h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mrs G's greenhouse has been leaking. It's a kit greenhouse, and there were always pools of water on the floor, which made it difficult to use. She came up with the idea of me building a low wall, just two bricks high, and putting the greenhouse on top of this. It took me a few days to do this, but afterwards, we now have an apparently waterproof square base.

Which fills up with water any time it rains. And because the base is waterproof, the water doesn't drain away. I have to mop it up with a sponge. On one occasion I mopped up 5 gallons of water.

So I've been waiting for a day when it was bright, I had the day off, and it was raining, so I could see where the water was getting in. Strange to say, every time I was off we had lovely weather, and months have gone by without me being able to find the source of the water.

Then yesterday, I finally got a chance - it rained quite a lot yesterday starting about 3pm. So at 3:30 I went out to the greenhouse. By 4 it was dark, but I had found the problem. The concrete mixture is faulty under one of the bricks, and the water seeps in from outside under this brick.

So now I need to wait for a day when it is bright, I am off work and it is not raining, to replace the concrete around that brick. No doubt I'll be waiting just as long.

At least you got a concrete result.

A kit greenhouse, you say?

So you got your kit off, built a wall, then put your kit on again.

Greenhouse erection in easy steps.

The weather can be weird. And it hasn't actually been a very wet summer. Not a good summer, but not that wet.

My mother's greenhouse was assembled from assorted windows, including one from a bank (they were remodelling, and were throwing the old one out). It's built rather oddly, over what used to be the septic tank, before the house was connected to the mains sewerage.

TRiG.

I have to confess...I misread post #4...

...then I realised this was a Gnomon thread, not a 2legs...

Erm - might be a bit too late to retroactively sort this... But if I were you I'd put a short length of plastic pipe through the brickwork (15 mm diameter should do it), angled downwards so the end outside the greenhouse is lower than the inside and the inside is flush with the floor of the greenhouse itself... That way whenever water gets in (or the missus is a bit too liberal when watering her plants) it's got somewhere to drain away... Would have been easier to do when you first built the wall, but shouldn't be impossible to retrofit.

Thanks, Dmitri. I'm reassured that my powers of misdirection are still operating.

Whisky, you're right - that would have been a good idea. I'll see if I can locate the Hilti Drill and make a suitable hole.

Put some mesh over it to keep mice out.