Tag Archives: palmerston ontario canada

How to Patch an Unreachable Hole

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[click for video]

Occasionally there will be damage to a spot in the cover that is really hard to get at. The approach and advice given here, for safety’s sake, is a 2 person job. If you have a double cover structure, first unplug the inflator fan.

You will need to attach a padded cross piece to a long ladder. This piece should be 50% longer than your structure hoop spacing. i.e. if you have 4’ spacing your attachment should be 6’ long. This cross piece should be located high enough so that when you lean the ladder against the building it will be making contact with the “bulge” of the hoop.

The base of the ladder will be quite a ways out from the building. It is important that the helper firmly anchor the base of the ladder so that it can not kick out from underneath the person climbing the ladder.

If the hole in the cover is past the top of the ladder, you can lean against a hoop while standing on the ladder.

The area of the cover damage must be dry and warm before trying to put on a patch. Patches will not stick well to cold or damp covers.

As always, please call the office if you have any questions or need any clarification on this information.

Organic Month Q&A Recordings

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Norm hosted a Q&A on zoom to cover the topics we posted about throughout the Organic Month in September and answer any attendees’ questions. Below are the video recordings from that event.

  • organic shelters uses & benefits
  • ventilation options and ideas

  • season extension technologies

Contact us today for your custom quote 1-866-838-6729 multisheltersolutions@gmail.com

Structure Options

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We don’t bend any steel before we get an order. This allows us to customize our products for your structure requirements. We use 7 different lengths of steel, and can interchange the way we bend them to give you the same shape, with less height, or slightly different width if that’s what you require. You can see more about the profile shapes and heights on our profile page

We have engineered drawings for our standard buildings to help you get a building permit. It is impossible to have them for all the variations we offer though, but we do have them for most of our standard buildings. Please let us know if this is something you will require. PLEASE REVIEW OUR 2021 UPDATED BUILDING PERMIT ARTICLE

We have provided sample prices on each of these pages to give you a starting point, but have any width available from 10-36′, and can go any length you require. We’ve done them up to 300′ long! Typically we do structures at 3′ and 4′ spacing between hoops, but can go 2′ spacing for extremely high snow areas and 6′ spacing if it will be left uncovered in the winter.

Our structures have a standard Gothic Profile that comes to a peak, to shed snow more efficiently. Our structures are Canadian built for Canadian seasons. We add wind braces to ensure stability in windy areas, and can give you other tips for winter maintenance and snow if you are especially concerned.

gothic frame

We also offer our High Profile structures, which give around 2′ more clearance than our regular standard Gothic profile. Up to 20′ wide our high profile uses 1″x2″ steel, and we offer a heavy high profile option that is 20′ wide and uses 1″x3″ steel. 24′ and wider uses 1″x3″ steel as standard.

high profile

We have also created our Cathedral Series, which is our standard gothic arch flipped around, to give more usable height, with less floor space (for RVs as an example). see here. It is more susceptible to wind, because of the straight sidewalls. No snow stays on this shape at all, unless there has first been a wet slushy rain/snow, and then a freeze. This style is available in widths of 18′, 16′, 14′ and 12′

Cathedral frame

We welcome your unique challenge and look forward to helping you find your shelter solution!

Anchoring: Base Brackets vs Anchor Posts

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edit-Base Bracket
anchor post photo

We offer two main types of anchoring for our structures: Base Brackets (left pic) and Anchor Posts (right pic).

Which one you decide to go with largely depends on your application and location. They are not to be used together, it is a one or the other option. No matter which option you choose, please be aware, there is no such thing as too many anchors!

Although the building can be anchored directly into the ground with Anchor Posts, it can also sit on a slab, curb or beam or it can be elevated on some sort of a wall. Base brackets with lag bolts are supplied standard to fasten the building to the chosen form of foundation. Anchor Posts are available at an additional cost.

Anchor Posts must be set into concrete when:

  • the soil has been recently excavated (within the last 5 years)
  • it is required by the building code (use of concrete usually classifies the building as permanent)
  • extremely windy and exposed areas exist (at least use on the corner posts)
  • more than 10% of the anchor post will be out of the ground (upgrading anchor post size may be needed)
  • there are areas where erosion has been a problem in the past

Anchor Posts SHOULD NOT be used (and base brackets used instead) when:

  • the soil is a very heavy clay (heaving would be a constant problem)
  • there is a shallow rock layer
  • there are major amounts of rocks interfering with the accuracy of anchor post setting
  • the structure will be moved shortly (anchor posts must be cleaned out before reusing)

Recommendations are based on years of experience. Ultimately the customer is responsible to properly anchor a structure
Please see our installation pages for a more detailed breakdown of this topic Base Brackets vs Anchor Posts

Adding a Softcover Structure to the Side or End of Another Building

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There are two ways of adding a structure to the side of a building. It can be done as a lean-to (half structure) that goes parallel to the building and up to the eave, or it can be a complete building at 90 degrees to the existing building. This article applies to the latter option.

