Learn how easy it is to build a large, low-cost hoophouse, step by step, from the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Oklahoma

1. How to Build a Low-Cost Hoop House

2. This slideshow shows how to build a
low-cost hoop house, of the design
developed by Todd and Jamie Hanley,
of Trebuchet Gardens in Norman.
The Kerr Center has conducted highly
popular workshops on building these
hoop houses every year since 2008.

3. The Hanley design is attractive for
several reasons:

4. The Hanley design is attractive for
several reasons:
• Low cost (~$1,000)
• Bend hoops from straight tubing
• Use ropes instead of purlins

5. The Hanley design is attractive for
several reasons:
• Low cost (~$1,000)
• Bend hoops from straight tubing
• Use ropes instead of purlins
• Ease of construction
• Two people can do it in a weekend

6. The Hanley design is attractive for
several reasons:
• Low cost (~$1,000)
• Bend hoops from straight tubing
• Use ropes instead of purlins
• Ease of construction
• Two people can do it in a weekend
• Ease of operation
• Ventilate by pulling up or down on plastic
• Wiggle wire allows removal/re-use of plastic

7. This slideshow walks through the steps
of hoop house construction in the
following order:
1.Laying out the house
2.Bending the hoops
3.Attaching the ropes
4.Setting up the hoops
5.Attaching the plastic
6.Attaching the end walls
7.Materials
8.Resources

8. Laying out the Hoop House

9. Buy 5/8-inch steel rebar in 20-foot
lengths, then saw it into pins.
Make17" pins for tight soils, 24" for
looser soils.

10. Drive the first rebar pin at an east or west corner.
Laying the house out running east-to-west longwise allows it to capture more
winter sun, while being open to prevailing breezes for ventilation.

11. Stretch a tape from the first pin to a point at
least 100 feet away, and drive additional pins
every 6 feet.

12. Stretch a tape from the first pin to a point at
least 100 feet away, and drive additional pins
every 6 feet.
The pins should be angled slightly inward
(about 15 degrees off the vertical, toward the
center of the house), with about six inches
left above the surface of the ground.

13. To locate the corner for the start of the
second line of rebar pins:
1) From the first pin in the first line, measure
17 feet.

14. To locate the corner for the start of the
second line of rebar pins:
1) From the first pin in the first line, measure
17 feet.
2) From the fourth pin in the first line,
measure 24 feet, nine inches.

15. To locate the corner for the start of the
second line of rebar pins:
1) From the first pin in the first line, measure
17 feet.
2) From the fourth pin in the first line,
measure 24 feet, nine inches.
3) Where these two lines meet, drive the pin
for the second corner.

16. Stretch a tape or string and lay out the
second side of the hoop house, driving pins
every 6 feet.

17. Wait until later to drive the farthest pair of
pins.
(The roll of plastic is usually longer than 100
feet, but you need to see how much longer
before establishing the location of the end
hoop.)