It's building season!

Cole_Robbie · November 29, 2012

I put up a 14x48 Clearspan kit last winter. This year, I am trying to forge my own design, which is a hodgepodge of other people's designs. This year's greenhouse is 18 1/2' x 48' with four foot vertical sides. I had intended to make the hoops from PVC, but I just splurged on a chain link top rail bender that should arrive any day now.

Except for the composite hoop ends and the doors, all my lumber is treated, which is why I'm so compulsive about the paint. The treatment chemical is corrosive to poly. The posts are 4x4s, set 2' into the ground. I dug all the holes by hand, with an old-fashioned post hole digger. All of them have concrete except for two on each side, on each side of the middle post. I'm planning to use a typical farmer's fencing "T-post" and attach that to each chain link hoop end. That will help firm up the sides. My end hoops are 20' composite decking board. They're expensive ($50 each), but they last forever, they're very strong, and they're also easy to work with.

Here are my first pics:

By my calculations, the load-bearing capacity of the end hoop is > 1 fat redneck:

November 29, 2012	#1
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	It's building season! I put up a 14x48 Clearspan kit last winter. This year, I am trying to forge my own design, which is a hodgepodge of other people's designs. This year's greenhouse is 18 1/2' x 48' with four foot vertical sides. I had intended to make the hoops from PVC, but I just splurged on a chain link top rail bender that should arrive any day now. Except for the composite hoop ends and the doors, all my lumber is treated, which is why I'm so compulsive about the paint. The treatment chemical is corrosive to poly. The posts are 4x4s, set 2' into the ground. I dug all the holes by hand, with an old-fashioned post hole digger. All of them have concrete except for two on each side, on each side of the middle post. I'm planning to use a typical farmer's fencing "T-post" and attach that to each chain link hoop end. That will help firm up the sides. My end hoops are 20' composite decking board. They're expensive ($50 each), but they last forever, they're very strong, and they're also easy to work with. Here are my first pics: By my calculations, the load-bearing capacity of the end hoop is > 1 fat redneck: