Did I make a bad purchase?

Since I would be making a smaller green house then you I was thinking I could use screws to tie the PVC together. Might take a while to screw it all together LOL. I could probably just use the screw down anchors that they use for kids swing sets. The're like 18" inches long 3-4" wide screws. I'm thinking those would hold down the greenhouse enough. Maybe 8 of them. My whole purpose would be to put the GH up in Jan. and use it till April at the most. A GH around here gets way to hot durning the summer and durning the fall I won't be starting anything.

I understand, it just depends on your winds. Here we tend to get max gusts up to 50 MPH during thunderstorms, this puts A LOT of stress and movement in the structure, with all the plastic it is kinda more likely to go air born. Just experiment and see how it works, however I am worried that screwing may cause cracking if you get some winds. If you're concerned about the GH being too house don't, we get up into the high 90's here sometimes, as long as you leave your doors WIDE open and use a fan to circulate the air in/out of the greenhouse it will remain in the safe zone.

It's more of not having a need for it durning the summer. It's not the best looking thing to have in your yard. Your right about the wind. If it gets under the plastic the whole thing could go airbourne pretty fast. If you drill holes I don't think cracking would be a problem.

Just be careful, I've seen how the PVC flexes with the wind, this extreme motion could ware down the PVC where the screw in in the PVC, the friction would be your only enemy.

Mustang,
How long have you had this GH up and operating? The one in the picture? I just wonder if it is pretty tough and can stand the elements.

I have had that greenhouse in place for approximately 2 years. It has sustained winds of 50 MPH and gusts up to 60-70 mph. It has gone through extreme temperatures (110+) to down low as 21 degrees. It is pretty durable, and if anything ever broke, its PVC, very easy and cheap to fix!

I just need a temporary tunnel for my plants for about two to three weeks. I'm doing something similar to mustang, but without the glue. I just need to cover two 28 foot raised beds. I'm using PVC pipe also, but just using five foot spacing. I bought T pieces for the ends. and four way pieces for the inner sections. Two 10 foot pieces make the bow, and 5 foot pieces in between. I'm driving in 18 inch x 1/2 inch rebar to hold the bows in place. Then will cover with 6 mill clear plastic. I haven't figured out the ends yet. Will probably have to build something out of wood and plastic. So far the bill is $130.54. I plan on taking it down two to three weeks after the frost threat is over. I wanted something to help transition plants from the greenhouse to the beds, and give them a little better start. (Tomatoes, etc.).

Wouldn't it be stronger with 1" PVC? Several of the GH I have seen built with PVC are made out of 3/4". Just wondering.

It would be stronger, but it would also be more expensive, I don't see the purpose in getting the larger PVC as the 3/4" is more than enough support for the structure. I did consider however using Sch 80 instead of Sch 40, but decided against it. It was going to cost me about 2 1/2 times more than the Sch 40. I'm very happy with the structural portion of the greenhouses using the 3/4". My largest yet is 48x14 and its been an excellent success.

You made the 14x48 out of PVC also? That's Great.

I have quite a few lengths of 1" from when I was showing my dogs in Agility and I used the 1" to make jumps. I've got a couple of hundred Ts laying around or still on the jump standards. I'll let you know how it goes with 1".

yeah the 14x48 is made with the same system, it is working out great. Yeah please do, I love input!

I chose the 3/4 inch PVC becasue it was flexible enough to do the hoop (1/2 circle). I was concerned about the flexibility of 3/4 inch vs. the 1 inch, and had the guy at the store help me test bend both. As a result, I stuck with the 3/4 inch.

Mustangman
How are you attaching the cover to the PVC? I have read other places to not let the two touch or there is some chemical reaction that will eat up your poly. I was wondering about the wiggle wire stuff to attach to the PVC, I wasn't sure how it would work on PVC though. I guess you would have to screw it into the PVC.

