: Gardens and the buildings that are used for boat building are mutually
: compatible, and cheap.

: Even i could afford one.

: I got several plans somewhere on the internet for a PVC framed greenhouse,
: and combined the best (?) features of a few of them. Those features would
: be cheap, cheaper, and fast to set up.

: A 16 foot long greenhouse, extendable to 20 feet long, was well under $70.
: Or, to put it another way, I spent $70 and had a lot of stuff to return,
: but I'll probably keep it and use it for another project.

: Basically I constructed hoops of 3/4 inch PVC plumbing pipe by joining two 10
: foot lengths with a X (cross) fitting I erected the hoops at 2 foot
: intervals and connected them at the x fitting with pieces of PVC pipe that
: I cut a bit shorter than 2 feet long. They were shorter to account for the
: fittings. the first and last hoops were joined with "T" fittings
: instead of "X" fittings..

: To maintain the spacing of the hoops I screwed metal conduit clamps at 2 foot
: intervals to a few 2x4 s. when the conduit clamps were on, I set the 2x4s
: parallel to each other and 8 feet apart. A couple of nails and another 2x4
: maintained the distance here. I bent the PVC and inserted it into the
: conduit clamps very quickly and had an almost instant frame. With a ladder
: and I dragged a sheet of plastic over the top and had an open ended
: structure.

: For a 16 foot long structure I used four 8 foot 2x4s for the base, some
: scraps to join them, and two more 8 foot 2x4s to space them apart. Figure
: $10 for the wood. For a 16 foot long structure I needed 9 hoops, or 18
: pieces of pipe, which was on sale at the time. another $18.

: The conduit clamps came in bags of 4. what a rip off. I needed 18, got 20.
: and then I got a second kind so I could try it to see if it ws better.
: Figure most people will spend $5 for these.

: I used pan head screws to hold the conduit clamps to the wood. box of 100 was
: about $4.

: the plastic covering was the hard part. I wanted 6 mil plastic in a 20 by 20
: size. best i could find at the hardware store was 12 by 20, so I got three
: rollsl, figuring I could overlap it at the middle and use duct tape for a
: seam. Later I found 20 x 25 at a Walmart. Plastic for the top will run
: about $12 to $15

: That adds up to $52. For ends to this you'll need some 2x4 or 2x2 or even
: lighter wood, andsome more plastic. make a frame to fit inside the hoops,
: stretch your plastic over it, and use a stapler to tack on the plastic.

: A cheaper idea I saw but which I initially rejected, calls for eliminating
: the wood bas and instead driving in a row of stakes made for 2 foot long
: lengths of 1/2 inch pvc pipe, or rebar. The stakes are placed at 2 foot
: intervals and in lines that are parallel and 8 feet apart. When you bend
: you hoops you just drop them on top of the stakes, whcih hold the hoops
: upright and properly spaced.

: With a wood base, when you've pulled the plastic over the hoops you can
: either tuck it under the wood, or staple the ends to the 2x4s. with the
: stake method there is no place to anchor the ends of the plastic cover,
: unless you go and get some 2x4s. With stakes you save on the screws,
: conduit clamps and a couple lengths of 2x4s, but you have to buy 4 or 5
: pieces of 1/2 inch PVC (about $5)

: build an 8 foot long version for about 1/2 the price and use it for starting
: the spring plantings. after those get transfered to the growing beds add
: on another 10 or 12 feet to the greenhouse and use it for boatbuilding.
: When the boat is done you take apart the addition, saving the materials,
: as you'll use them for replacements for the originals tructure in a year
: or two.

: Hope this helps

: PGJ

FWIW-
You can (I did) build one of these from 20 ft lengths of discarded Sch 40 abs well pipe, long drywall screw, a big (24x 30 I think)cheap tarp and some 2x4's, preferably reclaimed. A couple screws thru the ends of the pipe into 2x4's as long as your desired chalet. Squeeze the 2x4 together to the desired combination height and width, and a few pieces across to tie it together. Run some lengths of pipe across the hoop pipes to stabilize it (you can actually just run sheetrock screws thru one pipe into the next), throw the tarp over the mess and fasten with battens. Biggest problem was ventilation (got nasty in there in the summer) and failure to anchor securely to ground. The structure was twice blown up and over a nearby 6 ft retaining wall and across the yard to the tree line. Amazingly the unit survived completely intact except for one split 2x4 (the 2nd time) and could be lifted by 4 people and easily put back over the still intact and undisturbed contents.

The moral of the story is stake the sucker down SECURELY