Geodesic greenhouse cover help

I probably should have thought about what to do with a greenhouse cover before I built the greenhouse.. so now I'm in need of some ideas and guidance!

I built a geodesic-dome frame at my community garden, just because it was really cool and would look different to the 'normal' greenhouses. The predominantly older folk who garden there think I'm 'the mad young gal' and I like to encourage that notion! The 'hubs' of the frame were from a purchased kit, the wood is roofing battens. The greenhouse is 4m in diameter, and 2.5m tall (as it is on little posts to level it- the ground being a slight slope).

No snow load to speak of here (UK, East Midlands). But the community garden in winter is really windy! We get a few 50mph storms a year in the area.

I can either try a winter-proof cover (and door) that will likely survive the gales, or a cover that I can remove and replace every year (at most I have two people available for cover-moving antics though).

I was hoping a polythene cover would suffice, but I'm unsure I could make it survive winter (whilst not cooking everything in summer). I was thinking I'd have an acrylic vent with an auto-vent opener (it being at the community garden I'm only there twice a week).

The 'unicorn'y pokey up bit was meant to be the door, but I will make it shorter so the dome looks less like a turtle! Other door types possible if they would work better.

I have a good supply of scaffold planks, some lighter planks (6x1, I think), more roofing battens. Anything else I would have to buy, budget of about £150. I don't have the supplies to 'weld' plastic (I don't think, anyway).

Any ideas or sage advice? Any stories of roofing your own geodesic dome or add-shaped greenhouse?

If all else fails I'll put mesh over it and use it as a fruit cage or pigeon-proof greens-cage!

Hi Charli.

My issue with geodesic constructs is always the sheathing/glazing. Most materials we have are rectilinear, meaning that there's a lot of waste when we try to make a bunch of triangles out of it.

I have seen some types of plastic sheeting "welded" using an old tea-cloth and an iron set on high. I have personally used a heat-gun that I think I paid $20 for at the time. Check into that, if you have the leeway, as things like reclaimed plastic wrapping or discarded plastic sheeting can be reclaimed and used to great effect, and as it would be free, the material costs would be irrelevant.

I like the sticky-uppy bit. What do you have against turtles? I'd keep it as a feature, like a signature point or something. Any time anyone asks you what your point is, you can show them.

And I like that you have alternatives. I could definitely see that dome shape covered in squash or pumpkin vines.

But let us know how you proceed, with pictures, please, and good luck!

-CK

Nice work, looks great will have to try to build something similar when i get the chance. There is a company near Evesham that does greenhouses with a fairly interesting looking insulated material. Dont know if they can do a geodesic dome but might be worth a try.
https://www.kedergreenhouse.co.uk/

Failing that you can get twin walled polycarbonate on Ebay pre cut to size and persumably shape too.

Can you repost the picture, it does not show up. Thanks

Chris Emerson wrote:Can you repost the picture, it does not show up. Thanks

It returns! Apologies, had a power cut and my server didn't come back up properly.

perhaps they do not do this in you're area..
here in toronto canada they pull the boats out of the water each fall although some people keep theirs in the water with bubblers to keep the water from freezing
you see them with a wood frame with shrink wrapped plastic over them
many of the boats on shore are covered in this plastic as well
https://www.globalindustrial.ca/p/packaging/shrink-wrap/supplies/ds-206100w-shrink-wrap-20w-x-100l-6mil-white?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlP3v_srj4QIVSIGzCh3R3APKEAQYBSABEgLG-vD_BwE


https://www.uline.ca/BL_2414/Marine-Industrial-Shrink-Film?pricode=DD449&AdKeyword=shrinkwrap%20boats&AdMatchtype=p&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlP3v_srj4QIVSIGzCh3R3APKEAAYASAAEgL-XfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


it comes in clear

if you could get some off cuts from a local marina that would be ideal

just throwing it out there.. i do not have any practical experience doing this

Charli, that looks awesome! I love the design, especially the entrance. I wish o could help you out with ideas but I am planning on building mine in a couple of years so I dont have any tips yet. Hood luck though

s. drone wrote:perhaps they do not do this in you're area..
here in toronto canada they pull the boats out of the water each fall although some people keep theirs in the water with bubblers to keep the water from freezing
you see them with a wood frame with shrink wrapped plastic over them
many of the boats on shore are covered in

it comes in clear

if you could get some off cuts from a local marina that would be ideal

just throwing it out there.. i do not have any practical experience doing this

This looks like a very interesting idea. Hopefully someone else has tried this

It's not pretty, but I think the cheapest and most durable way to cover a greenhouse is using Tyvek HomeWrap.  This stuff:

Tyvek Homewrap at Home Depot



I figured this out a couple ways.  First, I didn't have the money to put up siding, but all the siding had to be removed.  My Dad covered most of the house in Tyvek, and the rest in an off-brand.  It was years before I could side the house, and the Tyvek lasted the whole time.  No damage, even in the sun.  (I was in Oregon, though.)  The other one disintegrated.

Then I learned that a guy who was self funded entered a very expensive round-the-world sailing race by building his own boat, and then sewing his own sails out of Tyvek.  And he did well.  

