The Cost of Hiring Inexperienced Greenhouse Installers: A Cautionary Tale

We’re increasingly concerned by a troubling trend in our customer service calls. More and more greenhouse owners are contacting us after having paid inexperienced contractors for installations gone wrong. As greenhouse specialists, we feel obligated to share this cautionary tale to help others avoid similar costly mistakes.

When Experience Matters: A Real Customer’s Nightmare

Recently, we heard from a customer in the South who had hired a builder based on excellent work the contractor had done on a pergola. The builder proposed a seemingly reasonable arrangement: £200 per day, paid each morning, to install an Elite Titan greenhouse. With confidence, the builder assured our customer it “wouldn’t take long” – after all, he was an experienced builder.

What followed demonstrates why greenhouse installation expertise matters:

Day 1: £200 paid. The builder spent most of the day studying the instructions with visible confusion, though some minimal progress was made.

Day 2: Another £200 exchanged hands. A bit more progress appeared, with the structure beginning to take some form.

Day 3: £200 more. The framework started resembling a greenhouse, but the builder showed increasing signs of stress and frustration.

Day 4: Another £200 paid.  Builder claims that there’s definitely something wrong with the parts.  He’s not installed the louvre, because he can do that at the end (he can’t).  The glass won’t fit into the gaps because the gaps are spaced wrong (they’re not).  The gaps for the glass aren’t square (indicates that the structure hasn’t been squared early in the build).  Some of it is glazed.  Some of it isn’t.  The doors won’t go on the greenhouse (we aren’t sure why this was tried before the glazing was done).  The customer is starting to get nervous.  What if this goes on for another 4/5 days?

By the end of Day 4, the builder abandoned the project, claiming the greenhouse was defective. He never returned for days 5, 6, or 7, leaving behind a partially glazed, unsecured structure at risk of collapse. Attempts to contact him went unanswered.

The devastating result? The builder walked away £800 richer, while our customer faced additional expenses: hiring someone to dismantle the improperly assembled greenhouse before paying a qualified installer to rebuild it correctly. The financial loss was substantial, with little hope of recovering the initial £800.

Protecting Your Investment: What We Recommend

We can’t say it any louder. You may not want to pay an installer to build your greenhouse, it may be that you want to give it a go yourself, and there’s no real reason you won’t be able to.  But if you’re going to pay someone else to do it, please take note of the following:

1. Fixed-Price Contracts Only: Never agree to a daily rate for greenhouse installation. Day rate is essentially paying someone to learn on your dime.  Day rates also ring alarm bells to us – it indicates that the person has never built one before.  Reputable installers will look at a greenhouse and be able to tell you, almost to the minute, how long it will take to install.
2. Verify Experience: Any reputable greenhouse installer should provide a firm quote for the complete job, a clear timeline for completion and examples of previous greenhouse installations.
3. Request References: Experienced installers are proud of their work and happy to share testimonials from satisfied customers.  There is no reputable greenhouse installer in the land that will work any other way. We love showing off our work!

DIY Is Viable

If professional installation seems costly, consider building it yourself with careful attention to the instructions. Many owners successfully complete their own installations.

As a rule of thumb:

• Ensure you read the instruction manual thoroughly, before you begin.  Spend a couple of evenings going through it to ensure you are familiar with the stages.
• Take your time getting the base and frame right.  Ensure at every move that the greenhouse is level and square.
• Do not attempt to glaze during any windy conditions.  Carrying what can be 4ft long panes of glass in the wind is not ideal and certainly not recommended.
• Try to get help from a second person – if only to observe or hand you tools – it will also keep you safe while glazing the roof and ensure you have a second eye on the installation.
• Invest in some ‘glass suckers’ to aide you carrying and positioning glass into the frame.
• Ensure you wear DIY gloves while glazing.
• Do not over-tighten the nuts and bolts.  Over-tightening them will make them thread.

Sadly the customer in this case received no further communication from the Builder.  He’s now faced with another bill to have the greenhouse dismantled, and then rebuilt.  It’s unlikely he will get his £800 back.  We were able to provide recommendations to him of appropriately experienced installers in his area, who will be able to help.

We don’t say all of the above to make money. We say it to save you money.