Last fall I added wooden framing to this steel hoop house frame and covered it with plastic, which has worked out very well except...

first, the photo from when it was finished last fall


I used foam pipe wraps to cover the tops of the hoops, thinking it would cushion the plastic and keep it from eroding against the steel -- unfortunately, the foam either reacted with the plastic or the black color of the foam just caused the plastic (which was just "regular" plastic, not UV protected) to deteriorate more quickly


I had hoped to get through this winter with the same plastic again, but will definitely have to recover it before the weather gets too cold!

Sandy, you might want to consider the solar blanket material. It is well worth the added expense and you will get years of use out of it. I wish you lived close. I have a large roll of really heavy (16 mil) solar blanket material that was removed before I started building the sunroom. I have enough to probably cover your entire structure.

Ken, do you mean I would just use the solar cover as the only covering over the frame? I've been considering getting a solar cover, but thought it would be something that would go over the top of the plastic-covered frame. Does leaving the solar cover on in the summer make it even hotter inside than the plastic alone?

No and no...........I think. This stuff is incredibly tough. I only have the 16 mil stuff and not only use it to cover my "temporary" greenhouse framing for my plumeria during the fall and winter months but also used it to cover my screened-in porch during those months.

My greenhouses get so hot from June through September, that neither are much good for anything but starting seeds and rooting my plumeria. I keep the doors wide open, all the vents open, and use 70% shading, but the greenhouses still get really hot. I don't really think there is much difference in the heat, whether I had only the polycarbonate panels or those panels are covered in solar blanket material. Fans surely help, but still, the fans I run just moves hot air around. They are called hot-houses for a reason I guess.

Thanks, Ken -- that's definitely something to think about!

One thing you can do, since you don't have the fixed polycarbonate panels, is roll up the solar blanket material when it begins to stay warm, and just tie that material, rolled up. I can't do that, but commercial growers all over the world do that on a regular basis.

That's a great idea and I've been wanting to do it... but so far haven't quite figured out how to hold it down on the bottom when I want it all closed up and still be able to roll it up

I know a lot of greenhouses use the "wiggle wire" things... not sure if that's a viable option for me or not.

Well, it took 2 years for me to just figure out how to cover the framework (after the original, made-to-fit, cover disintegrated... another 2 or 3 years and I'll figure out the roll-up sides (maybe)

Attach a hook, eye, or even a large screw to the four corner at the bottom of the frame. Get a roll of light aluminum wire from Lowe's/Home Depot. Tie one end to the first eye/hook/screw and just stretch the wire over your covering from corner to corner. This is exactly what I do but I stretch the wire about every 3', parallel to each other so that the wind can't blow under my solar blanket material and lift it.

This cheap stuff didn't last the year out. You can see the wiring if you look close.


Three years and this solar blanket material looks good as new.

That sounds almost too easy, somehow... but I think it might work for me, especially if I leave some extra at the bottom of each side so the snow can hold it down! (I'll have to file this under the "things that somehow never occurred to me" heading )

I leave a couple of inches extra all around so that the blanket material drapes over the ground a bit. That just gives a better insulation value. I don't have a lot of snow to help hold the flaps down.

(What did that forecast map say for your area? something about a winter battle zone?? )

I thought that meant that there would be a winter re-enactment of a Civil War battle.

I HOPE that's what it means. My electric bill was bad enough last year, heating three greenhouses and now a sunroom to heat. Ouch.

LOL -- that somewhat explains why, despite my most fervent wishes, I do NOT have a heated GH!

Ken, where are the pictures of your sunroom? I remember you talking about maybe adding one, but didn't realize you had actually done it. Ours is actually insulated better than the rest of our house, and is an awesome place in the middle of the winter

I have no sunroom...........yet. The porch was demolished yesterday and a huge, and I do mean huge, beams (two) have been put up. That's it so far. I posted pictures of before (full enclosed porch) and after (nada porch). There are quite a few posts on the "Orchids" forum and then "Sunroom".

I don't envy you the construction process, Ken -- when we did ours I was still working at home... while the "guys" were jack-hammering our about-to-be-former cement porch out

But in the end it is all worth it!

My problem has been lack of activity, not activity. I like the noise. At least I know something is being done.

Where are pictures of your sunroom, Sandy?

LOL, I was afraid you were going to ask that... I'll dredge some up (and maybe take a couple of new ones) tomorrow!