Easy DIY Raised Bed Hinged Hoop House Build | with Material & Cost Breakdown

Key Points to Watch:

01:24 - Material and Cost Breakdown
03:16 - Building the Hinged Hoophouse
07:57 - Reveal of the Finished DIY Hoop house

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[rachelmaria]

Awesome, it looks nice and simple but effective. I appreciate that you listed the cost breakdown at the beginning!

[TeresaDupuis]

Just so you know, it's good you got the conduit! the 1/2 conduit is better than PVC in UV resistance, conduit is meant for above ground use and PVC is less meant for exterior applications. Minor difference, same fittings and convenience. Lumber stores and plumbing supply stores are probably better than big box stores for finding what you need.

[TeresaDupuis]

Good choice on doubling up the poly sheeting! The thin stuff can tear too easy. If you have a condensation problem, it may be remedied by applying another layer along the underside of the PVC-like double pane glass, the condensation and heat can help to build up in between the channel of air that is created, instead being a wet mess inside the hoop. Not sure if a double outter layer can do the same? But let me know if it does? If you use your hoop house cover during strong winds or snow fall, it's a wise idea to have super strong construction/ mechanic clamps, not only do those hold well to the sheeting, but they hold the rolled plastic up while you are venting the hoop house, and are usually strong enough to resist strong winds the weight of snow on sheeting. I find them in tool stores or online.
There are snug fitting 1/2 inch pvc clamps to pressure fit the plastic sheet to the pipes, but I have had them fly off and crack in half during strong winds and general clamp relocations alike, the plain white c shaped clames lasted longer than the thicker more rigid looking black ones I found on amazon if you look for them.
I am right next to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, where the mountain winds are occassionally hurricane level gales. I still love using hoop houses, but I've learned to prep for potential damage in advance. Like, if your plastic attempts to becomes a parachute in a storm, it might be avoidable by using a tie down and staking into the ground and trying to close off any gaps in the plastic where air can force it's way under the sheeting, so air flows around the structure instead of attempting to rip it off. The cross beam along the top was very wise also as that gives you a solid middle to brace against snow and for securing tie downs. I found a 4 way angled pvc fitting to create a cross beam, and it was more work cutting and cementing. It gave more of a gothic arch too, but a cross fitting for two pipes is what I think I'd prefer to use the next time I build one. There probably is a cross bar fitting that secures one pipe perpendicular to another, but not sure what it is called yet.

[TeresaDupuis]

I'm chatty today, but this will be my last comment for now! On the seed starting, once you've moved past the cotyledons into the first true set of leaves, you can add nutrient to the seed starting trays, I like using Dr. Earth products, myccorhyzae really does help, and you can make a (smelly) gentle fertilizer tea from it and mix that with Alaska fish fertilizer, which I tend to buy in gallon jugs these days. Seed starting mix quickly runs out of nutrients after the plants sprout, so I've sped up germination and growth using a misting bottle of just the fish fertilizer and a plastic cover over the germination trays.