I'm new here, so forgive me if this question has already been asked dozens of times.

I'm curious about the star plates sold by Stromberg's. Does anybody have any experiences, good or bad, they would share with me? I'd like to know if this is a good way to build buildings or not. The only way I know is the traditional box methods used for buiding houses (e.g., stud walls, gable roofs, concrete slab or conventional floor, etc.), since I grew up building residential houses. I find that method expensive and too difficult for me to do by myself, so I'm interested in alternatives, such as the star plates.

Structures I'd like to build are chicken coops, storage buildings, and greenhouses.

-- Ted Holt (tedholt@tsixroads.com), December 03, 1999

Answers

We used the starplates to build a greenhouse with. They worked good and have held up to heavy snows with no problems. The directions were a little confusing (to me anyway) but once I got going the were clear. They also came with templates for cutting the 2 X's. Good luck

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), December 03, 1999.

Starplates have some good points and some shortcomings. Theyre fine for small structures, but as the size increases so does the height (which is usually unusable space). You can wrap the walls in a straight sheet of poly or whatever (I did one with chicken wire for a corncrib) but the roof can be a problem.A greenhouse has to be securely anchored. (Ours flew over 100 yards.) They are extremely simple (and cheap) for amateurs to work with, and they go up fast! Countryside has covered these in depth.

-- jd (belanger@midway.tds.net), December 04, 1999.

In what issue of Countryside were the star plates covered? We want to build a small greenhouse and have the plates but the directions are missing...could use some help. Thanks. DEE

-- Diana R, Smith (windance@train.missouri.org), January 03, 2000.

I'm curious about star plates as well, as we are getting ready to order some from Stromberg's. Can anyone tell me about their experiences making them an effective greenhouse? I have a collection of cactus from my apt. days in LA, and I would like to keep them this winter in the starplate/greenhouse. thanks for any/all answers!

-- Gloria J. Geary (mistymt@theofficenet.com), August 28, 2000.

DEE asked: "In what issue of Countryside were the star plates covered? We want to build a small greenhouse and have the plates but the directions are missing...could use some help. Thanks. DEE "

I know they've been covered several times, but the only issue I know of at the moment is Vol 79, No. 2 (March/April, 1995), on page 32.

-- Ted Holt (tedholt@tsixroads.com), November 20, 2001.