Reinforcing a hoop frame

16 years ago

I recently bought a hoop style greenhouse from weather guard. I am really disappointed in the design of this product but I'm not ready to give up on it yet. The problem is that none of the hoop frame parts fit securely together {{gwi:292719}}. The structure relies on some string and the plastic cover to hold it together. I know I'm extremely new at this, but I am having a real problem wrapping my brain around tying steel frame together with string. Is that common? Not only that, but I was hoping to cover the frame with insect screen during the summer, so I can't rely on the plastic cover to hold everything together.

I found an article where the writer secured the frame by using eyebolts and bungee cords, but still, I don't really like the idea of tying the frame together. Click here for article.

I would prefer to secure the frame by bolting the pieces together, or maybe JB Weld? I also found a "pipe threader" product, but they are pretty expensive so I would like to ask for advice first. Anyone have any suggestions ?

Comments (9)

hex2006
16 years ago
Hi
The way i read it, the nylon string is just to hold everything temporarily in place as work progresses (i could be wrong)
I agree with you that relying on the poly covering to hold the frame together is a strange idea :)
I would drill holes in the connectors and install stainless tek screws or something similar.
ole_dawg
16 years ago
I think you got screwed. The whold rig looks MICKEY MOUSE to me. For the amount of the serious sized one you could have a HFGH.

1eyedJack and the Dawg
Related Discussions
Cold Frame Hoop House Question
Q
Comments (25)
ontheteam, My brother and I built a railroad rail bender. We used it for the hoop bending. It was a little awkward, but work just fine. The rail bender is basically two rollers in a frame with a third roller above the middle of two lower. The top wheel is pushed down by a 12 ton bottle jack. It's basically a shop press that you can roll / arch stock through. You push pull the stock through, then apply a little pressure and do it again. Rebar, cheap and availablity. I don't think we can get 20ft lengths of conduit on the Island. It could be ordered, but not off the shelf supply. Eric
...See More
What to do--cold frame or hoop house?
Q
Comments (2)
How long do you want to extend your season or start your season earlier? I think a hoop building is the way to go. That way you won't sink so much $$$$ into it. With such a small area, that is what I would do. I had two small hoops this year. 12 by 18 and a 8 by 12. I used them to start my plants earlier. I almost froze them over a period of 3 nights. Late cold snap, the previous year I had almost everything planted out! Next year I have purchased materials for two 12 by 45 foot hoops. It will be awesome, I hope. The two buildings are still up, without plastic, I am planning on reskining the smaller one and try some greens. It should have already been done, but I am slow. Good Luck! Jay
...See More
Why hoops instead of A-frame or other shapes?
Q
Comments (2)
You loose heat by radiation and convection. Wind is the convection part, so if you saw the art room on a sunny day (minimal radiative loss) and it blocked the wind, it felt good. But the radiant temperature of the sky is very cold. Just walls won't help much at night. The reason people cover beds with hoops is that they're simple and easy. A 10' stick of conduit can cover a 3' wide bed. It's relatively cheap and easy to bend into an arch with enough left to push each leg into the ground a foot. Cover it with both fabric and plastic and you can overwinter onions in zone 5. The plastic stops air circulation losses, and the fabric moderates solar gain for even temperature. The drawback of hoops is that as size goes up, snow load becomes an issue. A greenhouse operation near me lost several 20' wide tunnels to snow last year when we got about 15" of snow in one dump. That's why gothic arches are better for snow. As size goes down, hoops are hard to get into. You have to take the skin off to get in there. Single bed hoops are best for things you're going to mostly leave alone over the winter. I like my wood truss gothic arch greenhouse. It's easy to get into, cheap, repairable, and was easy enough to build. The frame cost me about $100 in strapping and screws, and the rest was scavenged material. I was even able to re-use some greenhouse plastic to cover it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/huisjen/IMG_4029.jpg For extra protection inside, you can lay row cover over the crops. You can lift the row cover easily for work or harvest, and being inside, it won't blow away.
...See More
quilt frames or hoops for hand quilting
Q
Comments (13)
I have a Grace three rail that I haven't used yet, having just done the one baby quilt that seemed an easily bastable size. I did my baby quilt on a floor Q-snap type frame, although I think mine is actually a Dritz model I got at Jo-Ann's with a 40% off coupon from their mail flier. I'm a newbie, but I can't imagine quilting a full size quilt on a lap hoop! I have truly loved the Q-snap. It's a joy to use. All the plastic is perfectly smooth, and the 'set up' is done in one minute. All four legs on mine are adjustable so once I have the quilt snapped in (again, done in one minute) it can be tilted to each of the four sides for comfort. And of course it's square, so the quilt tension is applied to the grain of the fabric. It's very lightweight, and so very easy to push with your foot to get different angles, and it's big enough so the quilt is well supported without hassle. And when I get up, I can push the whole thing back and come back with my diet cherry Coke and sit back down to the same perfect set-up in one second. WORTH EVERY PENNY! You do need to baste four strips of muslin to the edges of your quilt so the frame can hold on to them while you quilt the edges, and you do need to baste the whole quilt before you get started. I did a sorry job of basting, but since my quilt was little and my frame was big, I didn't really have much shifting. I think it's worth the practice to learn to quilt toward and away from yourself. I'd never done any sewing of any kind, so my first couple of weeks was rocky. After this one little quilt I am comfortable quilting away and toward myself with my leftie hand, and since I've always been a little ambidexterous I don't mind taking a few stitches with my weaker right hand. Do you want to talk about thimbles? I could on and on....
...See More
tranquility
16 years ago
my hoop style gh has perlins-one going down the middle and one on each side...but, to give it a little more strength...we used 2 4x4s in concrete in the middle....just space them apart between the length of the gh....dig a hole and stick in a 4x4.... make sure it is right up against the top of the gh ceiling-we attached it to the frame with some plumbers tape and a few screws and then concreted it into the ground...that should work....
Lawanna
nielsent
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Sounds like the HFGH has it's own set of issues. For a beginner like me, this hoop style seemed to be a much simpler solution.
zengeos
16 years ago
Speaking of hoop style greenhouses...I've seen a number of plans for PVC pipe greenhouses. I've also read posts by people who have them. I wonder...can Schedule 40 PVC be used or is Schedule 80 required? I can't find much Schedule 80 PVC here, but have found plenty of Sched 40.

