Meeting with Hamilton about Polycarbonate Sheets Turns into a Reevaluation of Which Materials to Use - 1 views

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  #1 Whit Lower on 18 Nov 13

   

  I met with Mr. Hamilton after school to discuss prices for covering my dome. We looked online to get examples of other people who made geodesic dome greenhouses. The main purpose of our meeting was to talk about how to cover the dome. We talked a lot of polycarbonate sheets 4 ft by 8 ft for around $50. This is the best quality stuff. We talked about polycarbonate sheets over regular plastic sheets with the worry in mind that things could easily puncture the stretched plastic wall and cut a hole in it, ruining it and the effects of a greenhouse. When we talked about ways to attach the polycarbonate, we continued to run into problems when attaching it to the metal tubing. So, in search for a solution, we looked to see how other builders did it, and the most surprising thing was that other recreational greenhouse builders did not use metal at all. They used 2" x 4" lumber. We decided this was the new route the we had to take. We found tracks that could easily drill into a piece of lumber and the polycarbonate sheets would just slide right through these tracks. Problem solved. Mr. Hamilton was very useful to me and my project. I have not yet ordered my polycarbonate because I wanted to buy the connectors and the lumber first, but when I do decide to buy the sheets, I will be meeting with Mr. Hamilton again because of how helpful he was the first time. He knows more than I do about greenhouses, being a science teacher with an interest in the Mount Abe garden and owning a greenhouse of his own (made out of wood), so during my building and buying I will continue to check in with him to see what he thinks of my designs and progress.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">I met with Mr. Hamilton after school to discuss prices for covering my dome. We looked online to get examples of other people who made geodesic dome greenhouses. The main purpose of our meeting was to talk about how to cover the dome. We talked a lot of polycarbonate sheets 4 ft by 8 ft for around $50. This is the best quality stuff. We talked about polycarbonate sheets over regular plastic sheets with the worry in mind that things could easily puncture the stretched plastic wall and cut a hole in it, ruining it and the effects of a greenhouse. When we talked about ways to attach the polycarbonate, we continued to run into problems when attaching it to the metal tubing. So, in search for a solution, we looked to see how other builders did it, and the most surprising thing was that other recreational greenhouse builders did not use metal at all. They used 2" x 4" lumber. We decided this was the new route the we had to take. We found tracks that could easily drill into a piece of lumber and the polycarbonate sheets would just slide right through these tracks. Problem solved. Mr. Hamilton was very useful to me and my project. I have not yet ordered my polycarbonate because I wanted to buy the connectors and the lumber first, but when I do decide to buy the sheets, I will be meeting with Mr. Hamilton again because of how helpful he was the first time. He knows more than I do about greenhouses, being a science teacher with an interest in the Mount Abe garden and owning a greenhouse of his own (made out of wood), so during my building and buying I will continue to check in with him to see what he thinks of my designs and progress.</div>

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