Hey there, no you do not attach it to the PVC at all, and there is no chemical reaction that I'm aware of that causes the plastic to deteriorate (I've had mine on for 2 years, no issues). I staple the plastic at the 2x6 rails at the bottom of all four sides, I roll up the plastic a little bit and staple through several layers (3 or 4 layers). Hope this helps.

The only thing I can think of is generally the plastic for greenhouses has one side treated with something that resists UV and the other side isn't, so if you put the wrong side facing out toward the sun then it'll degrade quicker--is that maybe what you're thinking of?

ecrane Someone posted, I can't find it now of course, that you couldn't let the two touch. They put something between the two.

Mustangman Is your plastic regular GH plastic or just the regular 6 mil that you can get at Lowes? Is it UV treated or not? Is yours inflated? Can you post pics of the ends from the outside please? Is it the white or just clear? One photo looks clear and some look white.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm going to get the stuff this week and don't want to make 10 trips just 2-3 trips. I'm going to make this 1st one 12'x24'.

I don't use brand name Visqueen as it is very expensive, I use the regular construction plastic from lows 6 mil clear. I use two layers on my greenhouses for energy efficiency during the winter time. I have not the slightly clue if their plastic is UV treated. In the industry it is expected that the material has t be replaced 3-4 years anyway, its not too big of an expenses (50 bucks for a 20x100 roll). They don't sell white construction plastic at my Lowes or Home Depot, just clear and black.

mustangman ... I live in hurricane central ... 8 miles from the beach ... Do you think the green house plans you mentioned above would hold up?

Hey there, well good timing to ask me! We just got hit with 100MPH winds on Wednesday, it shredded the plastic and broke several of the PVC fittings. However, it was fairly easy to go back, replace the fittings, and re tarp the greenhouse. I'd say that any greenhouse with plastic will NOT hold up against winds exceeding 75+ MPH winds. However the nice thing is when you do get bad storms/hurricane winds it is inexpensive to go back and repair the structure. The fittings cost me $20.00 + the plastic, so it wasn't too bad!

Thank you .... My hubby thanks you. LOL .... I wanted a pretty glass greenhouse.... lol ... My hubby has been trying to talk me into this for a year... So, I'm admitting defeat :) lol .... can you D-mail me the plans? Thank you again :) from both me and my hubby :)

Hey there, I posted all of the instructions at the top of this thread, hope it helps!

sorry about that. Thank you.

glad I read this thread .... i was going to buy the harbor freight one till i read all your comments... thank you

Hello Mustang,

I built a hoop house similar to yours this year. The wind has blown it apart twice. The 3/4" pvc pipe is breaking at the 4-way coupling at the peak and then it rips holes in the roof. I am using schedule 40. I couldn't help but notice yours is next to a fence. Perhaps you're getting wind protection there?

Tomorrow I will dismantle what is left of it and till the area. Although late I will be planting my 200 bell peppers I started months ago.

JB

The fence may protect some, but they've gone through some extreme winds and had no issues with the exception of one storm. Have you properly glued all of the PVC joints together to hold them in place? How wide did you make the house, how long is it?

Mustangman... you ROCK!!!!!!

It's 12 feet wide by 30 feet long. The joints were prepared with cleaner then glued. The joints aren't coming apart. The PVC pipe is breaking very close to the joint. I am well protected from all wind directions exept SW. When the wind hits the long side of the house it bends it over creating great stress at the top.

I drove rebar into the ground and slid the PVC over it. The 2x6's were put on the outside of the PVC. All of that seemed ok. Instead of using staples on the plastic I used strapping and screwed it to the 2x6's. I didn't build any structual support for the ends. I just brought the plastic down and, using the strapping and more 2x6's, secured it to ground level. For the doors I just cut 2 slits from the top to the bottom and roled the plastic up.

The structural support for the ends may be the key. It certainly would prevent at least the ends from bowing in the wind.

