I restored a vintage Eden aluminum framed glasshouse from the UK. The European glasshouses are different than American products, they are solid and built to last generations. An entire culture there built around horticulture in everyone’s back yard and re-use. I joined a FB group in the UK and let them guide me how to turn a pile of aluminum and dirty old glass, into an amazing greenhouse of yesteryear. I imported new rubber glazing, W and S clips designed to fit the old glasshouses, and solid aluminum bolts. They sent me a copy of the original install manual from the 1980s for my glasshouse which was key to my success as it showed a diagram of the glass sizes and layout. Well when the house was built and it was time for shade cloth and auto vent openers, I let the UK group guide me. They all agreed that the British company Baylis has the best openers, and I went with the MK7 hydraulic because it is their premium offering designed for windy locations like my hillside property. Due to Trumps tariffs and international post taking such a long time, I wanted to find them in the US so I could get gardening. ACF did not disappoint. I paid a little more for each opener vs buying from Baylis directly, but did not have to deal with international shipping or potential damage on such a long trip. The openers are not the easiest ones to install, you need to measure, drill, screw, adjust them. Models are available that just clamp on. However the MK7 is a fantastic quality opener that you leave on all winter because it sucks the vent down tight and won’t budge. There is usually some slop in closed vents with standard openers and you need to remove the piston in winter. A little extra effort in setup on the MK7 and I feel very confident after testing them that I will be glad I picked these when they weather their first big wind storm this fall.
