Quonset greenhouses are cost-effective, durable, customizable, and eco-friendly structures that are widely used by the military, home gardeners, and commercial growers. They have a semi-circular arch shape and are made from arched PVC pipes or metal frames covered with plastic sheeting. Gothic-style hoop houses are ideal for northern growers when snow load potential is heavy, as they can shed snow effectively.
Quonset huts are most feasible and affordable for agricultural purposes, as they provide shelter for their livelihood products. Metal greenhouse frames have pros and cons, and choosing the right size, materials, accessories, and covers is crucial. Gothic-style hoop houses are best for northern growers when snow load potential is heavy. Modern Quonset-style houses are less expensive to build than old glasshouses, but owners of modern Quonset-style houses will need to replace them.
Quonset huts built out of prefabricated metal are more likely to withstand extreme weather due to their pre-engineered design. For windy areas, diagonal bracing at the end walls and trusses running across the width at each bow are recommended. Attached greenhouses are generally more energy efficient, as one wall is already heated. Construction is easier and the structure is better braced because one wall of the greenhouse is actually your home. Lean-to greenhouses can also be used for various purposes, such as storing livestock or storing food.
In summary, Quonset greenhouses offer a cost-effective, functional, and eco-friendly solution for various agricultural purposes. They are popular among military, home gardeners, and commercial growers due to their ability to deflect high winds and allow for water and snow run-off.
📹 30.1 Rebar and Shotcrete over the Quonset Hut
Part of my earth sheltered home design included burying a Quonset hut. Actually, this was the easiest and cheapest part of our …
📹 Does This 100 Year Old Digging Technique Make Any Sense? #shorts
During the Vietnam war it was very common to build hardened aircraft shelters using the very same methods your using for your garage. The difference was the ends were left open some planes could taxi in one side and out the other. A rocket attack could land in front of a entrance and take out a plane. But shelters on either side would be untouched. A friend of mine built these shelters and he said they could absorb a 120 mm rocket attack without any issues. He also said they used slip forms for construction but other methods were also used.
There is a House on Lake Tyler in Texas that was built in the 70’s with this method. (North side of the lake near the center) They poured their foundation smoothed it out and then shoved rebar into the setting concrete foundation. After it set up they started adding rebar to the upright rebar and just started forming it over into dome shapes and tied it all together. They built windows by tying a hole in the side with rebar. Bolted a 2 x 4 block to the rebar at the bottom there they wanted the windows, then set a thick piece of tinted plexiglass over the hole openings. Leaving the paper covering on the plexiglass. Doors were framed the same way. Then they wrapped the entire 5 room structure in burlap and tied it to the rebar. All wirring was installed in conduit and switch boxes tied to the burlap and rebar. After shooting a lite coating of pool plaster against the burlap covered walls they waited fot it to set. Then went to town with the gunnite sprayer.The plexi winmdows were uncovered later in an oval shape. Since no windows, but the kitchen window over the sink opened to the outside and the house was so insulated and air tight, they had to install a dryer vent through the doors, just so they could close the doors. From the lake it looks ike a flying saucer at night when they have the outdoor lighting on. Was my wifes Uncles family that built it. Been inside it a few times when we went to the lake to go water skiing. He told me his air conditioner was just a small 3 ton unit, with a built in de humidifier in it, and his electric bill was almost nothing.
I have been in the gunite- swimming pool business since college. I have four decades of experience with 7.5 sack gunite and wet shotcrete. The pictures show a fine job and the naysayers are simply wrong. Lack of knowledge is all over the web. Some folks should know what they talking about before they chime in!
Nice concept. I once saw a documentary that showed how the nazis made so many hangars as fast as they did. They would put down a conveyor and make large mounds of pea gravel over them, lay rebar and concrete, then once hardened they would turn on the conveyors to remove or advance the gravel depending on if they were or were not going to continue adding length to the structure.
First off, GREAT article (really, the whole series). There’s quite a few DIY articles that either give TOO much information, or not enough, or miss/mis-explain certain steps, etc. As I guy trying to learn about this particular type of project, your approach to the article-making is terrific. Thanks. One question, apologies if maybe you’ve addressed this somewhere else: Looking back on the project, do you know what the cost/time/efficiency differences there might have been if you’d have just made an ICF house throughout vs. using the Quonset hut? Thanks in advance.
