My first shelterlogic greenhouse front end is on it's last legs. I already plan to fix up the tears with some 6mil plastic using 3M spray contact cement to put it on. My door is now shot and I need to come up with something to replace it. I was thinking along the lines of making a frame then making a door out of PVC. I can pretty much figure out the door but not sure what would be the best way to build the frame for it. The top of the arch is 8' high on center. The frame and ribs are made of 1.65" steel tubing. The door doesn't have to be 8' high so I was wondering if building a frame of wood would suffice? I'm not sure though what size wood to use. I would probably also have to notch the frame top and bottom so it would rest on the tubing. Anyway, any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

Chris, I had a similar problem with a hoop house that I bought on Ebay, when the entire covering deteriorated after one summer. I think it took me 3 years to figure out a plan to add some wooden framing to the steel tubing without having to do a lot of notching, drilling, etc. -- but I finally did it and it has worked out great!

the original hoop house:


after we added some wood and a new covering:


all of the wood is 1x4 treated lumber. The lengthwise horizontal pieces are attached to the metal tubing with pipe clamps. The end framework is basically freestanding, except for being attached at the top with a bracket and attached to the "baseboard" with screws. We made the doors with 1x2's - but in retrospect I think I would use 1x4's for them; or, if your hoop house is large enough, use inexpensive wooden screen doors and cover the screen with plastic (that's what I'm doing with my new, larger greenhouse that we started building last fall and still need to cover).

We used lath strips and screws to fasten the plastic covering to the wooden framing.

I'll take some "detail" photographs of it tomorrow for you ... I'm happy to share this because I'm so happy with the way it worked out; we built the framing in 2014, so I'm going on the 3rd year. This year we'll be covering both the new greenhouse and this smaller hoop house with actual greenhouse plastic (6 mil, UV protected, life expectancy at least 4 years) as opposed to the cheap 3 mil plastic film that I originally used to recover the HH.

Thanks Sandy, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Looking forward to the other photographs.

Here you go, Chris; your ShelterLogic greenhouse might well have some differences from what I have, but maybe this will give you some ideas about how you can do yours. There is also some good info about the door framing for a hoop house here: http://www.wyomingextension.or...

I hope this is helpful!

This is the entire frame when we first built it


The hip boards are fastened to the metal frame with pipe clamps
We used a separate board for each section between the hoops


The baseboards are also fastened to the frame with pipe clamps


Inside view of the end frame


A bracket fastens the wooden end frame to the top purlin, using the same bolt that holds the purlin to the hoop


The vertical and diagonal boards are outside the horizontal boards, but inside the baseboard


The baseboards are fastened together with "mending plates"


Wooden lath strips were used to fasten the plastic to the frame


The doors were made of 1x2's( sized to fit the opening) and then covered with the plastic film; hooks and eyes are used to hold them open,


Two of these brackets are attached to the top purlin, again using the same bolts that fasten the purlin to the hoops; the brackets are for attaching support posts in the winter

Wow, Sandy, that is incredibly helpful. Chris should be able to do his with that help.

Fantastic Sandy, thanks ever so much. The photos are a great help. For the ends and doors, which is all I'm concerned about at the moment, did you use regular 4 or 6mil plastic such as from Lowe's or did you buy some special greenhouse covering material? What sized lumber did you use for the door framing?

The plastic on it right now is just 3-mil clear plastic sheeting (such as you would find at Lowe's or wherever, usually in the paint dept.); but I bought enough 6-mil greenhouse film to do both my new GH structure and the hoop house, so once our weather warms up a little bit (assuming it ever does) I'll be putting that on -- with new lath strips, which I think I'll either paint or coat with some leftover deck stain, because they haven't held up to the weather very well.