Later, I learned that a version of Tyvek is sold by greenhouse companies as a cover.  Here is a company that sells covers for geodesic dome greenhouses, and here is their Tyvek page:
Domerama Domes, Greenhouses, and Dome Coverings

Here is an example of a Tyvek covered dome - but this is using one of the versions of Tyvek they sell for greenhouses, hence no annoying writing:



If you read up on their site it will give you a lot of ideas...  They sell different versions of shadecloth, too, including one that is insulative.  They also give tips for sewing Tyvek, and using their Tyvek tape as a seam sealer for waterproofing and strengthening your seams.  Any regular sewing machine should work, I used a cheap Singer.

On a sewing note... some years ago I made a tent out of Tyvek, and learned how to work with it.  If you are going to sew it for a tent or a sunshade (where noise matters) it helps to put it in the washing machine first, no soap, just give it a beating.  This turns it into a "fabric" texture without losing the strength.  It makes it soft and pliable, QUIETER, and easier to sew in some applications.  However, sewing a bunch of geometric shapes like for the dome greenhouse - it may be easier to leave it as is, cut out your pieces, and keep everything flat.  That's probably how I'd start in an applications like yours, no washing, flat pieces... it would be a little like making a quilt.

That roll of Tyvek I used for the tent turned out so useful. Need a shower curtain?  Cut off a piece, use clip hangers to hang it.  So simple.  Lots of uses...

Right now my husband and I are in process of developing a property and building a small home in AZ.  I plan to  use one side of the building to make a sort of hybrid shade/green house garden. You have to fence out peccary/javelina in that region, as well as rabbits, so the side of the building will be one wall, then corrugate metal for the other three walls.  Then I plan to sew up some Tyvek into essentially "sun sails"  -  a cover for the fenced area, but a cover that won't completely close it in.  So there will be lots of ventilation and lots of light, but we will be limiting the drying winds.  The building will block all of the east sun, and the walls will limit the western sun a bit.  It's in the desert, so this is an advantage.  The keys to desert gardening as I've been told are limiting evaporation and heat.  However, Tyvek is white, so it won't limit as much heat as actual shadecloth, so it will be a good experiment.  I think it would still be fine for a northern climate, because it allows so much light through, but you'd have to test it of course.

That's going to be our first growing area/shade/green/house - here's hoping it works out, and good luck with your cute dome!  :-D

12 months later I've gotten around to putting some cover on! It is just polytunnel plastic (as the only material I could actually get hold of), cut into pentagons and triangles- stapled onto the wooden frame, then the corners are taped and white plastic window strips screwed on top. I'm not sure how wind proof it will be or if it will survive winter.. but we shall see! The cover was cheaper than I thought- because you can tessellate the shapes quite well to save on waste.

Door and windows aren't done yet!

That looks awesome! Great job. How is it attached to the ground? Is it sitting on blocks or on the soil?

There are wooden posts 1-2ft into the soil, then the dome sits on top of this. The posts are 30-60cm above ground level (its on a slope!). The posts have post-savers on so I hope they last long enough! (post savers are like bitumen wrap things for wooden posts).

I will be putting more of the white strips on, when I can get hold of some.

Could you get polycarbonate panels, cut them to the triangular shape and secure them with rubber washer roofing screws?

nice geodome! i made one of similar size, but i made each triangle individually and when setting up i attached the sides of the triangles. This made it possible to attach the cover on each triangle individually.
The cons are that you need more wood, and the covering is not 100 percent waterproof (though because of condensation your planks will always get alot of moisture).
The pros are that i can repair the cover by repairing only the damaged triangles, i'd also say it's a bit more heavy duty because of the double posts, and i don't need the special hubs. (allthough it was a bit puzzling to get the corners right)
I also used standard greenhouse plastic (the waste wasn't to big either)

Chris Kott wrote:
I have seen some types of plastic sheeting "welded" using an old tea-cloth and an iron set on high. I have personally used a heat-gun that I think I paid $20 for at the time. Check into that, if you have the leeway, as things like reclaimed plastic wrapping or discarded plastic sheeting can be reclaimed and used to great effect, and as it would be free, the material costs would be irrelevant.

-CK

Chris, could you expound further on experience with welding up-cycled plastic sheeting as you describe (such as experiences with types of sheeting, joining techniques, pitfalls etc.)? We have tacking irons and heat guns that could be employed and was thinking of such a technique for our planned greenhouse could aid in integrating more found materials into the design. One of our ideas is interchangeable roundwood panels glazed with plastic sheeting that eventually would be replaced by glass storm doors saved from the tip.

That's awesome Ward! I didn't think my joinery skills were good enough to actually build one- though it would have been much sturdier.

I got the hub kit think really cheap on their kickstarter, and it was well within my capabilities to build.

If this version doesn't survive I'll probably just put an actual polytunnel up! I have a greenhouses at home (one a glass and aluminium, one super-insulated double glazed)- the geodesic is at my allotment which makes things much harder to build as the ground isn't level and there's no electricity or car access, and there's restrictions on what you can do and when you can be there.

Charli Wilson wrote:That's awesome Ward! I didn't think my joinery skills were good enough to actually build one- though it would have been much sturdier.

I got the hub kit think really cheap on their kickstarter, and it was well within my capabilities to build.

If this version doesn't survive I'll probably just put an actual polytunnel up! I have a greenhouses at home (one a glass and aluminium, one super-insulated double glazed)- the geodesic is at my allotment which makes things much harder to build as the ground isn't level and there's no electricity or car access, and there's restrictions on what you can do and when you can be there.

It wasn't really that hard as you have to make a mould for your triangles and from there on it's actually rather repetetive work . I also want to have experience with this dome before i'll create more or a bigger one, big downside is you can't really catch rainwater right...Time will tell:)