re treated by us. In fact I think we were told not to treat the original preservation as cedar has natural preservatives.

Hopefully, by this time next year, I'll have a wooden lean to in Accoya which is apparently chemically treated wood

I've had a cedar one for 13 years now. Never treated it. Still looks fine :)