Repairing a Tubular Greenhouse Frame

Before and After, How to Repair a Wind-damaged Tubular Greenhouse frame.

We had used 18" augured twist stakes at corners, and strapping over the plastic diagonally from one arch to the next in an "X" fashion to keep the plastic from flapping around. Our "door flaps" were closed. Every arch was staked into the ground. This had been sufficient for a friend's greenhouse. But not ours.

The storm - with tornadoes elsewhere did a lot of damage so very high winds. The rain before the storm and during was such that the ground was saturated, the stakes pulled out of the ground, and wind got under the tent creating a parasail. It blew the entire greenhouse across the field. When we rescued it, the twisted stressed joints broke apart further.

• Measuring and Marking Tools
• Metal Cutoff Tool:

We used a battery-operated Ryobi Cutoff Saw with a 3" metal blade to cut through the tubular steel. This made easy work. You could use a hack saw, a recip saw with a metal blade, or a pipe cutter like used in plumbing (but it might take a while). Search online for "methods of cutting EMT tubing."

• Wooden Cutoff Tool:

And a small circular saw from the same set to cut sections of the wooden dowels while in the field. Again, any tool - an old fashioned carpenter's saw...

• Reassembly Tools:

Not shown are the screwdriver and impact drill from the same line, used to drill through the wooden dowel and screw the wooden splices to the cross struts.

• Materials: Two Wooden Dowels for Larger Tubes

You could measure and turn your own dowels to fit off sized tubes on the lathe if your tubular frame is an odd size. (We were going to do that but measured and luckily got a tight fit with an off the shelf dowel.)

We purchased two 7/8" wooden dowels from JoAnn's Fabric @$3.79 because they were the closest open on a Sunday afternoon. The big box stores, Hobby Lobby, all have selections of wooden dowels.

• Wooden Dowel for Smaller tubes?

If you have some of the smaller cross section tubes you want to repair, I don't see why this method wouldn't work. You'll need the right diameter dowel.

This is a simple cut and splice operation.

We used the Ryobi cutoff saw to take off a section of each damaged end of the main arched struts. You could use any metal cutting tool.

With a few of the ends, we did not cut far enough originally and had to cut off another section of the metal tube. In hindsight we could have made a neater job by measuring ahead and cutting a uniform amount off of each tube. But we weren't going for exact. Just quick and functional.

Then, we stuffed a wooden dowel down that newly cut tube until it stopped, marked it, and repeated with the other side of the damaged joint. We reassembled the cutoff pieces of tubing and estimated the length needed for the middle of the dowel. Just as you see -- a rough operation.

Once we knew the approximate length of dowel required for that joint, we chopped it off quickly with the circular saw.

Again, if we'd wanted to, we could have estimated the max size dowel needed and made each joint uniform and each dowel the same length.

Here, you see a reassembled joint. We thought of using epoxy or construction glue but the dowel is a tight fit in the tubes. Once in the frame we don't think it's going anywhere. We did this repair one joint at a time. Gradually, the frame took it's original shape.

You can see we clamped a long purlin across the newly repaired wooden splices. We just clamped the three inside arches, leaving the end arch free. We sighted down to make sure the purlin was relatively straight.

The purlins already had a hole drilled from the bolt. We simply inserted a drill bit through that hole and drilled a corresponding hole through the new wooden dowels. The holes in the wooden dowels are not all centered up prettily between the cut off sections of tubing - you can make yours pretty if you want.

One of the "door jamb" vertical tubes of ours had a metal tab on the end that is twisted enough or broken off, it's too short and unusable. It can also be cut and extended with a dowel, screwed on both ends. But we're replacing ours with actual wooden end walls that are stiffer.

These are our plans for preventing the damage in future:

1. Build end walls of wood with proper doors.
2. Add a bottom plate of wood (probably 4x4, possibly of plastic desk boards) around the perimeter.
3. Stronger strapping in an X fashion over the cover (either the plastic or a shade cloth depending on season).
4. Connection to ground... Those 18" augured stakes did not hold but maybe the ground was saturated. Suggestions welcome.