In recent years many notable organisations, including both English Heritage and the National Trust are approving aluminium as a material for glasshouse construction. Leading conservation bodies in the UK have contacted Alitex for solutions to reconstructing traditional wooden greenhouses.
During the 1970s, Alitex made the informed decision as a company to transition from using wood as a means of embellishing our greenhouses, to using solely aluminium throughout our structures. This was due to low durability of wood. With changes in humidity and temperatures, labour efforts to maintain these glasshouses were costly and inefficient.
The decision to substitute wood for aluminium means that we can proudly offer a life time frame guarantee on our structures; we have a colour stable product that needs little maintenance, other than a clean and care.
Key differences between wood and aluminium
Below we have listed some key differences between aluminium and wood as materials, and why we believe aluminium is far superior in making quality greenhouses that stand the test of time.
- Alitex’s powder coated aluminium resembles traditional wooden greenhouses, without the maintenance. We have constructed many that have been passed in the grounds of Grade 1 Listed buildings – demonstrating that there is no compromise in look.
- The maintenance on a wooden structure is estimated to require a repaint every two to three years and glaze every five to six – a costly material to maintain.
- Wood is not of the same quality it was when the original wooden glasshouses were built. Nowadays, wood is forced during production, leading to more ‘shakes’ due to poor felling procedures, meaning it rots quickly – originally many were built with Baltic pine, grown near tar seams and difficult or impossible to get.We recently replaced five, 30 metre long ‘pit houses’ due to rot – these had only been standing for 12 years.
- Wooden greenhouses are not designed for modern levels of automation. The continuous adjustment of roof vents quickly destroys conventional hinges.
- Wooden greenhouses have shorter hinged vents – again due to the problem of movement – both in ‘jamming’ and ‘twisting’ causing early failure in mechanisms. When greenhouses are to be used to capacity, in a professional manner this can be an issue.
- Once your aluminium greenhouse is in place, it is there until you take it down – no hassle , no maintenance, the framework just needs washing occasionally.
If you can achieve the look of a traditional greenhouse with the low maintenance of aluminium, why would you choose wood? Find out more about how we use these for commercial greenhouses.
