polytunnel ripped in wind

nok2008

Very annoyed when I walked out to garden today and saw polytunnel ripped I'm half. I presume that the wind got in and made a small tear big. I suppose I have no choice but to buy a new cover for the whole tunnel unless anybody has any other ideas.

Norfolk Enchants_

nok2008 wrote: »

Very annoyed when I walked out to garden today and saw polytunnel ripped I'm half. I presume that the wind got in and made a small tear big. I suppose I have no choice but to buy a new cover for the whole tunnel unless anybody has any other ideas.

Who were you annoyed with?, the wind?, it's not the winds fault you know!.
You can buy kits to repair tears, although that's a serious tear, not sure if a repair kit will do the job, although it's worth a shot.
Also you don't have any hotspot tape installed on the metal frame, which creates weak points on the plastic, you should buy this and install it when you buy the repair kit, again not the easiest job in the world as it's supposed to be done before the plastic is put on.

Oldtree

and buy the thickest grade plastic going. Mine is in 14 years and still ok, bar the small holes in the top from the birds pecking at the insects inside

redser7

I can't imagine repair tape would be any good in this case, sorry. That's heart breaking. As said above when you put the new cover on use anti-hotspot tape on the hoops. And keep a roll of repair tape on hand and repair Any small damage as soon as it happens.

nok2008

redser7 wrote: »

I can't imagine repair tape would be any good in this case, sorry. That's heart breaking. As said above when you put the new cover on use anti-hotspot tape on the hoops. And keep a roll of repair tape on hand and repair Any small damage as soon as it happens.

Kind of thought the same myself. Polytunnel was with the house when I bought the place a few years ago. Into growing veg now so will replace in next month r so.

looksee

I think for the price of a roll of duct tape (the waterproof one) I'd be inclined to do some sort of temporary repair immediately, if the wind gets inside it you could lose frame and all!

redser7

Probably best to just shred the rest of the cover yourself, then dig it up at your leisure.

bbam

Maybe its been shifted by the wind... but I didnt see any hot spot tape on the bars..
Without hot spot tape, where the cover hangs on the frame will heat up and thin out leaving it very weak and prone to tearing.

nok2008

Unfortuntaley there is no hot spot tape in the tunnel. The tunnel was there when we bought the house and I am only a Newbie at this. Will have to get the hot spot tape also.

Macy0161

redser7 wrote: »

Probably best to just shred the rest of the cover yourself, then dig it up at your leisure.

I wouldn't shred it - reuse it for cloches and/or warming soil! Especially if there's a delay on getting the replacement cover, or getting it on after that, you'd at least get the benefit of some covered growing.

I'd try and get the tape (or even duct tape as mentioned) and have a go at the repair if it were me. A few quid might get you through to the spring/ eary summer at least, and the recommended time to put on the poly is a warm day (poly is expanded when put on, so contracts to a tighter fit).

redser7

Macy0161 wrote: »

I wouldn't shred it - reuse it for cloches and/or warming soil! Especially if there's a delay on getting the replacement cover, or getting it on after that, you'd at least get the benefit of some covered growing.

I'd try and get the tape (or even duct tape as mentioned) and have a go at the repair if it were me. A few quid might get you through to the spring/ eary summer at least, and the recommended time to put on the poly is a warm day (poly is expanded when put on, so contracts to a tighter fit).

Yes indeed, it would come in very useful for other things I guess I meant take it down.
I'd just be wary of trying the repair. It would be heart breaking to have it fail again when you have the tunnel full of stuff and lose the plants too. It will have to be replaced at some stage so I don't know why wait, providing finance isn't an issue.

redser7

Plus if it fails again it could warp your frame/ break timber gables etc.

yellowlabrador

My poly tunnel bit the dust last Wednesday too. It was up about 14 years and the plastic gave at the corner where the cat used to sharpen her claws and run up to the top to play with flies . I want to get the best grade plastic, does anyone know an online shop that sells more than the standard grade?
Also I want to fix the plastic at the bottom without digging it in. Will it stand up to the weather? I want to preserve my beds with as little as possible disturbance.

nok2008

I eventually had to take mine down. Last Wednesday's storm caused a lot more damage. I must also begin to look properly but it will probably be another month before I do anything about it. Not too sure how you will secure the tunnel / plastic without digging down.

Macy0161

You can use base rails to secure the plastic at the bottom. It's considered more secure and gives a tighter fit than the traditional trenching method (or was when I was buying my tunnel). The options I had were a timber base rail (which would be similar to how you secure the poly around the door frame) or aluminuim (which you has a recess in which you trap the poly in). However, I think you need anchor plates on the hoops, if you don't have them already, so I'm not sure how practical they are to retrofit.

redser7

You could use treated 2 x 1 or 2 x 2 to roll the plastic then secure it either to the frame hoops or if you have raised beds inside, screw them on to the timber.