When considering attaching an MSS structure at 90 degrees to another building, there are some important considerations to be mindful of before the purchase.

The first is that these buildings are almost always considered high humidity (especially when it is a greenhouse). This means that you will be subjecting that wall to a higher level of moisture. Extra waterproofing should be considered. This high level of humidity should be an extra concern if the intent is to use the warm air as a source of heat for the solid building.

The other thing to bear in mind is the potential snow shedding patterns from the bigger building roof. If the height difference is more than 2’, measures should be implemented to slow the process of shedding snow. Without slowing the rate that the snow comes off the taller building, the force of the impact could be triple or quadruple the weight of the actual snow.

If there is a likelihood of significant snow levels being shed, we recommend reducing the rib spacing of the first 12’ of the building. Going from 4’ to 3’ spacing will increase the strength by 1/3. Going from 3’ to 2’ is a 50% increase in strength. This will give your building the added strength for the impact of shedding snow and the volume that would potentially be on the roof.

The third thing that needs to be considered is how the cover will be fastened to your shelter at the wall. For a stand-alone building, you would be on a ladder or platform off the end but this is not possible if the end hoop is right against the wall.

One option is to have the first hoop about 2’ from the wall and then cover that section with something solid (plywood, sheet metal, Lexan, etc.). This will give you a place to crawl up and secure the cover into the wirelock.

Another option would have you put the first hoop about ½” to 1” from the wall. The wirelock channel would be installed on the underside of that hoop. During the cover installation, you would slide the cover through the gap and then wrap the cover around to the bottom. The wire inserts would be installed from the underside. This option is a little more tricky when doing the double plastic cover. After the cover is installed, the gap can be filled with square foam strips which are available at the building centers. Extra care must be exercised to protect the cover from bolt heads and nuts.

The third option would be to install the structure as per normal but about 1’ from the wall. The covering would be done as usual and once this is complete, the building would be slid up against the wall. This process is a bit risky since the building is not secured to the anchors for a short period. The longer the building is, the more challenging this option is.

The last challenge which needs some attention has to do with the method of ventilation which will be used. Typical ventilation flows through the building. In this scenario, ventilating though the building would also mean that you have to go through the attached building. It can be done, but you would be best to get some additional advice on the process.

If roll-up sides are going to be used, it must be noted that the attached building will interfere with proper airflow.

The challenge with using forced ventilation is “where does the air get into the building. It would be best to create a sketch of the building with thoughts as to what you intend to do. We will use our experience to advise you.

It is important to understand and work through these challenges before you purchase. We are here to advise.

Retightening a Loose Cover

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A question that we are often asked in the fall is “Do I put the cover on now or in the spring?”

As with most everything in life, there are two ways of looking at things and both sides have pros and cons. The answer is always the same though, “Put the cover on now since, in our opinion, the pros significantly outweigh the cons”

The pros of putting the cover on a new building in the fall include less frost penetration and a chance for ground moisture to start evaporating sooner than later. Less frost penetration means you will require much fewer heat units to get the structure operational in the spring (significant savings). Ground moisture is a challenge every new structure owner faces and allowing that extra time will significantly enhance the growing environment (much healthier).

The main con of putting the cover on in the fall is that with colder temperatures during installation, you will most likely be dealing with an excessively loose cover in the spring. This will be a task that needs to be dealt with to prevent premature cover wear. This will NOT be an ongoing issue. Once you deal with the loose cover, it will be good to go and add life to the cover.

Since cover tightening should not be undertaken until the temperature is consistently warm and warm enough It should therefore not be done until May and until the minimum temperature is over 20C. This requirement also means that you should use a temporary fix to carry you over until you can do a permanent fix.

Do not use rope (especially nylon) over a loose cover to temporarily tighten a cover unless you are facing an emergency. The abrasion factor will create new problems while you are dealing with the other problem. Seat belt material or ratchet straps make ideal fasteners for a loose cover.

If you do not have access to this and you know you will be dealing with a loose cover, you can call our office for some tarp scraps. These can be cut into 2” or 3” strips and then put over the cover at 12’ – 15’ intervals. It is important that the straps are lying flat on the cover before tightening.

When you have a warm calm day to tighten the cover, the job can be done in two stages. Since you must pull lengthwise, you can do one end on one day and the other end the next day. If you simply loosen one side and pull tight, you will have uneven tightening which still will have premature wear.

Once the two sides and one end are loose, pull toward the end and start refastening from the peak and work down. You are always working from the middle to the corner. If any wrinkles develop as you do this, always pull 90 degrees to the wrinkle. If the wind is still calm when you are finished with one end, you can then do the other end. It is important to remember that once you have started loosening the cover, you are committed to finishing the job. Having loose cover overnight is an invitation for trouble.

If anything in this article is not clear, please do not hesitate to contact us for clarification before you start.