How To Build A Hoop House For Raised Beds

Did you know that using a hoop house can mean you can start your vegetables up to 6 weeks earlier in spring?  Find out how to protect your early spring or fall veggies for about $20 and some tools to make a moveable hoop house and see step by step how to build a hoop house for raised beds.

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Why Build A Hoop House For Raised Beds?

The first reason why you should build a hoop house for raised beds is that you can start growing food up to 6 weeks earlier than the last frost date.  That’s 6 weeks earlier you are going to be harvesting fresh produce and it can even be more crops which you are growing in the space and depending on the cost of vegetables at the store where you live, it can be a lot of money you are saving.

The plastic provides protection from the cold weather and basically creates growing conditions inside the hoop house which is hundreds of miles south of where you are growing.  It moves you up about a growing zone so if you are in zone 6, a hoop house would put those veggies into the balmy temperatures of zone 7.  For me in zone 7, with my hoop house in place, my plants are taken to warmer east Texas and Zone 8a meaning I can grow cold tolerant cabbage, mustards, mizuna, tatsoi, pak choi, kale, Brussels sprouts,  spinach and leeks.  

Just like the Dallas Arboretum was growing out in the open in December when I visited but, here in Utah I can grow fresh veggies under the protection of the hoop house.

Spring is an unpredictable time of year here in Utah.  One minute it is sunshine and creeping up to 70 degrees and the next day is 8 hours of heavy wet snow.  A hoop house helps keep your veggies snug and warm, protected from the elements.

How To Build A Hoop House For Raised Beds

This is the hoop house design we sketched up.  The extended short sides are handles to lift and move the hoop house as needed. 

This is what the hoop house looks like all put together:  I wanted them to be taller to allow plenty of room to cover established plants in winter.

The hoop house fits the dimensions of our raised beds perfectly and was designed so that it would be hard for me (or the dogs) to knock off the bed.  This hoop house took a couple of hours to design and build.  It cost about $20 to put together.

Tools you will need:

• Drill
• Spoon bit (the same size as the pipe width), I used 3/4 inch
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Square
• Table saw (optional) we use a Rockwell table saw and collect the sawdust  in the bag for the chicken coop and compost heap.

• Circular saw or hand saw
• Screw bit
• Staple gun we used both a pneumatic staple gun and a squeeze trigger staple gun
• Jigsaw we use a SKIL Jigsaw
• Hacksaw (to cut the pipe)

Materials:

To make one hoop house you will need a few basic materials:

• Staples
• Deck screws
• 4  pine 2 x 4s or studs
• 100 ft 1/2 inch black IPS SIDR 15 125PSI plastic irrigation pipe
• plastic sheeting 10 x 25 ft at a thickness of 3.5 mil.  I picked up a 2-pack so I could make more hoop houses or double the layers on especially cold nights.

Step 1

The first step in building a hoop house for a raised bed is to measure the bed.  Measure the length and width of the raised bed.  Our hoop house “locks” onto the raised bed by sitting over the edge of the bed (see the image below) so we measured the whole length of the bed for the sides which will have the pipe attached.

Step 2

Cut out the wood for the sides.  We made sure to add a few additional inches to make handles for the short sides.  

Step 3

Decide how many ribs or hoops your hoop house will need.  Mark out and line up where the pipe holes will be placed.

Please be aware that the closer the hoop is to the edge, the more straight or upright the end will be with the plastic on, the closer in to the middle of the board the hole is, the more sloped the ends will be with the plastic on the hoop house.  Due to the winds in my area, I opted for a more tapered or sloped end so the hoop house would not be blown up by the spring and fall canyon winds.

Drill the holes using a spoon bit which will allow the size of the pipe you have chosen to go through the hole but fit snug and not slip down.  It may be useful to test some spoon bits in a piece of scrap wood from cutting the lengths and sides.

Step 4

Since the hoop house sits on top of the raised bed, screw the long sides to the top edge of the short sides as seen in the picture above in step 1.  Place the hoop house base on the raised bed to check the fit and to gauge the length of pipe for each hoop.

To find the pipe length, place the end of the pipe into a hole and arch it over to the other side to the height which you prefer.  Mark this point and cut the pipe.  Cut out the pipe for the other hoops for the bed to the same length.   Attach the pipe by placing into the drilled holes.

Step 5

This is an optional step.  I have strong winds in my area in spring and fall, when these hoop houses are most used!  As such, we needed a brace in our hoop houses.

We cut a scrap 2 x 4 down to make skinny braces by running them through a table saw.  Check the width of the fence and the saw with a tape measure before running the wood through.

The ends were rounded with the jigsaw:

Then were sanded to reduce the likelihood of the brace tearing the plastic.

Step 6

Cover the hoop house with the plastic sheeting.  We draped it over the structure first, aligning the drape over the ends and sides.

Fold over the plastic a couple of times before stapling it down to reduce the plastic tearing.

Start on the long sides doing one side first then taking up the slack on the other long side,  Check the drape and the amount of plastic on the short ends before you staple the remaining long side.  On the short sides, you may need to cut off some of the excess plastic but don’t cut it too close, you need enough to fold over a couple of times. 

At the thicker folded points, we used a pneumatic staple gun to get through all the layers on the short ends where there is a lot of gathering of the plastic.  The majority of the stapling was done by a hand held heavy duty staple gun with a hand trigger.  We spaced the staples relatively close together to reduce tearing.

Once you have the plastic covering stapled on, your hoop house is ready to go!

With careful planning, a hoop house can help you harvest fresh produce even in the dead of winter!  There’s loads of veggies which grow well in a hoop house and you can find out some of them in this podcast about What to Sow in March.

 

Have you built hoop houses before?  What are you looking to grow in yours?  Let me know in the comments!

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