hoop house

I built this 10x20' hoop house that will eventually house the nursery plants in containers. once covered with plastic this structure will protect the plants from extreme cold weather in the winter, and with a shade cloth over it, will protect from extreme summer heat. it will also protect the plants from nibblers like deer, rabbits, squirrels, foxes and raccoons and keep neighborhood dogs and cats from disturbing the plants. I calculated that this size will hold 96 standard plant trays (1020 - 10"x20") with a 2' walkway down the center. the total number of plants would be determined by the container size. if I were to use those black plastic 6 packs commonly used for veggie transplants, I could have 3456 plants in this hoop house. 

I bought more landscape fabric and put it in place. it is much easier to put the fabric down before you build the structure, but I didn't have the funds so I had to do it after the fact. I used a pry bar to lift one corner up and then pushed a board under the base of the frame. then I did the same to the other 3 corners and was able to push the landscape fabric underneath.

 hard to see, but this shows the frame lifted off the ground so I can put landscape fabric underneath.

once the plastic cover is put on, the hoop house needs to be secured to the ground to prevent it from blowing away. one method of anchoring it is to drive a stake into each corner and secure the frame to the stake. you can also purchase anchor screws but I had some extra t-posts about so I used those.

I used pipe strapping to secure the t-post to the frame. it is somewhat flexible and I think that a heavy duty strap would be better but I was unable to find any at the local building supply store.

I slid the strap under the frame and then wrapped around the t-post and used bolts to secure it in place.

end wall framed out. I put a thick (6-8") layer of mulch on top of the grass. I cut the grass as short as possible to help kill it before I put the mulch on top. if you have a weedeater, you can cut the grass completely to the ground and this will help to kill it. I didn't have landscape fabric when I built the hoop house so I had to add it after it was built.

here I've framed out one end wall with screen door. not too bad for completely built from scraps and salvaged materials.

march 4 2013

I built the base frame first and then put one end of the pvc against the frame and pulled the other end down until it was against the inside of the other side of the frame. then I drilled holes in the pvc and attached it to the frame with decking screws. 20' pvc makes a 6' tall arched center. the pvc ribs are 42" apart. most plans specify 2-3 foot spacing but the area I live in (southeast usa) doesn't get much if any snow so I am not worried about weight on the structure. if need be I can always add 2 more ribs and move the existing ribs close together. this hoop house is lightweight enough for me to lift and move it myself -with logs placed underneath the base boards it rolls pretty well.

I used pvc that was on the ground outside of my work shed and I cut it into 20' lengths. the base was made from left over floor joists from my friends house. I will frame out the west side for a door and I have a screen door that I will need to put new screening in. I am fortunate that my property was once part of a larger farm and when people live on a farm, they tend to save items and supplies that can be re-used. the only materials I needed to buy for this structure were nails. you can find numerous plans online. I used a plan from the NC  Cooperative Extension Service and modified it a bit. based on their plans, I priced out building a 10'x21' hoop house with 2'x4's as the base and it was about $90.00 from Lowes Home Improvement without hardware and plastic covering. more info on hoop house designs and plans. this structure took me about 7 hours to build by myself. a good bit of the time was spent joining the pieces of joist together and flattening and nailing the metal flashing to the bottom of the frame. 

the wood is not pressure treated (I am following organic practices and procedures and pressure treated wood is not allowed), and I had some metal flashing that I flattened out and nailed to the bottom of the frame. this metal strip will help keep the wood from absorbing moisture. bartolemeow had to inspect it for me.

this is the flashing. it was very easy to flatten, I was able to use pressure from my gloved hand and press down on it on the wood frame.