What To Know Before Building a Hoop House

Thinking about building a hoop house? Here’s what to know before building a hoop house, including tips on anchoring, setup, and keeping it simple.

We recently finished building our hoop house, and overall, it was a really good project for us.

But like most things, there were a few things I didn’t fully understand until we were actually in the middle of it.

If you’re thinking about building a hoop house for your garden or homestead, I wanted to share what I wish I knew before we started. None of these are deal breakers, but they would have made the process feel a lot more straightforward from the beginning.

If you want to see exactly how we built ours step by step, you can read that here:
👉 How We Built Our Hoop House

1. The Instructions Might Be Confusing at First

One of the first things I noticed was that the instructions that came with our kit were a little vague.

At first, it felt like we were trying to figure out what went where without a clear picture of the whole thing.

But once we got started and began putting pieces together, it started to make more sense. After that, it went together much more quickly.

It was one of those projects where the beginning feels confusing, but once you understand the pattern, it moves fast.

2. Digging a Trench Makes a Big Difference

This is probably the biggest thing I’m glad we did.

We dug about a 6-inch trench around the base of the hoop house so we could set the bottom rails slightly into the ground and bury part of the plastic covering.

This made the whole structure feel much more secure.

It also helped hold the plastic in place and kept the wind from getting underneath.

If I were building another one, I would absolutely do this again.

3. The Anchors That Come With the Kit Might Not Feel Like Enough

The kit we used came with its own anchors, and we did use them.

But we also added extra shepherd’s hook style rebar anchors over the base poles.

That gave us a lot more confidence that everything was really secured to the ground.

Especially with something like this, I’d rather feel like it’s over-secured than worry about it in the wind.

4. It Went Up Faster Than I Expected

Even though the beginning felt a little confusing, once we got into a rhythm, the frame actually went up pretty quickly.

Within a couple of hours, we had the main structure assembled.

That part surprised me a little.

I think I expected it to feel like a bigger, more drawn-out project than it actually was.

5. You Don’t Have to Overcomplicate It

Before we built ours, I had seen a lot of different versions online.

Some were very elaborate and built from scratch, and others were simple kits like what we used.

In the end, I’m really glad we kept ours simple.

It does exactly what we need it to do without turning into a complicated project.

That seems to be a pattern I keep coming back to in a lot of areas of our home and homestead… simple usually works better.

6. Think About How You’ll Use It

This is something I’m still figuring out, but it’s worth thinking about ahead of time.

We’re planning to use our hoop house for:

• tomatoes

• peppers

• cucumbers

• and extending our growing season

Just having a general idea of how you’ll use the space can help guide your setup.

7. It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Worth It

This might be the biggest thing overall.

It’s easy to feel like you need to have everything figured out before starting a project like this.

But in reality, we figured a lot of it out as we went.

And now that it’s up, it’s already something I’m really glad we did.

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful.

8. Have Help When Building Your Hoop House

One thing I would definitely plan for ahead of time is having at least one other person to help. This is not really a one-person project, especially when you get to the stage of setting the frame and pulling the plastic over the structure. There are moments where you need an extra set of hands just to hold things steady or keep everything lined up. Trying to do it alone would have made it much more frustrating and probably taken a lot longer. Having two people made the process go much more smoothly and kept it from feeling overwhelming.

9. Know How It Will Benefit You in Your Growing Zone

It’s also worth thinking through how a hoop house will actually benefit you based on your growing zone. For us in zone 6a, this isn’t about growing tropical plants or completely changing our climate. It’s about gaining a little more flexibility on both ends of the season. We’ll be able to start planting a bit earlier in the spring and keep things going a little longer into the fall. That margin makes a big difference. It takes some of the pressure off trying to hit a perfect planting window and gives us a more steady, manageable growing season overall.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been thinking about building a hoop house, I would say go for it. Just keep it simple and expect a little bit of figuring things out along the way.

Most of what felt confusing at the beginning worked itself out once we got started.

And now that it’s done, it feels like something that will really support what we’re trying to do here.