Many summer residents sooner or later think about how to make a greenhouse from arcs. Of course, the construction of such a design is good. It protects vegetables or other plants from adverse weather conditions. A greenhouse is like a small greenhouse that is fully or partially submerged in the ground. With its help, you can grow seedlings for vegetables, such as cucumbers, cabbage, tomatoes and others. After that, they are transplanted into the open ground. Greenhouses are ground and buried, round, oval or rectangular, stationary or mobile.
Today, the summer cottage market is very extensive, so buying a greenhouse on the market or in the online store will not be difficult. The only advantage of a ready-made greenhouse is that it is easy to install. But the high cost of such mini-greenhouses scares buyers away. After all, sometimes it will be much cheaper to buy a stock of two or three year crops. But if you still decide to grow your vegetables without any harmful chemical additives and at the same time not spend a lot of money on this, there is a solution.
The main details are arcs for the greenhouse. It’s not so difficult to make them yourself, besides it is much cheaper. You can build them from almost anything: old window frames, PVC pipes, plastic fittings and even from an old hose.
How to make arcs for a greenhouse with your own hands from these materials? Below we’ll take a closer look at how to make them quickly and easily.
Option from an old hose
If you manage to find a hose that is old and unsuitable for your direct duty, you can assume that you already have arcs. To do this, just cut the hose into pieces of the right size. Then you need to insert willow twigs into each of the resulting pieces .
It is important that one of the ends is pointed. Moreover, it is required to be inserted into the hose precisely with a blunt end inside. It remains only to secure the hose to the ends of the rods and bend it into the desired arc - and you can stick it into the ground. The greenhouse is almost ready, you just need to pull the film.
Arc made of plastic
One of the easiest ways to make structures is to mount them from plastic pipes. So, we do the greenhouse from PVC arches with our own hands.
Option one
At the place where in the future there will be a greenhouse, it is necessary to drive pins around the entire perimeter, but not very deeply. They should stick out about 15 cm from the ground. Strong bent pipes are put on these pins. To correctly calculate how many pipes are needed? You just need to know how tall the greenhouse will be. Also, the distance between the PVC structures should be at least half a meter.
To strengthen the structure from top to bottom, it is necessary to lay an additional pipe and attach arcs to it.
Second option
The hassle of installing the design in this version will be more, but it is much more reliable and will last longer. In order to build arcs for a greenhouse with your own hands in this way, you will need the same PVC pipes and building fittings or other rods that freely enter them.
Bars need to be cut: approximately 60 cm each. After that, they are driven into the ground by a third. We put the pipe on the rest and connect. The main thing is to cut the pipe of the correct size in advance.
Expert Advice
Since PVC parts are strong enough and bend well, you can make any shape greenhouse from them. The only thing that should be done correctly is to successfully fix the structure so that it is resistant to wind and other adverse weather conditions.
But you should not come up with new ways to connect the building. It is recommended not to depart from the standard templates, because in the end the greenhouse may simply not fulfill its functions. It will be better if you try to come up with a new type of inexpensive and convenient greenhouse from the available materials.
Steel Products
Do-it-yourself arches for the greenhouse made of steel, of course, will be the most durable. But buying steel today is quite expensive, so the option is more suitable for those who have reserves of material from Soviet times. Also, the master must be able to handle the welding machine.
Operating procedure
- First you need to measure the length of the half-arc. It is advisable that an experienced person do this.
- Then we take a pipe whose length is exactly two times the length of the half-arc, and cut it in half.
- To the pipe that will go from above, it is necessary to weld the tees every 50-60 cm, and also install the tees at the edges.
- Through the crosspiece we attach the cut parts to the pipe, which will be placed at the top.
- We weld two more tees to the arc, which is located on the edge and at which the door will be installed later. Third holes must always look down and be at the same distance from each other.
Another option for making an arc for a greenhouse with your own hands is the combination of plastic pipes and fittings. Most may find this a rather expensive and difficult installation method. In fact, this is the most durable option. The fittings are inserted into the plastic pipe and bent into an arc. These materials complement each other perfectly. The fittings will give strength, and plastic pipes will protect steel from premature wear. In addition, the film will not rub against the reinforcement and will not tear.
The above methods are the most popular ways to make arcs for a greenhouse with your own hands. A review of all of these options should help those who love gardening, but for a reasonable price.
Window frame greenhouse
If you have extra window frames, as well as simple carpentry tools, to build such a greenhouse will not be difficult.
This will require:
- Two old wooden frames.
- For facades and sides - boards, preferably pine. Their thickness should be about 20 mm.
- Glue.
- A beam, the cross section of which is 100x50 m.
- Wood screws.
The main advantage of such a greenhouse is that it transmits sunlight, which increases the greenhouse effect.
Making a greenhouse compared to arcs is an occupation that is rather laborious, it requires more time. A frame is mounted on the facades of the boards, which are fixed with a special rail. It is very good if the hinges are preserved on the window, then their installation will be much easier.
When the structure is installed, a skate is put on top to drain the water. At the same time, nothing should prevent the windows from opening freely.
What to do when the frame is ready and already driven into the ground? How to make a greenhouse from arcs? The answer becomes obvious. Pull the film well enough on the frame - and you're done. The miniature greenhouse is built and will serve you faithfully.
Where to install?
The greenhouse should be installed in a dry place. It is desirable that the space where he will stand, was protected from the wind by a building or fence. If possible, it is advisable that this place be a ramp to the south.
Preferred Sizes
If the structure has the shape of a tunnel, its shape should be as follows:
- Height - 60-80 cm.
- Width - about 120 cm.
- Length - up to 6 m.
Sizes of single row greenhouse:
- Height - no more than 90 cm.
- Width - one and a half meters.
The width of the two-row is 200 cm, three-row - 440 cm.
Do-it-yourself greenhouse from arcs, the manufacture of which has passed according to all the above rules, must definitely please you. By the way, such a design will not serve you for one year.
Buying a finished arc
If you still have not decided to build a greenhouse frame yourself, and it’s easier for you to spend money, go shopping. There are many shops where you can buy arches for a greenhouse. Leroy Merlin is one such.
Leroy Merlin is a French company with retail chains in various countries, including Russia. Engaged in the sale of goods for repair and construction. To date, this company outperforms all closest competitors in terms of the number of manufactured goods in Europe.
It is worth noting that product quality is always on top. And this is important even when buying an arc for a greenhouse, because no one wants to pay money for defective or low-quality goods.
In Russia, the first Leroy Merlin store was opened back in 2004 in Mytishchi. Today, residents and guests of almost all the largest cities of Russia can buy a greenhouse or any other product. These are St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Samara, Ufa and others.
So, we found out how to make arcs for greenhouses and from what materials they can be made. As you can see, this is not a big deal. It is enough to find the minimum set of tools and devote several hours of free time to work.