The doors themselves were made from 1x2's (cut by ripping 1x4's); the actual "frame" that the door goes into is 1x4 lumber.
True confessions: I came up with the plan for the hoop house at a time when DH and I were in, shall we say, a "less than cooperative" period of time, and I was planning to do all the work myself... as it turned out, we did manage to work together on it

For our larger (16x20) new structure, though, we have 2x4 framing for the doors. Depending on how large yours is, you might want to use 2x4's; my hoop house is only about 6-1/2 feet tall and I felt that using such heavy lumber was going to be total overkill.

Ooops -- Chris, I meant to say thanks for the acorns!

And don't forget to show us photos of what you come up with

Your new greenhouse is going to be great, Sandy! If we weren't so windy, I'd want to do a much larger one. My 15 ft diameter dome is filled up and of course, I still want many more plants!

Weedwhacker said:Ooops -- Chris, I meant to say thanks for the acorns!

And don't forget to show us photos of what you come up with

You're very welcome Sandy. Before I start on that project I need to clean all the lettering and so forth off of the PVC I made my plant hanger project out of and then paint it. Looks like I'll be busy for most of what's left of spring and into summer.

Lots of good information here but if I can make a suggestion Chris. Look at 6 mil UV rated plastic for your greenhouse.

We had built a plant shelter and just used 6 mil plastic from the builders supply. The southern sun makes the plastic shed like a snake skin.

When needing to replace it for the third time, I ordered 6 mil UV rated plastic instead and it was worth the cost. I didn't have to redo it at all and after 4 years when the bigger greenhouse was built it was still intact.

Hope to see photos of your progress...

Good idea @pod, thank you for the suggestion. You do mean something like this - http://www.greenhousemegastore... correct?

Yes, that would be what I was thinking of. I think this was what I ordered. http://www.farmtek.com/farm/su...
You might even check with Lowes or Home Depot and see if they have or can order it at a better price.

I've ordered from both Farmtek and Greenhouse Megastore and was very happy with the service and products.

I've ordered my shade cloth from growers supply which is a division of Farmtek. What I've been pondering since yesterday is whether to just make a door frame of lumber and the door and hinges of PVC. Then use the 6mil UV rated plastic for repairing the one side and also the door. I could use PVC snap clamps to hold the plastic to the door itself. The other way to do it if I made a wooden door is to make it in two pieces and lay the plastic in between. I've got to sit down and figure all this out so I know exactly what I'm doing.

It might be worth noting here that clear Gorilla tape does a great job of repairing any rips in the plastic!

Also, just for future reference for anyone reading this...

When I first covered the hoop house (after making the wooden frame), I had the idea of using the foam pipe insulation tubes to put over the tops of the hoops, to cushion the plastic and keep it from abrading on the steel. Very bad idea -- the plastic that was contacting that foam insulation degraded really fast! Granted, it was just "regular" plastic, not the UV protected stuff, but I don't think that would make a difference and I would have REALLY been unhappy if it had happened with the expensive greenhouse film.

I've not tried the clear gorilla tape but have used the heavy duty black to repair small rips. Unfortunately here in Texas when the temp gets in the upper 90s and above it doesn't stick very well. I had also used it this past winter in conjunction with some mylar insulation I got a Lowe's to block off the large window in the center of the door. It didn't stay very well either.

Y'all are taxing my brain here but if I can find the roll of tape I'll know for sure. The tape that worked best on the greenhouse plastic film for me was made by 3 M in a clear duct tape. If I still have any left I'll see if it has a number or type on the roll. I used it to seal the seams and it was even more durable than the film. Tough stuff!

pod said: Y'all are taxing my brain here but if I can find the roll of tape I'll know for sure. The tape that worked best on the greenhouse plastic film for me was made by 3 M in a clear duct tape. If I still have any left I'll see if it has a number or type on the roll. I used it to seal the seams and it was even more durable than the film. Tough stuff!

To correct my error. It was a clear duct tape made by Scotch. I did find the roll after all these years... amazing.

Well, I broke down and bought a cover kit today. I went ahead and did that to ease my frustrations in trying to make a door even with the expert advice I'd gotten here. At least this was I'll replace the door panel that's ripped and still have a top cover and the door panel for the other end that I can replace when necessary.