This work is best done on a mild sunny day. When the plastic dries, you can stretch it a little but not too much. Schedule a day with no wind to spread the plastic-that is, wind speeds below 5 mph, top! If necessary, spread out the plastic at dusk when the wind weakens. Or at dawn in summer, but not in cold weather.

Order the right size and type of plastic in time. We used 48 ft x 100 ft Tufflite IV and Tufflite Dripless for a 30 ft x 96 ft Gothic tunnel. Our plastic will fall to the ground (there is no separate side wall). For the end wall, we purchase 24' x 100' for the double layer at each end. I have not tried the super strong Solaroof and Solarlite woven multilayer materials. We use swing lines and aluminum channels (also called Polylock).

Gather enough people. We like six or seven people with good common sense, they are willing to give pointers. It will help if some of them have done this work before.

We built our hoop house in the fall of 2003. Initially we pulled the plastic too tightly, and the screws that fixed the swing line channel to the Dongfang Red Cedar skirting board were loose and popped out. I suggest that people fix the swing line channel on the skirting board from day one. We solved our problem by adding metal strips in the channel above the plastic and swing lines, and bolted them all the way through the skirting board. We know this means that when we change the plastic, our work will be longer because we have to remove all the slats. It was in 2007 at that time. 

In the first few years of our basketball arena, our inflation rate was very high. Then the pressure drops and we conclude that there are too many holes in the plastic and we cannot see them. This prompted us to replace plastics in 2007, rather than in 2008 as we hoped. But the pressure never returned to a reliable level. We decided that we needed a new inflation fan. That didn't help. Later we found that the output of the new fan was lower than the original one, so we bought a new one with a higher output, 60 cubic feet per minute (cfm) (hey, there are many spare parts now!).

In 2007, we removed the slats and bolts, many of which have rusted. This is slow and frustrating work. Then we bolted the channel to the skirting board "forever" and put on new plastic. That time we left more slack in the outer plastic-too much. We went back to eliminate some slack. We don't think we really need to replace the plastic every 4 years. We decided to go 5 times, but buy plastic and store it in the shed in the 4th year just in case. Well, the fifth year is very busy. We replaced the big plastic in September 2013 (the 6th year).

2013 was also very busy, so we decided to make only roof plastic that year and end-end plastic next year. Several skirting boards have rotted, so we also had to replace them. We also have termites. Removing the old skirting board involves removing more rusty bolts. Another slow and frustrating job. Fortunately, we did not make an end wall! We also took this opportunity to add diagonal bracing on the windward end of the frame, because the end wall has already begun to tilt inward. This time we made the opposite mistake with plastic-we pulled the plastic too tight and trimmed it before realizing it. The next day we tried to loosen it, but twisted the wire and pliers to make a lot of holes. We use a lot of Polypatch tape. It has never brought us good inflation. Then we encountered hail. It is rare in this part of the country, but we think it creates a loophole.

In 2014, we replaced the end wall plastic. Fortunately, we noticed in time that we should not cut the 24' plastic in half at 12', otherwise both pieces are too short to reach the peak. We made the outside into one piece, and the inside has a seam above the vertex window. Of course you can buy bigger plastic! The easiest way is to plasticize the entire end wall, and then cut out the doors and windows. Fortunately, the cut parts will be used to cover doors and window frames. It is helpful to have two people "hang" the plastic at each end to ensure it hangs vertically and covers all corners. Use a certain length of twisting wire to fix the plastic into the channel, just fix a few twists in the middle of each length. Then fix the plastic slats on the frame, finally fix the swing line in place and trim off the excess plastic. The inner end wall plastic rises and passes over the metal tube to be installed in the channel outside the wall.

When we replaced the end wall plastic, we used separate swing lines for the end and roof plastic-this was a good decision. We make sure to put the roof plastic outside relative to the wall plastic to better weatherproof and make life easier when replacing the roof plastic. (We think that if there is no new plastic, the ends can be longer-they are not inflated, so a few holes are not important, and most of the perforations occur in the large roof plastic.)

In 2015, our plastic was very soft, but there was not much enthusiasm for replacing the plastic, especially considering that we experienced the trouble of rusty bolts in 2007 and 2013, and the misunderstanding of how tight the plastic should be in 2013. We hope to wait until 2016 to replace the roof plastic. But it is obvious that if there are no insulating bubbles, the ferrule will be much colder in winter, and the fluttering plastic will be less resistant to wind and snow. In the winter of 2014-2015, we experienced a very severe cold snap-we had to use the inner row to protect the green for the first time. There is no saying that it will not happen again in 2015-2016. We reluctantly agreed that we must do something. Aha! We decided to replace only the outer plastic! Maybe the internal plastic will continue to be used until we use the new external plastic for at least 4 years? It is easier to slide the new outer layer of plastic over the already existing inner layer. This will only be half of the job! We will not deal with any skirting problems or rusty bolts.

Pam Dawling (Pam ​​Dawling) lives in the Double Oaks Community of Virginia, which is an equal, secular, income-sharing, and work-sharing eco-village, established in 1967. There, she helped about 100 people grow food on three and a half acres of land and provided training in sustainable vegetable production. Community members practice agriculture with ecological awareness, limited resources and the future of the earth. Pam is the author of "Sustainable Market Agriculture". Read all of her Mother Earth news posts here.

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