what quantity, sizes, joint types of pvc pipes required for a 20X10X7 arched greenhouse.
plus other necessary details.

maindaf16 said:what quantity, sizes, joint types of pvc pipes required for a 20X10X7 arched greenhouse.
plus other necessary details.

Welcome to the forum!

I would imagine you've seen this(it was the first link on Google ), but in case you haven't....
http://www.pvcplans.com/ArchGr...

Welcome to the group, @maindaf16

Also, make sure you look into plastic greenhouse film over pvc piping. I seem to remember reading this is not a good idea. Something in the pvc off-gasing degrades the plastic film faster when they are in contact.

@maindaf16 I found this...

"DON'T MIX PVC PIPE AND POLYETHYLENE GREENHOUSE FILM" https://sites.udel.edu/weeklyc...

Here's some highlights...

This guy had giant holes in his less-than-one-year-old five-year greenhouse film. The holes corresponded to areas of wear in places where the plastic touched the PVC. The pvc out-gases chlorine which destroys the UV light stabilizers in the polyethylene greenhouse film and causes the film to degrade.

There is a sizable list of materials that can react with greenhouse film and cause wear including any type of PVC pipe or PVC tape, oil based paints or wood preservatives, chlorine based disinfectants, and certain pesticides, especially those containing sulfur or copper.

To prevent premature wear to greenhouse film, manufacturers recommend that surfaces that the film touches should be covered with white acrylic latex paint (but not the mildew resistant kinds that contain fungicides) or non-PVC tape. The film should not be in direct contact with any of the materials listed above that can cause breakdown or wear. In fact failure to follow these recommendations can cause the warranty on the film to be void.

Another solution would be covering the conduit with pipe insulation made out of polyethylene, which is readily available and inexpensive.



Hope this is helpful!

That is some great information in that article, Jim! I'll have to keep that in mind should I ever go off on a tangent and decide to build a greenhouse. I wonder if Rustoleum's "plastic" paint would work. I would think you would need to have the framework setup with all the bending done so that when you paint it the paint won't crack from bending.

I'm not planning a greenhoues but that would be a bad experience (and $$ loss) to go to all the trouble of building a greenhouse only to see your work turn into tatters in a year or so!!!! Thanks for the heads'up!

While I like those plans I think you'll need more ventilation than what is shown. Depending on the critter situation in our area you could roll up the sides a few feet on hot days. And/or use a screen on the door.

I use felt with an adhesive backing to protect my greenhouse film. I'm on year 5 of my oldest hoop house and have no signs of the film degrading. I use the 1 1/2" felt on my 2" hoops.

Here's what it looks like:
https://www.greenhousemegastor...
(not an endorsement, just an example)

I agree with the PVC pipe causing degrading of the plastic film -- I painted mine before covering it (5 years ago) and have had no issues in that respect.

As far as using the pipe insulation - a few years back I had the "brilliant" idea to do that on the steel frame of my smaller hoophouse - and the plastic film was toast within that one season... so don't do that, either.

If at all possible, I would recommend constructing your GH using a steel framework; much sturdier and more durable.

@maindaf16 -- since the size is exactly what you are thinking about, you might want to consider something like this from Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Quict...

There are any number of different sellers offering these things, none of which do I have any connection to - but I did buy 2 smaller ones, 7x15x7, a number of years ago and in my mind they are about the best bargain I ever got. The covers on mine didn't last very long (they were obviously not UV protected, but the ones that are listed now all specify that they are UVP), but one of the frames I've re-covered by adding some wooden framework, and the other I covered with "remesh" (concrete reinforcing wire) and use as a trellis for cucumbers, squash, etc. (I also shortened the trellis up by one section.)

EXCELLENT!!!!!

Great job on the mods and what you have evolved them to! Shoot, you gonna make me go down a rabbit trail of greenhouse ideas now!! Like I need another project!

Ed, just make sure you lash any structures down securely, considering you live in Storm Central!

You've got that right, Sandy! We occasionally have to retrieve items from the hayfield!