I'd love to build a greenhouse this Spring, as soon as the snow is gone....
mainelyjim
16 years ago
zengeos

As I look out my window and see the deep snow piled out in the yard, I am glad that I built my hoophouse (Gothic arch style) out of a galvanized kit (from Ledgewood Farm in Moultonborough, N.H)rather than PVC. I built one out of PVC a few years back, and even though it was fun and cheap, it only took one wet heavy snow to snap the bows and create a real mess. I probably could have avoided that if I had installed a center support of some type to hold up the ridge purlin, but who wants to worry each time the forecast calls for snow and who wants to step around a bunch of posts in the greenhouse? Not me. I learned my lesson and went with iron, rather than plastic, and with all the snow we've had in Maine this year, I KNOW I made the right decision. Sure, there are plans out there where you can insert rebar into the PVC pipe, and that does make it stronger, but those designs aren't particulary attractive and don't provide enough headroom, IMHO. Good luck with your plans, but it seems like you'll have plenty of time to ponder them, as the snow doesn't seem to be disappearing as quickly as it should for Mid March!!
topher2006
16 years ago
Yep that's exactly what just happened to mine pvc went right through my visqueen thank god i hadn't moved any of my plants yet !
jba3fan
16 years ago
Speaking of hoop style greenhouses...I've seen a number of plans for PVC pipe greenhouses. I've also read posts by people who have them. I wonder...can Schedule 40 PVC be used or is Schedule 80 required? I can't find much Schedule 80 PVC here, but have found plenty of Sched 40.
I'd love to build a greenhouse this Spring, as soon as the snow is gone....

You will be better off using cattle panals instead of Schedule 40 or 80 pvc.
It looks like your in Maine and I am sure you get loads of snow. This link is what I did last year first it started off trying to build with pvc but I ended up using the cattle panals. I didn't have an exaust system in the hoop house and I ended up cooking most of my plants that I was overwintering(it was cloudy and dreary 50 degree day at my jobsite but 20 miles away at home the sun was out and raised my temps above 120. Needles to say this fall I built a 10 x12 harbor freight greenhouse that is doing great for my needs.

good luck and hope this helps

Here is a link that might be useful: my pvc hoophouse
tsmith2579
16 years ago
Nielsent, I looked at your diagram, read your message twice and I have questions. Is the metal frame something like concrete reinforcing bar (re-bar)? Is it surrounded by plastic? Is the frame small enought to fit inside PVC pipe, either 1/2 or 3/4 inch? I have seen hoop houses made from re-bar and the re-bar is covered with PVC pipe. The top is held together by a dual system of PVC union which is glued together and then a screw is added to reinforce the joint. Let me know by regular email, not by replying here, if I understand correctly. I may have other suggestions but I need to better understand the situation.

Reinforcing a hoop frame

Comments (9)

hex2006

ole_dawg

Related Discussions

tranquility

nielsent
Original Author

zengeos

mainelyjim

topher2006

jba3fan

tsmith2579

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Reinforcing a hoop frame

Comments (9)

Related Discussions

nielsentOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

nielsent
Original Author