Being here in N.C. I really don't need the house during the summer. But when the winter comes I will make another attempt. I was impressed with the temperature gain. Inside the house I was able to acheive temps 40 or 50 degrees above ambient.

Thanks,

JB

P.S. Please pardon my attitude yesterday. I was very upset and I'm sorry if anyone was offended, especially you Mustang. Morknotmindy is right, You Rock!

Oh hey its no problem. Do me a favor take a picture of the issue you're having, I'm having a hard time understanding the description. Yes, sidewalls are a must, your PVC will not nearly be as strong without the wooden sidewalls. You must drill screws through the PVC down into the wood, this prevents the structure from moving too much. Sagging will become an issue without the sidewalls too.

mustangman,

You used the conduit across the top for the ridge pole; correct? Is that the flexible ridged stuff that I have seen electrical wires run through?

I have a portable garage structure that I purchased. It is basically an arch-type structure made from PVC. They gave me 18" giant screws to put in the ground for stability in wind. Big joke! Our red clay soil is just like concrete. No way I was going to get those into the ground. But it did come with flaps that extended about 12" longer than the sides. So we piled a double row of concrete blocks on these flaps. After making a way for some of the wind to blow through, the blocks did work.

Karen

I think your probably better off with the wind not blowing through.

Actually, I started out that way and the wind was putting too much pressure on the structure. It was lessened considerably by opening the window in the back.

Karen

Yes, the ridge support is 3/4" electrical conduit, it is slightly more durable than PVC (less likely to snap, more durable to full sun, etc.)

mustangman,

I had not even thought of that nor have I seen it mentioned in any of the PVC GH plans on the internet. Good to know.

Thank you,

Karen

I am thinking of building a hoop house this summer. Does any one have experience with snow covering the hoop house.

Gary

I am having the same issues with the PVC breaking on the top side of the 4 way connectors. The wind gets to blowing and the next thing you know the 4 way connectors start either stretching out of shape or just snapping. I asked at Lowe's the other day and they said that PVC is not able to handle the high heat. It was up to about 90* the other day and PVC is only good to 108*. At 108* the pvc "remodels" and the glue melts. I think I will have to go a different route than pvc. Both times we have had sustained high winds so I am sure that contributed.

The system works great and is a good structure, I won't give up I'll just look for a different hoop material.

Just found this and what a great idea. THank you for the directions Mustangman. Has anyone used this in zone 4a or colder? I am interested in extending our short season here and wonder how well it works. How should I choose a site, how many hours of sun minimum should it get?

Thank you, : )

I have a 10X12 HFGH and with proper bracing it is very sable in the winds.

Here is how I build mine.

http://www.amigatec.net/

Thank you amigatec, will check it out. (Hi from a Bixby'ian btw)

I took the plunge today and decided to build a lean to half-hoop house if there is such a thing. Basically I will take mustangman's plan and build half of it against my house. I put up a ledger board already and have the base put together. I need to get different size conduit clamps, I bought ones to small.

You'd be amazed what you can fit into a ford taurus by the way.
I know the people who saw me loading my car thought I was crazy but it fit, LOL. (stuck out the side window a tiny bit)

It will end up being 10 feet in length (down the south side of my house) by 8 feet wide by about 6 feet tall. It's not really quite 8 feet wide though, my house is a split level with a two foot overhang. So 6 feet. The underhang I will frame out and cover with plastic. There is just enough room to put a short shelf there or something underneath.

I will take pics tomorrow if I can. Today was a beautiful day, I bet it was in the 70s easily and for us that is hot. : ) (especially this time of year)

I just thought I would share a cool link someone sent me that is related to this topic:

This link shows a grade school group building a full-sized greenhouse made out of recycled 2-litre sized soda bottles. I don't know how well it works, but I found it fascinating.
http://www.reapscotland.org.uk/reports/greenhouse%20v1.pdf
LiseP

That bottle greenhouse is very unique. They really did a great job with it.

Thanks for sharing the link.

Janet