A couple of suggestions; It would be better to have finished one bay from start to finish in the spraying of concrete. Its not a good idea to have a cold joint in concrete as that is where it will break in any kind of seismic event. Also it will let in moisture and eventually the rebar will start to spaul out. In the future you might consider lightweight concrete if you have pumice in the area, I also would add in some fiber to that mix to get better confinement of the rebar. Finally I would use some “chairs” to support the rebar where it was touching the quonset hut. Rebar needs good coverage or it will just fail under load conditions and break out of the concrete. Probably at least a couple of inches of coverage. It looked to me like the ridge sagged from the first day to the second day of spraying on concrete. There was too much weight in the walls. It might have worked better if you had done one bay at a time and supported the inside while it cured. I didn’t see any cylinders, but we require the taking of three or four cylinders of the concrete that are broken at 7, 14, and 28 days to make sure that the concrete has come up to the designed strength.
An example of the kind of house never to build! Very labor intensive and how are you going to ever sell it to anyone else? This is the first article in a series but I have yet to see how you are going to comply with basic codes such as light and ventilation, insulation and engineering using shotcrete to structurally support the weight of earthen cover.
I love it! Thanks for sharing your project. I do wonder about what the square footage of the finished structure underground will be? Also what is the projected costing, especially compared to conventional construction? I do wonder if you’re aware how this might hold up in even colder climates further north (I’m in Canada)? By the way, I’m saddened and embarrassed for you having to entertain so many stupid comments along with some very great ones.
I read all 250 comments on this article and haven’t seen this addressed: My research into these Quonset kits is the ribs created by the manufacturer’s equipment bend the steel to create a total profile dimension of a nominal 7″ (depending on the diameter of the structure). You mentioned some 4″ foam pieces (looks to be the white expanded stuff) in the top sections to save concrete and weight, but why did you not do this for the entire arch? I also see somewhere you mentioned 6″ of concrete, yet don’t explain where that thickness is. If it is 6″ in the thinnest parts (crown of each rib), then that would be 13″ in the gully of the ribs (thickest) where there is no foam. Due to the type of loading for the finished structure, wouldn’t a single thickness of 6″ throughout be sufficient? Or put a simpler way, if you had used an air inflated form, what thickness would the concrete be?
Hello. I am curious if a quonset hut can be nested inside of a larger quonset hut, with concrete of some type between the two? If the huts had sufficient thickness metal, would they be able to act as the rebar for the crete? Just thinking out loud, have no engineering degree or anything. What do you think? I see the actual hut seems to be the least expense of this style of building, so … Thanks. Grey
is it asking too much to look at engineering specs for your burried Quonset hut section? Everyone I talk to here in New York tells me it can’t be done. I show them your article and they say your structure won’t last. I’ve been following your progress for years and it’s the most amazing thing. I have a Quonset hut on its way now and I’m looking to mimic what you’ve done So that I can Have a big enough space to work in the winter without spending a fortune on heat.
bei 05:30 die vorgespritzte Mörtelschicht glatt ziehen ist falsch, die Oberfläche wird glatt und die nächste Mörtelschicht hält nicht mehr so gut wie sie soll. Es entstehen zwei Schichten die man aber nicht will. at 05:30 the pre-injected mortar layer is smooth, the surface is smooth and the next mortar layer is no longer as good as it should. There are two layers that you do not want.
jesus who did that concrete work??? you never leave gaps in the concrete like that..you go till job is done..no tamping nothing just a quick rub with the trowels..if they did that in my company they be sent packing..its rough as a bears arse,you know that those two different sprays of concrete wont bond.
The rebar is not necessary. You are not working with a flat surface such as a patio or roadway so you don’t need the tensile strength. Look at concrete structures of the early days and you will find no rebar in the buildings. Rebar starts rusting immediately when it gets wet and guess what one of the ingredients of concrete is? Water. Use fibers instead and no steel to insure absolute integrity inside the concrete. Steel erodes concrete from the inside out.
What’s the point of building like this? The rebar and concrete are the Achilles heal of your design. 50 years from now it will be degrading from the rebar rusting and concrete flaking. I’m an experienced concrete guy. Just look at the bridges and roads all around this country. Must be a hippie thing doing the earth shelter build. That’s the beauty of America you have the freedom to do what you want. Groovy I think?!!! Still shaking my head, obviously I don’t get it.
The thing is…those metal hoop structures have to be insanely expensive. It’s too common on YouTube people showing what a ton of money can do, talk only about the advantages, and don’t discuss costs. Entertainment, not informative in a practical sense. Not to mention…have you ever spent time in a structure with metal walls? And then there is corrosion…